There is probably no God

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well, at lest, God is 存在的!! as a "cultural phenomenon" rather than as a valid scientific theory.

let see what is the Pope's view: ( in the following news.)

Vatican endorses Darwin, slights intelligent design

Creationism is a cultural phenomenon - like Paris Hilton

By Joe Fay •

Posted in Biology, 11th February 2009 13:02 GMT

The Vatican gave the Creationist lobby a left right sign of the cross today, announcing it would stage a conference on Darwinism next month and declaring that it was one of the Fathers of the Church that thought up the idea in the first place.

At one point the conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University wasn't going to give Creationism or Intelligent Design a hearing at all. But apparently the organisers have relented, and will consider Intelligent Design as a "cultural phenomenon" rather than as a valid scientific theory, giving US-based IDers the chance to be smirked at by a room full of Monseigneurs, Cardinals and Bishops.

Previewing the conference yesterday, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Church's Pontifical Council for Culture, conceded the Church had been hostile to Darwin on occasion. But, he said, the Church had never formally condemned Darwin, and he noted that in the last 50 years a number of Popes had accepted evolution as a valid scientific approach to human development.

Indeed, he said, evolution could be traced back through Scholastics such as St Thomas Aquinas to St Augustine in the fourth century, who had noted that "big fish eat smaller fish".

Augustine is probably more famous for praying "God, make me good - but not yet." Which also has some evolutionary overtones if you think about it.

Marc Leclerc, a natural philosopher at the University went further, saying Creationists were mistaken in arguing that that Darwinism was "totally incompatible with a religious vision of reality".

The conference, and the Church's endorsement of Darwin, represents another curve ball from the Holy See at other, arguably more fundamentalist, streams of Christianity. In December Pope Benedict tipped his hat to Galileo - who definitely was condemned by the Church - while simultaneously going all New Age by blethering on about the Solstice.

Last May, the Vatican astronomer really went out on a limb, claiming there was nothing incompatible between being a Catholic and believing in Aliens. He even suggested Aliens could be free of the stain of original sin, the stubborn blemish that has condemned humanity to a progressive decline from the Garden of Eden, through slavery, the dark ages, religious strife, atomic war, and now, the credit crunch and Simon Cowell.

But a wholesale worldview rejig this is not. Other branches of modern science get shorter shrift, with genetic manipulation fairly high on the Vatican's current don't-like list.
 
a more sharpen-titled news as following:

to note that part:

"This coming weekend, 929 churches in 14 countries will be holding special services to celebrate the compatibility of Christianity and evolution at "Evolution Weekend" events launched in 2005 by an organisation called the Clergy Letter Project."


February 11, 2009 4:38 PM
Vatican backs Darwin, dumps creationism
Andy Coghlan

"What we mean by evolution is the world as created by God."

Did I say this? No. It was reportedly said on Tuesday by none other than Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture. In effect, the Roman Catholic Church, the dominant Christian faith, is saying that Darwin's theory of evolution is compatible with Christian faith.

After all these years, even the Pope and his pals are on-message, Darwin-wise. At least the admission came a bit sooner than for poor old Galileo, but better late than never.

Furthermore, they're going to be discussing the relationship between evolution and faith next month in Rome at a special conference to mark the 150th Anniversary of Darwin's Origin of Species which, as we know, changed forever our views about how we came to be here on this little planet.
Organisers of the event, hosted by Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University on 3 to 7 March, said at a press conference last September to announce the event that supporters of creationism and its alter-ego, intelligent design (ID), would not be invited. Jesuit Father Marc Leclerc of the Gregorian University said at the time that arguments "that cannot be critically defined as being science or philosophy or theology did not seem feasible to include in a dialogue at this level".

So creationists could be forgiven for beginning to feel marginalised even among their co-Christians. This coming weekend, 929 churches in 14 countries will be holding special services to celebrate the compatibility of Christianity and evolution at "Evolution Weekend" events launched in 2005 by an organisation called the Clergy Letter Project.

As a passing thought, Ravasi said that Darwin's theories had never formally been condemned by the Roman Catholic church. Pope Puis XII said in 1950 that evolution was a valid scientific approach to the development of humans. John Paul II said in 1996 that it was "more than a hypothesis".

So maybe it is time for creationists and supporters of ID to abandon their futile hunt for scientific evidence to support the literal account of creation in the Bible. That's what so many other Christians, including now the Catholics, have already done.

They've realised that being a good citizen, kind and considerate to other people, is far more important than trying to prove the Bible is literally correct. If there is a God, being good is sure to earn you far more brownie points than trying to prove every single word in the Bible is fact.

Now, what was that thing about treating your neighbour as yourself?
 
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