December 2022 Newsletter
In this Clergy Letter Project update you’ll find the following sixteen items:
- Preparing for Religion and Science Weekend 2023;
- Astrobiology I: NASA’s Climate Spiral;
- Astrobiology II: Mars Rise;
- Climate Change I: Crusading Against Climate Action;
- Climate Change II: We’re Not Making Progress;
- Please Read! Help Desperately Needed;
- Religion and the Environment;
- Science for the Church: Resources on Evolution;
- What About Evolution?;
- The Clergy Letter Project on Post;
- Genesis is Not a Science Textbook;
- How Science Changes the Way We Think;
- Creationist Sentenced to Over 8500 Years in Prison;
- Religion and Science Books for Children;
- Where Physics Blurs into Religion; and
- The Limits of Science and the Quest for Knowledge.
1. Preparing for Religion and Science Weekend 2023
Please remember that the theme selected by membership for Religion and Science Weekend 2023 is:
Mystery, Awe and Wonder in Religion and Science
I believe that this theme demonstrates not only the concordance of religion and science but also the excitement that can arise when we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Both religion and science can lead us to this place and when we arrive, we are able to reach beyond ourselves to others and help create a more welcoming environment. This is a large part of what both religion and science are all about. Both recognize that the world is filled with mysteries, mysteries that we might untangle if we explore carefully and creatively, and both recognize that we might be appropriately awed as we make our discoveries. Both religion and science entail a journey – and I hope you and your parishioners join us on this journey this year.
I’m delighted to say that Reverend Bruce Booher, a retired ELCA pastor, a member of The Clergy Letter Project and the person who nominated this year’s theme, has created a web page with a host of resources designed to help you prepare for Religion and Science Weekend 2023. As he notes on the page, the work is ongoing, and he plans to add resources each week until Religion and Science Weekend arrives. Please take a look at his efforts now and return regularly to see what he adds. And please join me in thanking him for his efforts.
A couple of additional points are in order as we prepare for Religion and Science Weekend 2023. Membership voted overwhelmingly to change the title of the weekend from Evolution Weekend to Religion and Science Weekend believing that doing so would better reflect the broader nature of our efforts – thus leading to greater participation. As of now, participation is indeed up from where it was this time last year, but we are still down from previous years. At a time when religion seems to be in the process of being hijacked by the far right and when we are in a deep and troubling period of science-denialism, it is more important than ever for all of us, collectively, to demonstrate the power of both religion and science. Please think carefully about what participation can mean and how participation can enrich your congregation, and sign up if you’ve not yet done so.
Finally, as has been the case every year, you are encouraged to participate in Religion and Science Weekend whether you opt to focus on our theme or not. As long as you do something to elevate the discussion of the relationship between religion and science, we welcome you on board. And that something can be large, a sermon or a guest speaker, it can be small, a note in your weekly bulletin or a lunch discussion, or it can be anything else you deem appropriate. And although we welcome your participation on the weekend of 10-12 February 2023, we recognize that this date can’t work for everyone. Please sign up to participate even if your participation occurs at some other point.
_______ 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 I: NASA’s Climate Spiral
Grace Wolf-Chase continues to make progress in her rehab from surgery and I’m optimistic that her wonderful Astrobiology News column will reappear soon – I’m hoping for next month! In the meantime, although I can’t compete with her insight and knowledge, I will continue to try and provide interesting astronomical tidbits to fill the massive gap her absence has created.
As you likely know, in addition to their work exploring the universe, NASA does great work helping us understand the nature of Earth. Here is just one example: a climate spiral visually demonstrating just how much our planet has warmed since 1880. While NASA climate spirals have been around for a while, I never get tired of viewing them – and hoping that we have the sense to take action to alter the trend.
3. Astrobiology II: Mars Rise
For your viewing pleasure, I’m sharing an absolutely striking photograph of Mars rising behind the moon. Enjoy!
4. Climate Change I: Crusading Against Climate Action
There are times when it appears that those of us who are promoting aggressive action to combat climate change are making good progress. And then we learn of organizations like the Texas Public Policy Initiative, a well-funded organization crusading AGAINST climate action. Their efforts are perhaps best exemplified by these comments by one of their top executives: “Today, I’m thankful to live a high-carbon lifestyle and wish the rest of the world could too. Energy poverty = poverty. #decarbonization is dangerous and deadly.”
