Disappointed in Bill Nye

Bill Nye the Science Guy, as he's known, gave a speech to the American Humanist Association. He's a smart guy and had a really good show back in the day. Unfortunately though, he has bought into the false dichotomy between science and religion.

In his speech, he basically says that the humanists have an obligation to teach religious people who do not know about science about it. He wants to spread humanism which is a philosophy that says that the buck stops at humanity, that there is no afterlife, and that ultimately the meaning of life is fulfilling our own desires.

But to propose that science and religion are opposed is complete absurdity, but a good fairy tale to tell people. It's very convenient for groups like this to pit science and religion against each other. But it's really just setting up a straw man, in order to make a point. In other words, they attribute false things to religious people and then argue against these false assumptions.

Religious people do believe in science. Many of the world's greatest scientists believe in God, and I wrote a blog posting about many of these individuals. Bill Nye attacks the book of Genesis, basically asserting that it is not a scientific book. Then he goes on to show how some of the things mentioned in the first book of the Bible do not fit with scientific data. Well, this is a very easy target which he has set up. But Christians do not believe the Bible is a scientific manual. They believe it contains truths which are much deeper than this.

Scientists, including Bill Nye must stop being so childish. It is childish to misrepresent a religion and then offer proofs against this false presentation. Not only that, but to then encourage everyone to fight against these belief systems.

He also mentions evolution. Scientists love the word "evolution", but they push it much farther than the theory allows. It does not explain the origin of life, or the universe. It simply gives a possible system for how certain species evolved the way they have. The Catholic Church at least has made statements that say a person can be Catholic and believe in evolution. Much of the reason is that the Church speaks on faith and morals, not on biology or any science.

I know many very religious people, but none of them are against science. They see the value of science. But they also recognize that science without morality can be very evil. I know many people with advanced degrees, doctors, and other professionals who believe in God. And they see no contradiction in their beliefs.

Another issue that Bill brought up was overpopulation. Of course, he decried it as a major problem in our world. This is the party line for atheism. But overpopulation is not the problem many people think it is. There are dozens of countries which have officially stated that their population growth is far too small and that they want people to have more children. I know of no country which says they have too many people. There is enough food on Earth to feed 14 billion people, currently, yet our population has not reached 7. In fact, many believe we will peak in population around 8 or 9 billion. Something that his not often mentioned is that there are not necessarily being more babies born, just more people are surviving due to good medicine and health. People are living longer with higher qualities of life than before. People generally group together in dense populations. Obviously this whole thing is a canard.

Bill ends his speech by saying that in the entire universe we are rather insignificant, that we amount to nothing. He turns this around at the end by saying we ARE something because of our brains and our ability to reason and so on. While this may sound affirming, I believe it is a very dangerous philosophy. Using this philosophy, we accept people with strong intellects as being valuable, but people with mental disabilities would be less highly regarded. They would simply be weighing down the system. They would then become insignificant like Bill Nye originally said because they would not have the redeeming quality of a good brain. People are then judged and valued based on their utility and not their inherent worth.

Many religions believe people are valuable because of their inherent value given to them by God, not because they are able to think at a certain level or are of value to the world. Using Bill's philosophy, unborn and young children are worthless, as are elderly people with mental issues or mentally disabled individuals at any age. It is a very dangerous philosophy.

I just want to end by saying the Humanist vision of the world offers nothing. It does not seek to give anything, but rather to remove something. It wants to remove God, hope, love, mercy, etc. and replace it with science. Science has its place, but it must be guided.

I believe the following quote sums it up perfectly:

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
- Albert Einstein

Cher's daughter needs help, not "transistion"

Sonny Bono and Cher's daughter Chastity Bono needs medical and psychological help and not a sex change operation. Recently, the famous daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono has said she wants to "transistion" from a female to a male. In today's society, it might seem out of place to criticize this, and we are obliged to see it as a personal "choice", rather than a mistake.

But unless we recognize something as a problem, the people involved will never get the help they need. God does not make mistakes and give a male soul to a female body. The Catholic Church believes homosexual desires can be a burden on some people, but that they must strive to be pure and holy and live a chaste life.

This is what the catechism says on the issue:

Chastity and homosexuality

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,140 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."141 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.


