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Vatican Astronomer and Science Fiction Fan Brother Guy on NPR's Weekend Edition
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evelynchim...@gmail.com
Jun 7, 2021, 9:10:41 AM6/7/21
to
<https://www.npr.org/2021/06/06/1003231191/the-vaticans-space-
observatory-wants-to-see-stars-and-faith-align>
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
observatory-wants-to-see-stars-and-faith-align>
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
Gary McGath
Jun 7, 2021, 4:11:32 PM6/7/21
to
On 6/7/21 9:10 AM, ele...@optonline.net wrote:
> <https://www.npr.org/2021/06/06/1003231191/the-vaticans-space-
> observatory-wants-to-see-stars-and-faith-align>
I know he's sincere, but the two-magisteria approach is untenable. It
says that there are some subjects where you inquire, examine the
evidence, and weight the arguments, and other subjects where you
surrender your mind to an authority. It says you have to turn off your
judgment, but only on certain questions.
How do you decide when to operate by faith? Do you decide
scientifically, or by faith? If science and reason guide your decision,
there's no reason ever to regard anything as off-limits to critical
examination. But if faith determines when you're allowed to think, then
it can cut anything off from examination.
Worse yet, two different faiths can reach different conclusions, and
since both come from Ultimate Authority, there's no way to decide
between them except by arbitrarily picking one as more Ultimate than the
other. People have killed each other over such differences and still do.
Whoever survives must be favored by God.
You can't set aside an area and say, *this* is off-limits to reason, but
reason is allowed elsewhere. Once you start down that path, how do you stop?
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
> <https://www.npr.org/2021/06/06/1003231191/the-vaticans-space-
> observatory-wants-to-see-stars-and-faith-align>
I know he's sincere, but the two-magisteria approach is untenable. It
says that there are some subjects where you inquire, examine the
evidence, and weight the arguments, and other subjects where you
surrender your mind to an authority. It says you have to turn off your
judgment, but only on certain questions.
How do you decide when to operate by faith? Do you decide
scientifically, or by faith? If science and reason guide your decision,
there's no reason ever to regard anything as off-limits to critical
examination. But if faith determines when you're allowed to think, then
it can cut anything off from examination.
Worse yet, two different faiths can reach different conclusions, and
since both come from Ultimate Authority, there's no way to decide
between them except by arbitrarily picking one as more Ultimate than the
other. People have killed each other over such differences and still do.
Whoever survives must be favored by God.
You can't set aside an area and say, *this* is off-limits to reason, but
reason is allowed elsewhere. Once you start down that path, how do you stop?
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
Charles Packer
Jun 8, 2021, 4:01:46 AM6/8/21
to
On Mon, 07 Jun 2021 06:10:40 -0700, ele...@optonline.net wrote:
> <https://www.npr.org/2021/06/06/1003231191/the-vaticans-space-
> observatory-wants-to-see-stars-and-faith-align>
I'd like to know where the motivation for having NPR do this
> <https://www.npr.org/2021/06/06/1003231191/the-vaticans-space-
> observatory-wants-to-see-stars-and-faith-align>
feature at this time came from. Did the Vatican reach out to
NPR or the other way around? From Google News it looks like
the observatory sent out a blizzard of news releases in the first
week in April when it launched its website and podcast.
At any rate, it's probably not a coincidence that the report aired
at the same time as the recent news about the US govt UFO report.
Scott Dorsey
Jun 13, 2021, 11:23:48 AM6/13/21
to
Gary McGath <ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com> wrote:
>How do you decide when to operate by faith? Do you decide
>scientifically, or by faith? If science and reason guide your decision,
>there's no reason ever to regard anything as off-limits to critical
>examination. But if faith determines when you're allowed to think, then
>it can cut anything off from examination.
This is not my MOS, but you might consider waylaying Guy at a con and
>How do you decide when to operate by faith? Do you decide
>scientifically, or by faith? If science and reason guide your decision,
>there's no reason ever to regard anything as off-limits to critical
>examination. But if faith determines when you're allowed to think, then
>it can cut anything off from examination.
talking to him about it. I often disagree with him, but his views are very
interesting and they seem to be internally consistent.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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