September 2023 Newsletter
In this Clergy Letter Project update you’ll find the following seventeen items:
- Religion and Science Weekend 2024: You’ve Selected a Theme;
- Astrobiology News for September 2023: Biological Activity on Exoplanet K2-18b?;
- Sign Up for Religion and Science Weekend 2024 and Receive a Free Book;
- Proposed Science Textbooks in Texas;
- Citizen Preaching with the Sciences;
- A Letter to My Kids;
- Interpreting the Bible Literally;
- Charles Darwin and Archbishop Ussher;
- Creationism, Evolution and Climate Change in the Accelerated Christian Education Curriculum;
- Wildfires in Greece;
- The Real Goal of Christian Home Schooling;
- Carl Sagan on the Green House Effect;
- Christianity and Science Deniers;
- Ministry in an Age of Climate Distress;
- Free Will and the Purpose of Life;
- The CRISPR Revolution in Science, Religion and Ethics; and
- Science and Religion Curriculum Guide.
1. Religion and Science Weekend 2024: You’ve Selected a Theme
I’m delighted to announce that after a second round of voting you have selected a theme for Religion and Science Weekend 2024. The vote was ridiculously close! “Religion, Science and the Common Good” edged out “Religion and Science: Stronger Together” by a single vote. Thank you to all who voted.
Now that we have a theme, it’s time to sign up to participate in Religion and Science Weekend 2024:
Religion, Science and the Common Good
Religion and Science Weekend 2024
9-11 February 2024
_____ I’m excited by this theme! Please sign me up to participate in Religion and Science Weekend 2024.
Name of Congregation (or other group):
Location:
Your Name:
2. Astrobiology News for September 2023: Biological Activity on Exoplanet K2-18b?
In this month’s Astrobiology News essay, Grace Wolf-Chase, Senior Scientist and Senior Education & Communication Specialist at the Planetary Science Institute as well as a Clergy Letter Project consultant, discusses a striking new discovery made by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). While Grace’s discussion below is absolutely superb, you might also want to read how The Washington Post describes the discovery in this gift article (which means you can read it for free eve if you don’t have a subscription).
I want to make it absolutely clear at the outset that I am not reporting the detection of extraterrestrial life (ETL) in this month’s news. Having said that, recent results from the JWST suggest that exoplanet K2-18b may possess an environment with life-harboring potential, including tantalizing hints of possible biological activity. Classified as “superterran,” this intriguing world is 8.6 times as massive as Earth and orbits in the habitable zone of a cool red dwarf star 120 light-years away (so don’t expect any prospective communication with intelligent aliens!).
Included in the Planetary Habitability Laboratory’s Optimistic Sample of Potentially Habitable Exoplanets(1), K2-18b is among a large class of candidate Hycean worlds – worlds thought to possess hydrogen-rich atmospheres and water ocean-covered surfaces. Although the search for ETL has focused mostly on smaller rocky exoplanets, larger Hycean worlds are much more conducive to atmospheric studies.(2) The new JWST observations demonstrate the abundance of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18b. The preponderance of these carbon-bearing molecules, together with a shortage of ammonia, supports the hypothesis that K2-18b may harbor a water ocean under a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
The JWST observations hint at an even more exciting prospect – the possible detection of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a molecule that, on Earth, is only produced by life. Specifically, the bulk of DMS in Earth’s atmosphere comes from phytoplankton in marine environments. The possible detection of DMS needs further validation, something upcoming JWST observations should be able to provide. While the initial results come from observations with JWST’s near-infrared instruments (NIRISS and NIRSpec), upcoming observations with JWST’s mid-infrared instrument (MIRI) will be able to confirm the presence of DMS through the detection of a spectral feature predicted to be stronger than those tentatively identified at near-infrared wavelengths.(3) What an exciting time in the ongoing search for ETL!