It's sort of ironic that this woman's name is Chastity, since that's exactly what she's called to in life unless she can overcome her same-sex attraction and live out a heterosexual lifestyle.

If a disease or psychological illness is not seen as such, those in a similar situation will never get the help they so desperately need. Many people have overcome their same sex attraction and went on to lead a happy normal life.

There are many psychological issues which make people believe things which are not true concerning their bodies. For example, Body Integrity Identity Disorder is a psychological illness which causes an individual to believe he must remove one of his limbs. It is listed in the DSM-V. It would not be good to advise this person to remove a limb to satisfy their perceived affliction. This would be horrific. Attempting to mutilate oneself in this way is against our nature, but this is just a different kind of mutilation, just as a sex change operation is.

Another psychological illness listed in the DSM-V is Body dymosphic disorder. This illness causes people to imagine there is something in particular wrong with their body when in fact there is no disorder. It causes the individual great distress and psychological trauma. It is distinct from issues such as perceived obesity.

Many people, such as Michael Jackson and Jocelyn Wildenstein have undergone countless plastic surgeries believing they needed to change their bodies. We know the results can be quite unattractive.

What all these things have in common is that just because an individual feels they must fundamentally change their appearance, we mustn't automatically accept this and simply call it a "choice". A sex change operation is no different. There have been people who have believed they were meant to be animals, so they put themselves through countless surgeries to achieve a look like an animal. This of course does not mean God "accidentally" put them in the wrong species. We as humans are rational creatures with a rational soul, and can never be an animal.

The point is, our minds, bodies, sex, and soul are all united and coherent. Any attempt to toy with our nature is immoral and violates our design. We must always strive to become more perfect in our nature, not to deviate from it completely.

In light of the Angels and Demons movie, an interesting article about the Catholic Church and Science

There is a very interesting article published by USA Today. I will post it in its entirety here:

GENEVA (AP) — A senior Vatican delegation visited the world's biggest nuclear physics laboratory, proclaiming that true faith has no problems with science.

The Roman Catholic Church was represented by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, Vatican City's governor, as it toured the CERN facility and its 17-mile proton accelerator this week. It welcomed any breakthroughs physicists could provide on understanding the basis of the universe, and said they would also advance religion.

"The Church never fears the truth of science, because we are convinced that all truth comes from God," Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, Vatican City's governor, said Thursday in Geneva. "Science will help our faith to purify itself. And faith at the same time will be able to broaden the horizons of man, who cannot just enclose himself in the horizons of science."

Lajolo spoke a day after visiting the laboratory beneath the Swiss-French border and receiving a crash course in particle physics from Edward Witten, a professor at the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, at the forefront of attempts to unify Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics.

CERN's atom smasher, the world's largest, is seen as vital in this quest. Physicists hope soon to use the $10 billion machine to smash protons from hydrogen atoms crash into each other at high energy, record what particles are produced and gain a better idea of the makeup of the universe and everything in it.

Damages in the initial start-up last September have set the project back a year and it is expected to be turned on again this autumn. Researchers hope the collisions will show on a tiny scale what happened one-trillionth of a second after the so-called Big Bang, which many scientists theorize was the massive explosion that formed the universe. The theory holds that the universe was rapidly cooling at that stage and matter was changing quickly.

Lajolo said scientific truths could "correct some of our opinions" about scripture and faith. He said nothing in science could contradict the Holy Scriptures — only interpretations — because both were rooted in God.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The full article can be found here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-06-08-vatican-cern_N.htm?csp=34

Can you name an environmental group? How about the Vatican?

When you think environmental activism, the first group you think of is probably not the Vatican and the Catholic Church. However, the Pope and tbhe Vatican have been promoting environmental causes for quite some time. Most recently, the Vatican announced plans to build the world's largest solar plant. A solar plant is a large collection of solar panels to capture energy. This plant will produce enough energy for 40,000 homes. This is simply incredible. For years, the Vatican has been promoting our proper response to the environment. Our Catholic faith teaches us that we are stewards of the environment and that we must protect it.

Some people believe the Vatican is behind the times, but this once again proves the opposite. In promoting renewable energy, the Vatican is sending a message to the world. But why do so many people insist that the Vatican and the Catholic Church are outdated? The reason does not come from the evidence, but rather from peoples' desires to be free from any moral code. But this is shortsighted, because ultimately the Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ almost 2,000 years ago, is looking out for people's best interest.

