Recently I read in our local paper that yet again the
teaching of evolution is a contentious issue with the State Board of Education.
Oh my!
These challenges to the teaching of evolution in Texas
schools do not result from good science but from bad religion. Science deals
with questions of how. Religion deals with questions of why. Science cannot
answer the question of why there is such a magnificent creation, nor why we are
here and what is the meaning and purpose of our existence. Similarly, Religion
does not answer how all this wonderful creation works, nor the many complicated
and wonderful steps by which it all came to be. You would not ask questions
about the American Revolution in math class, and you would not ask what 3 + 3
equals in history class. Each discipline asks different questions. Similarly,
science and religion ask different kinds of questions about reality. To deny
the well-founded science of evolution is to confuse the creator with the means
of creation. They are not the same.
Catholics know this. In the Vatican Council II
document Lumen Gentium, paragraph 36,
we read:
“If by the
autonomy of earthly affairs is meant the gradual discovery, exploitation, and
ordering of the laws and values of matter and society, then the demand for
autonomy” [from religion] “is perfectly in order. …. We cannot but deplore
certain attitudes (not unknown among Christians) deriving from a shortsighted
view of the rightful autonomy of science; they have occasioned conflict and
controversy and have misled many into opposing faith and science.”
So, for Catholics, science and religion are not
opposed. True religion fosters good science. Therefore, the teaching of
evolution in our schools and universities is not only allowed, but indeed
required. The more we find out how creation works, its marvelous complexity and
beauty, the more we are lead to awe and a profound sense of gratitude to the
Creator. Genuine science can be a pathway to wonder, and then on to faith.
Do not be afraid of the teaching of scientific
evolution. But do be afraid of any kind of closure of mind to wonders and
beauty of creation, including the remarkable story of evolution.
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