August 2020 Newsletter
In this Clergy Letter Project update you’ll find the following nine items:
- Vote for an Evolution Weekend 2021 Theme;
- Astrobiology News for August 2020: The Birth and Habitability of Planets;
- Results of The Clergy Letter Project’s On-Line Survey;
- When Judaism Meets Science;
- The Climate Crisis Letter;
- Why Should Private Religious Schools Be Exempt From Health Mandates?;
- Does Science Conflict With Biblical Christianity?;
- God Works Through Science Too; and
- Closer to Truth: Do Science and Religion Clash?
1. Vote for an Evolution Weekend 2021 Theme
In last month’s newsletter, I asked for suggestions of a theme for Evolution Weekend 2021. Please join me in thanking those who offered suggestions. What follows are the ideas that were submitted. I’m now asking for you to vote for your favorites. Please indicate your top three choices, with 1 being your favorite, 2 next and 3 your third. I’ll tabulate the results and share them with all soon.
_____The development of racial characteristics within the human species over the course of evolution
_____The role of diseases and pandemics in the evolutionary process
_____Providence in a Time of Plague
_____Facts, Opinions and Faith
_____Religion and Science Jointly Address Issues of Our Time: Coronavirus, Global Warming and Racism
_____Religion and Science in a Time of Denial
_____Evolution Throughout the Cosmos: A Celebration of Probable Life Beyond Our Planet
_____People of Faith Trust Science (something along the line of trusting science as we deal with Covid-19)
_____Other (please specify)
A couple of quick points about the use of a theme for Evolution Weekend. Although we’ve been promoting a theme annually since 2011, individual congregations participating retain the option of structuring their Evolution Weekend event around the theme or not, as they see fit. Two things are important. First, whatever a congregation opts to do, and however it opts to do it, it should promote the idea of compatibility between religion and science. Second, our theme provides an opportunity for the broader community to see how that compatibility can play out in a manner that positively impacts society.
I very much hope you take the opportunity to vote for a theme and you use that opportunity to sign up to participate in Evolution 2021 (12-14 February 2021). Remember, participation can be large or small: a sermon or a note in your weekly bulletin; a Zoom discussion or a guest speaker, or anything else you might imagine.
_____ Yes, I plan to participate in Evolution Weekend 2021. Please sign us up!
Congregation (or related group):
Location:
Your Name:
2. Astrobiology News for August 2020: The Birth and Habitability of Planets
In this month’s Astrobiology News, Clergy Letter Project consultant Grace Wolf-Chase explores the process of planet formation and provides an opportunity for members to help in discovering new protoplanetary discs.
How do planets form? The birth of planets is intimately connected to the birth of stars. As cold, rotating clouds in space are pulled together by gravity, they flatten out. Stars form through the gravitational collapse of material at the centers of these huge (billions of miles across) protoplanetary disks, while planets form further out through slower processes that aggregate small particles into larger bodies over millions of years. Although protoplanetary disks were first observed in silhouette against bright nebulae by the Hubble Space Telescope in the 1990s(1), only recently have astronomers been able to study details of their structure.
The Disk Substructures at High Angular Resolution Project (DSHARP) at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has observed a wide variety of protoplanetary disks at microwave wavelengths that probe these dusty regions.(2) This project has uncovered many structures in these disks that are beginning to help reveal how, where, and when different types of planets form in these systems. Understanding the important physical processes that occur in the birth of planetary systems is important for understanding the diversity of the thousands of mature planetary systems that have been discovered during the past 25 years.
Of particular interest are planets that occupy their star’s habitable zones – these planets might contain liquid water, which is essential to life on Earth. A recent paper produced by a team from the University of California, Riverside, explores the question, how many habitable zone planets can orbit a host star?(3) This study considered the sizes of habitable zones around stars of different temperatures and how the orbits of planets are affected by the presence of other planets. One interesting conclusion of this study is that a Jupiter-sized planet would have a destabilizing effect on the maximum number of planets in a star’s habitable zone. Since Jupiter functions as something of an “asteroid magnet” in our Solar System, protecting planets like Earth from some major impacts, a planet’s actual habitability depends upon many factors.
Due to the pandemic, ALMA isn’t currently conducting science operations, but there is an exciting way you can help discover new protoplanetary disks! If you go to the research projects(4) link on the Zooniverse platform that I supplied last month and search for “Disk Detective,” you can inspect infrared images obtained from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). These images don’t resolve protoplanetary disks, but the large areas surveyed by WISE enable searching for “infrared excesses” around many young stars that might indicate the presence of a protoplanetary disk. You might discover some great new targets for future ALMA studies!
If you participate in Disk Detective or any other Zooniverse projects, either individually or in any of your programs, we humbly ask you take a few minutes to fill out a pre-participation(5) or post-participation(6) survey that will help us improve the Zooniverse experience. Also, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions! Finally, I have a new professional “home” as a Senior Scientist & Senior Education and Communication Specialist with the Planetary Science Institute(7) – expect to hear more from me about this in the future!