Read more about the dangerous efforts of the Texas Public Policy Initiative in this New York Times article. (I’ve provided the link as a gift, so even if you don’t have an account, you can read it for free.)
_______ This information convinces me that I want to add my signature to the Climate Crisis Letter.
Name and Title:
Congregation/Denomination/Religion (optional):
City, State, Country
5. Climate Change II: We’re Not Making Progress
Following up on the last item, here’s yet more bad news! This article from The Washington Post demonstrates that carbon emissions have never been higher. The article’s title perfectly explains the situation: “Scientists thought carbon emissions had peaked. They’ve never been higher.” (I’ve provided the link as a gift, so even if you don’t have an account, you can read it for free.)
We need to step up our actions if we are to make a difference. Please join us.
_______ Yes, adding my signature to the Climate Crisis Letter is the least I can do!
Name and Title:
Congregation/Denomination/Religion (optional):
City, State, Country
6. Please Read! Help Desperately Needed
To be completely honest, I’m embarrassed by this item – but I desperately need help. As you know, based on an overwhelming vote by membership, we’ve changed the name of Evolution Weekend to Religion and Science Weekend. My problem is simple: I can’t figure out how to change the logo on our webpage to reflect this alteration.
If you have experience working with Adobe Dreamweaver, and are willing to help, please let me know. Alternatively, and more simply, if you have the ability to alter pdf images, please let me know. I would really like to have our webpage accurately reflect our efforts.
I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to provide.
7. Religion and the Environment
The Pew Research Center has just released a fascinating survey examining how religion intersects with American’s views on the environment. Some of the results are not in the least surprising while others are very depressing.
First the unsurprising: “Most U.S. adults – including a solid majority of Christians and large numbers of people who identify with other religious traditions – consider the Earth sacred and believe God gave humans a duty to care for it.”
Now the depressing: “highly religious Americans (those who say they pray each day, regularly attend religious services and consider religion very important in their lives) are far less likely than other U.S. adults to express concern about warming temperatures around the globe.”
The Clergy Letter Project can help change this narrative. As increasing numbers of clergy members add their signatures to our Climate Crisis Letter, we are demonstrating that religious leaders recognize the environmental and human devastation caused by climate change is of critical importance. Similarly, by calling for action to combat climate change, they are encouraging their parishioners to take similar steps. If you’ve not yet added your signature to the Climate Crisis Letter, now would be a great time to do so. Just reply to this note and tell me you want to sign on and I’ll do the rest.
8. Science for the Church: Resources on Evolution
Science for the Church has a website that offers a good deal of interesting information dealing with religion and evolution that I suspect you’ll find helpful in general and as you prepare for Religion and Science Weekend 2023. Take a look; I bet you’ll discover some very useful material.
9. What About Evolution?
Greg Cootsona, the founder of Science for the Church, has interviewed two of the three authors of the new book, What About Evolution? A Biologist, Pastor, and Theologian Answer Your Questions.
Cootsona asks a number of good questions. Here’s one to give you a flavor of the interview: “One common misconception is that you can’t be a Christian with a high view of Scripture and accept biological evolution. But you keep both together, and I think that characterizes this book. What else makes it unique?”
10. The Clergy Letter Project on Post
In last month’s newsletter, I mentioned that in addition to (temporarily) maintaining a presence on Twitter (@mzclergyletter), I’ve also created an account on Mastodon (@mzclergyletter@qoto.org). Over this past month, yet another Twitter-like social media platform has taken off, so I’ve created an account there as well. So far, Post looks to be a good, viable option, so I hope you think about joining me there! You can access the site at www.post.news and you can find me @mzclergyletter. Hope to see you on one of these sites!
11. Genesis is Not a Science Textbook
Rabbi Geoff Mitelman, founding director of Sinai and Synapses and a member of The Clergy Letter Project, published an engaging essay entitled “Genesis is Not a Science Textbook.” Let me give you a flavor of his thoughts by presenting his opening paragraphs and his concluding paragraph:
Genesis is not a science textbook.
