Science, Religion, and being Catholic

One of the deep, almost-unshakable, beliefs in American culture is that religion - Christianity in particular - is bitterly opposed to science; and that faith and reason get along about as well as mongoose and cobra.

I'm a Catholic, so my faith doesn't require me to ignore facts and stop thinking. Quite the contrary. I've posted about this before, and probably will again:

• "Adam and Eve and All That"
  (May 15, 2012)
• "Politics, and a Sexologist's Preferred Reality"
  (May 10, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Boys, Girls, and Dealing With Reality
    • Intersex Condition(s): Rare, but Real
• " 'Human Costs Always Include Economic Costs' "
  (May 7, 2012)
• "Love and Intelligence, Faith and Reason"
  (April 30, 2012)
• " 'Deeds Without Knowledge are Blind' "
  (April 23, 2012)
• "Earth Day, 2012: This Catholic's View"
  (April 22, 2012)
• "Genesis, Optimus Prime, and Victorian America"
  (April 10, 2012)
• "Transhumanism, Bioethics, and Me"
  (April 8, 2012)
• "The Eighth Day"
  (April 4, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Genesis, Days, and All That
• "The Beauty of the Universe, God, and Respect"
  (March 21, 2012)
• "Beauty, Science, and a Crazy Idea"
  (March 14, 2012)
• "My Take on the News: Hack Attack; Double Standard; Purloined Heart"
  (March 9, 2012)
• "God, Science, and Getting a Grip"
  (March 5, 2012)
• "Upset Applecarts: A Hopeful Sign"
  (March 5, 2012)
• "Life, Death, the Establishment, and Some Guy in Minnesota"
  (March 2, 2012)
• "My Take on the News: "Jesus-Eating Cult;" Godly Scientist; Insulting Our Intelligence"
  (March 2, 2012)
  Particularly
  • The Case of the Godly Scientist
• " 'Only a Few of His Works Have We Seen' "
  (February 27, 2012)
• "Angels, Art, and Aliens"
  (February 15, 2012)
• "Science isn't a Four-Letter Word"
  (January 29, 2012)
• "Clay, Elementary Particles, Photons, and God"
  (January 25, 2012)
• " 'In a State of Journeying' "
  (January 18, 2012)
• " 'Inevitable Progress;' 'We're All Gonna Die;' and Getting a Grip"
  (January 16, 2012)
• "God Doesn't Make Junk: Or Mistakes"
  (November 27, 2011)
• "My Take on the News: Stem Cells, Science, and 'The Man with the X-Ray Eyes' "
  (November 18, 2011)
• "Mephistopheles, Cosmology, and Doctor Faustus"
  (November 7, 2011)
• "7,000,000,000 People, More or Less: Why I'm Not Alarmed"
  (October 31, 2011)
• "Ancient Style and Today's Discussions at the 'Vatican Science Academy' "
  (October 2, 2011)
• "Faustus, Mephistopheles, and a Simple Contract: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
  (September 20, 2011)
• "Sex, Science, and the Home Schooling Parent"
  (September 17, 2011)
• "Gregor Mendel: Friar, Scientist, and Abbot"
  (July 20, 2011)
• "Evolution, Space Aliens, and Two Millennia of Dealing With People"
  (July 5, 2011)
• "God, Genesis, the Catholic Church, and Getting a Grip"
  (June 22, 2011)
• "Climate Changes: So What Else is New?"
  (May 16, 2011)
• "Arithmetic, God, and Getting a Grip"
  (April 25, 2011)
• "Earth Day, 2011: Environmental Concerns, Catholic Faith, and Me"
  (April 15, 2011)
  [mostly links]
• "'Frail, Delicate Little Mother Nature?!' (or, getting a grip)"
  (April 15, 2011)
• "Earth Day, Captain Planet, and Getting a Grip"
  (April 11, 2011)
• "Pope Benedict XVI, the Big Bang, and Science: No Surprises Here"
  (January 15, 2011)
• "When to Call Tech Support, When to Read the Bible"
  (January 14, 2011)
• "Life on Other Worlds, and the Catholic Church"
  (January 11, 2011)
• "The Pope, Science, and Technology: My Take"
  (October 30, 2010)
• " 'Endless Cycles?' Science, Analysis, and Getting a Grip"
  (October 13, 2010)
• "Archaeology Paleontology, Science, and Wishful Thinking"
  (October 12, 2010)
• "God's Creation: He Seems to Think Big"
  (September 23, 2010)
• "Science, Religion, and the Pope"
  (September 17, 2010)
• "Physics and God, Hammers and Architects"
  (September 7, 2010)
• "Stem Cell Research in the News: My Take"
  (August 23, 2010)
• "Science, Faith, and Auto Mechanics"
  (August 19, 2010)
• "Report of a UFO Would 'Destroy One's Belief in the Church?!' "
  (August 6, 2010)
• "Science and Religion: Another Blogger's Take"
  (August 3, 2010)
• " 'To Infinity, and Beyond' - And a Plug for Home Schooling"
  (June 21, 2010)
• "It's Faith and Reason"
  (June 19, 2010)
• "Science vs. Religion: the Same Tired Old Line"
  (June 5, 2010)
• " 'Artificial' Bacteria, Genetics, the Vatican, and 'Courage With Caution' "
  (May 22, 2010)
• "Home Schooling: It May Not be What You Think"
  (May 20, 2010)
• "Stem Cell Research: Backed by the Vatican, No Kidding"
  (April 28, 2010)
• "The Catholic Church: Universal. Really"
  (April 19, 2010)
  Particularly
  
