August 2026 Newsletter
In this Clergy Letter Project update you’ll find the following 24 items:
- Vote for a Theme for Religion and Science Weekend 2027;
- Across the Cosmos for August 2026: Community at the Planetary Science Institute;
- Fish with Feet: Free Book Offer;
- US and Canadian Views of Evolution;
- Record-Setting Comments on Federal Grant Proposal Changes;
- Religion and Science Summer Reading List, Part 2;
- Genesis and Evolution: Partners in Meaning;
- Dinosaurs on the Ark;
- Danger Season: Let's Stop Calling it Summer;
- How to Do What We Want to Do (in the Climate Crisis);
- More on the Bible Curriculum in Texas Schools;
- Religion and the Simulation;
- Fighting Federal Climate Denial;
- Science Meets Religion at the Vatican;
- The Latest Issue of Reports of the National Center for Science Education;
- Investigating Religious Bias in AI Models;
- A Theologian and a Biologist Discuss Evolution;
- Religion and Data Centers;
- The Ever-Expanding Intersection of Faith, Science, and AI;
- Teaching Science and Religion Together Can Strengthen STEM Education;
- Rethinking Religion and Science to Cultivate Mutual Trust;
- Protecting Democracy;
- Educating About Dinosaurs and the Age of the Earth; and
- How AI Learns and Unlearns Hate.
1. Vote for a Theme for Religion and Science Weekend 2027
It’s time to vote for a theme for Religion and Science Weekend 2027 (12-14 February 2027). I’m delighted by the range of nominations submitted by members – and offer my heartfelt thanks to all who offered nominations.
Please select your first and second choice and reply to me via email indicating them. I’ll tabulate the responses and report back in our next newsletter.
___ 1. The Sacred Cosmos: Religion and Science Explore Our Expanding Universe
___ 2. Resilience and Renewal: Religion and Science in Times of Crisis
___ 3. Curiosity as a Spiritual Practice: How Religion and Science Cultivate Openness
___ 4. Healing the Earth, Healing Ourselves: A Shared Religious and Scientific Mandate
___ 5. Religion and Science: Cultivating Wisdom in an Age of AI
___ 6. Hope in an Uncertain World
___ 7. Curiosity, Humility, and Discovery
___ 8. Listening Across Differences
___ 9. It May Be Up To Clergy To Save Science
___ 10. Finding Common Ground
___ 11. Impossible Heat Waves as the result of Climate Change and the Politics of Denial
___ 12. Telling the Truth about Global Climate Changes
_____These themes are exciting and I plan to participate in Religion and Science Weekend 2027 regardless of which theme is selected. Please add me and my congregation to the list of participants.
Name of Congregation (or other group):
Location:
Your Name:
2. Across the Cosmos for August 2026: Community at the Planetary Science Institute
In this month’s installment of Across the Cosmos, Grace Wolf-Chase, Senior Scientist and Senior Education & Communication Specialist at the Planetary Science Institute as well as a Clergy Letter Project consultant, shares information about the exciting community that has been build around the Planetary Science Institute and shows how you can keep up on the organization’s activities. And, it’s worth mentioning, the retreat Grace discusses was kicked off by a recorded, inspirational message from former astronaut and current Arizona Senator Mark Kelly!
I recently returned from the annual Planetary Science Institute (PSI) Retreat in Tucson, Arizona. Amidst all the current challenges to funding science, not to mention ~110-degree days, the energy and enthusiasm of my colleagues for advancing research and public communication of science was infectious! New PSI hires since the last retreat got to present 15-minute talks; the rest of us got to participate in often-hilarious one-minute ‘lightning round’ talks that were closely monitored for time by folks with hooks to drag us off-stage! Just try to imagine a scientist constrained to speaking for one minute… (Note to Ted Peters: I used my minute to advertise A Handbook on Astrobiology, Astrotheology, and Astroanthropology – Oh My! – coming in late September.)
Among the recent updates at PSI is an Events Calendar that everyone can use to explore public talks, conferences, workshops, outreach activities, and community events with PSI scientists and educators. Although some of these events are local to the Tucson and Boulder (PSI’s secondary office) areas, there are interesting activities people can participate in remotely. Since PSI is represented by a distributed community of scientists and educators, we are also working to develop an increasing number of in-person events at other locations around the world.
