Science and Religion, the debate goes on…

Last week I posted links to two recent science and religion pieces:  Mano Singham on "The New War Between Science and Religion," and David B. Hart on the New Atheism, with a posting titled "Believe It or Not."  I asked Glenn Sauer, Associate Professor of Biology at Fairfield University, if he would comment.  He writes…

I have read the Mingham piece and it brought me back to a thought I had during the John Haught-Christopher Hitchens debate that was hosted by Fairfield University a few weeks ago.  

At one point Christopher Hitchens, one of the standard bearers for the "new atheists" (though I gather, from Mingham, that they don't like being called this), was marveling about the wonders of the universe.    He stated that it is virtually certain that we know far less than 1% of all there is to know about the universe in which we live. There are very few scientists (or others), myself included, that would argue this point.

Jamie Manson: Grace in the Church's Margins

[NCR’s Jamie Manson spoke at a VOTF meeting in Norwalk, CT on May 13^th.  This posting is a summary of Manson’s talk, "Being Bread for One Another in a Church in Famine," written by Jamie Dance, Co-Chair, VOTF Bridgeport]

Jamie is asked repeatedly why she remains a Catholic. She explains that she understands that she is marginalized by the Church because of things outside her control- her gender and her sexual orientation. However, for Jamie, there are three reasons for her resolution: 1) the social justice doctrine of the Catholic Church where the most radiant images of God are found in working among people in despair 2) the mystical and spiritual tradition of retreat and prayer that is centering, repetitive, and contemplative, finding the sacred in everyday life and 3) the sacramental tradition, where one may find infinite meaning in the finite things of life, and thus experience God in the world.

It is this last element that Jamie sees as a sad irony.

Talking myself down

[Jamie Manson will be the speaker at a VOTF meeting in the First Congregational Church on the Green in Norwalk, CT.  7:30 pm, Thursday, May 13th.  Info:  mbhickey@optonline.net]

In theory, I think institutions are very important things.  Human communities that do real good are more than simply spontaneous gatherings of (currently) like-minded folks, human communities that do real good are organized for a purpose that transcends the immediate moment.  Such institutions sustain individuals and groups because they are not transitory, they do not simply reflect the consensus of the present, they create the conditions for human goods, they form in the first place the individuals and groups they sustain. In other words, human communities have meaning over time because they are structured, they take the process of 'tradition-ing' seriously.

So, certainly, I think the institutional Church is important. (Can you can hear me talking myself into this?)

"Where were her brothers?"

Early reports about the unfolding events around the Yeardley Love murder indicated that both the men's and the women's lacrosse teams would continue their seasons, "in her honor," even as a male lacrosse player was charged in her death.

I just shook my head -- did no one at UVA see that such symmetry was no longer appropriate?  Why didn't the men's team forfeit a game or two, stay home, sit out, hang their heads just a smidge?  That would seem to be the "honorable" thing to do.

Sally Jenkins gets it. In today's column, Jenkins, sports writer for the Washington Post, excoriates the culture of male athletes, men who don't even extend the culture of family to their sisters in sport, asking, with regard to the Yeardley Love murder:  "Where were her brothers?"  Her questions are pointed, this column should be mandatory reading for the NCAA.

Colleen Gibson on the empty tomb

Fairfield graduate Colleen Gibson ('09) reflects on the gospel for Easter Sunday, John 20:1-9

The tomb is empty. Of course the tomb is empty. To be honest, I would be more shocked if it wasn't. If somehow I awoke this Easter morning and the stone was not rolled away. The last three days, the Triduum, have run like clockwork: A meal and some washing Thursday, an execution and much mourning Friday, and this morning, when all is said and done, an empty tomb.

I mean, come on, it happens every year...   [read the rest here]