  • "Universal?" You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
• "Home Schooling, Religious and Moral Instruction, and American Culture"
  (March 6, 2010)
• " 'God Created Man in His Image'" wasn't Written by An American"
  (January 25, 2010)
• " 'If you must see ghosts ...' Materialism, Being Spiritual, and Uncle Deadly"
  (December 18, 2009)
• "Why Did I Convert to Catholicism?"
  (November 24, 2009)
  Particularly
  • The paragraphs starting with "I grew up in America..."
• "Astrobiology, the Vatican, and the Meaning of Our Existence"
  (November 12, 2009)
• "Copernicus, Galileo, Science and a Reality Check"
  (October 26, 2009)
• "A Patron Saint of - Scientists?!"
  (October 25, 2009)
• "Data Dump: Major Earthquakes During the Last Week"
  (October 3, 2009)
• "Really Old Dust Grains, a Galactic Collision, and a Lively Interest in God's Creation"
  (August 10, 2009)
• "Dinosaurs, Mutant Chickens, Evolution, and Faith in God"
  (June 29, 2009)
• "The Pope: Looks Like Saint Paul is in the Tomb of Saint Paul"
  (June 29, 2009)
• "Donating Umbilical Cord Blood: Good Idea!"
  (June 15, 2009)
• "Organ Transplants, a Boy's Life, and Japanese Laws and Customs: This Catholic's View"
  (June 14, 2009)
• "Faith and Reason, Religion and Science"
  (March 20, 2009)
• "Stem Cell Research: Change Some of Us Won't Live With"
  (March 9, 2009)
• "Obama's 'No Reproductive Cloning' Promise Doesn't Reassure Me"
  (March 9, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Human Clones: For Reproduction, or for Parts
• "Catholic Church, Creationism, Evolution, Facts and Faith"
  (March 5, 2009)
• "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
  (February 3, 2009)
• "Human Clones Possible: Don't Worry, They're Just for Parts and Research"
  (February 2, 2009)

More related posts in more of my blogs:

• "Mice Feel Pain (We knew That) - And Show it Like We do ('No One' Knew That)"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 11, 2010)
• "Neanderthals and Me: New Data About Old Relatives"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 7, 2010)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)
  
  • Emotions and reason do not play well together

Related posts in other folks' blogs:

• "Unintelligently Designed Article..."
  Catholic and Enjoying It! (August 19, 2010)
• "Compatibility of Faith and Science"
  Christopher's Apologies (August 3, 2010)

We've learned a little in the 22 centuries since this was written:

"Beyond these, many things lie hid; only a few of his works have we seen.

"It is the LORD who has made all things, and to those who fear him he gives wisdom."
(Sirach 43:34-35)

Some folks seem determined to ignore the wonders that God created, to cultivate ignorance as if it were a virtue.

That doesn't make sense to me.