August 2022 Newsletter
In this Clergy Letter Project update you’ll find the following seventeen items:
- Themes for Religion and Science Weekend: First Call;
- Astrobiology: James Webb Space Telescope and a Star System Full of Earth-like Planets;
- Zooniverse: NASA is Looking for Help in Analyzing the Atmosphere of Jupiter;
- Climate Change, the US Congress and the Climate Crisis Letter;
- Sweet, Sexy, Cute and Funny: A Darwinian Explanation;
- How Judaism Engages Science;
- Ark Adventure: A Discussion with Noah about Dinosaurs – and Insurance Companies<;
- The Dangers of Christian Nationalism;
- Tweet-sized Sermon;
- In the Beginning…;
- The Kansas Abortion Referendum;
- The Family Research Council and the IRS: A Follow-up;
- UCC and Homelessness;
- Evolution Can Add Information;
- Opening a Portal to Hell;
- Declining Participation in Religious Institutions; and
- Covalence for August.
1. Themes for Religion and Science Weekend: First Call
Given the overwhelming vote to change the name of Evolution Weekend to Religion and Science Weekend, this will be the first official Religion and Science Weekend. It will, however, be the 18th time members devoted time to celebrate and discuss the compatibility of religion and science.
I’m cautiously optimistic that our name change will lead to broad participation this coming February. As we’ve done in the past, Religion and Science Weekend will have a theme selected by members, although anyone may participate whether they focus on the theme or not. The bottom line is that participants will demonstrate that it is possible to have meaningful dialogue about the nature of religion and science.
Having said that, many participants find it helpful to have a theme to focus their event and a theme certainly helps us collectively promote the weekend. So please share your thoughts about the theme you’d like to see. Send me an email (mz@theclergyletterproject.org) with your suggestion. I’ll share all suggestions in next month's newsletter. Let’s make this upcoming Religion and Science Weekend a huge success!
Recent Religion and Science Weekend (Evolution Weekend) themes include:
2022: The Pandemic, Climate Change and Evolution: How Religion and Science, Working Together, Can Advance Our Understanding
2021: Religion and Science in a Time of Denial: Neither will be Denied
2020: How Science and Religion Can Work Together to Deal with the Problems of the Climate Crisis
2019: The Confluence of Religion and Science
2018: Our Shared Humanity
2017: A productive melding of science, religion and the humanities as exemplified in The Universe Story, originally published 25 years ago by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry
2016: Exploring Ways to Engage in Complex Discussions in a Civil Manner
2015: Science and Religion in Dialogue: Past, Present, and Future
2014: Different Ways of Knowing / Asking Different Questions
2013: Evolution in the Modern World
2012: An interfaith discussion of religion and science
2011: The Positive Relationship Between Religion and the Environment
_______ I plan to participate in Religion and Science Weekend 2023 (10-12 February 2023). Please add my congregation (or other group) to the list of participants.
Congregation or similar group:Location:
Your Name:
2. Astrobiology: James Webb Space Telescope and a Star System Full of Earth-like Planets
I know that many of you are missing Grace Wolf-Chase’s Astrobiology News column so I’m attempting to do my best to provide similar content! First, as aside on Grace’s health. She’s currently recovering from back surgery, and I hope she’ll be back on her feet soon. Please join me in wishing her the best.
Now for the astrobiology content! You might remember that back in March of 2017 Grace wrote about the Trappist-1 planetary system with it’s seven planets. In addition to explaining the importance of this system, Grace noted that “The James Webb Space Telescope… will be able to examine the atmospheres of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets remotely, from its orbit around our Sun.”
Well now that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is operational, Grace’s prediction is coming true! Here’s a news report detailing the information JWST is currently gathering and how it plans to assess whether any of the seven planets have atmospheres.
