Science vs. Religion

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20 Stories

October 2008
- Organ Donors Breathe Life Into Death Debate
  
  Economist | Oct 5, 08 8:41 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The art of extracting human organs has revived a debate about when a person is actually dead, the Economist reports. Forty years ago, the Catholic Church agreed with scientists that brain dead meant dead. But now that doctors are skirting that rule, harvesting organs from horribly brain-damaged donors who are technically alive, the Church is under pressure to put its foot down. More »
September 2008
- Anglicans Making Nice With Darwin
  
  Guardian (UK) | Sep 15, 08 12:04 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - When Charles Darwin came out with his theory of evolution by natural selection nearly 150 years ago, the Church of England opposed it. But now, 200 years after the celebrated scientist's birth, the church has launched a website exploring its history with Darwin, and the church's head of public affairs has issued a posthumous apology, the Guardian reports. More »
August 2008
- Vatican Debates Paying Tribute to Galileo
  
  Wall Street Journal | Aug 28, 08 12:58 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Galileo Galilei is riling the Catholic church yet again, the Wall Street Journal reports, as an anonymous donor has offered to pay to erect a statue in the Vatican of Catholicism’s most famous heretic. But though the church has come around on science, Galileo remains a touchy subject. He’s “like a Mexican soap opera,” said one Vatican official. “It never ends.” More »
- Greenies Fight Religious Custom in Taiwan
  
  Agence France Presse | Aug 22, 08 6:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Taiwanese environmentalists are working to douse the flames of "Ghost Month," during which Taoists and Buddhists burn ritual paper money to honor ancestors. Setting one ton of money ablaze releases at least an equal amount carbon dioxide, the AFP reports; temples and households can now turn over their money to state incinerators "cleansed" by monks and designed to better handle the exhaust. More »
- Half in US Say God Can Save the Dying
  
  Associated Press | Aug 18, 08 8:43 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Many Americans believe God can intervene to save dying patients, a new survey shows. More than half say that God can revive a family member declared lost by doctors, and nearly 75% agree that patients are justified in seeking extra treatment. "Sensitivity to this belief will promote development of a trusting relationship" between doctors and families, researchers said. More »
June 2008
- Americans See Many Stairways to Heaven: Poll
  
  Dallas Morning News | Jun 23, 08 3:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Reaching the afterlife is possible through more than one religion, 70% of Americans believe, according to a new poll. Surveying 36,000 people, the study confirms that while 92% of Americans believe in God, the country is growing more secular, the Dallas Morning News reports. Seven in 10 also agreed that there were multiple correct interpretations of their faiths. More »
- Teacher Who Branded Students Fired
  
  Associated Press | Jun 21, 08 8:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An Ohio school board has voted unanimously to fire a science teacher who used an electrostatic device to brand 8th-graders with a cross, the AP reports. Science teacher John Freshwater, who says the marks were simply Xs, had been in trouble with the board before for teaching creationism, slamming evolution and other scientific theories, and keeping a Bible on his desk. More »
- Oregon Teen in Faith-Healing Family Dies of Bladder Infection
  
  ABC News | Jun 19, 08 11:23 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A 16-year-old Oregon boy whose family believed that faith can heal has died after refusing medical treatment for pain and shortness of breath, reports ABC News. The state medical examiner said the boy's bladder infection would have been easily treatable and his death was "absolutely a horrible way to die." No charges are likely to be filed. Under state law, anyone over the age of 14 can refuse medical treatment. More »
May 2008
- Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens
  
  Times (UK) | May 14, 08 10:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Believing in God doesn’t mean you can’t believe in aliens, the Vatican’s chief astronomer told L’Osservatore Romano . God may well have created other creatures, including intelligent ones. “We cannot place limits on God’s creative freedom,” he noted. More »
- Einstein Called Faith 'Childish Superstition'
  
  Guardian (UK) | May 13, 08 3:22 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A relatively unknown letter by Albert Einstein, offered at auction Thursday in London, offers new details on the scientist's tangled relationship with religion, the Guardian reports. While believers often consider Einstein a scientist who maintained his religious faith, the 1954 letter calls the Bible "primitive legends," and "the word god … nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness." More »
March 2008
- Gorbachev Admits He's Christian
  
