Sep 4
I was quite piqued to find the other day that the Vatican has it's own observatory -
the Vatican Observatory and that the chief astronomer is also the (or maybe one of the many) scientific advisor to the pope.
Some more details:
The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical research institutes in the world. Headquartered at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, outside Rome, the observatory has an extension on Mount Graham in Arizona that is home to the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope.
Interesting. Religion and science. How do they manage the contradiction? Ok, the contradiction that
I see.
Well, seems they don't see any contradiction. They
even claim that
they have always been involved in science. They say
Copernicus to be their own, however wikipedia does mention that Copernicus might have been
a wee bit worried about the religious fraternity before publishing his finds.
Interestingly, the chief astronomer of Vatican believes in the big bang theory and see no contradiction with his faith.
And unlike many of us, who would simply be excited to know that ET exists, the chief's vision of the possibility of ET is, well, keeping with his faith. :)
Funes, who runs the observatory that is based south of Rome and in Arizona, held out the possibility that the human race might actually be the "lost sheep" of the universe. There could be other beings "who remained in full friendship with their creator," he said.
Sometimes, I think I am too simple minded to understand faith.
Aug 18
Anne Rice, author of vampire books (like the book
Interview with the Vampire on which the
Tom Cruise starred movie of the same name was based) and other religion inspired ones,
publicly announced her decision to
quit Christianity a few days back.
Of course, what she really meant was that she was leaving the
organized religion named Christianity. She still believed in God, and decided to keep her faith an entirely personal affair without necessarily involving her entire religious community with it.
I personally find this admirable, as this is precisely the role i feel faith should have in our lives. Or even
lack of faith.
Her reasoning was interesting though. :)
I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group.
...
In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of …Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.
You could take Christianity out and replace it with any other religion, and it won't make a difference. Organized religion has the same impact on people of all faiths. Forever trying to homogenize the interpretation of faith over not just all it's followers, but even on the rest of the society.
