Is the U.S. Government Endorsing Bad Science?

Christ Community Church and The Center for Religion and Life are pleased to welcome Harry T. Cook, an Episcopal minister, journalist and author, to speak at our brunch lecture series on Sunday, February 11, 2007.

Government- Sponsored Ignorance
By Harry T. Cook

Dateline: Arizona.

The National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior continues to offer for sale a book published by a creationist Christian ministry, which says the Grand Canyon was formed less than 6,000 years ago in a divine flood sent to wipe out the wickedness of humankind. That despite the protests of geologists and other scientists who say the government should not be in the business of supporting a religious point of view.

That’s a constitutional issue that will have to be dealt with by the courts. The greater offense is that the U.S. government is supporting gross misinformation and downright ignorance.

The Park Service declined to remove the book from its Grand Canyon bookstores because, said its spokesman, “it is not our role to tell people what to believe.” He says that, while scientists find the book repulsive, “the education and interpretation people would say, ‘Wait a minute. If your science is so sound, the fact that there are differences of opinion should not scare you away.’”

Well, I am scared. I am scared that an official of the United States government in what I take to be a faux effort to be fair and balanced is giving shelf-room to a dangerous pseudo-science that can only lead people – especially youths – astray in a world and at a time when it was never more important to support real science.

You cannot possibly take seriously the idea that the earth was “created,” much less only 6,000 or so years ago. And you cannot possibly countenance the idea that such a phenomenon as the Grand Canyon was caused by a flood. The most elementary middle-school science text explains the process by which such declivities are formed.

Charles R. Darwin, better known, perhaps, for his observation of sea tortoises, marveled at the steep declivities along the rivers running down to the western coast of South America. It was in such places, he wrote, that he was able to see in “magnificent array” what he had been unable to see so obviously in the English countryside, viz., layer upon layer of sediment obviously deposited over eons. There is no gainsaying that observation.

What is it with the creationists that they continue their assault on science? And what is it with the National Parks guy who thinks science and religion are arguing as equals and on the same terms?

The question is frequently asked in a Rodney-King-can’t-we-all-just-get-along way, “Can’t science and religion share common ground?”

The answer to the question is “Yes, but . . .”

Yes. Scientists and religious believers breathe the same air and measure time in the same seconds, minutes and hours. Both count on gravity to keep them on the same terra firma as they walk from place to place.

But. Scientists concern themselves with observable data. Their work is inductive in nature and proceeds a posteriori. They ask why things are as they are or behave as they behave. Scientists begin with observation, move to analysis, to hypotheses, to testing of the same and, if they are uncommonly fortunate, end with a theory (Darwin and Natural Selection) or a law (Newton and gravity). Most, or at least many, religious believers proceed deductively. They begin a priori with propositions conceived beforehand and then marshal data to fit them. In that analysis, science and religion cannot arrive at, much less share, common ground.

I have devoted the greater portion of my adult life to the research of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures a posteriori, disciplining myself to eschew preconceived notions. The emerging result is a rational religious experience that not only shares but enjoys being on common ground with colleagues in science. The issue is, finally, methodology.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service needs politely to say to its creationist book vender that, not only on constitutional grounds but for the sake of not spreading misinformation with governmental imprimatur, the Sunday School text about the Grand Canyon needs to be sold, if it must be sold, in religious bookstores or at church bazaars.

© Copyright 2007, Harry T. Cook.

The Center for Religion and Life welcomes Harry T.Cook

* Sunday, February 11
* “Christianity and Empire: Thank You for Nothing Constantine!”
* 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
* Christ Community Church Parlour
* Cost: $15 (includes brunch)

You may purchase tickets at Christ Community Church or by making a check out to The Center for Religion and Life and mailing it to:
Christ Community Church
Attn: Center for Religion and Life
225 E. Exchange St.
Spring Lake, MI 49456

All tickets must be purchased by Monday, February 5.

For sermon and weekly essays by Harry Cook, please follow the link to his website below.

For more information check out Harry T. Cook's website.

The Institute of Progressive Christianity presents: Science and Religion 101

Wednesdays January 31, February 7, February 14
7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Christ Community Church Sanctuary

The Institute of Progressive Christianity presents ‘Science and Religion 101,’ team taught by Ian Lawton and Howard Van Till. The focus of this class will incorporate both a scientific and a spiritual exploration of evolution, as we look both to where we have come from and to where we are heading.

For those who are able, there is a suggested donation of $10 per class.

Recommended reading for the class is the latest issue of ‘What Is Enlightenment’ magazine. We have sold out of all 80 copies of the magazine that we had. Please check your local bookstore if you are interested in purchasing this issue.

How Science and Religion Enhance Each Other

Don't miss part two in Ian's series on Science and Relgion...

"An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician were on a train, traveling through Scotland. The engineer looked out the window and saw a black sheep. He said to the other two, 'You won’t believe this- the sheep in Scotland are black!' The physicist responded with, 'Hold on one second, all we can actually conclude from this is that one sheep in Scotland is black.' The mathematician said, 'Hang on, you’re both wrong. All we know from what you saw is that one sheep in Scotland is black on one side.'

Now I wonder if there had been a theologian in that conversation, what would he have added? In fact, I wonder what each of you would have added if you were there? Let me tell you what would have gone through my mind..."

Follow the link below to continue reading this sermon and to explore how you can hold onto your religion without giving up science.

Continue reading the sermon here

Grand Dialogue's Annual Conference

Grand Dialogue is an association of colleges, universities, and related organizations exploring the relationship between science and religion. This inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary, and inter-faith exploration seeks to find positive ways of relating these two great ideas in a constructive dialogue.

This year’s conference will be held Saturday, February 24, on the campus of Grand Valley State University. The keynote address, “Body, Mind, and Spirit: Emerging Perspectives in Science and Religion,” will be given by Dr. Philip Clayton.

This conference is free and open to the public.

For more information visit www.GrandDialogue.org.

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