Benedict XVI:
The idea of the natural law presupposed a concept of nature in which nature and reason overlap, since nature itself is rational. With the victory of the theory of evolution, this view of nature has capsized: nowadays, we think that nature as such is not rational, even if there is rational behavior in nature.
Explicated a bit, we have this:
For Ratzinger, the same-sex marriage onslaught does not originate in the sexual revolution of the 1960s. It lies deeper in modernity’s rejection of the logos – the meaning of being – in the world, from which morality and the truth about human nature derive. Darwin’s theory of evolution, or at least some readings of it, is a definitive break from the logos of creation. It asserts that our behavior does not follow logically from a created order, which is the essence of the natural law, but is the result of instincts whose origins stem from mere chance. Nature and human instincts are products of random, irrational occurrences, and therefore no universal law, rule, or moral principle can originate from them.
Not real hard to fine Freud and Jung there, either.
Not ALL readings of 'evolution theory' go that far, of course; but separating nature from reason is indefensible.
Yep, WE'RE the irrational ones.
ReplyDeleteWhat, exactly, is irrational about any of this?
ReplyDeleteEvolution - pure evolutionary theory - hinges on the assumption the earth was created out of nothing. In science and math, nothing always begets nothing.
Where did all this come from if not a primary mover (i.e. God)?
"Evolution - pure evolutionary theory - hinges on" absolutely no such thing. It says nothing about about how life arose, but how it progressed.
ReplyDeleteAnd that, Jim, is the problem.
ReplyDeleteThe presumption that "progress" occurs has an underlying assumption that what was before is 'less' than what is now.
Ergo, prior was 'less rational.'
Not so. If creation was rational, then even WITH some evolution--never denied by the Church, by the way--creation remains rational, but different.
Not necessarily "progress", just different.
It says nothing about about how life arose, but how it progressed.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why there's nothing irrational in a religious belief in evolution coupled with Christian, Catholic, theology.