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Ian,
Bravo!
What would we do without you Brits? Last year on vacation exiting a Sunday
morning service at Westminster Abbey, I realized I was standing in a spot
that I could see the "emtombments" of both Darwin and Newton. It made me
smile. Similarly, your history provides a perspective, experience in
tolerance, and clarity of thought that benefits us all. A little humor
doesn't hurt either.
Thank you for a clearly communicated and valuable addition to this
discussion. There are alternatives to win/lose thinking--ones with real
integrity! Those alternatives require some understanding of the history and
philosophy of science and some tolerance for disagreement. Those are
challenges that we should not take lightly. While this topic does not have
to be viewed as a dilemma, neither is it open to a "let's all hold hands and
be friends" solution--at least not without some hard work and clear
thinking.
Thank you for the websites and the references.
Carey Tisdal
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Russell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2005 12:34 AM
Subject: Is this can of beans round or square?
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
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I speak regularly to church groups and individuals about the difficulties
caused by militant creationism and militant scientism. I have succeeded in
persuading a significant number of people to stop opposing mainstream
science, or to stop seeking wacky alternatives to it. My experience has
mainly been with Christians but this is also a huge issue for others,
especially Muslims.
Being a Christian and a science communicator with a special love of
Darwinian insights, I often find myself able to silence arguments but at
other times seem uniquely qualified to get both sides shouting at me.
So, this email might help steer the ASTC 'Evolution Statement' away from
hidden rocks or it might just make folk mad. Anyway, here goes.
I find myself in a rather different kind of conflict. On my side are people
(who may or may not be Christians) who don't think mainstream science is
incompatible with Christianity. The odd thing about this position is that
we find ourselves opposed by Darwin's bulldogs and militant creationists
shouting on the same side, for the same cause: that mainstream science and
Christianity MUST be incompatible.
There are two strategies for persuading militant creationists that
mainstream science is OK. (1) You try to convince them that it need not
conflict with the basis of the faith they are committed to live by. (2) You
try to convince them that science must conflict, that science is right, and
that the faith they are committed to live by is false. In my personal
experience the first strategy has been more effective. The 'bulldog'
approach has certainly encouraged some to abandon their faith, but has also
been a principal cause of creationist militancy and a misguided public
notion that science is intrinsically opposed to everything sacred. In my
work as a science communicator, I have not found this helpful.
A notable ally against the combined efforts of Darwin's bulldogs and the
militant creationists is the late Stephen Jay Gould, a self-professed
Jewish agnostic and passionate populariser of evolutionary science. Here is
the URL of a typically readable article in which he pleads eloquently for.
".NOMA, the nonoverlapping magisteria of science and religion. NOMA permits
indeed enjoins the prospect of respectful discourse, of constant input from
both magisteria toward the common goal of wisdom. If human beings are
anything special, we are the creatures that must ponder and talk."
http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html
Ten syllables in two words are too many for most of my audiences and I have
figured out a simple way to get the same idea across. I put a circular
piece of card on an overhead projector and say this represents creation.
Then I put a square piece of card on the projector and say this represents
evolution. I ask people to suggest things my two images have in common.
Both are shadows. No other similarities.
Then I put a can of baked beans on the projector. On the screen we see a
circular shadow. I turn the can on its side. On the screen we see a square
shadow. True science and honest faith are dealing with shadows . shadows of
a reality existing in dimensions beyond our comprehension. The shadow we
see depends entirely on the viewpoint we choose.
To argue whether the can of beans is round or square is meaningless because
we are arguing about shadows of a greater truth. Both viewpoints are
totally separate and neither is qualified to comment on the other.
This is about maintaining boundaries between clearly defined areas of
teaching (magisteria), and is not at all the same as the sloppy 'cultural
relativism' that implies 'all truth is relative', and that anyone's view on
technical details of evolution are equally valid. As Richard Dawkins said
(as best I can remember), "Show me a cultural relativist in a passenger
aircraft at 30,000 feet and I'll show you a hypocrite."
1600 years ago in four hundred and something AD, in a commentary on the
book of Genesis ("Genesis in the Literal Sense"), Saint Augustine wrote:
"...We must be on our guard against giving interpretations that are
hazardous or opposed to science, and so exposing the Word of God to the
ridicule of unbelievers."
(In the same book by the way, despite its title, this highly respected
authority of traditional Christianity pleads clearly for a non-literal
interpretation of the six 'days' of creation. Which undermines the popular
fallacy that the 'Young Earth' variety of creationism is solidly grounded
in traditional doctrine. But there are just so many modern myths and
misconceptions. A striking example is to compare what really happened in
the famous Tennessee 'Scopes monkey trial' of 1925
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial with the popular myth and
better-known Hollywood version, 'Inherit the Wind'.)
I feel strongly that the most helpful thing the ASTC 'Evolution Statement'
could establish would be a clear endorsement of Gould's NOMA rule. I really
hope this can be agreed, despite inevitable protestations from those with
personal prejudices against religion.
Also, a caution about terminology. The word, 'creationist' has been
misleadingly hijacked to give credibility to opponents of mainstream
science. In a sense, all Christians are 'creationists', but only a minority
are 'militant creationists'. It is very important to make this distinction.
ASTC is up against 'militant creationists' and must be careful not to
alienate the majority of Christians who generally consider themselves
'creationists' by definition but may or may not have strong views on the
processes by which creation happened.
I'm not a Roman Catholic but most professing Christians are. It's worth
noting that in 1997 Pope John Paul instructed them to accept evolution as
an established fact of nature. He said, "Truth cannot contradict truth."
and the rest is rather less readable than the analysis in Stephen Jay
Gould's paper, referred to earlier.
http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9703/articles/johnpaul.html
Here in Britain, we struggle with similar issues but seem less prone to
extreme polarisation than our American friends. I'd aim to reduce
polarisation of this issue, without backing down in any way over matters
within the jurisdiction of science, and I'd ask ASTC members to stay
carefully within the boundaries of that jurisdiction to avoid inflaming the
situation.
Whatever ASTC does next, please remember that Darwin's church-mice are at
least as effective as his bulldogs and that not all Christians are
uneducated fanatics. See for example: http://www.cis.org.uk and especially
http://www.cis.org.uk/articles/schools_evolution.htm
[log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
*
Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
*
Ian Russell
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