Walter Brandmuller is a newly-minted cardinal. The former president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences in Rome only received his red hat on Nov. 20th but he's already in the news thanks to his just-published book "Ateismo? No grazie! Credere è ragionevole" (Atheism? No Thanks! To Believe is Rational). In it, the 81 year old cardinal addresses the irrationality of atheism by pointing out that only in God can people find fulfilment.
The book also addresses some of the big questions, "Does God exist?", "Faith or atheism?", "Science or religion?", "God or non God?" This is done through the medium of an interview given to journalist, publicist and film-maker, Ingo Lanier.
From Global Zenit News:
The interview begins with Langner who asked, quoting Richard Dawkins, "Why still believe?"
Cardinal Brandmuller responded: "The question is not a novelty. Friedrich Nietzsche makes his madman announce that God is dead and Yury Gagarin, the first Russian in space, on his trip of April 12, 1962, said that nowhere had he seen something that resembled God. Dawkins does not recognize God even as a hypothesis. For him God is a hallucination that exists only in the mind of a retarded person."
"In reality, the target of the atheists is not so much God but the Church, the Pope and the Vatican," said the prelate. He added that the Church has been attacked since the beginning of the Christian era, the Pope for 2000 years and the Vatican since its existence.
His eminence also defended miracles, citing the "Miracle in Calanda" where a young farmer named Miguel Pellicer, after making a painful pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Santa Maria del Pilar in Saragossa, miraculously regrew an amputated leg overnight. This, of course, addresses a question atheists often ask; IE: "Why won't God heal amputees?"
The authenticity of the miracle was well-documented by Catholic authorities when it occured... in 1640.
And Cardinal Brandmuller has no problem explaining miracles to the likes of Dawkins and other academics influenced by Enlightenment ideals. Paraphrasing Shakespeare, his eminence just says, "There are more things between heaven and earth than your scholastic erudition can imagine."
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Comments
Miracles are the manipulation of matter and physical laws. It has nothing to do with spirituality at all. You just have to know how.
There's nothing rational at all about any of the Abrahamic religions.
They're all duct taped together with nothing but belief and charismatic leaders. Got zip for proof. Yet, because of mankind's gullibility, billions adhere to them with no validation at all.
Now who's irrational???
x
Finding something about Richard Dawkins to scoff at isn't too terribly difficult. He has a habit of making a fool of himself.
As opposed to you, Terry?
What is it that you don't like about him? Is it his ability to back up his point with facts using actual science? Is it his tendency to do research? Is it his logical conclusions based on facts?
I know those things make you crazy because they don't fit your dogma, but I always prefer to listen to someone who tells the truth, as opposed to someone who likes to make it up.
I'm just sayin'. I'd love to see you take that approach in your own writing.
Yet we notice, Hurlbut, they you do not specify anything of Dawkins to scoff at; instead, you continue in your daily demonstrations of your own scoff-inducing butt-hurlings.
Your point would be served better if you backed it up with at least ONE example.
ROFPSMLOL!!!!
Ironic, I think so.
At Dawkins knows what science is, eh Terry?
If my prophetic powers are correct (again, you may remember them well) can we expect more "scientific articles" from you in the future in which the "science" behind it is GODDIDIT WITH MAGIC perchance?
----"What is it that you don't like about him?"
Just simply the fact that he disagrees with his baseless religious opinions.
"In reality, the target of the atheists is not so much God but the Church, the Pope and the Vatican," said the prelate.
Ummm, sorry cardinal but the "target" is illogical fantasy saying that it's real (i.e., the very existence of your deity needs proving first). Thus, the target is indeed the God idea itself (not just your church), but yes one target is the God idea as it is presented by your own superstitious, illogical, corrupt Catholic church. But don't get all caught up in playing the "victim" card of feeling persecuted ("the Church has been attacked since the beginning of the Christian era...").
Cardinal, why not just answer the actual question ("Why still believe?") rather than dodging the issue and playing the victim card?
The real reason the church has such issues with atheists is that they tend to think for themselves. That means that they're likely to question the dogma, and therefore the church will lose control. The church complains about oppression and persecution, but it's always been the church that has been the oppressor and the persecutor.
Let's not forget, god is big business, and when people start thinking for themselves, they're not as easy to manipulate, and then profits go down.
The cardinal won't answer the actual question ("why still believe?") because the answer will expose the game as a con. "We believe because there's money in power in this belief."
great article, I enjoyed it
Interesting. Atheism is irrational but the belief that a man fathered himself in order to send himself to earth, in order to kill himself, in order to appease himself for sins that he himself committed to mankind as retribution for falling for a trick effected through the agency of a talking snake IS rational. Got it. Makes perfect sense.
Good article. Very objective. Couldn't find any loophole or trap were one could think the writer is trying to set the issue in a unfavourable referential shelf, framing the cardinal as wrong or superficial. Congratulations, very good piece of information. And I am a Catholic too. And trying to be "The atheist advocate" I would say that to me what the cardinal said -as here in the new it states- looks a bit shallow and unwise, which is sad after a life of reflection (cardinal has 81 yrs old). Cardinal should know better. He could have made his point in a more elegant and strong way, I think.
Hugh -- as always a good article and good piece to keep us all up to date with the goings on in the Christian/religious/atheistic world and the various battles that occur there. Thanks for your continued articles - keep it up. Love your work!
Boyd Pfeiffer Religious Skepticism Examiner
A story of a farmer in 1640 getting his lost leg back isn't evidence, especially considering that this story came to be during the later years of the Spanish Inquisition which wasn't entirely abolished until 1834. Let's see such a miracle live in front of doctors and scientists that can confirm the absence of the leg before the miracle, and the growth of the leg after. And no, Discovery Institute scientists don't count.
There are scientists at the Discovery Institute?!? I thought it was just a big fancy place for fundies to meet up for dinner.
I used the term loosely :-)
can you say idolatry, Cardinal if your religion is more important than what you have learnt from your religion, then you have missed the point of your religion
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