Pope Benedict XVI recently got in the news again when he cancelled a speech he was due to give at the La Sapienza University in Rome due to protests by professors and students. The protesters objected to having a prominent religious leader giving a speech in a secular and public institution and referenced a previous speech made by the Pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in which he seemed to defend the Inquisition’s verdict against Galileo in 1303, probably the most well-known case of science being persecuted by religion in history.
As far as I can tell, the rector of the university was willing to offer both parties space to voice their respective views, but the Pope decided to cancel instead, which as physicist Marcello Cini, one of the leaders of the protest, noted, was a very smart public relations move on the Pope’s part. The mainstream news coverage of the event sympathizes heavily with the Pope and the popular angle is that the Pope was denied freedom of speech by anti-religious scientists. But from my point of view, it looks like the Pope was willing to speak only if he were the only one allowed to speak, so who’s he to play the freedom of speech card?
Between reasons and faiths, what one chooses should be of no consequence to others. We live is a 3 dimensional world where events are justify by logical reasons of physic and mathematical formula. Faith covers a domain which is of 4th dimension and beyond, and are at times beyond 3 dimensional logics. There should be a mutual respect for this parallel and duality of humanity. Some believe heaven is on earth, but others believe heaven and hell is the final destination of after-life. In any event, when we are dead, we are dead. Dead man tells no story. At the end of the day, as long as we uphold an ethical lifestyle, does it really matter whether one is an atheist or spiritualist ?
Om Namo AMithaba Buddha…
As someone with strongly libertarian ideals, I have no problems with the religious beliefs and practices of consenting adults, even if I privately think they are delusional. The problem is that the religious often do not share the live and let live approach and often seek to dictate the terms under which others ought to live their lives in the name of morality.