"Et tu, Brute?"

Evolution in the Bible, says Vatican
By Martin Penner November 07, 2005
THE Vatican has issued a stout defence of Charles Darwin, voicing strong criticism of Christian fundamentalists who reject his theory of evolution and interpret the biblical account of creation literally.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly. (does this mean we can all interpret it differently?)
His statement was a clear attack on creationist campaigners in the US, who see evolution and the Genesis account as mutually exclusive.
"The fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim," he said at a Vatican press conference. He said the real message in Genesis was that "the universe didn't make itself and had a creator".
This idea was part of theology, Cardinal Poupard emphasised, while the precise details of how creation and the development of the species came about belonged to a different realm - science. Cardinal Poupard said that it was important for Catholic believers to know how science saw things so as to "understand things better". His statements were interpreted in Italy as a rejection of the "intelligent design" view, which says the universe is so complex that some higher being must have designed every detail.
Although I don’t know this debate in science inside and out, I am not keen to being called small-minded because I believe God created the world. As far as I know, it is still called the theory of evolution, and theories require faith. Is it just me, or does it come across that intelligent people believe evolution is the objective, factual view of things, while ignorant fundamentalists believe in creation without knowing or caring about any other evidence. One blog I read on this stated "just more evidence that the Bible is a farce and that it must've been their God that seriously *** up." This is the saddest thing, to me, about the Vatican's statement is that in their attempt to make the Bible relevant to modern belief systems they make it into just another book that can be edited, & not the inerrant Word of God. Another note is that most of the world relates what the Vatican says to be what all Christians believe. I.D. is an American scientific explaination, so is it America they are wanting to quash? Are they trying to distance themselves from our (America's) culture war until the instatement of Judge Alito is final, and then tuck their tails and come back whimpering that they were wrong? Do they not see what they are doing with their incessant tampering with God's Word? A statement that Itelligent Design and evolution are bedfellows (which is just as stupid)I might have stomached, but to say that evolution is in the Bible and that it is all in how you interpret it, makes me sick.

sidebar:
A CBS News poll in October 2005 found that 51% of Americans polled do not accept Darwin’s theory of evolution and 38% said that creationism instead of evolution should be taught in schools. Another 30% believe that humans evolved but that God “guided the process”. Only 15% believe that humans evolved without the hand of God.