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I went to a catholic school and we were still taught evolution, the Big Bang theory, etc. Even had compulsory religious education lessons (sane number per week

by jwdunne 12y ago

I went to a catholic school and we were still taught evolution, the Big Bang theory, etc. Even had compulsory religious education lessons (sane number per week as maths, english, science) and accompanying GCSE in Catholic Christianity and we were still taught evolution. Many teachers even said that the Old Testament shouldn't be taken literally! It's quite rare I think and I'm surprised there are schools still teaching it.

vidarh 12y ago
Catholic schools in general are not the problem when it comes to these things. Pope Pius XII made it quite clear in 1950 that evolution is compatible with catholic doctrine, with certain proviso (such as that they don't accept a material basis for the human soul, and the idea that God is "guiding" evolution). Pope John Paul II further strengthened that substantially in the 90's, by reaffirming Pius XII's statement and adding that scientific discoveries in later years have substantially strengthened the theory. This has been supported by a long range of conferences and statements supported by the Catholic church. Including outright dismissal of any scientific basis for intelligent design by the Vatican's chief astronomer.
- PPLwynSPFJ5p 12y ago
  Perhaps the Catholic Church would like to enlighten us evolutionary skeptics as to precisely what scientific discoveries "in later years have substantially strengthened the theory"? Evolutionist are abandoning Darwinian theory in droves (check it out for yourself by googleing the Altenberg 16, or The Third Way, for example) because their bankrupt theory has no explanatory power whatsoever. Then there is also the small problem of the recent discovery of soft tissue, blood cells, collagen, DNA and significant amounts of carbon-14 in dinosaur bones, which proves that they cannot be millions of years old (the discovery was made by an evolutionist by the way, not a Creationist. Most people will be unaware of this discovery, of course, because anything that contradicts the prevailing dogma does not get any media attention, and secularists try very hard to cover it up anyway). You see, when the established church falls into compromise, abandons its belief in the Bible, and sells its own soul to the devil, we should hardly be surprised if our children end up being forcibly indoctrinated by atheists. The Catholic Church (and the Anglicans - who are just as bad in this respect) need to look more closely at what the scientific evidence ACTUALLY says. Most of that evidence is posted on various creationist websites such as Creation Ministries International.com. Just choose your topic of interest and type it into their search box. Your eyes will be opened as to what is actually being withheld from you by the so-called scientific "consensus". God bless.
tehwalrus 12y ago
I was also at a Catholic school, same experience. I would point out that this stuff has only become a problem after Academies and Free Schools were: firstly, allowed to be sponsored/funded by random people and organisations who were allowed to set the "ethos"; and secondly were given license to choose whether or not to teach the National Curriculum[1]. This second point was supposed to be so that English teachers could choose to teach any Shakespeare play to pre-GCSE students, or indeed to substitute in Chaucer or someone else, but seems to have been used to substitute in this creationist nonsense in place of Science. Note that the school in question(in Manchester) also used a textbook that told students that wives were to be subservient to husbands, or something similarly hideous. I don't know, but I believe this ruling is a reaction to news about a very small number of schools (this Christian one in Manchester, and the furore over the Muslim ones in Birmingham.) [1] This is my main objection to such institutions - I'd be happy with a scaled back curriculum for them, but this ruling seems to do the job I wanted (to prohibit unscientific nonsense.) DO NOTE that in particular, Catholic schools like mine do not have this freedom in general, unless they've been given Academy or Free School status - Faith Schools are (AFAIK) orthogonal to these properties.
- tptacek 12y ago
  Same; Catholic school grades 1-12, taught evolution, and not in a "teach the controversy" way.
- PPLwynSPFJ5p 12y ago
  The reason why wives are to submit themselves to their husbands is because the Bible actually SAYS SO - or didn't you read the Bible when you were at Catholic school? (It stems from the fact that Adam was created first, and Eve second.) The fact remains that, if more people actually read their Bible, and used it as their moral compass, our world would not be in the mess it is in today. However, I do agree with you that "scientific nonsense" should not be taught in schools. This should of course include any alleged scientific theory that says that life sprang from nothing (This has never been observed in ANY laboratory anywhere in the world and totally contradicts the known laws of biochemistry), and that 'simple' organisms have changed from one form into another more complex form over time. There is ZERO fossil evidence for this fairy tale (all of the fossil evidence refutes it, and shows that STASIS is the rule [i.e. no change]), and almost any molecular biologist will now tell you that this kind of change is impossible anyway - which is why many of them are now abandoning Darwinism). The fact that you use the term "creationist nonsense" shows that you are either (a) an outright atheist, or (b) have not bothered to study elementary science, much less the Bible, despite your apparent Christian schooling. You are therefore not qualified to make such a comment.
grkvlt 12y ago
Not really surprising that Catholic schools would teach the Big Bang theory. It was first suggested by Monseigneur Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, a Roman Catholic priest and astronomer at a Catholic University in Belguim, who called it the "Hypothesis of the Primeval Atom or the Cosmic Egg" apparently.

