Most of us are aware that the previous Pope, John Paul II,
made hints that he supported the teaching of evolution, but never has a spokesman from the Vatican come out so harshly
against creationism. The Vatican's astronomer, Guy Consolmagno,
has equated creationist views to superstitious paganism.
Bet you didn't expect that from a guy who works for Pope Benny.
Here's my disclaimer: I know that some Kossacks are strongly anti-Catholic, which I think is unfortunate. I also know that a greater body of us disagree with a large number of the Church's policies from abortion to homosexuality. I am not concerned with that at the moment. In my opinion, a sect has the right to construct its own doctrine as long as it does not wield it in the secular realm. I am using this diary to applaud what I believe was an extremely smart and forward-thinking move on the part of the Vatican, and I hope that the comments section remains free of vitriolic Catholic-bashing.
But back to the story. This is a smart move on the part of the Vatican for more than one reason; most obviously, it makes them look less "backwards," a jab that Catholics often get from the less-tolerant (i.e. fundamentalist) Protestant sects. I was raised Catholic, and when I was in middle school, I remember a fundamentalist classmate once called me a "vampire" because of my religion. No joke. With the rise of absurd -- and politically corrupt -- fundamentalist Christianity these days, I can see that it would certainly be in the best interest of the Catholic Church, itself plagued by numerous scandals, to put itself firmly on the side of reason.
"Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism - it's turning God into a nature god. And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do."
(Yes, I know that the last sentence was a thinly-veiled anti-stem-cell research line. But, again, that's not the point here.)
There are potentially deeper reasons for the Vatican to come out against creationism. Many Americans today don't equate creationism with fundamentalist Protestant nativism, but back in the earlier part of the 20th century, the world-was-created-in-six-days folks were often also the ones who considered Catholicism to be a devil-worshipping cult. Yes, I know that Ethan and Joel Coen's excellent movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? isn't a primary-source historical document, but I think that this line spoken by a KKK grand wizard pretty much sums up the connection:
We aim to pull evil up by the root! Before it chokes out the flower of our culture'n heritage! And our women! Let's not forget those ladies, y'all, lookin' to us for p'tection! From darkies! From Jews! From Papists! And from all those smart-ass folk say we come descended from the monkeys! That's not my culture'n heritage!
To fundamentalists, they were all threats -- African Americans, Jews, Catholics, oh, and those overeducated crackpots whose scientific theories threatened the belief in superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race. And now, in the 21st century, the sane world is beginning to wake up to the fact that these fundamentalists are downright loony. It's a great time for the Vatican to differentiate themselves as the line between right-wing Catholics and fundamentalist Protestants has become increasingly blurred. Both extremist bodies speak of the war in Iraq as a Christian-led crusade (remember, the Vatican does not support the war); the politically powerful Christian Coalition has been depending on right-wing Catholic politicians like Rick Santorum to get their votes through; and heck, there's a Catholic megachurch just 15 minutes away from my house.
And, as crazy as Pope Benny may be, do you think that the Catholic Church really wants to be equated with James Dobson and snake-handlers? I sure don't think so.
The best part is that the Vatican astronomer doesn't stop at creationism:
Brother Consolmagno, who was due to give a speech at the Glasgow Science Centre last night, entitled "Why the Pope has an Astronomer", said the idea of papal infallibility had been a "PR disaster". What it actually meant was that, on matters of faith, followers should accept "somebody has got to be the boss, the final authority".
The Church is really trying to improve its image as a more progressive institution -- first taking a few minutes to review its condom policy (which I hope they actually do) and now saying that papal infallibility is a "PR disaster."
I'm still not returning to the Catholic Church until they make some real changes, but this is a step in the right direction. Perhaps the Vatican really has learned that being associated with fundamentalism isn't a good thing.