3. Zooniverse: NASA is Looking for Help in Analyzing the Atmosphere of Jupiter
Following from the last item, here’s another one in honor of Grace Wolf-Chase’s work and passions. As you know, she has been very active in promoting the opportunities provided by Zooniverse for individuals to get involved in important research endeavors.
NASA, through Zooniverse, has just put out a call for participants to help analyze the atmosphere of Jupiter. Click here to learn more about this exciting project.
4. Climate Change, the US Congress and the Climate Crisis Letter
The data indicating that anthropogenic climate change is real and is already impacting millions of people globally has grown to the point where it is increasingly difficult for people to claim the science is flawed. Similarly, finally, the United States Congress finally passed a package designed to enable to country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions significantly. While this is a great, but long overdue, first step, much more needs to be done. I hope those of you who have not yet added your signature to our Climate Crisis Letter take this opportunity to do so. Simply reply to this newsletter with the following information, and I’ll do the rest. Thanks!
_______ Yes, by all means, please add my signature to the Climate Crisis Letter.
Name and Title:
Congregation/Denomination/Religion (optional):
City, State, Country
5. Sweet, Sexy, Cute and Funny: A Darwinian Explanation
I’m delighted to share a fun and interesting TED Talk by philosopher Daniel Dennett from 2009 with you. The talk is entitled “Cute, Sexy, Sweet, Funny” and makes an evolutionary case for each of these characteristics.
This item was brought to my attention by The Reverend Walter Jones, a long-time member of The Clergy Letter Project.
6. How Judaism Engages Science
Science for the Church recently published an informative interview with Rabbi Geoff Mitelman, executive director of Sinai and Synapses and a member of The Clergy Letter Project. The article is entitled “How Judaism Engages Science.” This is a companion piece to the one published a week earlier entitled "How Islam Engages Science."
7. Ark Adventure: A Discussion with Noah about Dinosaurs – and Insurance Companies
A clip just appeared on Twitter which showed Noah discussing the dinosaurs he had on the ark. You won’t want to miss it. And this seems like as good a time as any to remind you that Answers in Genesis, the owners of Ark Adventure, sued their insurance company for flood damage that occurred soon after the ark was built.
8. The Dangers of Christian Nationalism
Christian Nationalism has gained a great deal of attention over the past month. With that in mind, I thought it useful to share two recently published pieces with you. The first was published by Vice News and is entitled “Christian Nationalism Drove These People Out of Their Churches.”
The second was published by Religion News Service and is entitled “Republicans keep mostly mum on calls to make GOP ‘party of Christian nationalism’.”
What is absolutely clear is that not all Christians, indeed, not even anything close to a majority of Christians, would knowingly promote Christian Nationalism. But, like those fundamentalist preachers promoting creationism, this group is receiving an out-sized amount of attention – and that attention is leading many to believe that Christians are a monolithic group professing extreme positions. Our work with The Clergy Letter Project has never been more important!
9. Tweet-sized Sermon
The Reverend Dr. Chuck Currie, a member of The Clergy Letter Project, occasionally offers “tweet-sized” sermons. I thought you’d enjoy what he shared this past Sunday:
Don't have time for church? Here's your Tweet-sized sermon for this Sunday:
#AmericaFirst? Not for Christians. Our call is to build a more just world for all people. Let’s start by cleaning our air, water, & land. Then we will be called stewards of Creation.
Peace be with you.
10. In the Beginning…
Dr. Tony Mitchell, a long-time friend of The Clergy Letter Project, has an interesting blog entitled “Thoughts from the Heart on the Left.” His most recent posting is entitled “Three Words” and it explores the twin natures of exploration and understanding. He writes, “The answer to any question will always (or should) generate more questions and out of this never-ending curiosity lie the roots of science.” He then explains that “while we may get closer to understanding when the universe was created and how it was done, what we discover will never tell us why it was done. To answer why it was done and all the other questions that come from the answer to that question are done on our faith journey.” Take a look at his posting – you won’t be disappointed.
