July 2018 Newsletter
In this Clergy Letter Project update, you’ll find the following six items:
- Evolution Weekend 2019: A Theme Emerges;
- Astrobiology News for July 2018: Marvelous Mars;
- Science Isn’t Just “How,” Religion Isn’t Just “Why”;
- A New Argument Against Evolution;
- ANIMA: Animals. Faith. Compassion; and
- Lorence Collins Takes on Ken Ham.
1. Evolution Weekend 2019: A Theme Emerges
Given that a consistent and disconcerting pattern in today’s world seems to be a disregard for the truth, a fairly obvious theme has presented itself for Evolution Weekend 2019. As The Christian Clergy Letter makes clear, both religion and science, each in its own way, helps us search for the truth. While truth can be elusive, and while we may often never be certain that we’ve actually uncovered it, it is something that we aspire to discover. In many instances, religion and science point in the same direction. When this happens, it makes good sense to take particular notice and act accordingly!
The theme for Evolution Weekend 2019, therefore, is The Confluence of Religion and Science. The Clergy Letter Project has, over the years, been a good example of how the teachings of religion and science can support one another. We have, for example, taken positions against the separation of immigrant children from their parents, against racism, homophobia and Islamophobia, and in favor of developing a greater environmental ethic. Each of these positions makes sense from both a theological and a scientific perspective. Each of these positions can be, indeed have been, defended on the basis of evolutionary biology.
Evolution Weekend 2019 (8-10 February 2019) would be a great time to discuss the confluence of religion and science, how both are searching for truth and coming to similar conclusions with your congregation. If you have thoughts on this topic that you’d like to share broadly, please send them to me for inclusion in a future newsletter, or please post them on our Facebook page.
Please remember that you need not address this theme to participate in Evolution Weekend. All you need to do, however you opt to do so, is take some action, large or small, to raise the quality of the dialogue about the relationship between religion and science. And please remember that you may participate any time in the temporal vicinity of 8-10 February 2019 if that particular weekend doesn’t work for you and your congregation. The discussion, not the timing, is what’s important. But, please let me know if you plan to participate so I can add you to our growing list of participants.
______ What a great theme! Of course I plan to participate in Evolution Weekend 2019! Please add me to the growing list of participants.
Name of Congregation (or school group):
Location:
Your Name:
2. Astrobiology News for July 2018: Marvelous Mars
In this month’s Astrobiology News, Clergy Letter Project consultant and Adler Planetarium astronomer Grace Wolf-Chase discusses some upcoming astronomical events and provides a homework assignment!
This month’s news will deviate a bit from my usual astrobiology focus, although I’ll stick with my promised summer focus on Mars. I’d like to encourage you all to #Lookup(1) and appreciate Mars’ closest approach to Earth late this month, when the Red Planet will be at its brightest and closest to Earth since 2003. It won’t be as close again until 2035!
One cautionary note – beware the “Mars hoax” that’s been trolling the internet since 2003, when a meme was initiated that claimed Mars would be as large as the Moon. This is nonsense! Although Mars will shine about 5 times brighter than you might typically see it, the angular diameter of the Moon is about 75 times larger. For fun, you can calculate this yourself, using what astronomers call the “small angle formula.”
Knowing the distance to a celestial body and its physical size, you can calculate its angular size on the sky: physical size = angular size (measured in radians) times distance. This equation only works for small angles, but since the Moon is about a half degree on the sky and Mars is much smaller, no worries! At closest approach, Mars will be about 35.8 million miles from the Earth. The Moon is roughly 240,000 miles from Earth. Your challenge is to look up the diameters of Mars and the Moon and calculate their respective angular sizes on the sky. Watch your units and don’t forget your answers will be in radians. (Perhaps I’ll think of some incentives to include for future challenges!)
Mars will be at opposition, when the Earth is lined up between the Sun and Mars, on July 27th, and it will reach its closest approach to Earth on July 31st. The reason the dates are a bit different is because the orbits of the Earth and Mars are slightly elliptical, not circular. At opposition, Mars will be very close to the full Moon, rising in the east as the Sun sets in the west. The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century will also occur on July 27th, but won’t be visible to observers in North America, since it will happen during daylight hours, when the full Moon is not in the sky. In any event, Mars will make a spectacular night-sky object for the remainder of the summer!(2)
Finally, I want to remind you that there will be a public event entitled, “Becoming Interplanetary: What Living on Earth Can Teach Us about Living on Mars” on September 27, 2018 at the Library of Congress Kluge Center.(3) This event has been organized by my Adler colleague, Lucianne Walkowicz, who has been on sabbatical for the last year, researching scientific and ethical questions in anticipation of a future human presence on Mars. If you can be in the D.C. area for this event, I urge you to consider attending!
Until next month,
Grace
Grace Wolf-Chase, Ph.D. (gwolfchase@adlerplanetarium.org)
1. https://www.adlerplanetarium.org/events/observe-mars-july-30/
2. For more details, check out: http://earthsky.org/sky-archive/close-and-far-martian-oppositions
3. Check https://www.decolonizemars.org/becoming-interplanetary/ for more details as they become available.
3. Science Isn’t Just “How,” Religion Isn’t Just “Why”
Our partner organization, Sinai and Synapses, has a regular blog that is well worth reading. One of their recent posts was entitled “Science Isn’t Just “How,” Religion Isn’t Just “Why.” The post presents a video, along with a transcript of the text, of Clergy Letter Project member Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson addressing this topic. Brad presented this talk at Sinai and Synapses all-day workshop kicking off this second iteration of their successful program entitled “Scientists in Synagogues,” an event in which I was proud to participate.
Brad explains why both science and religion need humility – and each other. I suspect that you’ll want to read the rest of the article!
4. A New Argument Against Evolution
Paul Braterman, a member of The Clergy Letter Project’s list of scientific consultants, in a recent blog post, discusses the claim that the diversity of the world’s languages demonstrates that evolution could not have occurred! His short piece, along with the more expansive links he provides is worth reading, if you have the stomach for this sort of argumentation!
5. ANIMA: Animals. Faith. Compassion.
Clergy Letter Project member Dave Sickles brought a new short film to my attention that many of you might find useful. Entitled ANIMA: Animals. Faith. Compassion. the film was produced by the Guibord Center and “in it, leaders from 12 faith traditions discuss what their religions really say about the treatment of animals.” At just over 11 minutes, this film might be perfect to launch an Evolution Weekend discussion.
_____ You’re absolutely right! This film is just what I need for Evolution Weekend 2019. Please sign us up.
Congregation (or school):
Location:
Your name:
6. Lorence Collins Takes on Ken Ham
Geologist and member of The Clergy Letter Project’s list of scientific consultants Lorence Collins just published another paper in Skeptical Inquirer. As I reported in the April issue of our Newsletter, Larry’s first piece was entitled “Twenty-one Reasons Why Noah’s Worldwide Flood Never Happened.” In response to this article, Ken Ham’s Answer’s in Genesis organization produced a video professing to refute Larry’s ideas.
Now, in his latest essay, Larry takes on these “refutations” and demonstrates how flawed they are. You won’t be disappointed to read through the exchanges.
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 a Clergy Letter 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