Monday, February 23, 2009

Darwin's Birthday and the Christian Faith

When you live in the same state as the “Creation Museum” it is good to make note of reports that highlight to the larger culture that every Christian is not a luddite or a no-nothing. NPR had a nice piece on the “Clergy Letter Project.” I signed the “Letter” a few years ago. You can access the NPR report here (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100597574) or by going to the clergy letter project web page listing media reports (http://www.butler.edu/clergyproject/Resources/Related_news.htm).  
 
Fox News is scheduled to run a piece as well, but I have not seen it. And there have been a growing number of other very favorable stories, including one in The Baptist Standard, on in EthicsDaily.com and one in Religion Dispatches.  All are available on the “Clergy Letter Project” web site.

New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/02/vatican-backs-darwin-dumps-cre.html) posted a story about the Vatican’s rebuttal of intelligent design that prominently featured the efforts of The Clergy Letter Project.
 
As a general rule I don’t “do” focus themes for Sundays (praying for Mothers in the Prayers of the People on Mother’s Day or taking up an offering for Episcopal Relief and Development on a particular Sunday is about as far as I will go), but many Protestants without a Church Calendar and/or Lectionary are always looking for some theme around which to focus worship. For those, a worthy theme would be “Evolution Weekend.”

Evolution Weekend is sponsored by the “Clergy Letter Project.” On Evolution Weekend a couple of years ago I invited a biologist (retired) from the University of Louisville to speak on evolution and his faith in God. He was an excellent Coffee Hour speaker.

I note that this year the number of congregations participating in Evolution Weekend has grown considerably.  Last I looked, 986 congregations from 14 countries were on board. You can check it all out at their website (www.evolutionweekend.org). 

I am hopeful that due to the collective efforts of many clergy and laity, we are slowly changing the nature of the discussion about religion and science in our society.

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