As if Intelligent Design Wasn't Enough.

Sigh.

I’d just finally managed to stop bitching about the intelligent design thing, and then the church craps on my breakfast again.

I mean they do everything they can to denounce the science of Biology…now they’ve moved on to physics.

According to the Northwest Florida Daily News (Link to the article at the end of the post), Stephen Hawking, quite possibly one of the most intelligent human beings on the planet, was asked by Pope John Paul II to not study the beginning of time, because that was the ‘work of God’.

The whole quote is:

"It's OK to study the universe and where it began. But we should not enquire into the beginning itself because that was the moment of creation and the work of God."

Here’s my question:

Why?

If I was the Pope, and I truly believed that God is the creator of all things, I would actively encourage the study of how the Universe began. If I truly believed, I would also believe that studying the beginning of time can only prove one thing…That God did indeed create everything.

Let me tell you, for the Church, one of the greatest scientific minds in history openly stating “God did it”, would be great for business.

Also, it’s an incredibly flimsy excuse. Why is ‘the work of God’ suddenly off limits? Isn’t reading the bible ‘studying the work of God?’

Anyway, that’s what the Pope said, but I can make an educated guess at what he was thinking:

“Look, if you actually engage your brain, the Church is already on kinda shaky ground. It’s true we’ll always have the hardcore fanatics who will instantly dismiss any discovery that goes against our teachings as the work of the devil…but if you actually discover how the universe was created, our coffers are going to get awful empty.”

Which in essence is saying: “Look, forget about science and reason, can’t you just give up your life’s work and keep the world in ignorance? It’d really help us out. The sheep won’t keep pouring money into the church if they realize the whole thing’s a complete load of bollocks.”

One part of the article I particularly enjoyed was when Hawking joked: “I was glad he didn't realize I had presented a paper at the conference suggesting how the universe began. I didn't fancy the thought of being handed over to the Inquisition like Galileo."

The article then says how in 1992, the Pope issued a declaration saying that the church's denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."

This I agree with.

Galileo didn’t comprehend what a vicious, self righteous and self serving organization the Catholic Church is…and the Church didn’t comprehend it’s not exactly ‘Christian’ to capture someone, suppress his work, denounce him as a heretic, and torture him for exposing a fundamental truth that disagrees with what they want to believe.

In the end, I’ll put it this way. By listening to scientists, we’ve got to where we are today. Electricity, cars, computers, sanitation, healthcare etc.

If we listened only to the church, we’d still be in the dark ages, and the prescription for any illness would be to ‘pray’…which in my opinion is like saying “Wish really hard.”

(Link to article: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articleArchive/jun2006/hawkingpope.php)