SpeedRacer 1 #1 December 17, 2007 http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/53891/ By Andrea Gawrylewski -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTEBOOK PhDs and parishioners -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In late 2004, Michael Zimmerman, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of biology at Butler University, was watching early media coverage of the Dover, Pa., intelligent design trial, which broadcast several fundamentalist ministers condemning evolution, and felt frustrated. What he saw was a war between science and religion, and science was losing. So Zimmerman decided to call for a truce. He asked a friend, a member of the clergy, to draft a letter to religious leaders, declaring that science and religion should not be at odds. The letter reads, in part: "We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny." 10,000 clergy have added their names to a pro-evolution letter. Within a month, 200 clergy members had signed the letter. Over the next year, another 10,000 clergy members throughout the world added their names. Reverend Nancy Rockwell, senior pastor of the Congregational Church in Exeter, NH, says she signed the letter because it offered "another perspective than the perspective of conservative fundamentalist Christians who are against science. There are many clergy who do not see this as an either-or, but feel enriched and grateful at what science does." To give religious leaders a reason to bring their views to their congregations, Zimmerman suggested that signers designate Feb. 12 (Darwin's birthday), 2006, as the first "Evolution Sunday" - a day to preach that science and religion are indeed compatible. In 2006, 467 congregations planned their church services around Evolution Sunday, and this year, 618 participated. Rockwell spent 2007's Evolution Sunday sermonizing about Darwin's theory of natural selection: "He understood evolution as endless imaginative scribbling, doodling, tinkering." Leading up to both events, Zimmerman received many phone calls from clergy members looking for references and information about evolution to include in their sermons and provide to their congregations. He pointed them in the direction of some books written about religion and science, but there was only so much one scientist could do, so he enlisted local scientists to offer their services as well. Since July, 496 scientists in 50 states and 25 countries have signed on to help. Miles Silman, associate professor of biology at Wake Forest University, decided to be a scientific consultant because he had seen the interest in evolution in his Baptist Church. "Whenever these kinds of things come up I act as resource," says Silman, a practicing Christian. When his fellow parishioners ask about intelligent design, "I explain why it's crummy science ... and how it's been refuted." "Scientists absolutely have a duty to explain what they do to the public. Most are paid on public funds in one way or another," says Kevin Padian, professor of biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He has yet to be contacted by a clergy member, but he is hopeful - especially as the church begins to gear up for next year's Evolution Sunday, which falls on February 10. "It's like one of those Internet dating sites, 'You're a scientist, I'm a clergyman, let's get together.'" Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #2 December 17, 2007 QuoteRockwell spent 2007's Evolution Sunday sermonizing about Darwin's theory of natural selection: "He understood evolution as endless imaginative scribbling, doodling, tinkering." It's a pity then that he doesn't actually understand how the process works. There is NO ONE doing any " . . . imaginative scribbling, doodling, tinkering" when it comes to the evolutionary process. That's simply not how it works at all.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 3 #3 December 17, 2007 QuoteQuoteRockwell spent 2007's Evolution Sunday sermonizing about Darwin's theory of natural selection: "He understood evolution as endless imaginative scribbling, doodling, tinkering." It's a pity then that he doesn't actually understand how the process works. There is NO ONE doing any " . . . imaginative scribbling, doodling, tinkering" when it comes to the evolutionary process. That's simply not how it works at all. So I can't build an Evolution Machine in my garage? Pity. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,184 #4 December 17, 2007 QuoteQuoteQuoteRockwell spent 2007's Evolution Sunday sermonizing about Darwin's theory of natural selection: "He understood evolution as endless imaginative scribbling, doodling, tinkering." It's a pity then that he doesn't actually understand how the process works. There is NO ONE doing any " . . . imaginative scribbling, doodling, tinkering" when it comes to the evolutionary process. That's simply not how it works at all. So I can't build an Evolution Machine in my garage? Pity. You don't need one, you ARE one.