Not in a John Edwards way though; the guy was alive at the time. I saw this USA Today article a few weeks ago and it gave me a right good laugh. Stephen Hawking recalls a conversation he had with the late Pope; according to Stephen, the Pope had this to say:

"It's OK to study the universe and where it began. But we should not inquire into the beginning itself because that was the moment of creation and the work of God."

I find this funny for several reasons, and it raises some interesting questions. First, had the Pope given up hope that scientists would find evidence for the existence of God? This sounds like a plea for scientists not to shatter his silly delusions. It reminds me of people who refuse to discuss their religious beliefs with an atheist. There are a couple of these ‘finger in ears, LA LA LA LA LA, not listening’ types in my group of friends. My question is: why would you not want to discuss it if you believe it to be true? This says to me that, at some level, you already know it’s bullshit, but avoid thinking about it too much as this childish rubbish makes you feel better. If so, I find this attitude to be absolutely abhorrent. Here’s a quote Carl Sagan used in his book ‘The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark’ (a book that should be required reading for all human children):

“It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money so long as you have got it.”

Edmund Way Teale

I don’t think I agree that it’s morally wrong, but I certainly think it’s infantile and pathetic.

Second, what’s he worried about? Nobody in our increasingly vacuous culture listens to scientists anyway. I would have thought evolution (which, credit to him, JP acknowledged as true) is much more of a hit to religion than the big bang, but it doesn’t seem to have done much harm, despite being supported by mountains upon mountains of evidence. Lots of people still believe that Adam and Eve bullshit though.

Third, who the fuck do you think you are telling scientists what they should and shouldn’t study? You insane, silly hat wearing, sanctimonious twit. And people call atheists and skeptics arrogant; unbelievable. The Pope’s statement is exactly the same as an astrologer telling scientists not to study planetary mechanics because the magic of astrology is at work. Preposterous. Your contention that the universe was created by God is a hypothesis and one that requires some pretty solid evidence before it will be believed by intelligent people. Currently, (like astrology) there is not a single shred of evidence that your God exists. Its existence (also like astrology) defies logic and all the evidence currently available. In a word, you are wrong; God does not exist. Get over it.

In the article, Hawking made a joke about Galileo and the inquisition (he just loves to play up that birthday connection, doesn’t he?) which lead us to another quote from John Paul, regarding his recent pardoning of Galileo:

“…Pope John Paul II issued a declaration saying the church's denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."”

Tragic mutual incomprehension? Wow, what a load of shit, and a fantastic apology considering it was nearly four hundred years in the making. The religious authorities of the time persecuted a guy because he dared to question their (utterly wrong) dogmatic teachings, based on actual evidence he had collected. Where’s the mutual incomprehension? The only incomprehension here is on the part of the religious authorities and their complete incomprehension of reality. This kind of silliness has been happening throughout history. A few examples: first, according to the Bible, the religious argued the earth was flat; wrong. Those passages are now ignored and don’t mean what they used to mean (although there still exists a Flat Earth Society who continue to use the same arguments. No shit). Next, they argued, based on scriptural literalism, that the sun revolves around the earth; wrong. Those passages are now ignored. We’ve also seen the same arguments regarding slavery. Those passages are now ignored. The contemporary example is that of gay marriage. People argue, based on their stupid book, that being gay is wrong, so equal rights should be denied that minority community. No doubt, in time, reality will wash over these morons again and those passages will be ignored also. Why can’t we just skip to the chase and throw the useless book out and be done with it? It would just save us so much time, and the world would be a much better place.