> "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. "
>
> No disagreement from here, of course. But don't let us kid ourselves that
> these are the most important issues. That they are the ones we all here
> have passion for -- sure -- otherwise we wouldn't BE here. We'd be off
> (maybe) on some other LISTSERV fighting & discussing other issues. Some of
> which ARE more importantthan the ones we discuss here.
The cases I gave earlier (1 of my parishoners, "Heaven's Gate",
the Pope) are not simply isolated instances. Their force is cumulative,
and many more examples could be noted. People who have to make
decisions about bioethical issues - organ transplant, end of life,
genetic counselling &c) are involved with science-technology-theology-
ethics issues, whether they put it in those terms or not. Environmental
concerns are another related area - all this in addition to basic
questions about divine action, evolution, &c.
It's not just "creation & evolution" - though that is important,
& not just for people hung up on YEC stuff. People who know that human
beings have evolved have questions about the implications for
theological anthropology - though again they may not put it in those
terms. When the last find of spectacular cave art was in the news, I
was asked - again, not by a scientist or an anti-evolutionist - in my
congregation about how that fit in with Genesis: Given that humanity
evolved, what was God doing in the 10s of 1000s of years between
emergence of homo sapiens & Abraham?
People are interested & sometimes worried by these matters. We
need to pay attention & be alert to real issues which may lie beneath
the surface of the questions they ask.
George