Thursday, May 15, 2008
FAITH AND LITTLE GREEN MEN
Michael Pfeifer, Bishop of San Angelo, who oversees the churches in Abilene, has joined Jesuit Father Jose Funes in trying to spin the little green men as part of the same creation that brought about you and me, according to the Abilene Reporter News website. The article reports:
Pope Benedict XVI has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy...
The vastness of the universe means it is possible there can be other forms of life outside earth--even intelligent ones.
Quotes from McMurry University physics professor Wayne Keith are also thrown into the discussion:
I don't personally see any conflict between belief in God and the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe, and I've always thought it a bit odd that some people would interpret the Bible in a way that precluded life beyond the Earth...To pin your faith on something not existing is to set yourself up for a crisis of faith if we ever did discover life elsewhere.
Perhaps he is right. However, to be willing to accommodate other life forms is to be able to accommodate them to the faith revealed to we earthlings. What if their conception of God is totally different from ours? Suddenly faith could become a house of cards.
Of course Galileo is drug out and dusted off for this article. In defending the assumption of the failure of the Church where Galileo is concerned, the article quotes Keith:
God's Creation is much more complex and wonderful than a simplified account in ancient Hebrew can describe, and that ignoring evidence because your faith depends on a particular interpretation is limiting and shortsighted.
On the other hand, that statement would necessitate that Keith believes God was not capable or chose not to reveal Scripture that could stand the test of time. In his mind science has trumped faith. Perhaps he's an atheist and doesn't know it.
Pfeifer quotes bring it home:
Hence, even though we can't fully understand sometime (sic) the relationship between science and religion, or reason and faith, it is the constant teaching of the Church that internally they do not contradict one another," he said, "...The author of both faith and reason, of science and religion, is one and the same for us as Catholic Christians--the one and same true God."
Uh-huh. Tell it to the married woman of child-bearing years who has cancer and needs to take Thaliodimide. She will quickly set you straight.
The article closes with "Let's all just hope the aliens have read the same book," demonstrating that the most reasonable person in this discussion is the reporter, Brian Bethel, who is apparently capable of recognizing the potential conflicts, unlike the representatives of the Church.
Perhaps sweeping the sexual abuse scandal under the rug was merely the dress rehearsal.
Here's a thought...IF the prophecies are correct in saying that something momentous is scheduled to happen in 2012, and taking into consideration the three and a half year clock from Revelation, the clock starts ticking now.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