Right from the start, the Church has told people to be good stewards of the Earth and to protect it. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

Respect for the integrity of creation 2415 The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity.195 Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.196

2416 Animals are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory.197 Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.

2417 God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image.198 Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals is a morally acceptable practice if it remains within reasonable limits and contributes to caring for or saving human lives.

2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.

The Pope has spoken out against pollution, destruction of the environment, and more. Catholic groups such as Development and Peace have been at the forefront of ensuring that water companies do not exploit everyone's God-given rights to clean water.

As you see, protecting the environment is what we are called to do as Catholics.

Patron saint of the Internet? Feast Day is April 4th

The internet was founded a few decades ago in efforts which began in the 50s and culminated in the creation of the world wide web. But did you know there is a Catholic saint who is the patron of the Internet.

He is Isidore of Seville. Although you may never have heard of him, he has actually been very important in the Catholic Church. Isidore died in the 7th century and was the bishop of Seville, in Spain. He was canonized in 1598, and was the twelfth person raised to status of Doctor of the Church, which for him was in 1722. He is not the official patron saint of the Internet, but many consider him as such, and perhaps in the future, he will receive this title officially. He is also the patron of computers.

Isidore is famous for writing Etymologiae. In this encyclopedia, he touches on dozens of topics. There are 21 books which range from law, war, agriculture, grammar, animals, and of course, religion. It was compiled near the end of Isidore's life (he died in 636). In his treatise, Isidore takes information from Christian and pagan writers. One interesting note is that in Etymologiae, Isidore asserts that the Earth is in fact round. Apparently it isn't true that people always thought the Earth was flat.

I know this article is a bit late because Isidore's feast is April 4th, and today is April 5th. Today, say a prayer for this saint and Doctor of the Church.

Science reveals one mother of humanity, calls her Eve

As often happens, science is now coming to understand a truth which has been proclaimed by people of God for centuries. In this case, I refer to new evidence which shows that all humanity came from a single mother. Sound familiar? Of course this single mother is Eve, and even in the scientific community, this discovery is termed "Mitochondrial Eve". After analysing human mitochondria, which is a small part of the cell, scientists found that we all descended from a single female.

There are some misconceptions about Adam and Eve. We have to sift through the myths to find the truth. We do not assert, as Catholics, that the two first humans were actually named Adam and Eve. Adam means earth or ground because we believe God formed Adam from the Earth. Eve means life of living one. Much of the accounts of Adam and Eve use metaphorical language to explain situations. For example, the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not necessarily literal fruit, but rather some form of disobedience.

There are many things though that we are obliged to believe. We must believe that there were two first parents. At first, this might seem hard to accept, but if we think about it a bit, we will find it isn't. First of all, we have certain characteristics that animals do not have, not even a little. We have a rational soul. No animal has a partially rational soul. Therefore, this is infused in our soul and makes us unique. Even if you believe in evolution, it is still possible that there were humanoids but that they did not possess a rational soul, and that God infused a rational soul into the first true man and the first true woman. Now, as this article states, we have evidence that there indeed was, according to science, a single first mother.

Another fact we must accept is that the first couple disobeyed God and were expelled from the Garden of Eden, and through this we inherited original sin. This necessitated Christ's coming and dying for us to bridge the gap between us and Heaven because we cannot get to Heaven alone.

For a much more detailed treatment of the topic of Adam, Eve and Evolution, please see the Catholic Answers Tract here: http://www.catholic.com/library/Adam_Eve_and_Evolution.asp

Earth Hour: a good idea for Catholics?

Earth Hour is designated by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), formerly World Wildlife Fund to reduce consumption of energy. It lets us experience what it is like to reduce our use of energy and see how it affects our lives. It makes us more thankful for the energy we have and the ability to use it. But how does it square with Catholic thinking?

Looking at all the evidence points to the fact that Earth Hour is something Catholics can be proud to participate in, as long as they keep certain things in mind. The Vatican has been at the forefront of promoting conservation and policies which are beneficial to the Earth. It even sponsored an international conference on climate change to address the issues. Pope Benedict XVI has been very active in promoting proper stewardship of the Earth in a way that is sustainable to future generations.

