Nye debates evolution with creationist
PETERSBURG, Ky. - Bill Nye the “Science Guy” and the head of the Creation Museum have debated whether evolution or the Bible better explains how everything began.
Nye said it takes magical thinking to believe the universe was created in six days only 6,000 years ago. He said scientific dating methods show that there are rocks and fossils, not to mention distant stars, far older than that.
Creationist Ken Ham responded that dating methods are fallible and that both sides have the same evidence but interpret it differently. Ham said the only witness to how things began is God, who explains it all in Genesis.
Nye said the Bible is not a science book and shouldn’t be taught as such in schools, but Ham said it also takes faith to believe in evolution.
The hours-long debate took place in a sold-out 800-seat auditorium in the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky.
Estate wants return of King’s Nobel
ATLANTA - The estate of Martin Luther King Jr. is asking a judge to force the civil rights leader’s daughter to relinquish her father’s Nobel Peace Prize and “traveling” Bible.
The lawsuit says Martin Luther King Jr.’s heirs in 1995 assigned their rights to property inherited from the civil rights icon to the Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc. The lawsuit says Bernice King has “secreted and sequestered” the medal and Bible in violation of that agreement.
Bernice King says in a statement that her brothers want to sell the medal and Bible to a private buyer and that she opposes that.
- The Associated Press
Group appeals lease for Jesus statue
HELENA, Mont. - The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a federal judge’s decision that allowed the U.S. Forest Service to renew a 10-year permit for a statue of Jesus that was placed on a Montana ski hill in 1955.
In its brief, the group continues its argument that “a permanent Catholic shrine on public land” is prohibited under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibits Congress from making any law regarding the establishment of religion. In June 2013, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen said the statue at Whitefish Mountain Resort is more often used as a meeting point and site for photo opportunities rather than a solemn place for religious reflection.
- The Associated Press
Vatican surveys find Catholics reject rules
VATICAN CITY - Surveys commissioned by the Vatican have shown that the vast majority of Catholics in Germany and Switzerland reject church teaching on contraception, sexual morality, gay unions and divorce.
The Vatican took the unusual step of commissioning the surveys ahead of a major meeting of bishops that Pope Francis has called for October to discuss the family.
This week, German and Swiss bishops reported the results.
They were surprising in the near-uniformity of responses: that the church’s teachings on sexuality, morality and marriage are rejected as unrealistic and outdated by the vast majority of Catholics, who nevertheless are active in parish life and consider their faith vitally important.
- The Associated Press
Religion, Pages 12 on 02/08/2014