Until next month,
Grace Wolf-Chase (gwolfchase@gmail.com)
Senior Scientist and Senior Education & Communication Specialist, Planetary Science Institute (http://www.psi.edu)
Vice President, Center for Advanced Study in Religion and Science (CASIRAS: http://www.casiras.org)
1. https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/1994/news-1994-24.html
2. https://public.nrao.edu/news/2018-alma-survey-disks/
3. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/how-many-habitable-zone-planets-can-orbit-a-host-star/
4. https://www.zooniverse.org/projects?utm_source=newsletter@utm_campaign=projects-CLP
5. Pre-survey: https://forms.gle/x5TezWJEqAZnLb39A
6. Post- survey: https://forms.gle/opYzTKSxK3PFJtv9A
7. https://www.psi.edu/
3. Results of The Clergy Letter Project’s On-Line Survey
Last month I asked members to respond to a short survey dealing with the ways in which congregations were managing to worship in the face of Covid-19. I summarized the information all of you provided and shared it in a short essay I recently published.
Needless to say, I was impressed by all you have been doing and, as my title indicates, you’re relying heavily on science, compassion and communication to make the best of a terrible situation. I concluded the essay with the following: “A clergy member who responded to the survey summarized the situation clearly and optimistically: ‘All in all, I believe we will emerge from COVID as a stronger congregation that has been more deeply knit together during this crisis despite our physical separation.’” You can read the full essay here.
Thank you to all who took the time to respond.
4. When Judaism Meets Science
Roger Price, a good friend of The Clergy Letter Project, and Rabbi Geoff Mitelman, Clergy Letter Project member and executive director of Sinai and Synapses, recently had an on-line discussion that will likely interest you. Here’s how Geoff described it: “How are Jews handling worship and COVID-19? What ongoing debates in the Jewish world have been amplified in this unique historical moment? How might past controversies help us deal with this highly unusual situation now? Roger Price is the founder of the blog Judaism and Science, which has been addressing this issue, and most recently, he has published a book, When Judaism Meets Science. Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman was able to sit down with Roger for an interview detailing what’s been on his mind as of late.”
You can watch the interview here.
5. The Climate Crisis Letter
This is a quick reminder that it is still not too late to add your signature to our Climate Crisis Letter. While the response to our request for signatures has been truly gratifying, I know that many of you who voted in favor of having such a letter created have not yet added your signature to it. This would be a great time to do so. (If you’re not certain whether you’ve signed the letter or not, please click here and search for your signature.) To add your name, simply respond to this note and I’ll do the rest!
_____ Yes, by all means, please add my signature to the Climate Crisis Letter
Name:
Congregation/Denomination/Religion (optional)
City, State, Country
Additionally, I hope you check out the page we created for clergy members to add personal statements in addition to their signatures. I trust you’ll agree with me that many of our colleagues have written impressive statements. If you’d like your voice to be added, just let me know and I’ll get it posted.
_____ Yes, please add my personal statement to the Climate Crisis Letter:
6. Why Should Private Religious Schools Be Exempt From Health Mandates?
The Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, a member of The Clergy Letter Project and founder and executive director of Pastors for Children, an advocacy group supporting public education, has published a thoughtful and important op-ed in the Baptist News.
Rev. Johnson’s opening two paragraphs explain where his essay is headed:
“The ink was hardly dry on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s authorization for local health authorities to determine in-person school reopening this fall when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared that religious schools would be exempt from any such restrictions.
“In what weird alternative world are private religious schools not subject to the laws of nature in COVID-19 transmission like public schools?”
You can read the full piece here.
7. Does Science Conflict With Biblical Christianity?
Dr. Michael Strauss, a professor of physics, has produced a video entitled “Does Science Conflict With Biblical Christianity?” In a presentation designed for non-specialists, he explains how one can be a scientist and a Christian. Although I suspect that all of you reading this are comfortable with this concept, his presentation might be worth sharing with others.
8. God Works Through Science Too
Clergy Letter Project member Bishop Kenneth Carder, resident bishop of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, has written an interesting blog post entitled “God Works Through Science Too.” His essay takes on Franklin Graham’s claim that “Science isn’t truth – God is.” As Bishop Carder explains, “The evangelist’s comment was an attempt to discredit or minimize scientists’ warnings and guidelines regarding COVID-19. The comment reflects a long-standing effort to drive a wedge between science and religion.” You can read his full essay here.
9. Closer to Truth: Do Science and Religion Clash?
Our good friends at WesleyNexus brought an exciting resource to our attention. Closer to Truth has videos about a host of topics including a series focused on science and religion. Check out what they have to offer and I’m confident you won’t be disappointed.
Concluding Thoughts
I hope all of you, your families, and your communities are healthy and safe. I also hope that your efforts help make the world a better place for all who share it.
Finally, as always, I want to thank you for your continued support and as I do every month, I urge you to take one simple action. Please share this month’s Newsletter with a colleague or two (or post a link via any social media platform you use) and ask them to add their voices to those promoting a deep and meaningful understanding between religion and science. They can add their signatures to one of our Clergy Letters simply by dropping me a note at mz@theclergyletterproject.org. Together we are making a difference.
Michael
Michael Zimmerman
Founder and Executive Director
The Clergy Letter Project
www.theclergyletterproject.org
mz@theclergyletterproject.org