Putting Joyce to one side, I can't really see how that has anything to do with Catholicism. In the first instance, there is no "system of values" only things o

Putting Joyce to one side, I can't really see how that has anything to do with Catholicism. In the first instance, there is no "system of values" only things of greater or lesser value (the fact-value dichotomy is hopelessly wrong). Second, what exactly is in stark opposition to reality? The whole ground of Catholicism/Christianity vis-a-vis who Jesus is (beginning in the Torah) is that the fall of Man had put men in opposition to reality (rebellion, really) and the ultimate source of reality that is God. Here we have the natural law theory of ethics that explains sin as willed act opposed to the good (and thus the true, and the beautiful) which is known through the nature of things, esp. of Man which is absolutely real. And where science is concerned, how about the Logos [0]? Christianity sees reality as utterly intelligible which gives all science (whether empirical or not) its footing and possibility. Any civilization, culture, or religion that stifles this will never produce a sustainable and flourishing scientific culture (Stanley Jaki develops this point in his books). A timely example is Islam where Allah is understood as arbitrary will and not analogically as primarily intellect. The result is that the world is rendered unintelligible and helps explain why the scientific achievements of the Islamic world were exceptions rather than the rule. Wells was probably mechanistic and scientistic in his outlook but likewise parasitically drew from the (warped) Christian heritage of his culture. [0] https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09328a.htm https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09328a.htm