  Daily Telegraph (UK) | Mar 19, 08 9:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Nearly 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union's atheist empire, Mikhail Gorbachev has admitted he is a Christian, reports the Daily Telegraph . On a visit to Italy the last president of the Communist state prayed at the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, and later told priests the saint had played a fundamental role in his life. "St. Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ," said Gorbachev. More »
- Catholic Colleges Brace for Pope's Criticism
  
  Washington Post | Mar 14, 08 12:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI’s April address to top Catholic educators is likely to be a call to observe church teachings more closely, reports the Washington Post. All but 20 of the 235 American Catholic colleges and universities are too freethinking to suit the Vatican, says one expert, and the situation "is something that's been simmering for so long that it's reached a boiling point." More »
- Moses Got High on Mt. Sinai, Study Says
  
  AFP | Mar 4, 08 7:08 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Moses was high on mind-altering drugs when he heard God’s word on Mount Sinai, an Israeli researcher said this week. He contends that hallucinogenics were key to Jewish ceremonies and explain Moses' reception of the Ten Commandments and his vision of the burning bush. Benny Shanon, who teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, admits he's dabbled in such drugs himself. More »
February 2008
- $3.7M Study Questions Origins of Faith
  
  Times (UK) | Feb 20, 08 1:40 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - UK researchers will spend $3.7 million probing whether belief in God is a matter of nature or nurture, the Times of London reports. The University of Oxford crew will examine whether faith in a deity conferred an evolutionary advantage, or might be byproduct of other advantageous human characteristics, such as sociability. More »
- Church Launches 'Sex Challenge'
  
  St. Petersburg Times | Feb 19, 08 7:51 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A Florida church has issued a 30-day "sex challenge" to its members that's likely to be a much bigger hit with those who are married—at least the husbands among them—than the singles, the St. Petersburg Time s reports. The Relevant Church wants married couples to have sex every day for 30 days, and singles to abstain for the entire month. Leaders say this will strengthen marriages, and give unmarried couples the opportunity to discover how well they get along with their clothes on. More »
- Bishop: Heaven a Place on Earth
  
  Time | Feb 9, 08 6:34 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - There is no heaven—or at least not the way most Christians think of it, according to Episcopal Bishop N.T. “Tom” Wright, who lashes out at the common angels-and-clouds view of the afterlife. “That’s a very damaging distortion,” the prominent theologian tells Time magazine. “Never at any point do the Gospels say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven.” More »
- Bishops' Bright Idea: Give Up Carbon for Lent
  
  BBC | Feb 5, 08 12:05 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - For many Christians, Lent is a time to forgo chocolate or ice cream, but two senior British bishops have a better idea: “fasting” away your carbon footprint. “The poor are already suffering the effects of climate change,” says Liverpool’s bishop. “To carry on regardless of their plight is to fly in the face of Christian teaching.” More »
January 2008
- Religious Belief Linked to Loneliness
  
  LiveScience | Jan 24, 08 8:05 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Most people can't stomach loneliness, and they're more prone to believing in the supernatural or creating strong bonds with pets and household objects to compensate, a new study finds. It's a throwback to our ancestors, who relied on group living to survive, LiveScience reports. "Being socially

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Organ Donors Breathe Life Into Death Debate

Anglicans Making Nice With Darwin

Vatican Debates Paying Tribute to Galileo

Greenies Fight Religious Custom in Taiwan

Half in US Say God Can Save the Dying

Americans See Many Stairways to Heaven: Poll

Teacher Who Branded Students Fired

Oregon Teen in Faith-Healing Family Dies of Bladder Infection

Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens

Einstein Called Faith 'Childish Superstition'

Gorbachev Admits He's Christian

Catholic Colleges Brace for Pope's Criticism

Moses Got High on Mt. Sinai, Study Says

$3.7M Study Questions Origins of Faith

Church Launches 'Sex Challenge'

Bishop: Heaven a Place on Earth

Bishops' Bright Idea: Give Up Carbon for Lent

Religious Belief Linked to Loneliness