I find odd symbolism in today’s announcement that Pope John Ratzenberger will resign at the end of the month, the first Pope in 600 years to do so.
I find it symbolic of something I’ve been thinking for a while as I watch guys like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Stephen Hawking and Carl “Thor” Sagan*. Hawking, in fact, tells a story in which he and other scientists once met with the Pope, I don’t remember if it was this fella or John Paul Jones. The Pope told the scientists that the church certainly didn’t have any problem with science exploring the universe and where it began, but would rather they not speculate about the exact moment of creation because that was the work of God.
Tyson points out that for many explorers, even the great Isaac Newton, there comes a place where the scientist gets cut off from successful scientific explanation. At this point, he notes, the scientist always shrugs and says, oh well, must be God.
My favorite thing though about science is that it will defeat political might every time, whether that political might comes from a hapless President outright banning an arm of research, or a Pope chaining a people to the notion that everything in the universe revolves around the Earth. Science always prevails.
I like that.
*I have decided that “Carl” is too common a name for Mr. Sagan and am petitioning to have him renamed as “Thor.” Yes, I know, naming him after an ancient pagan god might be a litle weird. But the man wielded a considerable hammer.
In Other News
8 GIFs Of Bill Cosby Dancing. You’re welcome.
Dear The Huffington Post: You are the worst headline writers in the known universe. “The Holy See Ya Later?” Who’s on your editorial staff, Mel Brooks?
Drat. No “Smash” this week. And it really is Obama’s fault.
- “Arrested Development” is George Sr.’s death row fantasy (Slacktory)
- Don’t Hate the Franzia: A Case for Boxed and Blended Wines (The Atlantic)
- Elton John Recorded With Queens of the Stone Age for New LP (Rolling Stone)