Why I Read Science Magazines

I'm a big fan of Popular Science, Discover, and Scientific American. Science, in its true sense as the study of the way things work, has always fascinated me, plus I'm one of those guys who loves gadgets but can't afford them, so looking at pictures of neat stuff with lots of buttons is fun too.

Yet science mags are routinely houses of liberalism and at times an almost rabid anti-religion sentiment. I'm sure most would state they have no gripe with faith, but that they focus on what can be proven through scientific method.

And yet one can't but help wince at some of the cheap shots they fire across the bow of the good ship Catholic. I just picked up the Sept 05 issue of Discover, and on the cover they advsertise an article on "Sir Richard Dawkins: Darwin's Rottweiler."

[For extra credit, who else has been described as being somebody else's Rottweiler?]

He's described as "an unabashed athiest," having "taken on creationism" and ripping "the notion of intelligent design." Of course, there are the expected jabs at "the faith-based political philosphy of George W. Bush." He was solicited by the left-leaning British magazine The Guardian to write an open letter to Ohio voters for the last election, calling Bush an "idiot" as well as "sly, mendacious, and vindictive." When Ohio voters rejected his advice and voted for Bush in greater numbers than they had in 2000, he described their response as "the most vitriolic, vicious, obscene outpouting of sheer naked hatred that I've ever seen." Then Discover goes on to call Dawkins "one of the world's great voices of reason."

Sounds like a reasonable chap to me.

Not that I subscribe to the 5000 year old Earth idea. I have heard the story of creation in Genesis described as a poem on creation, and it cannot be taken literally.

What I do believe is that God created Adam and Eve, and that he created them for perfect union with him. We don't know how long they were in the Garden of Eden (maybe a few billion years?) before rejecting him. Only through the redemptive work of Christ can we rediscover that perfect union with our creator. Only through eating his body and blood can we fully experience the redemptive work of Christ. Only through the Roman Catholic Church can we partake of that literal meal.

I don't know, and don't really care, if how God created us was by coaxing a random fish out of the pond, or if he literally pluncked a glob of clay on a wheel and spun it. If galaxies swirl because God stirred them, or because of overabundant dark matter throwing off their center of gravity, it doesn't really affect me. All I know is that God created me, loves me and redeemed me because he wanted me at his side. The rest is moot.

So why do I routinely read magazines whose core philosophies try to dissolve the rock on which I stand? Because they do have some gems of insight into real science which I truly appreciate. And I can ignore the ideology.