Pope Benedict is especially concerned with how the environment has a major impact on poor countries and people and says that we share in our solidarity with others by helping the environment. The Pontiff said "In dialogue with Christians of various churches, we need to commit ourselves to caring for the created world, without squandering its resources, and sharing them in a cooperative way."

Many monasteries and churches were built on beautiful grounds with lots of nature around. There is a sense of peace that comes from nature. I remember hearing about a monastery that was built on a desolate swamp. Nobody would dare live there because it was so inhospitable. But this did not deter the monks who went there. They spent years working the land and promoting healthy and environmental ways to improve the situation. They were very successful and soon every type of wildlife and plant life was growing and it became a beautiful paradise on Earth.

We should have the same mentality when we approach the environment. We should appreciate God's work in nature and spend time there to be with God. But we should not go too far.We as Catholics understand that the Earth is here for us and that we are the pinnacle of God's creation.

We ought to enjoy and share the nature that God has provided us. We should not feel unworthy to be on this Earth or feel as though we are simply a nuissance or a pest on the Earth. While we treasure the planet, we must remember to keep things in perspective. Every child is a gift, therefore the Earth can never be overpopulated. We thank God for all his gifts, but especially our own lives and the lives of those around us. In the light of this most recent Earth Day, let us thank God for all the gifts he gives us.

Embryonic Stem Cell destruction and Euthanasia: Evil Sisters

A few days ago, United States President Barrack Hussein Obama announced that he would allow public funding to destroy embryos for research. This fruitless research, which has yielded no results, is the last frontier (or perhaps the beginning of the last frontier) for mad scientists bent on breaking all boundaries.

Human life is sacred. This is a truth that has been affirmed by almost all religions, especially those which are more than 100 years old. There are many instances of medical codes which forbid the destruction of human life, including embryos through abortion. Not surprisingly, none of these codes indicate abortion is alright.

An embryo has all the DNA it ever will. To put it crudely, just add water. In other words, with basic nutrition and water, a tiny embryo will grow to be an adult person. All the DNA is present at the moment of conception. We do not say that a small child is not human because it has not fully developed yet. Therefore, there is a beginning, and that beginning is fertilization.

For the sake of convenience, people started having abortions. The convenience came first, the explanations later. Now they have moved into a new frontier. The frontier of harvesting people in order to find cures. During the holocaust, people were used in experiments for the benefit of others. They were put through many tortures in order to ascertain scientific information. But this was morally reprehensible. The same arguments for this could be used to justify embryonic stem cell research. Many say the embryos will be destroyed anyway, so why not use them for something beneficial? Well, these people in the Nazi holocaust were going to be slaughtered anyway, so why not use them to advance scientific knowledge.

Well, that's what Josef Mengele did, who was known as the Angel of Death. He killed many innocent people to conduct his experiments.

Many will not worry that embryos are being sacrificed. They cannot be seen and they dont "look" human. But even if someone is cruel enough to say this, there is another evil sister to this whole mess. When human life is devalued at any stage, it is devalued in all stages. People are now trying to legalize euthanasia, and this is absolutely terrible.

Ask 1000 people this question: There is a man, 32 years old. He says he is in a lot of suffering. He lost his job, his wife left him, his children hate him. He is now homeless and addicted to alcohol. He says he wants to end his life. Would you give him a loaded gun if it was legal? How many would say yes? I would estimate 5 to 10 percent, and that would be a lot.

Now let's say this: A person is terminally ill. Their life is very sad. They can't see an end to their suffering. Their family does not want to take care of them because they are too much of a burden, and they do not feel loved. They would rather not live. They say you have no right to tell them they cannot die as they please. They ask for help in ending their own life. Would you help them or deny them their request? In a recent poll, 80% of Canadians said they would help in a situation similar to this one. That's shocking! These are the same situations. They just have slightly different circumstances.

Nobody is born with a desire to kill themselves. This develops because of things that happen to them throughout their lives. But when we stop valuing life, we start looking at life in a utilitarian way. We start to ask about people's utility, and not their worth as human beings. We start to ask what they can do for us. We become like animals or robots.

We must all try to elevate our being upward, not toward animal behavior. We must truly become more human. Jesus Christ is the only way to get there.

