Catholic traditionalist bloggers have to take a cue from a very wise and razor sharp professor who we once knew as Joseph Ratzinger. Now known as Pope Benedict XVI, His Holiness thinks before saying or writing something on controversial issues.
When he lectured on what at first appeared to be an unflattering reference to Islam, he had the historical facts right and said it straight. Benedict XVI spoke in Regensberg to what the Vatican calls as "representatives of science". These ladies and gentlemen are experienced university lecturers and professors. Naturlich, the Pope dealt with reason and its responsible exercise in knowing the truth.
Well I couldn't say that with a recent post on Rorate Caeli on Bringing back DDT. Now why on Earth and Heaven should a blog dedicated to recovering the old tradition of the Church and promoting orthodox Catholic teaching deal with exterminating insect pests?
Any biology student knows that DDT is biologically magnified and has been linked to the gradual decline and near extinction of raptors like the bald eagle. When the USA banned DDT, eagle populations soared and now the USA national bird is out of the endangered list.
Now I suppose Rorate Caeli is pro-life and pro-family. Now why would a traditionalist Catholic blog promote an insecticide that ends up in mother's milk and poses a risk to breastfed babies? Now how pro-life is that?
Rorate Caeli and other traditionalist Catholic blogs should steer clear of scientific issues unless these issues are contrary to moral principles. Science per se is not immoral but the application of such without moral considerations is what blogs like Rorate Caeli should deal with.
When he lectured on what at first appeared to be an unflattering reference to Islam, he had the historical facts right and said it straight. Benedict XVI spoke in Regensberg to what the Vatican calls as "representatives of science". These ladies and gentlemen are experienced university lecturers and professors. Naturlich, the Pope dealt with reason and its responsible exercise in knowing the truth.
Well I couldn't say that with a recent post on Rorate Caeli on Bringing back DDT. Now why on Earth and Heaven should a blog dedicated to recovering the old tradition of the Church and promoting orthodox Catholic teaching deal with exterminating insect pests?
Any biology student knows that DDT is biologically magnified and has been linked to the gradual decline and near extinction of raptors like the bald eagle. When the USA banned DDT, eagle populations soared and now the USA national bird is out of the endangered list.
Now I suppose Rorate Caeli is pro-life and pro-family. Now why would a traditionalist Catholic blog promote an insecticide that ends up in mother's milk and poses a risk to breastfed babies? Now how pro-life is that?
Rorate Caeli and other traditionalist Catholic blogs should steer clear of scientific issues unless these issues are contrary to moral principles. Science per se is not immoral but the application of such without moral considerations is what blogs like Rorate Caeli should deal with.
Comments
Saving 1.5 million lives every year looks like being pro-life to me.
By the way, this is the quote in full from the site "We really are so saddened by the comments we are forced to reject or delete, even in such a harmless post as the last one, on the 400th anniversary of the Douay-Rheims Bible."
... which I take to mean they deleted comments from the Douay-Rheims post, which was the harmless post they were referring to. I did not see an apology for the missing DDT post.