More than a year ago, the NASA Astrobiology Program gave a $1.108 million grant to the Center for Theological Inquiry. And if that doesn’t make any sense to you, you’re not alone. The project is intended to refresh and expand scholarly and public dialogue on this subject, which is of growing interest due to the discovery of thousands of extrasolar planets and the ongoing search for potentially habitable environments in our solar system and beyond. With this $1.108 million grant, CTI will oversee a resident team of visiting scholars in theology, the humanities, and social sciences that will conduct aninterdisciplinary inquiry on the societal implications of astrobiology, the study of the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This inquiry will extend over two academic years from 2015 to 2017… … Announcing the NASA grant, CTI’s director William Storrar said, “The aim of this inquiry is to foster theology’s dialogue with astrobiology on its societal implications, enriched by the contribution of scholars in the humanities and social sciences. We are grateful to the NASA Astrobiology Program for making this pioneering conversation possible.” To put that another way, NASA made a million-dollar donation to a religious group so that it could study how the discovery of extraterrestrial life would impact Christianity. Why is NASA funding any sort of dialogue about the intersection of science and religion? That’s what Jerry Coyne, who noticed the grant, wanted to know earlier this week. And that’s what the Freedom From Religion Foundation is now exploring: “The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits any ‘sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement of the sovereign in religious activity,'” FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel writes to NASA officials. “Specifically, the government may not fund religious projects, as various courts have ruled over the years.” Then there is the issue of use and misuse of scarce taxpayer dollars. The utilization of a significant amount of tax money to determine how theology — by definition a faith-based belief system — might respond to speculative future scientific discoveries is wasteful for two reasons. First, religion deals in matters of faith, not fact, and faith-based arguments inevitably boil down to arguments that cannot be settled by appeal to empirical evidence. Second, history shows that religion does one of two things when presented with scientific discovery: denial or incorporation of the fact as “evidence” or “proof.” There’s still a year left in the grant and FFRF is asking NASA to refrain from throwing any more money toward the project. FFRF also points out that the John Templeton Foundation, which is known for funding projects that promote an overlap between religion and science much to the ire of many high-profile atheists, is co-sponsoringthis project: If the Templeton Foundation wishes to fund religious research, it can use its $3 billion to do so… the U.S. government may not. FFRF has also filed a FOIA request to learn more about NASA’s grant. If all of this checks out, it would be a remarkable waste of money for an organization that’s already underfunded. It’s much harder to make that case that NASA needs a greater slice of our federal budget when it’s spending that money on something that wouldn’t advance our knowledge in any meaningful way. As of this writing, NASA hasn’t responded to FFRF’s letter. But we’ll follow up if and when they do. Source: http://www.patheos.com/
15 Comments
Biblical creation and science can never be integrated because they are totally opposite. The universe that God made is very different from the universe that science created. The only question is: Which world do we live on? You can start your search here ItsHisStory.com/globe
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Richard
6/13/2016 09:04:17 am
So you never read Slave Species of the Gods and can't actually see the "big" picture????????Closed minded folks will never get reality
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Bill Sundling
6/13/2016 09:44:45 am
It's funny how those who refuse to honestly examine the truths of Christianity will call others closed-minded. We can know Christianity is real in a number of ways: the fulfilled prophesies of the Bible; the life, death, and resurrection of Christ as told by those who were eyewitnesses or talked to eyewitnesses: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, and Jude. And most definitely by the changed hearts and changed lives of Believers. Many of us have felt God's voice in our minds during prayer that answered what we were praying about.
Wife & I
6/13/2016 09:52:51 pm
What do you mean 'big picture' Richard? Is it the creation? Or is it about the Creator?! Do you find real science is repulsive? Reason I mentioned real science is there a truly simple cell? What's dna? is dna information? why are things so bad in the world today? I know a real smart Being, He says all of His Creation got on a going south path back in a Garden. Before SIN all of Creation was is sweet harmony - Just as the earthly deluge of the fountains of the deep bursting open by a huge meteorite ...
Btruth
6/13/2016 11:02:41 am
You're well meaning brother, but dead wrong. All of science has been created off of OBSERVING God's creation. The Bible and science go hand in hand! You need to do more research and pray for wisdom, knowledge and understanding. God bless you greatly. Shalom
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John, not so... Biblical creation and Science (not macro evolution theory) are completely compatible if:
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Shinmen Takezo
6/13/2016 07:57:27 am
This is not the only study that governments have conducted.
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Bill Sundling
6/13/2016 09:39:13 am
Those who have closed their hearts and their minds to the truths of Christianity will be deceived. Demons can easily impersonate extraterrestrials if and when God allows them to do so. I expect a day when what looks like an alien ship lands at the UN building and announces that they are from an advanced alien civilization. They'll say they're here because mankind is now at a critical moment. The threshold of a great evolutionary leap forward. All that's holding humanity back are those who believe in God instead of believing that they themselves are gods. All we have to do is send those people to a more primitive evolutionary plane (by a violent death) and mankind will have heaven on earth.
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Shinmen Takezo
6/13/2016 08:12:53 pm
The religi-tard's always come up with the "demons in disguise" explanation when they cannot explain something. Sooooo--by their reasoning "demons" need to use ships built out of exotic metals to get around between this world and their supernatural realms.
Joseph
6/13/2016 08:51:25 pm
I have been a Christian for nearly 40 years, and in this time I have seen and heard much regarding Alien Intelligences on other worlds. It is my belief that God has not limited Intelligent life forms to just this planet. Common sense concludes that in this vast Universe there are countless planets with intelligent life. How the Creator is perceived on the other life giving planets is theirs to interpret. If other Christians wish to be narrow minded in their thinking so be it. There are, however, many of that do Believe and are not stumbled by such Earth shattering information. Furthermore, we Christians are free to think as we wish and are not puppets on a string or dumb sheep being lead to the slaughter. Many of the established Religious Institutions are, if anything, being left by many parishioners, so the so-called stranglehold Religion has on people is just false propaganda.
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Arizona
6/13/2016 02:50:54 pm
HAHAHA,americans must be the stupidist people on earth,NASA is nothing but a front FOR the real space program at china lake,california,and NASA is drounding in TAX money,WITH NOTHING to spend it on but nonsense,and trying to destroy christians,THIS is going to turn out badly for america BUT,who cares we got beer,and the football games on,what could go wrong...
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Thomas
6/13/2016 03:24:26 pm
@ARIZONA
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Janice
6/13/2016 03:29:21 pm
@Arizone
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bonfire
6/13/2016 03:13:37 pm
The "aliens" are inter-dimensional demons who work for Satan. Christianity is strengthened to believers to fight off Satan's demons.
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Answering the question: Why did NASA issue a $1.1million grant to study how alien life could impact Christianity?
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