Vatican says aliens could exist, but same sex relationships are beyond belief

From the BBC:

The Pope’s chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out.

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.

Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.

The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.

The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article ‘Aliens Are My Brother’.

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Just as there are multiple forms of life on earth, so there could exist intelligent beings in outer space created by God. And some aliens could even be free from original sin, he speculates.

Asked about the Catholic Church’s condemnation four centuries ago of the Italian astronomer and physicist, Galileo, Father Funes diplomatically says mistakes were made, but it is time to turn the page and look towards the future.

Science and religion need each other, and many astronomers believe in God, he assures readers.

To strengthen its scientific credentials, the Vatican is organising a conference next year to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the author of the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin. (article here)

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The Hostess: How nice of the Vatican to accept the idea of life on other planets, but still not accept the love between two women or two men.

Clinton win in West Va. /Bluegrass States and Yellow Dog Democrats

From the BBC:

If last week’s victory was a squeak, this week’s was a roar. A two-to-one win over Barack Obama in a state which – as Senator Clinton has frequently reminded her supporters – no successful Democratic candidate for the White House has lost in nearly a century. And that includes, of course, her husband, Bill.

Her most recent reminder came in a victory speech that was more defiant in tone than the one she had given in Indianapolis last week.

Standing alone on stage, she used the kind of metaphors that might be expected in the Mountain State. The people of West Virginia, she said, knew about “the rough roads to the top of the mountain”.

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For me last night, it was the phone ringing and a call from a friend about something completely different. We had been chatting it up for a while, and I finally said sheepishly…”Listen…sorry about the ‘end game’ posts I’ve been putting on the blog about Hillary”. She was in fact one of the few people I had told I was voting for Clinton in the PA. primary…she had voted for Hillary also. She laughed and said although she cringed when she read them, she knew that I was all about the Democratic Party…

We went on to talk about getting together soon and that was it, but it got me thinking…

Very recently my mother told me, “Your father was a Yellow Dog Democrat…he’d vote for the devil himself if he was a Democrat.” I knew Dad was stubborn…I just thought he was a stubborn Republican.

What I realized from last night is that I’m a Yellow Dog Democrat also, and what my friend helped me realize also, is that not everyone will think in terms of “The Party”, but in terms of the two individuals running for president. So with this serious win in West Virginia, Clinton supporters have voiced their continued support for the candidate that they think will be the best.

As I listened to Clinton’s speech I heard three things…1) That she wants everyone in the country to have a chance to vote. 2) She will fully support the nominee for president…whomever that may be. 3) Lastly, and most importantly for me, she said that she thought “Our Party” can withstand this competition for the nominee.

I’ll take her at her word…and I’ll take Obama at his word…and I’ll vote Democrat in November.

p.s. Let’s go drinking soon, “C”. First one’s one me…