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POINT: Catholic Church doctrine remains consistent

The Catholic Church and Pope Francis have made celebrity status — and true to usual tabloid misrepresentation and gossip, they are not unscathed by the bogus coverage.Almost all news agencies, aside from Time and Slate, have blown up, twisted and confused the story. They may include the same quotes, but each is writing its own, blurred version of the truth about the Catholic Church. Typical bad media coverage could be harmless, but people believe what they read, and then confusion leads to accusations — the Church is picking and choosing, dissent on Church doctrine, inconsistency, more inconsistency — and Pandora’s box is open. Miscommunication about the Church and Pope Francis is out of control, and the frenzy needs to stop. It seems to be the same quotes from Pope Francis: he discusses the “risk of imagining God was a magician,” and says other things like, “He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws.” He also says, “God is not a demiurge,” “evolution is not opposed to the notion of Creation, because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve,” and finally, “The Big Bang, which nowadays is posited as the origin of the world, does not contradict the divine act of creating, but rather requires it.” While the same quotes circulated the news articles, each one was accompanied by a different radical title and biased dialogue tags. Here are just a few of the crazy titles and tags:Washington Post posted “Pope Francis may believe in evolution, but 42 percent of Americans do not” and states that “(he put) himself at odds with a significant portion of Americans by saying he believed in evolution, not creationism.” MSNBC misled the public with “Pope Francis: God is not ‘a magician with a magic wand’” and tags “declaring that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real,” and “Breaking with his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who arguably encouraged creationism and intelligent design theory.” The most outlandish of them all — Salon: “God is not a magician, with a magic wand: Pope Francis schools creationists” with the teaser, “The pontiff admits he believes in evolution and the Big Bang.” What a majority of these obscured titles and articles note are two false points: (1) that Pope Francis chooses evolution over creationism and that (2) he breaks from the Church’s longstanding tradition and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. However, these incorrect assumptions are causing a hubbub of confusion about what it means to be a progressive Church. Slate points out that the media says Pope Francis modernizes the conservative institution, but these things are not revolutionary or breaking from tradition. Many misunderstand the difference between empathy/understanding and wishy-washy inconsistencies. Most of these articles on Pope Francis dance around the controversial “hot-button Western political issues (that) can be tied to the Pope’s statements — evolution, death penalty, gay marriage,” Time notes. However, there is not the division people think there is. The death penalty has been discussed since Pope John Paul II and the “welcoming gays” synod over the relatio coverage was just a glance at the two-year-long dialogue.Evolution has been acknowledged and reviewed since Pope Pius XII’s Humani Generis in 1950. It was discussed with Pope John Paul II, and it was even elaborated on by Pope Benedict, the apparent “creationist opponent" to evolution. In fact, Benedict worked closely with Cardinal Schoenborn, who wrote “Finding Design in Nature,” the New York Times op-ed piece in 2005, which warns against belief in Neo-Darwinism where the evolutionary process is random and chaotic. Pope Francis reaffirms this by saying that God should not be seen as a magician or demigod that creates out of chaos, but a loving creator with a plan; this reasserts that evolution and creationism are not opposing forces. In fact, the “father of the Big Bang theory” was Georges Lemaître, Belgian cosmologist, Catholic Priest, and once President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences — the very assembly that received Pope Francis’s speech. While trying to stir emotions, the media has gotten the “apparent inconsistencies" and “breaks” from doctrine, predecessors, and tradition completely wrong. Some articles make weak attempts to put disclaimers that there are differences between the Catholic Church and “protestant sects,” yet they are so buried beneath the preceding click-bait biases. The Catholic Church and Pope Francis are sounding the same chorus they always have. If there is one thing to note about the Church, it is consistent. The importance of this poor coverage and understanding of the Church has disastrous effects. People even believe satires shared on their news feed about the Pope recognizing gay marriage, possible woman pontificates and evolution trumping creation. The Church constantly meets, dialogues, reviews and agrees about discussing topics that can be approached with better understanding, love and empathy. It finds ways to bring the doctrine to the issues, rather than change the doctrine to reach a larger crowd. Before this gets out of hand anymore, people need to be educated on what the Church and Pope Francis really are saying.Reach the columnist at jessica.m.fletcher@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @jmf1193Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.

RCK CTY replaces Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar on Mill Avenue

If Mill Avenue in Tempe seems a little more stimulating lately, it quite possibly could be due to one major change — the long-standing Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar has shut down. In its place stands the new, trendy nightclub RCK CTY.

Pick up the phone: Plastic bottle caps fall through the cracks

It’s a game of telephone: One says take the plastic bottle cap off, you hear keep it on.

Zombie Walk 6 sends undead lurking through downtown Phoenix

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The problematic priority of financial success in higher ed

With today’s job market and constant competition, there has been a push — or a shove — to get the degree in order to start the career. This job competition doesn’t start after standing up in cap and gown at graduation; it pervades every aspect of education — arguably even before higher education begins.

Real estate developer EdR purchases The District

Collegiate housing giant EdR purchased The District on Apache for $91 million, one of ASU’s largest off-campus student housing facilities, in mid-September.

Light rail expansion to benefit students, residents in Phoenix

The Metro Light Rail has been one of the city’s major transit systems since it emerged in 2005, taking thousands of citizens from Phoenix to Mesa each day.

The distorted meaning of discrimination

Mobile prostate screening available Saturday at Tim Barber Walk

With more than half of the 70,000 students attending ASU being male, statistics show that 1 in 6 of these men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime, making it one of the leading causes of death for men.

