Does humanity deserve Corona?

[Belacqua]

I went to Catholic schools.  We were told the creation story but were taught science when it came to evolution.  In the area where I grew up the population was over 90% Catholic but I was seemingly amongst Catholics who understood that some things in the Bible were simply stories.

Don't think all Catholics are what you have pictured.

I would never say that all Catholics are what I have pictured. I am the one saying that Christians are diverse.

I'm glad to hear that your Catholic education didn't argue against proven science.

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The Pope believes in evolution and Ken Ham doesn't. Are you saying that the Pope isn't Christian?

Please present evidence that Christians are not a diverse group.

The pope, the Vatican and most Catholics absofuckinglutely do not believe in evolution!
If evolution is guided by God then it's intelligent design aka, creationism.
That so many people are fooled by that cheap Vatican slight of language is mind bending. But then mebbie not, after all they are Catholics.

When you say that evolution is "guided" you may be thinking of a sort of demiurge who puts in his hand and manipulates which direction things will go. No doubt some Catholics believe in that sort of thing.

If you were to read some theology, especially the Neoplatonic kind, you would see how they explain all things being guided but not in a way that interferes or disrupts the operations of nature. 

Natural selection as described by, say, Ernst Mayr is compatible with several kinds of traditional Christian theology.

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It occurs to me that if someone says Christians aren't diverse, it may say more about the person making the claim than about Christians. It depends on whom you know.

When I started participating on forums like this one, years ago, I also tended to repeat the standard atheist shibboleths. I also thought that Christianity is only following literal Bible reading.

I was fortunate to discuss all this with several intelligent Christians. One was a former economist in the Clinton White House, whose proudest moment was facing down Lawrence Summers on some taxation issue. After Clinton was out he went to teach at an exclusive private school in Switzerland. He accepted all the current scientific consensus. His theology was much closer to that of Tillich, who calls God "ultimate concern." According to him, this was the norm among the members of his church.

Another person I was lucky to encounter was a woman who had an art history degree from a university in Italy (with a specialty in Byzantine workmanship in Venice). She was a retired Episcopalian minister who was the very first female minister in her country. (Not the US.) Her husband was a key contributor to the DSM-IV, and her son was in a famous rock band (not Christian rock). She also had no trouble reconciling her religion with science.

I have no idea about what percentage of Christians agree with them, nor do I care. Their existence shows that Ken Ham is not the only kind of Christian.