Vatican Astronomer Guy Consolmagno likens Creationism to Paganism

See excerpts below. Brother Consolmagno is a scientist and author, and a Jesuit.

The Brother’s essential point is that by embracing the Creation Myth as if it were literal truth, we are treating God as a “Nature God”, which is a Pagan concept. He says religion needs science, in order to keep religion out of the realm of superstition. And science needs religion, to give it a conscience.

It’s an interesting retort to the fundamentalists. I wish I knew enough about theology to know whether the Brother’s opinion carries any water theologically.

Links to more info, so you can come to your own conclusions about the merits of the Brother’s criticism of Creationism

• Brother Guy Consolmagno - Wikipedia
• Paganism - Wikipedia
• Creationism - Wikipedia

Snippets from The Scotsman’s report about the Brother’s comments

Link: Brother Consolmagno says creationism is like Paganism -The Scotsman

…

Brother Consolmagno, who works in a Vatican observatory in Arizona and as curator of the Vatican meteorite collection in Italy, said a “destructive myth” had developed in modern society that religion and science were competing ideologies.

He described creationism, whose supporters want it taught in schools alongside evolution, as a “kind of paganism” because it harked back to the days of “nature gods” who were responsible for natural events.

…

“Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism - it’s turning God into a nature god. And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do.”