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://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog
2. https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/2023/webb-discovers-methane-carbon-dioxide-in-atmosphere-of-k2-18b
3. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2309.05566.pdf
3. Sign Up for Religion and Science Weekend 2024 and Receive a Free Book
Janet Kellogg Ray, a good friend of The Clergy Letter Project, is a science educator with a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. She’s taught biology at the university level for many years and she has just come out with her latest book, The God of Monkey Science: People of Faith in a Modern Scientific World.
The publisher, Eerdmans, describes the book as follows:
In this lively follow-up to Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark?, Janet Kellogg Ray covers evolution as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines, climate change, and the frontiers of genetic research. Herself an evangelical Christian and a science educator, Ray explains the facts accessibly and with verve. Along the way, she vividly narrates the scientific achievements—and political and religious drama—that got us to where we are today. Ultimately, Ray calls for evangelicals to speak to science, rather than deny it. We need Christian ethics now more than ever to determine how best to act in light of current scientific data and for love of neighbor.
The publisher has generously donated a number of copies of The God of Monkey Science to The Clergy Letter Project. If you think this wonderful book will help you prepare for Religion and Science Weekend 2024, please let me know and I’ll award a free copy (you pay for postage and handling) to every third person requesting one until all copies are claimed.
_____ This book looks fabulous. Please sign me up to participate in Religion and Science Weekend 2024. If selected to receive a free copy, I agree to pay $4 for postage and handling.
Name of Congregation (or other group):
Location:
Your Name:
4. Proposed Science Textbooks in Texas
Our good friends at the Texas Freedom Network have released a report analyzing the science textbooks proposed for adoption across the state. Specifically, they report on the way those texts deal with both evolution and climate change. While the report is worth reading, here’s a capsule summary: “As the Texas State Board of Education considers new science textbooks for statewide adoption, reviews by a panel of experts show that the treatment of climate change and evolution in nearly all of these materials conforms to the state science standards and rules adopted by the board.
“Where the reviews reveal weaknesses in coverage of the two topics, those deficiencies appear to be largely a consequence of inadequate state standards.”
The Board will vote on these texts in November.
5. Citizen Preaching with the Sciences
The Reverend Edward Foley, Duns Scotus Professor Emeritus of Spirituality at the Catholic Theological Union, a member of The Clergy Letter Project, and the director of the Preaching with the Sciences program, sent me the following information about the latest stages in that exciting program. I suspect that many of you will be interested!
In 2020 Catholic Theological Union received a major award from the John Templeton Foundation for their “Preaching with the Sciences” project. That project was an attempt to address the dearth of preaching by Roman Catholic homilists and their counterparts that engages the sciences in a consistent and positive way in preaching. To that end, we enlisted the help of five world class scientists [a climatologist, neuroscientist, astrophysicist, primatologist and pathologist] to interact with 10 gifted homilists in shaping homily outlines across the 3 year Roman Catholic Lectionary cycle. To date over 70 such outlines have been posted at https://ctu.edu/initiatives/preaching-with-the-sciences/ with another 70 to be posted over the next 2 years.
One of our consulting scientists is astrophysicist Dr. Grace Wolf-Chase, who introduced us to citizen science and the contribution of the wide range of folk who are not degreed scientists but who yet contribute to major scientific efforts, from classifying stellar explosions to tracking bees and manatees. In that same spirit the Preaching with the Sciences project is moving into a new public phase. With the completion of the homily submissions by our grant collaborators, we are now inviting anyone to submit a homily outline for review and publication on our website, which to date has garnered 20,000+ page views. This is our effort at Citizen Preaching with the Sciences.
The format for submitting such an outline [not a complete sermon but a 750-1000 word hyperlinked outline] is detailed at https://ctu.edu/initiatives/preaching-with-the-sciences/#submit-homily. The outline approach is based on evidence that preachers are more inclined to scan concise ideas about possible sermon resources that are easily accessed and hyperlinked than read through or even listen to entire sermons. Submissions are welcome from any contributor and will be reviewed by Ed Foley, the project director of this effort. Any questions should be directed to Ed at foley@ctu.edu.
