Because we hope to forge a truly broad and bipartisan coalition to push for a presidential debate on science, you can imagine how heartened we were to add the following name:
Calvin DeWitt
President, Academy of Evangelical Scientists and Ethicists; Chair, Advisory Council, Evangelical Campaign to Combat Global Warming and Climate Change; Professor, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison
Furthermore, we are currently sitting on more big news that I can't share yet, but that we'll release soon. Suffice it to say that since we've gone public, not a day goes by but there is another exciting development that further advances the cause.
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No, that would be the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, though apparently the excellence of that long-standing program (and the good professor's work in it) does not instantly overcome the distrust that Cal DeWitt's faith generates for some readers.
As we move forward into a new Administration, I hope we will be able to move past such ignorance and prejudice on all sides to work for broader understanding of science and quality debates in 2010 and 2012, as described in the Science Debate post-election report.
You're working too hard. That's mostly a good thing, but don't be a grinch - go celebrate the Solstice.
btw - That's not the Ozzie & Harriet Nelson Inst for Enviro Studies, he's alligned with is it?
Evangelical Scientists? Talk about your oxymorons!
Then there is "The Onion" headline,
"Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory"
One of the professors in our physics department laminated the article and hung it in out break room.
I'm not sure the endorsement of this group is progress.
We're extremely encouraged that Calvin Dewitt has joined the Call!
While I can hardly wait to share what's next with readers, for now I'll only say that this initiative has proven truly extraordinary. To echo Chris, everyday it's building momentum... More soon!
Lance writes: "Evangelical Scientists? Talk about your oxymorons!"
I have to ask, then, if you dispute Francis Collins' credentials and work as a scientist.
He directed the Human Genome Research project at the National Institutes of Health, but he also wrote The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (2006).
I haven't read the book, but I don't think it's intended to be a "proof" of the existence of God. Rather, my understanding is that it explores how Collins was drawn to a belief in God, and how having such a belief on the spiritual level does not preclude one from studying life and the universe as a scientist.
One of my favorite books on the topic of how spiritual beliefs can be important for our species survival, regardless of their validity, is Evolving God by Barbara J. King (click my name for review).
Fred Bortz wrote
Perhaps you should read the book. Look at the subtitle: "A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief" (italics added) However, Collins' "evidence" consists of a modified ontological argument for the existence of God. He claims that since science can't account for such phenomena as "Moral Law" (Collins' capitals) and the origin of the universe, that's evidence for God. In other words, it's a classical God of the gaps argument. Nothing to see here, move along.
RBH,
I wasn't arguing for the book, just noting its existence.
Collins is both a leading scientist and an Evangelical. That was the only point I was trying to make.
Also Collins speaks of "evidence," not "proof," which means he is approaching the topic as a scientist. Now you and I may disagree with his interpretation of the evidence and find his hypothesis poorly supported, but that's beside the point I had in mind.
Sheril Kirshenbaum said "I can hardly wait to share what's next with readers..."
Let me guess.
George Bush has a greed to debate Dick Cheney on Global Warming.
Rock on. Another person in Madison I want to interview!