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Science fiction and religion have more in common than you think
Submitted by Capt. Xerox on October 6, 2009 - 7:45pm.
Science and religion have been in conflict for centuries. You may think they are polar opposites, but have you ever wondered if science itself is a religion of its own? With that in mind, could science fiction be considered a relgious experience?
Many Christians are opponents to the theory of evolution which might lead you to believe that they are anti-science and probably anti-science fiction, but this writer argues that Christians, specifically Catholics, shouldn't not write in the genre just because they might not believe everything they read. Hey, I read lots of science fiction that I don't believe, but that's only because so much of it is filled with bad science.
Religion certainly has been infusing a lot of science fiction TV shows lately, as IO9 points out, so it's clear that the two sides are paying attention to each other.
More examples can be found in the Star Wars universe which is rife with religious imagery, Just look the Jedi. While their way of thinking is usually spun as a philosophy, you could also argue that it's a religious order with the Force being the equivalent of The Holy Spirit.
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/ID Creationists & Atheists/ vs /Catholic Fides et Scientia/
re: Many Christians are opponents to the theory of evolution which might lead you to believe that they are anti-science and probably anti-science fiction, but this writer argues that Christians, specifically Catholics, shouldn't not write in the genre
I'm not surprised that Catholics support the idea of writing in evolution or science-centric SF, considering The Catholics Church supports and teaches science and evolution.
"Fides et Scientia" - aka "Faith and Science" / "Faith and Knowledge", is the motto of Catholic schools in Canada, and of the philosophy of contemporary global Catholicism itself.
I personally subscribe to that pairing, regardless of which religion does. I think any religious community and/or any scientific-community which considers both, is closer to the truth, than those that insist it must be a case of either/or.
AISI There's no conflict between science (or science fiction that promotes scientific concepts) and religion imo, the former describes how thing's work, the latter the ultimate origin of life, the universe and everything.
I have yet to see a legitimate conflict between the two, though there have been many attempts to create a conflict.
Catholics don't even believe Creationism/Intelligent Design is a science.
/BEGIN Excerpt/ from Evolution and the Catholic Church
while he was the Vatican's chief astronomer, Fr. George Coyne, issued a statement on 18 November 2005 saying that "Intelligent design isn't science even though it pretends to be. If you want to teach it in schools, intelligent design should be taught when religion or cultural history is taught, not science." Cardinal Paul Poupard added that "the faithful have the obligation to listen to that which secular modern science has to offer, just as we ask that knowledge of the faith be taken in consideration as an expert voice in humanity." He also warned of the permanent lesson we have learned from the Galileo affair, and that "we also know the dangers of a religion that severs its links with reason and becomes prey to fundamentalism." Fiorenzo Facchini, professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Bologna, called intelligent design unscientific, and wrote in the January 16-17, 2006 edition L'Osservatore Romano: "But it is not correct from a methodological point of view to stray from the field of science while pretending to do science....It only creates confusion between the scientific plane and those that are philosophical or religious."
In a commentary on Genesis authored as Cardinal Ratzinger titled In the Beginning... Benedict XVI spoke of "the inner unity of creation and evolution and of faith and reason" and that these two realms of knowledge are complementary, not contradictory:
/END Excerpt/
For The Full Entry on the Catholic position on Evolution punch ((Here))
AISI the Militant Atheists and Anti-Christians love to stir the Anti-Christian; Anti-Religion and/or most commonly Anti-Any-Religion-That-Is-Not-Theirs pot, and nominally, it's fairly obviously self-serving.
I often wonder if those that believe Catholics don't believe in Evolution and/or Science, are confusing American Evangelicals or American Southern Baptists with Catholics? Either way, the bottom line is, the Catholic church supports evolution and science.
Likewise, Catholic schools teach science in general and evolution specifically, as either fact (where accepted as such by the scientific community) or as an established scientific theory supported by ample evidence (where accepted as such by the scientific community)
Catholic schools bow to, follow and teach the leading science texts, just as they're writ.
The Catholic Position is: Fides et Scientia / Faith and Science / Faith and Knowledge.
Course, if science ever does come up with a scientific theory for ultimate origin
(it hasn't as yet -Ed)
or a scientific theory to account for "the soul"
(also not - Ed)
All bets on that partnership are likely, off.
But for now AISI evolution, science and catholicism at least, are not in conflict.
The Avante Guardian. ---- Einstein's Hair^2 //Approved.
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