From The Scotsman via Andrew Sullivan:
Believing that God created the universe in six days is a form of superstitious paganism, the Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno claimed yesterday.
Consolmagno says creation myths are rooted in prehistoric belief in nature gods:
“Knowledge is dangerous, but so is ignorance. That’s why science and religion need to talk to each other,” he said.
“Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism — it’s turning God into a nature god. And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do.”
Among these would-be paganists, presumably, are Exodus lobbyist Randy Thomas, who years ago told me and other acquaintances that he believes in a six-day creation; Focus on the Family and the Liberty Counsel, which seek to inject creationism and “intelligent design” into public-school science classes; and exgay and antigay activists who say God smites their chosen enemies through AIDS, Hurricane Katrina, and terrorist attacks.
Creationism, especially the young-earth variant, is one of the reasons that I worry about ex-gay groups. If people will believe a specific religious interpretation that contradicts the findings of several hard sciences, then the challenge of confronting inaccurate beliefs in the field of social science looms even larger.
Only a total fool believes in young earth creationism, but it seems to me that all Christians have to ultimately believe that God had ~something~ to do with humans existing.