by jwdunne 12y ago

vidarh 12y ago

Catholic schools in general are not the problem when it comes to these things. Pope Pius XII made it quite clear in 1950 that evolution is compatible with catholic doctrine, with certain proviso (such as that they don't accept a material basis for the human soul, and the idea that God is "guiding" evolution). Pope John Paul II further strengthened that substantially in the 90's, by reaffirming Pius XII's statement and adding that scientific discoveries in later years have substantially strengthened the theory. This has been supported by a long range of conferences and statements supported by the Catholic church. Including outright dismissal of any scientific basis for intelligent design by the Vatican's chief astronomer.

PPLwynSPFJ5p 12y ago
Perhaps the Catholic Church would like to enlighten us evolutionary skeptics as to precisely what scientific discoveries "in later years have substantially strengthened the theory"? Evolutionist are abandoning Darwinian theory in droves (check it out for yourself by googleing the Altenberg 16, or The Third Way, for example) because their bankrupt theory has no explanatory power whatsoever. Then there is also the small problem of the recent discovery of soft tissue, blood cells, collagen, DNA and significant amounts of carbon-14 in dinosaur bones, which proves that they cannot be millions of years old (the discovery was made by an evolutionist by the way, not a Creationist. Most people will be unaware of this discovery, of course, because anything that contradicts the prevailing dogma does not get any media attention, and secularists try very hard to cover it up anyway). You see, when the established church falls into compromise, abandons its belief in the Bible, and sells its own soul to the devil, we should hardly be surprised if our children end up being forcibly indoctrinated by atheists. The Catholic Church (and the Anglicans - who are just as bad in this respect) need to look more closely at what the scientific evidence ACTUALLY says. Most of that evidence is posted on various creationist websites such as Creation Ministries International.com. Just choose your topic of interest and type it into their search box. Your eyes will be opened as to what is actually being withheld from you by the so-called scientific "consensus". God bless.

tehwalrus 12y ago

I was also at a Catholic school, same experience. I would point out that this stuff has only become a problem after Academies and Free Schools were: firstly, allowed to be sponsored/funded by random people and organisations who were allowed to set the "ethos"; and secondly were given license to choose whether or not to teach the National Curriculum[1]. This second point was supposed to be so that English teachers could choose to teach any Shakespeare play to pre-GCSE students, or indeed to substitute in Chaucer or someone else, but seems to have been used to substitute in this creationist nonsense in place of Science. Note that the school in question(in Manchester) also used a textbook that told students that wives were to be subservient to husbands, or something similarly hideous. I don't know, but I believe this ruling is a reaction to news about a very small number of schools (this Christian one in Manchester, and the furore over the Muslim ones in Birmingham.) [1] This is my main objection to such institutions - I'd be happy with a scaled back curriculum for them, but this ruling seems to do the job I wanted (to prohibit unscientific nonsense.) DO NOTE that in particular, Catholic schools like mine do not have this freedom in general, unless they've been given Academy or Free School status - Faith Schools are (AFAIK) orthogonal to these properties.

tptacek 12y ago
Same; Catholic school grades 1-12, taught evolution, and not in a "teach the controversy" way.
PPLwynSPFJ5p 12y ago
The reason why wives are to submit themselves to their husbands is because the Bible actually SAYS SO - or didn't you read the Bible when you were at Catholic school? (It stems from the fact that Adam was created first, and Eve second.) The fact remains that, if more people actually read their Bible, and used it as their moral compass, our world would not be in the mess it is in today. However, I do agree with you that "scientific nonsense" should not be taught in schools. This should of course include any alleged scientific theory that says that life sprang from nothing (This has never been observed in ANY laboratory anywhere in the world and totally contradicts the known laws of biochemistry), and that 'simple' organisms have changed from one form into another more complex form over time. There is ZERO fossil evidence for this fairy tale (all of the fossil evidence refutes it, and shows that STASIS is the rule [i.e. no change]), and almost any molecular biologist will now tell you that this kind of change is impossible anyway - which is why many of them are now abandoning Darwinism). The fact that you use the term "creationist nonsense" shows that you are either (a) an outright atheist, or (b) have not bothered to study elementary science, much less the Bible, despite your apparent Christian schooling. You are therefore not qualified to make such a comment.

grkvlt 12y ago

Not really surprising that Catholic schools would teach the Big Bang theory. It was first suggested by Monseigneur Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, a Roman Catholic priest and astronomer at a Catholic University in Belguim, who called it the "Hypothesis of the Primeval Atom or the Cosmic Egg" apparently.