July 23, 2008: The slaughter of children made easier in Canada

Another defeat was made today for the lives of countless thousands. Canada, a bastion of pre-born murder, has made access to the early-stages abortion pill even easier. The pill I am referring to is Levonorgestrel, marketed as Plan B, and colloquially known as the "morning-after pill". This pill causes the woman's body to produce a high level of hormones which prevents implantation of a fertilized egg.

It is important to remember that the egg is already fertilized, a person has been conceived. A living person will be murdered with this pill, yet people call it the morning-after pill. First of all, what does this mean, the morning after what exactly? Obviously, this refers to the morning after "unprotected" sex. Perhaps it refers to a morning after a one-night stand, or a fling, or possibly a "committed" relationship. But the only thing this relationship is committed to is the image of the two partners, and nothing, not even the life of another human being, trumps that commitment.

The decision by Canadian "courts" is devastating. The holocaust of innocent children will continue to expand. Thousands will die. One of the sadest things is that this "product" is being marketed as a form of birth control. It should be considered abortion at least. People who are not aware of what they are doing could be unknowingly killing their very own child, and for what? Convenience?

People may not care about unborn children, but how we treat them indicates how we feel about everyone else. We should care for them the most because they are innocent. If we do not care for the most vulnerable in our society, who will we care for? Every day, that question is being asked, because every day, our culture of death finds new victims. First it is the unborn, then it is the unable, then it is the undesired. We are living in a society where your value as a human person is determined by how everyone else feels about you. This is truly a sad situation.

Let us pray for Canada that it may protect its most vulnerable, that it stands on guard for its citizens. Young and old, weak and strong, rich or poor.

Don't get your religion from scientists

Some letters from Einstein were sold recently at an auction. In these letters, Einstein criticizes Jewish and Christian religion, peppering his letter with comments about superstition, etc. This was publicized in the news.

We shouldn't listen to scientists when it comes to religion. It doesn't make sense. Scientists think in terms of science. They use physical evidence to prove something. Each scientist has a particular field, some are chemists, some are biologists, some computer scientists. They have a particular area in which they feel comfortable.

A computer scientist could not be a biologist because their way of thinking is too different. A computer scientist thinks in terms of wires and electrons and commands, whereas a biologist thinks about animals, cells, organs, behavior, and things of that sort. A biologist might be able to understand medicine better than electricity.

In the same way, scientists in general behave a certain way and shouldn't be trusted to understand religion or theology or God very deeply. It is simply a different skill set. You can't pull out your calculator and calculate how large God is. But for certain scientists, especially ones like Albert Einstein, who really excelled in certain areas, they are good at certain things and not as good at others.

Einstein was good with a calculator, but he may not have been too good at sports. Therefore, he would end up on the basketball court trying to calculate trajectory, while the other players were scoring baskets. The same goes for religion. Einstein was not predisposed to understand religion and God. However, it is important to note that Einstein was certainly a theist, which is important to remember.

I think the confusion of this comes from the fact that some people think that religion is something anyone is entitled to just invent as they see fit. This is simply not true. Originally theology was considered the highest form of education, and things like literature, science, and law were considered inferior. The most advanced degrees, which took the longest to acquire, were religious ones. Philosophers of a bygone era were much more revered than any other field. That's because there is a right and there is a wrong. The job of theologians is to find out the truth, and there's nothing more important!

The Chief Exorcist of Rome Tells his Story in a Great Book

I am currently reading a book called “An exorcist tells his story” by Father Gabriele Amorth. The Introduction for the English version is written by Fr. Benedict Groschel, who is a famous priest and psychologist from New York, NY.

The book gives information on the work of exorcists. I have not yet read the entire book, but so far it is very fascinating. In it, Fr. Amorth says that more dioceses need an exorcist, and that their role has not been given the careful attention it deserves. Amorth goes deeply into the subject of exorcism, and the nature of demonic influences, which go beyond famously portrayed possessions. The Devil can influence and cause suffering to victims in various ways, such as causing scary things to happen around the person, while not actually possessing the person.