6. A Letter to My Kids
Astronomer Elizabeth Fernandez recently published an article on the BioLogos website entitled “A Letter to My Kids about the Universe, Faith and Science” that is quite moving. She opens by noting, “Teaching our children about science is one of the most beautiful gifts we can give to them.” She follows this up by saying, “We also seek to understand why the universe was created.” Take a look at her piece; you won’t be disappointed.
7. Interpreting the Bible Literally
As you know, it is what some people claim is a literal interpretation of the Bible that has caused so much trouble for science education – among other things. Colorado Newsline has just published a frightening article about the form this theological absurdity is taking in Colorado. The article’s title, “A men’s movement takes reins in a nationwide quest to end abortion,” offers a succinct summary of the problem and the piece's opening paragraph will chill you:
Wendell Shrock doesn’t believe in condoms. “We should leave the uterus to God,” the street preacher from Tennessee tells States Newsroom, in front of an abortion clinic outside of Atlanta, mid-morning in late July. Sweat drips from his cowboy hat into his salt-and-pepper beard that stretches halfway down his red-plaid shirt. The retired police officer is running security for the conservative Christian group Operation Save America’s annual national event. Their followers interpret the Bible literally. Some believe constant procreation is God’s will.
8. Charles Darwin and Archbishop Ussher
The Reverend Michael Roberts, a member of The Clergy Letter Project, has a recent blog post entitled “Darwin and Ussher meet under a baobab tree.” Although I suspect that neither Darwin nor Ussher needs an introduction, let me simply say that Charles Darwin proposed a theory of evolution and Archbishop James Ussher argued that the world was created in 4004 BC. The conversation that Michael presents is fascinating and edifying.
9. Creationism, Evolution and Climate Change in the Accelerated Christian Education Curriculum
A recent peer-reviewed paper published in Cultural Studies of Science Education examined the science curriculum offered by Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), one of the world’s largest suppliers of “creation science” material. The results were both striking and alarming. Consider the following from the paper’s abstract:
...information presented is often misleading or distorted. Religious explanations of natural phenomena are sometimes given in place of scientific ones, and creationist assumptions are inserted into lessons not directly related to evolution or the Big Bang. Those who reject creationism are depicted as making an immoral choice. ACE’s recent curricula also add material denying the role of humans in climate change.
The ACE curriculum has a good deal to say about the nature of science. Here are parts of some lessons highlighted in the paper:
we will learn about some special men who used the knowledge God gave them to discover more about our wonderful world … As they worked hard and carefully observed the world around them, God gave them the answers to their questions.
If a person says something that does not agree with what God has said in the Holy Bible, then we know the person is wrong. Though others may agree with the person, that does not make his idea true.
Scientists can and do make mistakes. Some science books have mistakes because people have written them, and people make mistakes. However, there are no mistakes in God’s Book, the Holy Bible.
The curriculum trashes evolutionary theory by making non-scientific and incorrect scientific assertions. It also proclaims that accepting evolution means rejecting religion:
A person who is not right with God must find reason, or justification, for not believing. So he readily accepts the theory of evolution, even if many of its arguments are indefensible … In fact, the theory of evolution is a mental justification for unbelief. If unbelievers can accept a theory that leaves God out of the explanation of the origin of the universe, they can live as they please without being morally responsible to their Creator.
Do take a look at the full paper to see for yourself what is being presented to children.
10. Wildfires in Greece
There are still people saying that the environmental patterns we’ve been seeing of late are nothing out of the ordinary – and we shouldn’t be concerned about global climate change. The data, however, consistently are proving otherwise. Take a look at this graph showing the number of hectares burned in Greece this year relative to those burned in previous years. As I’ve reported in previous newsletters, the results are frightening and we need to take action. If you’ve not yet signed our Climate Crisis Letter, please do so now by sending me an e-mail: mz@theclergyletterproject.org.
