Jesuit Theology Professor and "Friend of Darwin" says Science and Religion Are Compaitable

In 2008, Haught received a "Friend of Darwin Award" from the National Center for Science Education. Additionally, in 2009, in recognition of his work on theology and science, Haught was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Louvain. Here.

Participants in dialogue between religion and science must work to dispel the notion that the two disciplines stand in total opposition to each other, said a theologian with the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington.

"Just like I have been trying to do my entire life, the dialogue should attempt to remove the false obstacles in the way of discussion, namely that religion and science are incompatible opposites," John Haught told Catholic News Service June 18.

The interview was prompted by a panel discussion hosted two days earlier by the Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion, which is part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Moderated by Jennifer Wiseman, the new director of the dialogue, the panel had four speakers who discussed the theme "Re-Envisioning the Science and Religion Dialogue." They reached an agreement on three basic principles: no name-calling, civility and a need to help develop an interest in science among the public.

One crucial viewpoint was missing on the panel: the Catholic perspective.

Haught has written 18 books on the subject, including "The Cosmic Adventure: Science, Religion and the Quest for Purpose," "God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution" and "Responses to 101 Questions on God and Evolution." He has been involved with religion and science dialogue for many years, teaching a course on the dialogue at Georgetown University.

"Many people still do not have a very deep understanding of the relationship between science and faith," he said, adding that many don't even have much interest in this relationship.

"Look at the numbers: 50 to 60 percent of Christians consider evolution and Christian faith incompatible," he said.

To Haught, most who believe in the conflict model of religion-science dialogue cannot explain why they think the two are irreconcilable.

Catholics who hold this view need "to get over it," he said. "There isn't any controversy about the reality of the evolution in the scientific community, so why in the church?"

As Pope John Paul II said in a message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Oct. 22, 1996, Catholics need to construct a theology that shows how divine knowledge, providence and wisdom can be affirmed because of evolution.

Pope Benedict XVI said in 2007 that evolution and the existence of God the creator should not be seen as two ideas in strict opposition to each other.

"Evolution exists, but it is not enough to answer the great questions," such as how human beings came to exist and why human beings have an inherent dignity, he said.

That is why the religion-science dialogue is so important, said Haught.

"If the Catholic Church wishes to remain with an appropriate understanding of God, then it must accept evolution," Haught said.

He suggested that the dialogue should reach out to the seminaries and schools of theology and show the importance of science education.

Even more than that, he said they should reach out to the people sitting in the pews. "It will be important to hold more available conferences and other opportunities for people to meet and discuss the topic."

The dialogue should focus on bringing people into contact with the whole body of theology and science, said Haught.

Read further...

More Bad Jesuits: Georgetown

As the DC City Council was getting ready to legalize same-sex "marriage" (it's in quotes because same-sex unions are NOT marriage, despite what secular governments say). Father Joseph Palacios, a Georgetown University sociology professor joined DC Clergy United for a rally in support of the messure. I refer you to the article and will note below some logical fallacies in some of his statements.

He likens his own homosexual orientation to his Latino ethnicity. That's flat wrong. The Magisterium plainly teaches that the homosexual orientation is intrinsically disordered and is sinful if one acts upon it. Father states that he is celibate. Be that as it may, he does advocate for the promulgation of the gay lifestyle. That is inherently sinful.

Link to original...

Georgetown Gay Friendly? Nah.

Sivagami "Shiva" Subbaraman was leading a workshop about making college campuses more gay-friendly in February 2008 when a Georgetown University student burst into the room with news: The university president had agreed to open a resource center for gay students and hire a full-time director to run it.

Everyone in the room laughed.

"Not Georgetown," Subbaraman recalls saying, astonished that a university founded by Jesuits was supporting so publicly a community that long has felt shunned by the Catholic Church. "You must mean at GW [George Washington University]."

But less than two months later, Subbaraman interviewed to be that director. She left her job at the University of Maryland's Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity and, last August, helped open the LGBTQ Resource Center, the first of its kind at a Jesuit university in the United States. (At Georgetown, LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning.)

"This is the biggest unmapped frontier in faith," said Subbaraman, a lesbian who grew up in a Hindu family in India and attended a Catholic high school and college.

The center has two full-time staff members, a rarity at college resource centers, who provide training sessions and workshops for faculty members and student leaders. They also help students find services on campus and plan events such as Coming Out Week festivities in October and Lavender Graduation, an additional graduation ceremony for gay students.

Link to original...