Some of the most interesting points in the book so far are that during things such as séances, any voices that people hear are not from the dead, but from demons. People are either in heaven, hell or Purgatory, and do not walk the Earth as spirits. Another interesting subject is how to tell if something is demonic and whether it is from God. Sometimes people are given special abilities, such as being able to speak in other languages, knowing information which is hidden, etc. Fr. Amorth gives ways to determine the source of various seemingly inexplicable phenomena. One indication is the effect a supernatural ability has on a person. If the ability has beneficial effect, such as giving the person greater humility, peace, joy, and comfort, it is usually from God, but if it makes the person more selfish, arrogant, or proud, or gives them a great fear of death where there was none before, it is quite possible this influence is from the Devil.

This book counters the popular belief that all things can be explained by science, such as psychology. The author acknowledges the beneficial role that science plays in society and points out that the Church recognizes the validity of science. However, he cautions that it is unwise to put all belief in it. Many times a person that could not be helped by psychology and psychiatry finds healing in exorcism. No one knows this better than Fr. Amorth, who is the chief exorcist of Rome, and the author of this book. Fr. Amorth makes a great point - that exorcisms can only be beneficial. Even if someone is not possessed or oppressed by Satan or demons in any way, an exorcism can do nothing but help, and will even help those who are not afflicted.

This book contains valuable information which is fascinating to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. It is written in an easy-to-read style and appeals to a general audience. To find out more about this book, or to order it from Ignatius Press (the Publisher), please click here.

Stigmata: A Sign from God

Stigmata, also known as Mystical Stigmata, is from the word used in the Latin Vulgate Bible, meaning marks, such as was described by St. Paul in his letters to the Galatians when he said, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." Starting with the most well-known example of St. Francis of Assisi, there have been hundreds of Stigmatics, almost all of whom were pious Catholics.

Stigmata is a state in which a person receives wounds corresponding to those which Christ suffered during his torture and execution in Nazareth. Stigmata can be had in various ways, which represent any combination of the wounds of our Lord. Some receive bleeding wounds on the hands, some on their feet, some on their side (representing where Christ was pierced by the sword), others on their shoulder, representing the mark of soreness Jesus received while carrying the cross. Some may also receive stigmata corresponding to Jesus' Crown of Thorns.

Within Stigmata, there are two important kinds: visible and invisible. Visible stigmata is stigmata which is present and can be seen in the form of wounds. Invisible stigmata is stigmata which does not show physical signs, but gives the pain and suffering associated with Christ's afflictions. Visible stigmata is pretty much always combined with invisible stigmata in this regard.

There have been many hundreds of cases of stigmata, mostly involving women. Many who experience these are devout Catholics, and indeed saints on Earth. The wounds of those who receive Stigmata are clearly visible, and continue to bleed without healing. Sometimes, they just mysteriously vanish, only to possibly reappear later. Everyone, even skeptics, agree that stigmata exists.

As an added sign that this is from God, often the odour produced from the wounds of the stigmatics do not reek of a bad odour, as unhealing wounds might, but rather emit a very pleasant odour, such as that of a rose or other flower.

Stigmatics are known to be very shy and try often to conceal their miraculous sign. These are almost always very pious people who seek to love and serve God, and wish to proclaim God's greatness, and in humility would rather stay in the background. However, these people are miraculous signs to all of us that God interacts in a special way with mankind, and gives us miraculous signs so we know he is close.

The God of Reason

Christians, and particularly Catholics, believe in a God of reason, as opposed to a God of pure will without reason. We are to submit ourselves to God's will, but his will and reason are perfectly aligned. This doctrine is very beneficial to our religion as a whole, because it allows for thing such as justice and peace on Earth. In this short essay, I will briefly describe why this is the case.

As Catholics, we believe there are two sources of information from which a person can live his life. The first is natural law, or reason, which is within all people. The other is revealed truth, which is truth given to us by God, in various forms, including the Bible, the Church, the teachers of the church or Magisterium, which includes the Pope, Bishops, etc., as well as information obtained from ecumenical councils, and similar meetings.

Revealed truths cannot necessarily be ascertained through reason alone. It is important to understand also that revealed truth does not contradict reason, for they both contain truth.