11. The Real Goal of Christian Home Schooling
The Washington Post recently published an article about Michael Farris and the Christian home schooling movement. Farris is “a conservative Christian lawyer who is the most influential leader of the modern home-schooling movement.” According to the article, Farris’s position is very clear:
Public schools were indoctrinating children with a secular worldview that amounted to a godless religion, he said.
The solution: lawsuits alleging that schools’ teachings about gender identity and race are unconstitutional, leading to a Supreme Court decision that would mandate the right of parents to claim billions of tax dollars for private education or home schooling.
Please take a look at this piece. It demonstrates the nature of those opposing much of what The Clergy Letter Project stands for.
12. Carl Sagan on the Green House Effect
Despite current vocal climate change deniers, scientists have known about the green house effect for a long time. Here’s a clip of Carl Sagan explaining it to a Congressional committee in 1985!
13. Christianity and Science Deniers
Lorence Collins, a member of The Clergy Letter Project’s list of scientific consultants, has written a short essay entitled “Christianity and Science Deniers” in which he offers advice on how to talk to science deniers. The two most important parts of his message involve truth and respect.
14. Ministry in an Age of Climate Distress
Science for the Church published a thoughtful essay by Rebecca Randall entitled “Ministry in an Age of Climate Distress.” She opens by writing, “There’s a certain kind of grief when you are the messenger, and it feels like no one is listening.” She concludes her wonderful piece by saying:
Perhaps you’ve been where I have: frustrated by seeing others who don’t commit to environmental action. Or maybe the emotions you’ve experienced about climate change are different. Maybe they’re more of an undetected “low-grade fever,” so called by a rabbi I also interviewed. Either way, it’s likely that the challenges of climate change will contribute in some way to mental and spiritual challenges among your congregation. I hope you consider how you can prepare to meet that need and that the resources here help you explore what works in your community.
I hope you take her words seriously as you discuss this critical issue with your congregations and I hope her words prod you to add your signature to our Climate Crisis Letter, if you’ve not done so already. Just drop me a line and I’ll get you added.
15. Free Will and the Purpose of Life
Does free will exist or are our actions simply the result of deterministic physical processes? Our good friends at Sinai and Synapses posted a thoughtful essay on this topic in the context of Rosh Hashanah. Here’s the final paragraph to give you a sense of the message:
To summarize, with our proper attention, Rosh Hashanah is the time of the year where our spiritual and physical wishes are most likely to manifest in the world through a more personal connection with Hashem. May you apply your Godly free will and agency, the essence of what it means to be human, to elevate your experience of the High Holidays. Shana Tova!
16. The CRISPR Revolution in Science, Religion and Ethics
CRISPR technology, the ability to specifically alter DNA sequences, is becoming an increasingly common tool. Our good friends at Sinai and Synapses posted a video and transcript of a lecture and panel discussion on the nature and implications of this technology. During the panel discussion, the Rev. Ted Peters, Emeritus professor of Systematic Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and a member of The Clergy Letter Project, addresses an issue of critical importance for members of The Clergy Letter Project: “why is knowing something about this kind of science important for the pastor, the pastors of today and the pastors for tomorrow?”
17. Science and Religion Curriculum Guide
Science for the Church has created a 5-week, video-based curriculum designed to integrate religion and science. They explain the project by saying, “Built around a series of short videos produced by the Science for Seminaries program administered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, this curriculum is designed to reframe the tension many Christians feel about science, empowering Christians in the sciences, and enriching the faith of all participants.” While the product is not free, people are invited to set their own price for downloading it.
Concluding Thoughts
It’s been a tough month with environmental disasters in Morocco and Libya, hurricanes in the United States, wildfires continuing to blaze worldwide, COVID-19 making a resurgence, and anti-semitic, racist, anti-gay, and transphobic protests expanding. But we can continue to speak out against injustice and in favor of a more just, greener and safer world. Thank you for your ongoing efforts in this regard. And to all who celebrate the Jewish New Year, Shana Tova.
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