[asa] Evangelicals and scientists

Charles,
    Was that Joel Hunter you saw and heard?
    Yes, this was a major struggle that several of us had to cope with. If you've deciphered the various press releases and news reports, you'll know that there was a retreat on Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 that was intended to be a joint meeting between evangelicals and scientists as a response to EO Wilson's book "The Creation." There were about 30 people in attendance of whom three of us were ASA members and part of both groups--Cal DeWitt, Joe Sheldon, and I. We were asked to keep this event confidential until the press conference on Jan. 17. All the gory details of that press conference are at http://chge.med.harvard.edu/media/releases/jan_17.html
    It was simultaneously awkward and yet encouraging. For Cal and Joe and me it was strange to hear our colleagues the scientists talk about "those evangelicals" and vice versa. It was quite a sociological insight, actually. The secular scientists repeatedly talked about their apprehension of meeting with evangelicals and how their stereotypes were shattered as they learned that evangelicals were human beings after all. Meanwhile, the evangelical leaders who attended hadn't ever met prominent scientists before and were surprised to learn how respectful the scientists were of the moral values and beliefs of evangelicals.
    Yes, the three of us felt at ease and at home in both groups and we struggled with the "false split" as you put it. At least I had a good chance to highlight the existence of ASA and its members who are part of both groups. Eric Chivian got that point across very well in the Newsweek online article at : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16671785/site/newsweek/
    Nevertheless, the split isn't entirely false--it isn't inherent but it isn't false either. That is, the unfortunate truth is that most scientists are not evangelicals and most evangelicals are not scientists. Yes, they can be but they aren't. Those of us who live in the intersection of the two don't need retreats to learn about each other. But it was a tremendous benefit to be able to be intermediaries in such a gathering where the "middle road" portion of each group could meet each other.
    Managing the news media has been challenging at best. It appears that tonight (Jan. 23) I'll be given a chance to try it on a conservative Christian talk show on live radio. It's scheduled for 8pm to 8:30pm Eastern time and can be heard at http://www2.kkla.com/listen/ Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

    Randy
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Charles Carrigan
  To: asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:02 AM
  Subject: Re: [asa] Intelligent design to feature in British schoolReligious Education lessons

  It is unsettling that the students will hear only these two ends of the debate (ID and Dawkins), once again supporting the false dichotomy of either science or religion. It is very unfortunate that those who are both religious and scientists are left out of the discussion.

  I saw the same false split supported this past week on the morning news, when they interviewed a scientist on one hand and a Christian minister on the other, and spent plenty of time discussing their differences. The whole point of the story was to show these two as "strange bedfellows" who were united in their desire to reduce global warming, but of course had completely different views on origins.

  It is very troubling that this false separation is taken as a "given" in many areas of our society.

  Best Regards,
  Charles

  _______________________________
  Charles W. Carrigan, Ph.D.
  Assistant Professor of Geology
  Olivet Nazarene Univ., Dept. of Physical Sciences
  One University Ave.
  Bourbonnais, IL 60914
  PH: (815) 939-5346
  FX: (815) 939-5071
  ccarriga@olivet.edu
  http://geology.olivet.edu/

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Received on Tue Jan 23 10:40:16 2007