Believing God to be the God of reason is important in how we live our lives. Believing that we can know things through our own minds is very important. This allows us to explore nature and discover scientific information and come to conclusions about nature. It allows us to know whether something is just or unjust, as well as how to treat one another. Many horrible things have been done in the name of religion, and sometimes these things have been done by people who have rejected reason. They do things in the "name of religion", as if religion was commanding them to behave in a certain way, despite how they personally felt about it. They may say they were opposed to it personally, but had to become somehow God had commanded them to do this. This is sort of like suicide bombers. Obviously, it goes against reason to be a suicide bomber for two reasons. First of all, we should not desire to kill ourselves, and secondly because we should not desire to kill others, especially innocent people. Reason would caution us against doing such a thing, whereas someone might look in the Bible or other holy book and based on their own personal interpretation think that God requires this action from us, even though it makes no moral sense. God is ultimately just, and would not want us to commit an unjust and immoral act, such as killing innocent people.

As an example of the negative impact of denying reason, we can look to Muslim Extremists, who promote such things as suicide bombings, etc. They reject reason, saying the only thing they can really know is God's pure will, which they say is impossible to understand, therefore should not be questioned at all or even understood. This position can lead to some very dangerous acts. People stop questioning whether something is right or wrong and instead rely on others to tell them what to do. They blindly commit crimes against humanity, without listening to their own reason. This point of view has lead to many problems, especially in the Muslim world. Around a thousand years ago, the Muslim world was flourishing with many discovers in science, the arts, mathematics, and other areas. This was possible because God was viewed as the essence of reason, and it was believed that humanity could possess reason as well. This knew that humans could know things such as science, math, arts, etc. In fact, Muslims, in many ways, especially the sciences were more advanced than Christianity. St. Mark's Cathedral was constructed mostly by Muslims nearly 1,000 years ago in Venice. I will discuss this in another blog posting.

This opinion and way of life however was conquered by Muslims who felt that we as humans could know nothing except the will of God, which might seem pleasant or scary for humans, but which only made sense to God. By abandoning reason, they essentially abandoned God's gift of understanding and violence took over.

Many evils in the world could be prevented if people used the reason God gave them. Deep down, I believe everyone knows that killing unborn children is wrong, for example. I will discuss this topic further in another blog, but I think people have abandoned their reason on this topic, and their own human ability to understand good from evil. We must all be careful to use reason when making decisions. Pray that God may impart true reason and love into our minds and hearts so that we may always do what the God of Reason and Loves wants of us.

Eucharistic Miracles in the Roman Catholic Church involving the Most Sacred Body and Blood of Christ

Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, innumerable miracles have occurred. Although there are hundreds of officially recognized miracles, these represent but a small percentage of the many thousands, even millions which have occurred throughout the Church's 2000 year history. Today, I will examine one of these miracles, the amazing Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano.

The miracle happened in the city of Lanciano, Italy around the year 700. A priest there had trouble understanding the doctrine of transubstantiation, which was believed since the time of Christ and recognized by the Church, but not given its technical name until the 1200s. As he said the words of the consecration (this is my Body, this is my Blood), the bread and wine physically changed into live flesh and live blood. The blood formed into 5 groupings. The priest went into an ecstatic state, and after some time, said to the congregation there, "Behold the Flesh and the blood of our Most Beloved Christ." Upon saying this, the congregation ran to the altar, began to cry and beg for mercy from Jesus Christ.

Although this happened about 1300 years ago, the blood and flesh remain to this day in a church in Lanciano, Italy, and has been thoroughly observed and scientifically examined by top scientists. In 1971, Professor Odoardo Linoli, eminent Professor in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy, and Professor Ruggero Bertelli of the University of Siena conducted scientific studies on the blood and flesh. All scientists who have studied this miracle have come to the same unbelivable and miraculous conclusions (from Wikipedia):

• The Flesh of the miracle is real Flesh and the Blood is real Blood.
  
• The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human species.
  
• The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart, which would be impossible to obtain through dissection.
  
• In the Flesh we see present in section: the myocardium, the endocardium, the vagus nerve and also the left ventricle of the heart for the large thickness of the myocardium. The Flesh is a heart complete in its essential structure.
  
• The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood type, AB, which is also the same blood type found on the Shroud of Turin and all other Eucharistic Miracles.
  
• In the Blood there were found proteins in the same normal proportions (percentage-wise) as are found in the sero-proteic make-up of the fresh normal blood.
  
• In the Blood there were also found these minerals: chlorides, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium.
  
• There is no trace whatsoever of any materials or agents used to preserve the Flesh or Blood.
  

This is but one of the millions of miracles which have happened through the grace of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. Hopefully, I will continue to add more of these amazing miracles in the days, weeks, and months to come.