That may seem like an obvious statement, but from evangelical Christians to liberal Jews to staunch atheists, people grapple with how to reconcile the opening chapters of Genesis 1 with ideas like Big Bang cosmology and the theory of evolution. Some people respond to it like the Onion article “Mistranslated Myths Of Nomadic Desert Shepherd Tribe Taken At Face Value.” Yet that way of reading Genesis completely misses the point – from both a scientific and a religious perspective.
If we look at Genesis as poetry, not science, then we don’t need to do mental gymnastics to fit the square peg of Genesis 1 into the round hole of Big Bang cosmology. Instead, its style reminds us that the universe is naturally chaotic and unpredictable – but we, like God, can strive to bring a little more order in our lives. Even if Genesis is not a science textbook, it can still teach us lessons.
12. How Science Changes the Way We Think
Dr. Elizabeth Fernandez is an astrophysicist and an alum of the Sinai and Synapses Fellowship program. She written a compelling essay entitled “How science changes the way we think, according to 10 leading scientists.”
The scientists she interviews (a number of whom are associated with The Clergy Letter Project) address such diverse topics as science and equality, what it means to be human, why science needs art, and how we ask questions. This short piece is well worth your time!
13. Creationist Sentenced to Over 8500 Years in Prison
Adnan Oktar, often publishing under the name Harun Yahya, may be familiar to many of you due to the publication of The Atlas of Creation. Tens of thousands of copies of his huge and lavishly illustrated first volume of the three-volume set were sent, unsolicited, to scientists, religious leaders and libraries beginning in 2007. The book claimed that organisms have remained unchanged throughout time and professes to show pictures of fossils that are exact replicates of extant species. Specialists have shown just how misleading his work is. The book has been debunked by numerous scientists and The Committee on Culture, Science and Education of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe wrote that "None of the arguments in this work are based on any scientific evidence, and the book appears more like a primitive theological treatise than the scientific refutation of the theory of evolution."
According to a report shared by our good friends at the National Center for Science Education, Oktar has been sentenced in Turkey to 8568 years in prison for a wide range of crimes, including “founding and leading a criminal organization, political or military espionage, aiding a terrorist group, sexual abuse of minors, sexual exploitation, deprivation of liberty of a person, torture, disturbance of right to education, misusing personal data, and making threats.”
14. Religion and Science Books for Children
Are you interested in finding some useful books designed for children that discuss religion and science? If so, you might want to check out this website. I’m confident that some of what’s there might be perfect for a Religion and Science Weekend event designed for your youngest parishioners!
15. Where Physics Blurs into Religion
The Guardian just ran an interview with physicist and science popularizer Sabine Hossenfelder in which she makes the provocative statement that “There are quite a few areas where physics blurs into religion.” Interestingly, her position is not particularly favorable toward either religion or science! Nonetheless, you might be interested in this short piece.
16. The Limits of Science and the Quest for Knowledge
The January installment of IRAS's monthly webinar series, Science, Religion, and Society, should be of interest to many of you - and might be particularly useful as you think about participating in Religion and Science Weekend 2023. The speaker is Dr. Marcelo Gleiser, a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College who has expertise in both cosmology and astrobiology. The title of the talk is "Question Reality! The Limits of Science and the Quest for Knowledge."
Here's the overview of the presentation shared by Dr. Gleiser: “How much can we know of the world? Are there fundamental limits to knowledge? In this interdisciplinary lecture, I will describe why science necessarily provides a limited description of Nature and discuss the impact this has on our quest for an ever-deeper understanding of reality and for theories of "everything." Starting with Plato's Cave, I will trace our ever-changing worldview to arrive at current cosmology, quantum physics, and computer science examples that illustrate a few unknowable questions and their implications.”
The webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at 5:00 pm (ET) and is free and open to the public, but you must register to participate. You can register using this form.
Concluding Thoughts
Although these are truly troubling times with Russia’s war on Ukraine continuing, science-denialism in the ascendency, religion increasingly being defined by Christian nationalists, attacks increasing on the LGBTQ community, antisemitism growing and hospitals again being overrun with patients from yet another Covid wave, a larger than normal flu outbreak and dangerous levels of RSV, there is still much to be thankful for. And most importantly, working together we have the power to shape the future. With that thought in mind, I wish all of you, your friends and relatives, and those you serve a wonderful holiday season and a healthy, happy and productive new year.
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