Today's Fresh Blogs...

• I don't always agree with the pope, but in this case, God bless him

  Published: August 2, 2007, 9:33 am

  Tags: Catholics, News From Afar, Science Faith

  evolution could coexist with faith. He added, however, that theory of evolution could not exclude a role by God. They are presented as alternatives that exclude each other, the pope said. This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and

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• Scientists say (again) that abstinence-only sex ed doesn't seem to work

  Published: August 2, 2007, 8:05 pm

  Tags: Science Faith

  The latest issue of the British Medical Journal has a paper by three researchers from the Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention at the University of Oxford. A nugget: The search identified 13 trials enrolling about 15,940 US youths. All outcomes were self reported. Compared with various controls, no programme affected incidence of unprotected

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• Study of doctors finds no link between faith and charity

  Published: August 3, 2007, 4:00 pm

  Tags: Around America, Ethics, Science Faith

  Robert Mitchum of the Chicago Tribune reports on a study which found that religious doctors are more likely to consider their profession a "calling," but no more likely to be working to help the poor. The study found that 31 percent of doctors who described themselves as religious reported serving primarily poor or uninsured communities, compared

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• Richard Dawkins has New Age gurus in his sights

  Published: August 12, 2007, 11:24 am

  Tags: Arts Media, News From Afar, Science Faith

  aim at New Age therapists -- faith healers, psychics, astrologers, Tarot card readers and others -- saying they're nothing but money-grabbing frauds. Dawkins, author of the best-seller The God Delusion, examines the New Age guru industry in a special being made for British television.

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• Intelligence, design, and Baylor

  Published: September 4, 2007, 7:55 pm

  Tags: Baptists, Culture Wars, Science Faith

  From the Chronicle of Higher Education: Another controversy over the study of intelligent design is brewing at Baylor University. Officials at the institution, in Waco, Tex., have removed from the university's Web site a personal Web page created by Robert J. Marks II, a professor of engineering, that outlined his work in an "evolutionary

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• This might explain the success of the Creation Museum

  Published: September 6, 2007, 1:48 pm

  Tags: Around America, Ethics, Science Faith

  The Washington Post reports on research about the persistence of myths. The research suggests that the more a myth is discussed -- even if the discussion is to point out that the myth is baloney -- the more likely people are to remember it and believe that it's true. The case in point dealt with a brochure put out by the federal Centers for

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• Religion Sneak Peek -- thoughts about medical ethics

  Published: September 7, 2007, 12:00 pm

  Tags: Religion Sneak Peek, Science Faith

  just about the confluence of science and faith/ethics in research. I have four new papers sitting on my desk from four different journals. All of them are about various aspects of science and faith/ethics. I'll pick an ethical question from the British Medical Journal. Here's the headline: Should terminally ill patients have the right to take

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• Simon says -- you're a Democrat?

  Published: September 9, 2007, 3:05 pm

  Tags: Science Faith

  latest issue of Nature Neuroscience. Basically, scientists had 43 people play a computer game very much like Simon Says. In this case, a letter was flashed on the screen very quickly and the "player" had to decide instantly whether or not to push a button in response. If the letter was an M (as it was 80% of the time) push the button. if the

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• Vatican says IV and tube feeding are required -- mostly

  Published: September 14, 2007, 7:07 pm

  Tags: Catholics, Ethics, Science Faith

  for the Doctrine of the Faith has reaffirmed the Catholic Church's teaching on providing nutrition and hydration to patients in a persistent vegetative state. The bishops presented two questions in a formal manner, known as a dubium, to the Congregation. The reply was approved by Pope Benedict XVI. The responses reaffirm the

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• Benedict makes plea for ozone protection

  Published: September 17, 2007, 10:08 am

  Tags: Catholics, Science Faith

  16, 1987. Addressing the faithful gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for the praying of the Angelus, the Holy Father spoke about the anniversary of the document on "the substances that deplete the ozone layer, causing grave damage for human beings and the ecosystem." He said: "In the last two decades,

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• Job's maladies diagnosed by doctors

  Published: September 21, 2007, 9:00 am

  Tags: Science Faith

  To which I respond; Oh, really? Check it out: Researchers have discovered the genetic cause of a medical condition thought to be suffered by Job, a prominent biblical figure who was afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. The genetic origins of this disease have been a mystery since it was first

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• Evolved to cut and run?

  Published: September 26, 2007, 11:11 am

  Tags: Science Faith

  in the journal Psychological Science. A couple of Canadian researchers followed 90 teenage girls for a year. Measured their ability to "disengage' when confronted by a particularly tough task. Then measured something called C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation found in the blood. High CRP is tied to all kinds of unpleasant

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• Critters and faith -- Humane Society rolls out a new campaign at RNA

  Published: September 28, 2007, 11:06 am

  Tags: Ethics, Science Faith

  is Food, Farming and Faith, which promotes an understanding of sacred food in various religious traditions and encourages their support of agricultural practices that are sustainable and reduce animal suffering. The initiative's official website is about to get a makeover, according to the HSUS folks here in San Antonio. At the moment

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• Study: Legal assisted suicide doesn't push up deaths in vulnerable groups

  Published: October 2, 2007, 11:57 am

  Tags: Ethics, Science Faith

  nugget from Science Daily: Contrary to arguments by critics, a University of Utah-led study found that legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Oregon and the Netherlands did not result in a disproportionate number of deaths among the elderly, poor, women, minorities, uninsured, minors, chronically ill, less educated or psychiatric patients.

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• First artificial life form about to be announced?

  Published: October 6, 2007, 6:39 pm

  Tags: Ethics, Science Faith

  Reported by Ed Pilkington in The Guardian. Here's the top: Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth. The announcement, which is expected

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