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,132 #5 December 17, 2007 >There is NO ONE doing any " . . . imaginative scribbling, >doodling, tinkering" when it comes to the evolutionary process. The way I read it, he didn't claim there was. In the case of evolution, gamma rays, replication errors and free radicals do the "tinkering" of the genome. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakee 1,611 #6 December 17, 2007 Quote>There is NO ONE doing any " . . . imaginative scribbling, >doodling, tinkering" when it comes to the evolutionary process. The way I read it, he didn't claim there was. In the case of evolution, gamma rays, replication errors and free radicals do the "tinkering" of the genome. Using their imaginations?Do you want to have an ideagasm? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrewwhyte 1 #7 December 18, 2007 Quote It's a pity then that he doesn't actually understand how the process works. There is NO ONE doing any " . . . imaginative scribbling, doodling, tinkering" when it comes to the evolutionary process. That's simply not how it works at all. Let's work on one delusion at a time, shall we. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedRacer 1 #8 December 18, 2007 Ron Paul's letter of gratitude: December 17, 2007 What a day! I am humbled and inspired, grateful and thrilled for this vast outpouring of support. On just one day, in honor of the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, the new American revolutionaries brought in $6.04 million, another one-day record. The average donation was $102; we had 58,407 individual contributors, of whom an astounding 24,915 were first-time donors. And it was an entirely voluntary, self-organized, decentralized, independent effort on the internet. Must be the "spammers" I keep hearing about! The establishment is baffled and worried, and well they should be. They keep asking me who runs our internet fundraising and controls our volunteers. To these top-down central planners, a spontaneous order like our movement is science-fiction. But you and I know it's real: as real as the American people's yearning for freedom, peace, and prosperity, as real as all the men and women who have sacrificed for our ideals, in the past and today. And how neat to see celebrations all across the world, with Tea Parties from France to New Zealand. This is how we can spread the ideals of our country, through voluntary emulation, not bombs and bribes. Of course, there were hundreds in America. As I dropped in on a cheering, laughing crowd of about 600 near my home in Freeport, Texas, I noted that they call us "angry." Well, we are the happiest, most optimistic "angry" movement ever, and the most diverse. What unites us is a love of liberty, and a determination to fix what is wrong with our country, from the Fed to the IRS, from warfare to welfare. But otherwise we are a big tent. Said the local newspaper (http://www.thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=36475b4d132fc0a1): "The elderly sat with teens barely old enough to vote. The faces were black, Hispanic, Asian and white. There was no fear in their voices as they spoke boldly with each other about the way the country should be. Held close like a deeply held secret, Paul has brought them out of the disconnect they feel between what they know to be true and where the country has been led." Thanks also to the 500 or so who braved the blizzard in Boston to go to Faneuil Hall. My son Rand told me what a great time he had with you. A few mornings ago on LewRockwell.com, I saw a YouTube of a 14-year-old boy that summed up our whole movement for me. This well-spoken young man, who could have passed in knowledge for a college graduate, told how he heard our ideas being denounced. So he decided to Google. He read some of my speeches, and thought, these make sense. Then he studied US foreign policy of recent years, and came to the conclusion that we are right. So he persuaded his father to drop Rudy Giuliani and join our movement. All over America, all over the world, we are inspiring real change. With the wars and the spying, the spending and the taxing, the inflation and the credit crisis, our ideas have never been more needed. Please help me spread them https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate in all 50 states. Victory for liberty! That is our goal, and nothing less. Sincerely, Ron . Speed Racer -------------------------------------------------- Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vpozzoli 0 #9 December 18, 2007 Quote So I can't build an Evolution Machine in my garage? Pity. You don't need one, you ARE one. Actually, he is only PART of one. Individuals do not evolve, some definitely manage to devolve, but that's a whole different issue. Sorry, but since everybody was nitpicking everybody else, I felt the urge to participate. Ciao, Vale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
