UN leader wants Holy See to lean on scientists. Galileo revisited?
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Apr 30, 2015
Ban Ki-moon told a Vatican conference on climate change: “Together, we must clearly communicate that the science of climate change is deep, sound, and not in doubt.”
So the secretary-general of the UN wants the Holy See to announce that the scientific debate on climate change has been settled.
Since when do religious leaders settle scientific debates? Didn’t we learn our lesson with Galileo?
If your neighbor accepts the phlogiston theory of combustion, do you ask the parish priest to dissuade him? Not likely; you talk to someone who understands science.
Scientific disputes are properly resolved by scientists. When scientists enlist politicians to silence their opponents, that is a betrayal of science. When religious leaders enter the fray, it is a betrayal of faith.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: [email protected] -
May. 03, 2015 2:10 PM ET USA
Be very wary of scientists that enlist politics to settle their "science".That tells you the real agenda of these so called scientists.It is a leftist one world view with a strong smell of eugenics and population control. Many of the "scientists" involved are really more concerned about the population in the world than climate change. Also, how arrogant to think we really can control the climate around the world merely taking out CO2 by way plant life needs and we need the oxygen they produce.