I encourage anyone interested to sign up for the PSI weekly briefing. Each week, this (brief!) e-newsletter describes PSI events, shares a story about the work of PSI researchers, and includes an interview with a PSI scientist that explores that individual’s motivations and inspirations, including advice for those considering planetary science careers. An added feature is the ‘planetary pet’ of the week, focusing on an animal companion that accompanies a PSI scientist in their efforts to better understand our world and our place in the Universe!
Until next month,
Grace
Grace Wolf-Chase (she/her/hers) (gwolfchase@gmail.com)
Senior Scientist & Senior Education & Communication Specialist, Planetary Science Institute (www.psi.edu/about/staffpage/gwchase)
Vice President, Center for Advanced Study in Religion and Science (CASIRAS: www.casiras.org)3. Fish with Feet: Free Book Offer
Janet Kellogg Ray is a good friend of The Clergy Letter Project and a talented science educator and communicator. Her latest book, Fish with Feet: Human Evolution and the Image of God, has just been published and I’m delighted to say that the publisher has donated copies to me distribute to members. The book notes that “Humans have both an evolutionary past and a sacred purpose,” and it has received rave reviews from many people including two with whom many of you are likely familiar! Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education and a long-term friend of The Clergy Letter Project, writes that “Fish with Feet walks readers through the basics of evolution without caricature or confrontation. As always, Janet Kellogg Ray writes with clarity, charity, and occasional hilarity.” Ken Miller, a member of our list of scientific consultants and a clarion voice for evolution, describes the book this way: “Beautifully written, specifically addressed to people of faith, on every page it confirms Darwin’s vision that there is indeed grandeur in this view of life.”
If you’d like a free copy of Fish with Feet (after paying for postage) let me know and I’ll award a copy to every third person who asks until all copies have been claimed. If you’re not lucky enough to win a free copy, you can purchase one directly from the publisher and, using the code FISH40, receive a 40 percent discount. You can read more about the book and order here. (The discount code will remain active through the end of 2026 but is applicable only to US addresses.)
____ Please enter me in the lottery to win a free copy of Fish with Feet. If I win, I agree to cover mailing costs.
4. US and Canadian Views of Evolution
A recent poll of Canadian and US residents found divergent views about evolution between the two countries. Significantly more Canadians than those in the US said they were confident that human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years. Similarly fewer Canadians thought that creationism should be included in public school curricula. You can read more about the poll here.
5. Record-Setting Comments on Federal Grant Proposal Changes
As I’m certain you’ll remember, last month’s newsletter included a number of items about how the federal government was proposing to dramatically alter how scientific grants were funded, moving from basing decisions on scientific merit to political attractiveness. Simply put, at risk is the entire scientific enterprise of the United States. There are two things worth reporting. First, the proposed changes yielded the highest number of comments any OMB proposed regulation has ever received with 496,805 comments submitted. Thank you to all who submitted comments.
Second, while it is not yet a done deal and while even if it were a done deal it would only be a stopgap measure, there is bipartisan support in the senate to temporarily stop the rule from being implemented. It seems that while a temporary halt was attractive, Republican senators refused to vote to permanently kill the proposal, so our work is far from being completed. You can read more about the situation here.
6. Religion and Science Summer Reading List, Part 2
In last month’s newsletter, I shared part 1 of a religion and science summer reading list offered by our friends at Science for the Church. They’ve now released part 2. You can read it here.
7. Genesis and Evolution: Partners in Meaning
Science for the Church published an interesting essay entitled “Genesis and Evolution: Partners in Meaning.” The piece explains that “the creation account in the book of Genesis and the insights of science can harmoniously coexist when we approach the biblical text through the lens of its original theological purpose, rather than treating it as a modern scientific report.” You can read the essay here.
8. Dinosaurs on the Ark
With Answers in Genesis’s Ark Adventure turning 10 years old, Salon ran a story about the “MAGA theme park.” You can read it here.
9. Danger Season: Let's Stop Calling it Summer
The Rev. Jessica Hetherington, a member of The Clergy Letter Project and a climate activist with a wonderful blog, asks “What does it mean when the images of summer in Scripture no longer mean what they did then?” You can read her thoughtful piece here.
10. How to Do What We Want to Do (in the Climate Crisis)
Following up on the last item, I’m sharing another piece from Jessica Hetherington. She describes this as “a sermon addressing the contradiction between what we say and what we do in the climate emergency.” You can access it here.
11. More on the Bible Curriculum in Texas Schools
As I’ve reported previously, the Texas state board of education has begun requiring reading from the Bible to be included in public school curricula throughout the state. You might want to take a look at an interesting article explaining what parents should know about this new mandate here.
