May 2026 Newsletter
In this Clergy Letter Project update you’ll find the following 24 items:
- The Rise of the Anti-Science Movement;
- Across the Cosmos for May 2026: Learning Science through Participation;
- Appellate Court Allows 10 Commandments to Be Posted in Schools;
- A New Addition to The Interfaith Clergy Letter;
- Social Studies and Religion Clash in Texas;
- The Changing Face of Faith in Space;
- Silicon Valley is Turning to the Catholic Church;
- Healing in the River: How the Earth Community Works with God for Healing;
- Student Secular Bill of Rights Dies in Kentucky;
- The Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Supports Evolution;
- Anthropic Meets with Christian Leaders;
- A New Creation Theory: God is Ever Creator;
- Congregational Life and AI;
- Is Religion Good for Your Mental Health?;
- Divine Discovery: Are Faith and Science in Conflict?;
- Is a Secular Religion Propelling the AI Race?;
- Ancient Ritual, Modern Science – Part 2;
- The Kavod of AI;
- Memorial Service for an AI Companion;
- Faith-based Chatbots;
- The Evolution of Creationism;
- Toxic Masculinity;
- Thoughts for Earth Day; and
- Religious Values and Confidence in Science.
1. The Rise of the Anti-Science Movement
A fascinating essay appeared on the Protagonist Science blog entitled “We need to talk about the anti-science movement.” The piece’s subheading explains that it’s about “6 lessons scientists under siege learned the hard way, and how we all can fight back.” I suspect that reading the essay will help you deal with challenges of confronting purveyors of anti-science. You can read the piece here.
2. Across the Cosmos for May 2026: Learning Science through Participation
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, generously offers to help you and your congregation structure a religion and science event!
Since the Planetary Science Institute recently interviewed me about my life and current research activities (see their newsletter(1) and blog(2)), I thought I’d take a brief opportunity to let you know how I might be able to help those of you interested in bringing science into programs of your faith communities. I have spent a significant portion of my career communicating science to diverse audiences through assorted venues. Some of this has included helping people, particularly seminarians, faith communities, interfaith organizations, and youth and family groups, engage with science through participation in actual research (not just my own). I believe that “science and religion are two of the most powerful forces shaping our world today, and building relationships between scientists and diverse faith communities is essential to addressing the increasing number of ethical questions that impact all of humanity.”(3)
One of the most powerful ways to build relationships with others is to invite them into your community. Is there a particular area of science that fascinates you? Perhaps one you’d like to explore with youth or adult educational programs? I’m happy to connect with folks who want some help getting started using online platforms for participatory research, such as Zooniverse(4) or World Mappers.(5) Zooniverse hosts projects in many areas of science and the humanities, while World Mappers is currently focused on the Moon and Mars. If you want to talk about a more traditional type of presentation on the Cosmos, that’s fine, too. Just contact me via my email address provided below if you’d like to explore some options!
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)1. https://us10.campaign-archive.com/?u=f3326717f0f4b2535dfc89d72&id=5c0d423939
2. https://www.psi.edu/blog/yellowballs-an-important-missing-link-in-star-formation/
3. https://us10.campaign-archive.com/?u=f3326717f0f4b2535dfc89d72&id=5c0d423939
4. https://www.zooniverse.org/
3. Appellate Court Allows 10 Commandments to Be Posted in Schools
The Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit recently ruled that the Texas and Louisiana laws mandating display of the 10 Commandments in public school classrooms are legal. The case, which will now go to the US Supreme Court, is yet another example of the wall between the church and state breaking down suggesting that further impact for the teaching of science might well occur. You can read about the ruling here.
4. A New Addition to The Interfaith Clergy Letter
I’m pleased to say that our Interfaith Clergy Letter has received a signature from a 24th country, Tanzania. Upon adding his signature to the Letter, the Rev. Canon Bart Lucas Segu wrote, “My contribution to this Interfaith Clergy Letter reflects on truth as a sacred and unifying principle—grounded in theology, illuminated through scientific understanding of our ecological reality, and expressed in the pursuit of justice within civil society.” What a wonderfully worded sentiment.
Is your signature on The Interfaith Clergy Letter? Check here. If not, please drop me a note and ask to have it added.
5. Social Studies and Religion Clash in Texas
The Texas State Board of Education, as part of their social studies review, seems to be celebrating Islamophobia. This is the same group that consistently challenges evolution education and climate change education. You can read more here.
6. The Changing Face of Faith in Space
Religion News Service ran an interesting story about faith in space. You can get a flavor for the crux of the article by reading the headline and subhead: “Faith has always gone to space. Artemis II shows how much it has changed. Both Apollo 8 and Artemis II missions included public references to religion, but astronauts aboard the Artemis’ Orion spacecraft struck a broader, more global tone.” You can read the full article here.
7. Silicon Valley is Turning to the Catholic Church
An interesting article in The Atlantic makes the case that Silicon Valley is turning to the Catholic Church where priests and theologians want to shape AI. You can read the story via this gift article here.
8. Healing in the River: How the Earth Community Works with God for Healing
The Rev. Jessica Hetherington, a member of The Clergy Letter Project, has shared a sermon she recently delivered at Rothwell United Church for Earth Sunday. The sermon is entitled “Healing in the River: How the Earth Community Works with God for Healing” and you can read it here.
9. Student Secular Bill of Rights Dies in Kentucky
Not surprisingly, the student secular bill of rights died in Kentucky. As the National Center for Science Education explains, the bill, if enacted, would “have safeguarded the religious neutrality of public education in a variety of ways, including by establishing that public school students have a right under state law to be free from ‘any religious instruction as part of a school curriculum, including creationism and intelligent design.’” You can read more here.