How to: Make homemade toothpaste

If you look on the back of your toothpaste container you will more likely than not find a long list of indistinguishable ingredients and a formidable warning: do not swallow. When you take a closer look, It's inevitable to come to the common conclusion that the toothpastes we buy in convenience stores are toxic.

Graduate admittance exams: looking at the person or the number

Amid the usual acronyms being casually uttered by college students, there are a select few that seem to make many undergrads shudder: MCAT, LSAT, DAT, GRE, and PCAT. Whether it is freshmen preparing early or juniors and seniors just realizing the calamity of it all, students are worrying about graduate school, and more specifically, they are worrying about entrance exams.

Gammage kicks off 50th anniversary with 'Kinky Boots'

It was a full house at ASU Gammage with the opening night of “Kinky Boots” officially kicking off the 2014-15 Broadway season.

Barrett is becoming a 'big' deal — here’s why that’s OK

“Barrett students have the unique advantage of experiencing a small, intellectually and socially vibrant environment while having access to the vast resources of the major research university at ASU” reads the opening line on the Barrett, the Honors College website. However, an increasing amount of Barrett upperclassmen are complaining, “Aren’t we getting just too big?”

How to vote in Arizona for out-of-state students

As the primary elections open up Tuesday in Arizona, many citizens will visit their local voting stations to place their pick for governor, attorney general, and other local positions in addition to Congressional races.

Beyoncé singlehandedly saves the VMAs

The VMAs celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, but you wouldn’t know it from the trite and dull show that was aired.

Are the arts making you crazy, or is the crazy making the art?

My heart broke when I discovered David Foster Wallace had hanged himself. Although his death had shocked the contemporary literary community in 2008, I had only recently stumbled upon Infinite Jest and his other works of creative genius in the past year. Yet, his commencement speech, “This is Water,” was the real slap in the face. How could I juxtapose the professorial, enlightening speech about living everyday life with the depressed man who hung himself? I couldn’t.

'Girl Meets World' delivers on nostalgia

Spinoffs are often sloppy and short-lived. The bigger the show, the bigger disaster it seems to be (looking at you, “Joey”). Which is why when the Disney Channel announced its plans to revive the cult classic “Boy Meets World,” ‘90s kids cringed. Nostalgia for the '90s has been in full force with Justin Timberlake performing with his *NSYNC bandmates at last year’s VMAs and Beyoncé with Destiny's Child at the Super Bowl. Still, bringing back a show the caliber of BMW is daunting. If the pilot episode of “Girl Meets World” is any indication of future episodes, then Disney has a polished show worthy of both new audiences and fans that grew up with the original.The coming-of-age tale follows the same format of BMW, but this time the focus is on a new Matthews child — Riley (Rowan Blanchard), the daughter of Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga Matthews (Danielle Fishel). The new generation includes 5-year-old Auggie (August Maturo).The series finale of BMW left us with the couple moving to New York for Topanga to attend law school at New York University. GMW picks up with the family living in the Big Apple where Cory works as a history teacher and Topanga is a lawyer. Riley possesses the same benevolent and innocent nature as Cory did in BMW. Much like Cory’s best friend Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong), Riley has a troubled and intrepid sidekick, Maya Hart (Sabrina Carpenter). Cory spent the greater part of his childhood saving while simultaneously trying to be like Shawn, something that Riley is now doing with Maya. Cory’s mentor, George Feeny (William Daniels), is a large influence on him. Following in his footsteps not only with his career path, the omnipresence of the beloved teacher is clear with Cory now sharing Feeny-isms with Riley and Maya. The pilot includes a cameo from Mr. Feeny, which is reason enough to tune in. Later in the season, the show will feature appearances by Cory’s parents, Alan (William Russ) and Amy (Betsy Randle). Strong will also be reprising his role as Shawn in future episodes. While GMW is geared toward current Disney Channel watchers, it has enough elements of the classic to attract 20-somethings into watching it. With its subtle throwbacks to BMW (spoiler: Stuart Minkus (Lee Norris) is the father of Cory’s quirky student, Farkle (Corey Fogelmanis)), it will be a revisitation of childhood for older viewers. With BMW creator and producer Michael Jacobs in charge of GMW, it might just beat the spinoff curse.“Girl Meets World” premieres Friday on the Disney Channel.Reach the reporter at jurgiles@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @MrsMathers94

Summer tours that can't be missed

Summer, above all else, is the quintessential season for concerts. This year is unsurpassed with its mashups of hip-hop royalty and pop prowess. Not all shows will be stopping in Arizona, but California is only a short drive away. Here are the top four, can’t-miss tours of summer 2014.

The Grammys prove to be music's biggest night

Opening the show with “Drunk In Love” from her self-titled surprise album released last month, Beyoncé stunned the annual Grammy's with her typical flair. The performance, which started off with seductively dancing on a chair, received much-needed resuscitation once Jay-Z joined her on stage. The notoriously private mega-couple caused an eruption in the Staples Center with their collaboration. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis walked away with the first award of the night for Best New Artist. It was a monumental night for them as they also won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for “Thrift Shop” and Best Rap Album for “The Heist,” which won over Kanye West’s “Yeezus” and Drake’s “Nothing Was the Same.” The duo’s shining moment came near the end of the night when they performed “Same Love” and shared the spotlight with 33 LGBTQA and straight couples that were married, with Queen Latifah officiating their wedding, during the live telecast. To honor the newlyweds, which consisted of both straight and LGBTQA couples, Madonna made a surprise appearance and sang her '80s hit, “Open Your Heart.”

Justin Timberlake gives Phoenix a show of a lifetime

Currently on a world tour, Justin Timberlake made his stop in Phoenix last night to a sold out crowd at the US Airways Center. Now in his second month of touring, Timberlake lost track of the city he was in.