12. Religion and the Simulation
The headline of a recent article in the Daily Mail nicely explains what it is about: “MIT scientist explains how the theory we're living in a simulation could prove Christianity right.” You can read it here.
13. Fighting Federal Climate Denial
Last month’s newsletter introduced readers to Climate.us, a website created by former staff members at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration presenting critical information about the climate crisis at a time when the federal government is making access to such information increasingly difficult to access. Rebecca Lindsey, managing director of Climate.us, was interviewed by AmandaTownley, the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, about her efforts. You can view the interview here.
14. Science Meets Religion at the Vatican
CNN recently ran a nice story about the Vatican Observatory. The two-tiered headline explains what it’s about: “Science meets religion in the centuries-old Vatican Observatory. CNN's Christopher Lamb visits the Vatican Observatory, a centuries-old center of astronomical research where faith and science intersect. Reverend Richard D'Souza explains how his team studies meteorites and continues the search for extraterrestrial life.” You can access the piece here.
15. The Latest Issue of Reports of the National Center for Science Education
The latest free issue of Reports of the National Center for Science Education is now available. Among many interesting items, two stand out for me. The first deals with Dover, PA, the location of the “intelligent design trial” that took place 21 years ago. The piece is entitled “Two decades ago, Dover showed how to win elections in conservative towns. They’re still fighting.” The second is an article by Glenn Branch entitled “A new 12-year-old comic about the Scopes trial” which discusses how a comic book about the Scopes Trial took 12 years to appear. You can access the issue here.
16. Investigating Religious Bias in AI Models
ReligionUnplugged recently ran an article entitled “Investigating Religious Bias In Leading Artificial Intelligence Models.” You can read the piece here.
17. A Theologian and a Biologist Discuss Evolution
Science for the Church has released an interesting discussion with a biologist and a theologian about evolution and about how religion and science need not be in conflict. You can read the interview here.
18. Religion and Data Centers
Religion News Service ran a story exploring the divergent reactions various religious groups have had toward the construction of data centers. You can read the article here.
19. The Ever-Expanding Intersection of Faith, Science, and AI
The Summer issue of Covalence has taken as its theme the ever-expanding intersection of faith, science, and AI. You can access the issue, filled with wonderful content here.
20. Teaching Science and Religion Together Can Strengthen STEM Education
Phys.org ran a fascinating story from University College London which explains that teaching science and religion together can strengthen STEM education. You can read the piece here.
21. Rethinking Religion and Science to Cultivate Mutual Trust
A recent article in Current Opinion in Psychology entitled “Rethinking ‘religion’ and ‘science’ to cultivate mutual trust in the United States” asks readers to move past stereotyping religious individuals and scientists. The authors “argue that there are more nuances to religion, science, and the religion-science relationship than is typically assumed.” You can read the piece here.
22. Protecting Democracy
I’m delighted to say that The Rev. Ken Olson, a member of The Clergy Letter Project and a frequent contributor to this newsletter, has shared yet another of his great essays with us. He opens this one by writing something that I suspect virtually every member of The Clergy Letter Project would support: “Words matter: both meaning and intent.” He then goes on, in his inimitable fashion, to argue that we have work to do to protect our democracy. You can read his essay here.
23. Educating About Dinosaurs and the Age of the Earth
As you may remember from previous newsletters, Ken Olson, in addition to being a fabulous writer, is a remarkably talented artist, focused heavily on dinosaurs. He was asked by the Lewistown, MT library to mount an exhibit on dinosaurs to complement a reading program they were advancing on the subject. He readily agreed for a number of reasons including the fact that he believes that many Christian nationalists oppose evolution and are young Earth creationists. His display, discussing the fact that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, is one way to push back against their beliefs while promoting science. You can read an article about the exhibit here.
24. How AI Learns and Unlearns Hate
A recent panel discussion about how AI can promote prejudice and what we can do about it was very enlightening. You can watch it here.
Concluding Thoughts
If you’ve read this far in this month’s newsletter, or if you’ve skipped ahead to this point, let me encourage you to write to me with your vote for a theme for Religion and Science Weekend 2027, with your request for a copy of Fish with Feet, with your commitment to participate in Religion and Science Weekend 2027, and/or with an essay, book review, or some other item you’d like to see in a future newsletter. Thanks for reading and for all you do.
Finally, 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
https://bsky.app/profile/mzclergyletter.bsky.social