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Print Article: The pro-science pontiff: Pope Francis on climate change, evolution and the Big Bang

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Theprosciencepontiff:PopeFrancisonclimatechange,
evolutionandtheBigBang
ChrisMooney
Published:January5,20158:47AM

Comment
Inthelastdecadeorso,therehasbeenaresurgenceoftheideathatscienceandreligionareinfundamentalconflictwith
oneanother.Theargumentisoftenassociatedwithprominentthinkers,likeneuroscientistandauthorSamHarris,who
hasarguedthat"thereisaconflictbetweenscienceandreligion,anditiszerosum"butitalsogainsstrengthfromthe
politicalcontextinwhichwelive.
Afterall,weseesciencereligionconflictsallthetime:Creationiststrytodisruptthesoleteachingofevolution.
Religiouslydrivenantiabortionistscomeupwithdubiousscientificargumentsforwhytheprocedureisdangerous.
Seeingthesescienceandreligionconflictsinclinesustobelievethatscienceandreligion...conflict.
There'sadifference,though,betweentheideaofanecessaryconflictbetweenscienceandreligion,andthenotionthat
conflictsmerelyhappenatsometimes,forsomeindividualsorreligiousgroups.Thelatterisobviousandirrefutable
buttheformerisseeminglycontradictedwheneverweseeaprominentreligiousbelieverwhoalsostronglyembraces
scientificrealities.Anditlookslikewemightbeseeing,rightnow,themostprominentoneofthoseinalongtime:Pope
Francis.
InOctober,thenewPopespokeatthePontificalAcademyofSciencesandappearedtoendorsetwomajorscientific
conceptsthathaveoftengivenreligiousbelieversbigtrouble:theBigBangandevolution.
OntheBigBang,heremarkedthatitis"consideredtobetheoriginoftheworld"and"doesnotcontradictthecreative
interventionofGod."
Andthenthere'sevolution."Godisnot...amagician,buttheCreatorwhobroughteverythingtolife,"saidFrancison
theoccasion."Evolutioninnatureisnotinconsistentwiththenotionofcreation,becauseevolutionrequiresthecreation
ofbeingsthatevolve."
Inotherwords,thepopeappearstobeembracinganideathathadgreatcurrencyintheEnlightenmentthenotionofa
Godwhocreatedauniversethatfollowslawsthatcanbescientificallydiscerned.That'sanideathatcertainlywould
haveappealedtodeeplyreligiousscientistslikeGalileo,whoargued,inhisfamous"LettertotheGrandDuchess
Christina,"thattheinsightsofCopernicuscouldbemadecompatiblewiththeBible.
Morerecently,meanwhile,theGuardianreportedrecentlythatthepopeisplanningtoissue"arareencyclicalon
climatechangeandhumanecology"nextyear.Certainly,PopeFrancishasbeenquiteactiveonthesubjectoftaking
careoftheenvironment,arguingbackinMaythatCatholicsmust"SafeguardCreation.BecauseifwedestroyCreation,
Creationwilldestroyus!Neverforgetthis!"Thepopealsodeclared,duringtheLima,Peruclimatechangeconference
earlierthismonth,thatthe"timetofindglobalsolutionsisrunningout."
Indeed,therehasbeenmuchenvironmentandclimaterelatedactivitycomingoutoftheVatican.Earlierthisyearthe
PontificalAcademyofSciences(alongwiththePontificalAcademyofSocialSciences)convenedaworkshopentitled
"SustainableHumanity,SustainableNature:OurResponsibility,"bringingtogetheranumberofscientistsandexperts
whothenreleasedastatementdeclaringthat"Ifcurrenttrendscontinue,thiscenturywillwitnessunprecedentedclimate
changesandecosystemdestructionthatwillseverelyimpactusall."
Thus,whilecreationistsmayrejectscienceoutofreligiousbelief,otherreligiousbelieversacceptandembracewhat
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Print Article: The pro-science pontiff: Pope Francis on climate change, evolution and the Big Bang

sciencetellsusandfrequentlyalsodosooutofreligiousmotivations.
Infact,theideathatPopeFranciswantstheworldtodosomethingaboutclimatechange,andthatheapparentlysees
thisasamatteroftakingcareofthecreation,hardlymakeshimunique.JamesWestofMotherJonespointstopolling
datasuggestingthatlargenumbersofUSCatholicsalsosupportclimateaction,includingaverystrongmajorityamong
HispanicCatholics.
Butit'snotjustCatholics.WhileEvangelicalsoftengetabadrapfornotwantingtodoanythingaboutclimatechange,
thefactisthatasubstantialminorityofthemactuallydo.WhileamajorityofwhiteEvangelicalProtestantsare
"somewhatorveryunconcerned"abouttheissue,some35percentareeither"somewhatorveryconcerned,"according
torecentpollingbythePublicReligionResearchInstitute.
Thebiblicallybasedstewardshipor"CreationCare"messagewhichwentvery,verymainstreamearlierthisyearin
theblockbusterfilm"Noah"maynothavewonoutwithamajorityofthesebelievers.Butitappearstohavemade
substantialinroads.AndevangelicalleadersliketheclimatescientistKatharineHayhoeareworkingeverydayto
convincemorebelievers,bymakingtheologically(andpolitically)resonantargumentsforwhytheyneedtotakeclimate
scienceseriously.
Soinsum:Therelationshipbetweenscienceandreligioniscomplex,andgeneralisationsaredangerous.There'sno
doubtthatmanyreligiouspeoplearoundtheworldclingtotheirbeliefs(or,towhattheythinktheirbeliefsrequire)in
thefaceofevidence,andhistoryshowssciencereligionconflictspoppingupatregularintervals.Butitalsoshows
somethingelse:Believerswhofindawaytoreconcilefaithandscience.
IfPopeFranciscontinuesonhiscurrentcourse,hehasthepowertomakethislattergroupawholelotmoreprominent
thanitalreadyis.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/
bcpopecomment
Thisstorywasfoundat:http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climatechange/theprosciencepontiffpopefrancisonclimatechange
evolutionandthebigbang2015010512hu26.html

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