Oh, boy.  Despite the fact that Cardinal Ratzenberger wrote the opinion of John Paul that declares the Theory of Evolution compatible with church doctrine, the Cardinal now turned Pope Benedict is toying with the idea of endorsing Intelligent Design:

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Pope prepares to embrace theory of intelligent design

Philosophers, scientists and other intellectuals close to Pope Benedict will gather at his summer palace outside Rome this week for intensive discussions that could herald a fundamental shift in the Vatican’s view of evolution.

Ethically, this is something of a disappointment.  I had thought at least Pope Benedict would keep this issue off the table.  Mechanically, this should be interesting, because reversing the “infalible word of God” that comes from the previous pope is no easy matter in the Catholic Church.  Believe it or not, the Church has many machinations governing the actions of the pope and lower pontifs which constitute what in other settings might be considered a legal structure.  Anyway, they’re going on a retreat to discuss the issue, and I’ll be anxiously awaiting the outcome.

I’m not a Catholic myself, but I do play in a Catholic church band, and I can’t help thinking that this decision will affect my continued involvement.  Intelligent Design is intellectual poison designed (intelligently, I grant you) to illegitimize hard science and muddy the waters of acedemia, paving the way for theocracy.  It is not a thing I take lightly, nor would I so easily be able to ignore the pope’s collusion with such a thing.

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