11. The Kansas Abortion Referendum
As you likely know, citizens of Kansas recently voted on a constitutional amendment that would have permitted the Kansas legislature to limit abortion access in the state. Voters overwhelmingly opted not to move in this direction.
As part of the campaign to keep abortion safe and legal in Kansas a remarkably powerful ad was produced and distributed by Kansans for Constitutional Freedom. The ad featured Pastor Jay McKell, a member of The Clergy Letter Project. Do take a look at the ad – it will be 30 seconds well spent!
12. The Family Research Council and the IRS: A Follow-up
Last month’s newsletter included an item explaining how the Family Research Council was granted religious status by the Internal Revenue Service. Since that time, 40 members of Congress have called on the IRS to investigate how such a thing could happen. Fascinating reading!
13. UCC and Homelessness
I am constantly amazed by the good work that so many of you are doing. Here’s just one exciting example! The United Church of Christ just published a moving story on its webpage entitled “UCC Churches in North Carolina and Oregon use land to settle houseless neighbors.” As the story explains, “Two United Church of Christ congregations, one in North Carolina and another in Oregon, are using church land to provide safe shelter to their houseless neighbors.”
The North Carolina effort is being led by The Reverend Sara Wilcox while the Oregon effort is spearheaded by The Reverend Diane Rodriguez, both members of The Clergy Letter Project. Please join me in congratulating both on their important endeavors.
14. Evolution Can Add Information
One of the on-going claims made by creationists is that genetic mutations can only lead to the destruction of information and thus evolution is impossible. Given the prevalence of this claim, I thought it worthwhile to share an older piece from New Scientist that debunks it. The article is entitled “Evolution myths: Mutation can only destroy information” and explains that “Biologists are uncovering thousands of examples of how mutations lead to new traits and even new species.” The article also includes a link to a debunking of other evolution-related myths.
15. Opening a Portal to Hell
What have we come to when scientists must debunk crazy conspiracy theories? USA TODAY recently ran a story entitled, “Fact check: Scientists at CERN are not opening a ‘portal to hell’.” Consider the following sentence says it all: "There is no truth to the claim that scientists at CERN are communicating with demonic entities and using the collider to open up a portal to hell, Dejan Stojkovic, a physics professor at the University of Buffalo, told USA TODAY in an email."
16. Declining Participation in Religious Institutions
It is well known that participation in religious institutions has been in decline. One factor that many believe is responsible is the way religion and science interact – or the way people think religion and science interact. Dr. Larry Collins, a member of The Clergy Letter Project’s list of scientific consultants drafted an essay exploring this relationship. The piece is entitled “Church Attendance, the Three-Tier Universe, Scientific Concordism, and Accommodation by the Holy Spirit.”
You’re likely already familiar with Larry because I’ve mentioned his book, A Christian Geologist Explains Why the Earth Cannot Be 6,000 Years Old: Let's Heal the Divide in the Church, numerous times since its publication last year.
17. Covalence for August
I often bring articles from Covalence Magazine, published by the Lutheran Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology to your attention. This month, however, I’m doing something different! Instead of pointing you to a specific article, I’m directing you to the full issue because there are a host of fascinating pieces. As editor Susan Barreto explains, in this issue James Miller explores “the relationality and the uncertainty of the whole enterprise of faith and science dialogue,” there are “updates on the AAAS DoSER program and from the Center for Theology in the Natural Sciences at GTU in Berkeley,” a discussion of the images from the James Webb Space Telescope.
Concluding Thoughts
This month’s newsletter has the largest number of items to date. I hope you found many of them interesting and were not overwhelmed by the volume. As you saw, many came to my attention via members of The Clergy Letter Project. If you come across some information you think other members would like to see, please share it with me.
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. Spread the word; change the world. Together we are making a difference.
Michael
Michael Zimmerman
Founder and Executive Director
The Clergy Letter Project
www.theclergyletterproject.org
mz@theclergyletterproject.org