Search for "More About Buddhism & Science"

Creationists Portray New Science Standards As “Big Government”

By Michael Schulson

…sts, science educators, and policymakers began drafting new guidelines for science education in the US, which debuted this past winter as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). For the most part, they focus on “critical thinking and communication skills”—on teaching the “habits and skills that scientists and engineers use day in and day out,” and not just long lists of facts. You’re probably thinking, “This sounds great!” After all, there’s…

Did Richard Dawkins Hand Creationists Their Next School Strategy?

By Adam Shapiro

…ials” moving well beyond specific local issues to debate broader questions about religion and science. Jones followed that pattern. Instead of just ruling on the specifics of the situation in Dover, Jones went ahead and wrote an opinion about the very nature and constitutional status of ID. In doing so, he drew upon the second prong of the Lemon test, as well as the first: he said that the school board was motivated by religion (prong 1) and that…

Galileo’s Issue Was Satire as Much as Science

By Arri Eisen

…ny: that this whole Galileo thing and all its ongoing repercussions aren’t about science vs. religion at all. Not about God or belief or high ideals, but about power and popularity. What may’ve stuck in the Inquisition’s craw most painfully was that Galileo and his ideas were popular, and not just because he wrote with humor, drama, and style. Galileo wrote in Italian, not in the scholarly Latin of his colleagues, but through the mouths of charact…

Put Your Money Where Your Mind Is: A For-Profit Meditation Studio Opens in New York

By Michael Schulson

…r, is close by. But Wilson does see MNDFL as something new. “What’s unique about this,” he told me, “is simply the branding. That’s what this is about.” You don’t need the Buddha Considering its origin story, it’s appropriate that MNDFL’s studio is sandwiched between a hair salon and a nail salon, deep in the Village. The décor is a mix of wood, white paint, and plants, which cover patches of the walls in living installations. Upon entering, visit…

Religious Kids Are More Selfish: The Stickers Don’t Lie

By Michael Schulson

…ing in pseudo-seedy college-town hipster dive bars, I’ll start complaining about bad social science, and midway through the rant, friends will adopt kindly, exasperated who-gives-a-shit? expressions. It’s a fair response. But this stuff matters. Western societies have developed specific tools with which to make generalizations about human beings. Some of the more traditional tools here include stereotyping and prejudice. Often, these get ideologiz…

The Templeton Foundation’s Quest For The Science Of Religion

By Lauri Lebo

…nce by trying to inject it with religious dogma and, in turn, misrepresent science to the public. The advance of science steamrolls over religion, they say, and Templeton is deluding people into thinking otherwise. These are no minor charges. Recent years have witnessed political and religious campaigns to both undermine and co-opt scientific authority on matters ranging from climate change to sex education to evolution. Organizations like Answers…

RD’s Patricia Miller Wins “Science for Religion Reporters” Award

By The Editors

…of providing “religion journalists opportunities for exposure to forefront science, enriching science communication with their audiences.” Here at RD, we’re also excited that DoSER’s review panel for the award has chosen to highlight the work of women journalists—all 8 of the 2016 honorees are women. Miller writes at the intersection of politics, sex, and religion. During a contentious year of debates surrounding religion and women’s reproductive…

Can Christians Lie? How Conservative Evangelical Bible Interpretation Has Shaped ‘Truth’

By Christopher Douglas

…he law. And that’s what the law states,” she was transforming the question about policy choices into an answer about legislation. This is a mode of deception without having to intentionally tell what one recognizes as a literal lie. It was a way to bring a new fact (the changed policy) into harmony with a perceived required belief (there was no change in “the law”). Creationism The question of lying often rests on intentionality. And it’s here tha…

Christian Responses to COVID-19 Raise Old Religion v. Science Questions

By Chrissy Stroop

…fundamentalists have made a spectacular show of their rejection of modern science in their pigheaded refusal to adopt common sense public health measures. And even I have to admit that a news cycle like this makes it difficult to object to the common atheist assertion that religion and science are inevitably at odds. Julie Zauzmer has documented Christians responding both responsibly and irresponsibly with respect to to the danger of the coronavi…

TED-Evangelism Harkens Back to a Forgotten 19th-Century Tradition

By Michael Schulson

…hese aren’t exactly Justin Bieber numbers, but for 18 minute-long lectures about science, management, creativity, design, and technology, they’re extraordinary. The TED brand has become synonymous with a certain kind of hip, Silicon Valley-style wonkishness. A viral talk, like Cuddy’s, can launch public careers and drive books onto the bestseller list. Newness is part of TED’s vibe, but the genre it represents is old. If anything, the talks are th…