Paleonet: Evolution Sunday from Michael Zimmerman

[Dana Geary]

Hi Paleo Folks-
I'm passing along this message about Evolution Sunday from Michael Zimmerman.
Best wishes-
dana

                                         Celebrate Evolution Sunday - 
11 February 2007

By Michael Zimmerman

The Second Annual Evolution Sunday will occur on February 11th 2007. 
Your help is needed to make this day a success.  This date is an 
opportunity for congregations across the country (indeed, around the 
world) to join together to discuss the compatibility of religion and 
science.  Evolution Sunday is being sponsored by The Clergy Letter 
Project, a collection of more than 10,400 members of the Christian 
clergy who have signed a letter asserting that Christianity and 
modern evolutionary science need not be at odds with one another.

In a two paragraph plea (reproduced below), these Christian clergy 
members assert that they "believe that the timeless truths of the 
Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist. 
We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific 
truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much 
of human knowledge and achievement rests."  They go on to urge that 
modern evolutionary theory rather than any form of creationism or 
intelligent design be taught in our country's public schools and 
conclude by requesting that "We ask that science remain science and 
that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, 
forms of truth."

One of the main goals of The Clergy Letter Project is to demonstrate 
to the broad spectrum of Christian believers that, unlike what is 
being shrilly shouted by many fundamentalist ministers, a choice does 
not have to be made between religion and science.  Because the two 
are compatible, congregants should feel comfortable accepting both. 
Additionally, the signers of The Clergy Letter want to go on record 
making it clear that those fundamentalist ministers are not speaking 
for the majority of Christian clergy.

Last year, in an attempt to further this message and to elevate the 
quality of the national discussion on this topic, The Clergy Letter 
Project sponsored the First Annual Evolution Sunday event.  On this 
day, 467 congregations from every state, the District of Columbia and 
five countries participated by hearing sermons, having an adult 
education class or a children's Sunday school class, or joining in a 
lunch discussion group.  While each participating congregation chose 
an event that made the most sense locally, together a major 
international statement was made.

Last year, Evolution Sunday received a great deal of very positive 
national publicity with articles in virtually every major newspaper 
in the country.  Indeed, the one in the New York Times was the most 
e-mail article for the week it appeared.  Additionally, it is clear 
the event hit a nerve with creationists:  both the Discovery 
Institute and Answers in Genesis issued press releases condemning 
Evolution Sunday.

The Second Annual Evolution Sunday event has now been scheduled for 
11 February 2007.  If you are a part of a congregation, please think 
about having it participate.  It is only by broadening the base in 
this way that we will be able to reach out to a growing number of 
people and, hopefully, improve the understanding that people have 
about the interrelationship between science and religion.

Signing up is easy.  Simply send an e-mail to Michael Zimmerman at 
mz at butler.edu indicating your congregation's desire to participate 
along with the name and location of your congregation and its leader. 
Your congregation will be immediately added to the growing list.

The Clergy Letter Project's web pages provide more than 50 sermons 
delivered by clergy last year on this topic.  Check them out at 
www.evolutionsunday.org.  So, if you or a member of the clergy you 
know are in need of ideas, this is a good place to start.

Additionally, if you are a member of the Clergy and have not yet 
signed The Clergy Letter, please think about doing so.  A note with 
your name, congregation (optional) and address to mz at butler.edu will 
get you signed up.

Most importantly, please help by spreading the word about The Clergy 
Letter Project and Evolution Sunday to others who might be interested 
in participating.  Please forward this note to friends and colleagues 
and ask them to do the same.  Please post this note on as many list 
serves as you can.  In short, please help us reach more people as 
quickly as we can.  Efforts like this will make a positive difference 
for both religion and science around the country.

Michael Zimmerman, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 
and Professor of Biology at Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 
is the founder of The Clergy Letter Project.

Visit The Clergy Letter Project on the Web at www.evolutionsunday.org



                                                                The 
Clergy Letter

Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of 
dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret Holy 
Scripture. While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously 
and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the 
overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would 
a science textbook. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible - 
the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark - convey timeless truths 
about God, human beings, and the proper relationship between Creator 
and creation expressed in the only form capable of transmitting these 
truths from generation to generation. Religious truth is of a 
different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey 
scientific information but to transform hearts.

We the undersigned, Christian clergy from many different traditions, 
believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of 
modern science may comfortably coexist. We believe that the theory of 
evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up 
to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and 
achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as "one theory 
among others" is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and 
transmit such ignorance to our children. We believe that among God's 
good gifts are human minds capable of critical thought and that the 
failure to fully employ this gift is a rejection of the will of our 
Creator. To argue that God's loving plan of salvation for humanity 
precludes the full employment of the God-given faculty of reason is 
to attempt to limit God, an act of hubris. We urge school board 
members to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by 
affirming the teaching of the theory of evolution as a core component 
of human knowledge. We ask that science remain science and that 
religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, 
forms of truth.

                             Signed by 10,470 Christian clergy member 
as of 4 January 2007


-- 
Dana Geary
Professor
Department of Geology and Geophysics
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Madison, WI  53706
(608) 263-7754
dana at geology.wisc.edu
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