Last July, Cardinal Christoph Sch

The Dalai Lama makes this point in his discussion of the Buddhist view of Earth and its relation to celestial bodies, whose “sizes, distances [etc.] are flatly contradicted by the empirical evidence of modern astronomy.” He suggests that “Buddhism must abandon many aspects of the Abhidharma cosmology,” citing the Buddhist dictum that “to uphold a tenet that contradicts reason is to undermine one’s credibility; to contradict empirical evidence is a still greater fallacy.” This point is sure to be controversial for those who hew more rigidly to Buddhist tradition. The Dalai Lama, however, does not limit his controversial proposals only to the side of Buddhism. Many scientists may disagree with his plea for including subjectivity and compassion in science. Furthermore, although he clearly supports Darwin’s theory of evolution as “a coherent account of the development of life on this planet and the various principles underlying it, such as natural selection,” he questions some aspects of the theory. Strict Darwinians may balk at his proposal that the theory falls short on several counts, mainly in its lack of explanations of the origin of life and the origin of “sentience” or consciousness, although the author bolsters his arguments with ample logic. Healthy debate, however, does not require agreement. It simply requires a continuing dialogue, open-mindedness, respect, and thoughtful consideration of other points of view. This is certainly consistent with Buddhist philosophy. (Science 3 February 2006:Vol. 311. no. 5761, pp. 611 - 612)

Reading these words from the Dalai Lama, I can understand much better why during the last half decade many Europeans left behind their Christian background to find spiritual satisfation in Far Eastern religions.
And here is the piece by Schoenborn, who makes the big error of assuming meaning is only possible when given by an external power (GOD). I don’t know any evidence that children who were not planned by their parents find their lives any less meaningful than children who were intended. Accidents can lead to profoundly meaningful lives! Why should this not be the case with the entire human species?

Finding Design in Nature
By CHRISTOPH SCH