As I commented the last night, who could expect the Pope to do anything but come out in favor of Catholic doctrine? To better illustrate the fundamentalism, however, that he seems to have embraced, let’s contrast Cardinal Poupard’s measured reason with the Pope’s pop:
- Cardinal Poupard
- “But we also know the dangers of a religion that severs its links with reason and becomes prey to fundamentalism,” he said. “The faithful have the obligation to listen to that which secular modern science has to offer.”(as “reported in the Philadephia Inquirer”:http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/religion/13076632.htm)
- Pope Benedict XVI
- He quoted St. Basil the Great as saying that some people, “fooled by the atheism that they carry inside of them, imagine a universe free of direction and order, as if at the mercy of chance.” (as “reported in the New York Times”:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/international/europe/12pope.html?ex=1289451600&en=c1e9cf62a415b8f9&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss)
What is sad is that, based on the Pope’s quote, I can honestly tell you the man knows little of the universe below about one Angstrom, or the radius of the hydrogen atom. This is the distance at which quantum mechanics is the correct description of nature. For a man whose life is allegedly so entwined with a deep understanding of the universe, it would be most wise for him to read a few pop physics books (I can recommend the titles). He would learn that the quantum world is, indeed, ruled by utter randomness. Only the probabilty of a given outcome is known, but case-by-case you cannot predict with absolute certainty what will happen.
Take that Pope’s computer and cell phone away from him, for ultimately they operate thanks to the weird but accurate rules of quantum mechanics. It would be sensible for such an honored theologian to temper his absolutes with a little knowledge.
