I have been hearing so much regarding Church vs. Science recently. It's a disheartening argument. Many people believe that the Catholic Church is against truth, common sense, advancement, etc., simply because the Church isn't progressive in things like: contraception, stem cell research, and darwinism (notice, I didn't say evolution; the Church accepts the possibility of evolution as long as intelligent design is recognized).
Ironically, what many individuals fail to realize is that without the Catholic Church, we wouldn't have colleges or universities today; nor would we have hospitals.
"Thousands of Catholics, both clerics and laypersons alike, have made significant contributions to the development of science and mathematics from the Middle Ages to today. These scientists include Galileo Galilei, Rene Descartes, Nicolas Copernicus, Louis Pasteur, Blaise Pascal, André-Marie Ampère, Gregor Mendel, Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, Pierre de Fermat, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, Marin Mersenne, Alessandro Volta, Augustin-Louis Cauchy, Pierre Duhem, Jean-Baptiste Dumas, Roger Boscovich, Pierre Gassendi, and Georgius Agricola, to name a few.
Catholic scientists are considered the fathers of numerous scientific fields, including, but not limited to, modern physics, acoustics, mineralogy, modern chemistry, modern anatomy, stratigraphy, bacteriology, genetics, analytical geometry, and heliocentric cosmology. Inventions from Catholic scientists include the battery, the barometer, the stethoscope, the mechanical calculator, braille, mechanical movable type printing, and the Foucault pendulum. Three electrical units are named after Catholic scientists as well: the amp, the volt, and the coulomb."
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Catholic_scientists or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_Catholic_cleric-scientists for a more comprehensive list of Catholic Scientists
It further saddens me that "science" today is often more important than human dignity. If the Church is slow to progress or even completely refuses... it is because she considers the dignity of the individual first and foremost.
For instance, let's talk about contraception. Outside of marriage, contraception is an easy way to use another individual: pleasure without consequences. Contraception is an easy way to have no commitment to the other person in the relationship. The attitude is, "I am not going to give you all of me. I refuse to give you my fertility. I don't want to have a baby with you. I am not committed to you for life." Even, when sexual relations are moral -- that is, in marriage, the tendency to use one's spouse as a sexual object increases with contraception. Since marriage is a unitive act, it ought not have any barriers, including a contraceptive mindset, which can happen even when practicing NFP. Does it really make sense that the two shall become one -- oh, except in the most intense unitive act ever!!!! No. Therefore, respecting the dignity of persons is not coming together for self-serving reasons, rather it is an openness to life.
I think it is clear in regard to contraception that the Church is not against "women's health" or whatever. Rather, the Church is against narcissism -- selfishness. The Church asks men to love their wives as Christ loves the Church. Asking a women to suppress a part of her, her fertility is not love, it is not taking the bullet. Likewise, the Church asks women to submit to their husbands. When women refuse to give their husbands their fertility, are they submitting their whole selves?
There is also the debate that certain contraceptives increase and may even directly cause breast cancer. If this is so, wouldn't this make science be against science, aka women's health?
There are many issues that seem to put the Church as a "hater" of science, but I bet that if people take a closer look at why the Church doesn't move forward in certain areas, they may see that what the Church teaches is more beautiful and more healthy way of living.
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