Ending Mutual Prejudice

Cardinal Paul Poupard, the head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, announced a Vatican project to help end "mutual prejudice" between science and religion. The core of this project is simple - start listening to each other. Roman Catholic authorities still feel bad about Galileo, and have learned some important lessons. Indeed, the Vatican now has its own astronomical observatory, and has come to accept the elemental truths of evolution as "more than a hypothesis" (in the words of the late John Paul II).

I was struck by this statement from the good cardinal: "We know where scientific reason can end up by itself: the atomic bomb and the possibility of cloning human beings are fruit of a reason that wants to free itself from every ethical or religious link...But we also know the dangers of a religion that severs its links with reason and becomes prey to fundamentalism."

According a recent CBS poll, 51% of Americans reject evolution, and it seems that this figure may be rising, as fundamentalist evangelicalism increases in numbers and influence. President Bush has come out in favor of Intelligent Design, giving political credence to a non-scientific theory with no value whatsoever. America is losing the battle in scientific education and professions to nations like India, which will have long-term effects upon our economy, as innovation languishes. We are in danger of becoming a nation of debt-ridden consumers, working only in low-paying service-sector jobs. America as Wal-Mart writ large.

I am personally terrified by fundamentalism in any religion or philosophy. It is the triumph of absolutism over reason. It prompts otherwise good men and women to do unspeakable things in the name of God or the state. Which is why Cardinal Poupard's words offer light in a darkening world. If they go unheeded, further violence will erupt between rival religions and civilizations (witness France this week), and ignorance and superstitution will overwhelm the queen of the sciences, which is theology. Fear and a retreat from reason are a lethal combination. Let us hope they are kept far apart.