Evolution and the Catholic Church

One of the main issues non-religious people have with religion has to do with their perceived conflict between religion and science. This may come from non-believers or people who hold non-Christian views. Of the topics related to science and religion, the top one would be the subject of evolution.

Evoluation is a concept which was most fully developed in the writings of Charles Darwin. It concerns species' adaptation to their environments in various ways. I will not go into the subject very deeply here, because I am not a scientist. One thing I think everyone should keep in mind is that this is the "theory" of evolution, not the law of evolution, therefore, assuming science itself knows what it is talking about, they do not consider this a law, they consider it a theory.

I find people put more trust in science than science puts in itself. Science is constantly changing and theories are constantly evolving (excuse the pun). Scientists of old were convinced the Earth was flat, and that some insects came from mud or from nothing. These theories were widely accepted. Most people nowadays who are adherents of the theory of evolution have not done any firsthand experiments to determine its validity, yet would not hestitate to accuse someone of just blindly following a belief, even though they are doing this very thing. Many scientists are questioning the theory of evolution in its present form. No one disagrees that animals evolve in order to adapt to their environment and people are not denying the existence of dinosaurs and animals that have gone extinct, etc. But scientists are re-evaluating long-held beliefs about evolution. One thing which comes to mind is the missing link. Some evolutionists hold that human beings evolved from apes. This is a theory. Yet there are significant problems with this theory, especially concerning the missing link. Scientists so far have been unable to find a link between humans and monkeys, the gap is simply too wide. These are evolutionary scientists who are experts in this area, and even they are questioning many of its tenets.

I would now like to explain the position of the Catholic Church with regards to evolution. The most important thing about anything related to the Christian faith is that the Catholic Church does not teach science. The job of the church is not to make pronouncements concerning science. For that matter, it does not make pronouncements on literature, arts, math, or sports for that matter either. The Church's function is to be a guide for faith and morals. Therefore, the Catholic Church does not accept any scientific theory, including that of evolution. Catholics are free to believe in any theory of evolution they feel is most plausible. If people want to believe that God directly created Adam and Eve and from there all humans came into existence, they are free to do so. People are also free to believe that human beings evolved from animals if they would like. Catholics can believe the Earth is 6,000 years old or so, or they can believe it is billions of years old. The Church simply does not make any specific pronouncements in these areas.

Having said this, the Catholic Church of course makes statements about morality and faith that Catholics in full communion with the Catholic Church are obliged to follow. The first is that there were two first human beings. This means that there were two first people, a man and a woman who were the first to have a human soul. Perhaps God created them on the spot, perhaps they came from an evolutionary chain, but they were the first with human rational souls. We are, as Catholics, obliged to believe that these two original human beings sinned against God in some way. The most accepted theory in theological circles is that the sin of Adam and Eve was pride. They were proud because they wanted to be equal with God, they did not wish to serve him. This is a problem which we continue to see in our world. Some people reject God, and by doing so, reject humanity. They become self-absorbed and proud, only concerned for themselves. It was the sin of Adam and Eve, our first parents, which sent them from a land of complete obedience to God, to one where they were infected by pride, pride in themselves.

Do not be stuck on the names Adam and Eve, either. The purpose of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, is not to be an historical record of what happened during the creation of the world. Again, this is an area the Church does not teach in. “Adam” and “Eve” simply mean first man and first woman. These are not necessarily the given names of Adam and Eve.

The Catholic Church is in no way in contention with the findings of science, and in fact welcomes them, knowing full well that “truth cannot contradict truth”. John Paul II speaks about evolution by saying: “Today, almost half a century after the publication of the encyclical [referring to an encyclical by Pope Pius XII on evolution], new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis.”

Pope Benedict XVI shows that evolution and God are two aspects of the same thing: “In freely willing to create and conserve the universe, God wills to activate and to sustain in act all those secondary causes whose activity contributes to the unfolding of the natural order which he intends to produce. Through the activity of natural causes, God causes to arise those conditions required for the emergence and support of living organisms, and, furthermore, for their reproduction and differentiation.”

In conclusion, I would like to say that those who accept evolution are not at odds with the Catholic Church, but they should not rely too heavily on this theory. Remember, the Church teaches faith and morals, not science.