Right Side of the Rainbow

When word came yesterday of the Catholic Church’s decision to ban gay seminarians, I asked a secular question: could the American branch of the Church make do without homosexual priests? But I didn’t express a view on the decision itself. I’m not a Catholic; it’s not for me to say. Moreover, as I understand Catholic theology, it’s not even for the Catholic laity to say. Church doctrine comes from the hierarchy, as revealed — or so the hierarchy claims — by God in Scripture. It’s not up for a vote.

The Left now tells us — quite rightly, I believe — that “creationism,” also known as “intelligent design theory,” doesn’t belong in our Nation’s classrooms because a belief in God as creator is a matter of faith, not science. Even if creationism is correct, it’s still not science, which is the study of “how the natural world works, with observable physical evidence as the basis of … understanding.” [Italics added.]

But if faith can’t answer questions of science, isn’t the corollary proposition also true, namely that science can’t answer questions of faith? And isn’t it wildly presumptuous for a political hack to admonish the Catholic Church on its own theology? Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, on the Vatican’s ban of gay priests:

The Catholic Church is showing an aversion to both the teachings of Christ and science. (Link)

Questions: What “science” is Mr. Solmonese referring to? And in any event, why should an institution of faith yield to science? On questions of Catholic theology, to whom should we expect that most people will defer: a secular gay political organization, or the Vatican? Finally, if secular political outfits are to remark upon religious beliefs adverse to the interests of gays, why aren’t the fatally anti-gay beliefs of Islam more pressing than non-violent Catholic beliefs?