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Why Evolution Should Be Taught in Church

By Paul Wallace

…know what I’m talking about. I suspect many atheistic scientists know more about mystery—about God, even—than most “believers,” but they would never call it God. small-god-ism The church, in its ignorance of and hostility to evolution (and science in general), is passing up one of its greatest opportunities to apprehend the very God it claims to represent. This irony is due to a terrible case of what may be called “small-god-ism” and is, unfortuna…

Hitchens Debates Conservative Evangelical: Nothing Happens

By Eric Reitan

…nd then, if they do have merit, modifying one’s theories accordingly. Good science isn’t about trenchantly defending an unalterable theory. In good science, ideas evolve in the light of critical discourse. There are changes in trajectory when theories collide, because good science is not about winning in the eyes of your constituency. It’s about seeking the truth. It seems to me that it should be the same way with disagreements about what it’s leg…

Texas Textbook Massacre

By Lauri Lebo

…udies’ standards, the board last year also made significant changes to the science curriculum, inserting language that raises questions about the validity of evolution and man-made climate change. Fundamentalist Christians on the board fought for and approved creationist and intelligent-design friendly language asking students to analyze the “complexity of the cell” as well as “analyze and evaluate the sufficiency of scientific explanations concer…

Creationist Rumblings in Louisiana

By Lauri Lebo

…the same. Will they finally do something this time to stop the assault on science and public education? Science education watchdogs have been waiting for one of Louisiana’s school districts to implement creationism into science class in response to the law. Whether this will go anywhere is hard to tell, but the board’s statements prove once again the wisdom of Lenny Flank’s Rule, which goes something like this: Given enough time to talk, the inte…

Lying Boldly: Louise Hay and the Problem of Religious Science

By Peter Laarman

…e. The branch that specifically gave us Louise Hays calls itself Religious Science. Other early branches include Unity Church and the Church of Divine Science. But there’s no question that the movement’s biggest branch by far is the one that grows unnoticed inside of what looks from the outside like garden variety Christianity. Think Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes. These contemporary hucksters don’t claim that a change of attitude can heal broken bodi…

Texas Board of Education to Review Intelligent Design-Promoting Materials for Science Classes

By Lauri Lebo

…said at the time, “Creationism and intelligent design don’t belong in our science classes. Anything taught in science has to have consensus in the science community—and intelligent design does not.” Now publishers and vendors have submitted their proposed on-line material for review. And guess what? A joint review by the National Center for Science Education and the Texas Freedom Network has turned up a submission that is filled with creationist…

Are Scientists Ethical?

By Arri Eisen

…education programs (one of which I lead) in research ethics; (4) Who does science: in barely a generation, basic science went from an enterprise carried out by white males with more or less the same background and cultural assumptions to a vastly diverse international and cultural smorgasbord. Famous Harvard researcher Marc Hauser, who ironically studies the evolution of morality, has had to retract one published paper and is caught in the gnarly…

A Catholic Sister, a Buddhist Nun, and Two Rabbis: Friendship That Goes Beyond “Interfaith”

By Matthew Gindin

…says Sister Margaret. “I asked Venerable Tenzin’s mother what she thought about her daughter’s Buddhism. She said her daughter was still Jewish but had added something else on top of that. I was so glad to hear that because I’ve read about Edith Stein, the Catholic saint who was born Jewish, and how her mother was so angry about her conversion. I’m happy it’s not like that for Venerable Tenzin’s mother.” “We have attended the shul together, but n…

RD10Q: What is Black Religion?

By William D. Hart

…hope that there are a lot of curious readers. I hope that my expectations about who is likely to read a book about black religion are met. I also hope to be surprised but readers I did not expect, even by readers I might find counterintuitive. Are you hoping to just inform readers? Give them pleasure? Piss them off? The correct answer is all three. I view myself as an intellectual provocateur. My job, if I do it well, is to provoke, trouble, and…

Does Multiverse Theory Bring Theology Into Science?

By Andrew Aghapour

…Perhaps multiverse isn’t just dizzying on a personal level—it can shake up science and theology as well! To bring us back down to earth, I have two questions about writing Worlds Without End. First, the book has a number of striking images and a gorgeous cover—did you have some of these in mind as you were writing? The cover was designed by my brother, Kenan who is a graphic artist and web designer. He came up with the image on a family day at the…