Not _that_ true. A new member of our congregation approached me
after a sermon in which I had given passing reference to evolution in a
positive way. She is an elderly woman who is intelligent but is not
a scientist. "I was so glad you said that," was her comment. "That
other way never made any sense to me!"
And - the recent "Heaven's Gate" disaster is just 1 example of
intelligent people who deeply want a religion which has some connection
with the scientific picture of the world. The connection they made was
sad & bizarre, but that just means that we have to show people how it
can be done in a better way.
And again - I don't think the Pope would have made his recent
statement on evolution if he didn't think that this was an important
issue for the future of the church.
Science & technology will become more, not less, important. The
faith will seem increasingly irrelevant & obstructunist to
non-believers, & those who grow up in the church & learn about science
will continue to drift away, if we don't address these issues. We may
disagree on _how_ those issues should be addressed, but we are deluding
ourselves if we imagine that they can safely be ignored.
George Murphy