blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

My lectures to undergraduates on academic freedom is within the subject of the history of science in relation to the history of the Roman Church.  The thesis is that the this freedom is at the root for the esse or being of the university. The concept of academic freedom was first formalized in German medieval universities but essentially was practiced in all of Europe's ancient universities, Bologna, Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Palencia, Heidelberg etc The Roman Catholic Church in fact founded all of these universities and the liberties granted by the secular powers and the Church were respected. Some of the universities like Oxford and Cambridge passed into Protestant hands in the Reformation but still they held on to these liberties. Thus with academic freedom which extends to professors and their students (with their inherent rights), science and the arts flourished. Without these freedoms, the freedom of research would have been curtailed. As paradoxically it sounds to 21st s...

Pope Benedict XVI surprised his flock and the rest of the world for practically stating in an interview with a German Catholic journalist that condoms can be used in certain cases, and he even gave an example of what that case could be. The interview will come out in a book "Light of the World", excerpts of which have been made public with Vatican approval. The BBC has the excerpted transcript. What is indeed unexpected is that His Holiness was not just speaking in theological terms but even gave an example of when condom use may be allowed. This is what can be called a pastoral application. However the remarks don't definitely say a judgment on the morality of condom use, which is still under study by Vatican theologians. However the Pope's remarks will not drastically alter Church teaching on contraception nor its moral stance in human sexuality. The remarks cannot be taken out of its context. The Pope insists that sexuality must be humanized and people have ...

Pope Benedict XVI, the Professor, once more proves that he is probably the most profound Pope in history in his latest encyclical "Caritas in Veritate" or Charity in Truth. This encyclical synthesizes our 21st century angst about 1) human rights, 2) science, 3) technology and 4) environment and provides the way to cast out the emotional baggage we have. A four letter word is the way out according to the pope. The overwhelming theme here is that the truth about these things should be sought in love. Reading Benedict's clear prose I found it interesting that since we are in the business of seeking "logos" we can only do this in "dia-logos". In doing the latter, we have to respect diversity and even love diversity, realising that in this, we see God. And we need to be authentically free to do so, at every stage of life. This is probably the most basic vocation. We are called to many paths but the path s converge to really what the Gospel says as the Wa...

Pope Benedict XVI is like any good professor should be. He just given new insight on something very Darwinian. In a year end message to the Roman Curia , Benedict linked why there are two sexes only and why the environment has to be protected. The whole Darwinian understanding of sex is premised on the existence of 1) Males and 2) Females. Now it is only males and females period. Either males or females may do sexual selection and reproduce and by consequence any sexual preference aside from heterosexuality (which doesn't result in reproduction) will be naturally selected out. That is the Darwinian understanding. Any so called "homosexual" behaviour in animals is only an facultative way to achieve heterosexuality. Straightness rules in evolution and this means a male/female binary only. But some scientists like Joan Roughgarden have provided evidence that there might be multigenders in nature. But Roughgarden has to prove that these genders are functional with respect to ...

Pope Benedict XVI last October 31 addressed the Pontifical Academy of Science which is beginning its commemoration of the 150th year of publication Darwin's "Origin of Species". The Academy is meeting on " Scientific Insight into the Evolution of the Universe and of Life". The Pope builds upon similar addresses and encyclicals of popes Pius XII and John Paul II who declared that there is no conflict between science and the faith even in prickly topics such as biological evolution. Benedict's important insight is expressed in " This genesis was not seen as a creation, but rather a mutation or transformation; it involved a somewhat horizontal interpretation of the origin of the world. A decisive advance in understanding the origin of the cosmos was the consideration of being qua being and the concern of metaphysics with the most basic question of the first or transcendent origin of participated being. In order to develop and evolve, the world must first ...

A senior Vatican prelate has said that "evolutionary theory is not incompatible with Catholic teaching" Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council of Culture made the declaration at a recent press con announcing next year's Church sponsored interdisciplinary conference on the 150th anniversary of Darwin's Origin of Species. The fact that the Roman Church has considered this anniversary an important event shows that it values reason and scientific inquiry and demonstrates evolutionary theory and science as important in world culture. The conference will be attended not only by evolutionary biologists, but theologians, philosophers, humanists and artists. Best of all, I believe this another broadside in Pope Benedict XVI's culture war against fundamentalism of all sorts. Benedict recently warned against literal interpretation of the Bible in a speech to academics and intellectuals in Paris. In stronger and more direct words than what his prede...

I may disagree with Pope Benedict XVI on some matters and I really disagree with some of his subalterns when they mix science and Catholicism, but I admire this Pope since he is no wimp. The fallout from Benedict's speech in Regensberg is unfortunate and also that from his undelivered speech at La Sapienza University. But it would be dishonest for me or anybody else to say that he was wrong on both counts. After all this razor sharp Professor-Pope is not known for not showing moral and intellectual courage, traits notably lacking today in many professors of our universities including the "Ang Galing Mo" University of the Philippines. If one thing Benedict must be admired for is in not bowing to intellectual and politically correct academic fads. We professors are guilty since we have to bend to these fads to get rave reviews and research or teaching grants. Benedict is no Rowan Williams who in some moment of whimsy publicly lectured to British barristers why Sharia Law sh...

As the secular University of the Philippines celebrates its 100th year in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI's speech that he was supposed to deliver at Rome's La Sapienza Universitylast January 17 gives us some food for thought. EWTN has the full English text of the speech originally in Italian. I have always admired and have been amazed at Benedict's way of discourse. The former Don of Regensburg does not fall into stereotyping and logical twists unlike the Don of Oxford Richard Dawkins! That's why I await the day when the Oxford Don meets with the Infallible Regensburg Don! Bui I digress here are some highlights of the speech. " Well, so far I have only talked about the university in the Middle Ages, trying however to show to what extent its nature and purpose have remained the same all along. In modern times knowledge has become more multi-faceted, especially in the two broad fields that now prevail in universities. First of all, there are the natural sciences which have ...