10. The Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Supports Evolution
As reported by the National Center for Science Education, the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology recently issued a public statement on the teaching of evolution in K-12 science classrooms. Their statement says, "Evolution is the unifying principle of modern biology. Within biological science, the reality of evolution is not controversial. Thus, literacy in 21st century biological science includes the fundamental concept of evolution," adding, "it is unacceptable to incorporate religious beliefs into the science curriculum, whether sanctioned by the state or practiced by individual teachers." You can read more here.
11. Anthropic Meets with Christian Leaders
The leaders of the AI company Anthropic want to know if AI “can be a child of God.” In the hope of answering this question and in their search for guidance on building a moral chatbot, the company’s leaders met with 15 Christian leaders from Catholic and Protestant churches. You can read more about the experience here.
12. A New Creation Theory: God is Ever Creator
Covalence Magazine recently published a new essay by Thomas Jay Oord, a member of The Clergy Letter Project, entitled “A New Creation Theory: God is Ever Creator.” Susan Barreto, the magazine’s editor and a good friend of The Clergy Letter Project, describes his essay by saying, “While emphasizing God as a Creator who creates, Oord, as a systematic theologian, offers a complete image of a Creator who was active before the Big Bang and still is active today. You can read his piece here.
13. Congregational Life and AI
Science for the Church has posted an essay on what AI might mean for religious life and how it might be able to help congregations by supporting ministry without replacing it. You can read the piece here.
14. Is Religion Good for Your Mental Health?
A recent article in Religion Unplugged is entitled “Science Says Religion Is Good For Your Mental Health.” The piece opens with the following two sentence: “A massive amount of research confirms what your grandma has always told you: Go to church. It’s good for you. And if a church isn’t your scene, a temple, mosque, synagogue or gurdwara would work, too.” You can read the article here here.
15. Divine Discovery: Are Faith and Science in Conflict?
Francis Collins, past director of the National Institutes of Health and a member of The Clergy Letter Project's list of scientific consultants, published an essay in the Deseret News recently. The piece is an extract from his 2024 book entitled The Road to Wisdom on Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust, and discusses his faith journey and explains why religion and science need not be in conflict. You can read his essay here.
16. Is a Secular Religion Propelling the AI Race?
A recent article published by Religion News Service takes a slightly different take than some of the above items discussing a relationship between AI leaders and clergy members. You can read more here.
17. Ancient Ritual, Modern Science – Part 2
Last month I shared part one of a discussion between a philosopher and a psychologist on the nature of confession. Our good friends at Science for the Church have now posted part two of that discussion. You can read it here.
18. The Kavod of AI
Rabbi Geoff Mitelman, Founding Director of Sinai and Synapses and a member of The Clergy Letter Project, has written an interesting blog post entitled “The Kavod of AI.” Geoff addresses a pressing question in his essay: “As AI becomes more embedded in daily life, a deeper question emerges: how do we use these tools without losing our humanity?” (For those who might not know, “kavod” can mean respect, glory and honor.) You can read Geoff’s essay here.
19. Memorial Service for an AI Companion
What does it mean when an AI companion is deactivated? As a recent article published by Religion News Service reported, the New York Zen Center held a memorial service for just such a companion. So many interesting ideas are embedded in this article, and you can access it here.
20. Faith-based Chatbots
The AP ran a story about the growing frequency of faith-based chatbots. As they note, “The rush to create faith-based generative AI is unsurprising, given the popularity of chatbots for everything from therapy and medical advice to companionship and romance. They range from alleged Hindu gurus and Buddhist priests to AI Jesuses and chatbots akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT for Catholics." You can read more here.
21. The Evolution of Creationism
Over the summer, in an article I missed until now, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State published a great essay in their Church and State Magazine. The piece, entitled “The evolution of creationism: How fake biblical ‘science’ has mutated in opposition to church-state separation,” looks at over 175 years of the evolution of creationism. You can read the article here.
22. Toxic Masculinity
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 two more of his great essays with us. In this one, entitled “Toxic Masculinity,” he ranges Marcus Aurelius to Jesus to Robert Louis Stevenson. You can read his essay here.
23. Thoughts for Earth Day
Ken’s second essay this month is entitled “Thoughts for Earth Day” and in it he ruminates on the devastation we have caused on our planet and what we need to do change course. He opines that “it all starts with learning to love ourselves less -- and the entire earth and our children’s future more.” You can read his essay here.
24. Religious Values and Confidence in Science
A recent article in the science journal PLOS One examined how religious views impact confidence in science. One of the striking conclusions of this research is, “when individuals think religion endorses protecting the planet, their confidence in science was higher.” This result provides added import to our Climate Crisis Letter. If you’ve not yet signed on, please do so now by dropping me a note. You can read the full article here.
Concluding Thoughts
With Earth Day just behind us and stark warnings that we might soon be experiencing a record-breaking El Niño leading to previously unseen temperatures, it’s more than time for clergy and scientists to come together to advocate for serious climate change action. As item 24 above indicated, when religious leaders advocate for environmental protections, trust in science increases. Please (continue to) speak out and if you’ve not yet signed our Climate Crisis Letter, please do so now. Similarly, as the attack on expertise of all sorts intensifies and as lies continue to be spewed by many of our political leaders, advocating for truth is more important than ever. Along these lines, if you’ve not yet added your signature to our Interfaith Clergy Letter, now would be a great time to do so. Thanks for considering taking both of these actions.
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