Jon Cleland-Host
The Future of Religion
02 May 2009 | 04:10 PM
by Jon Cleland-HostOne of the many empowering realizations that an evolutionary worldview gives us is that we can make some reasonable guesses about the future based on long term trends of the past. We can enter the future with trust and with our eyes open, poised for some likely scenarios, instead of being blindly buffeted by inscrutable Fates. In chapters 16 and 17 of Thank God for Evolution, Michael Dowd shows that if the 14 billion year history of the universe were compressed into a single century, then the next minute on the cosmic century timeline would represent 250 years. Surely, we should be able to make a few accurate assumptions about the next minute if we know the past 100 years of history!
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The Clergy Letter Project
01 May 2009 | 04:56 PM
by Jon Cleland-HostThe Clergy Letter Project was started in 2004 by Dr. Michael Zimmerman (photo left) in response to creationist successes at the local (Wisconsin) school board. Working with local Christian clergy, a letter was drafted confirming the compatibility between Christian religion and evolution. The letter was signed by 200 Christian clergy and delivered to the local school board, contributing to their reversal of the creationist polices. After this initial success, the Clergy Letter Project went nationwide, quickly gathering thousands of signatures from Christian clergy. As the movement has grown, “Evolution Weekend” was introduced (the weekend closest to Darwin’s Birthday February 12th) as a focal time for congregations to address the need for understanding evolution. The website (Google it) has expanded to include over 200 sorted example sermons, free scientific consultants, news releases, and articles. The next article is a report on Evolution Weekend 2009 by Dr. Zimmerman.
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Projects for "The Year of Evolution"
10 February 2009 | 11:59 AM
by Connie Barlow and Jon Cleland-Host
In mid January, Connie Barlow, Jon Cleland-Host, Michael Dowd, Joshua Gorman, and Tom Atlee all contributed brief summaries of ongoing and future projects among us that merit attention during this "Year of Evolution" (the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th of his On the Origin of Species). Next we brainstormed on each project during a two-hour conference call. Connie then compiled the short summaries into a pdf and posted them online.
A total of 26 projects are listed in that document. Several are now complete and others are underway. Most time-sensitive were two proposed by Jon-Cleland Host: "Darwin Day Worship Materials" and "Darwin Day Letters to
Editors." Both were instigated by Jon, with additions and editing by Connie. Both were completed on time, and an email was sent to a thousand Unitarian Universalist clergy and lay leaders to alert them to these resources in advance of Darwin Day, February 12.
If you are curious as to what we are up to, check out this link. Only two or three of the 26 projects will require funding to pursue. The rest we are just doing for the love of it. Perhaps you, too, will be inspired to find a way to contribute your talents toward some service or project in this "Year of Evolution."
Download PDF...
In mid January, Connie Barlow, Jon Cleland-Host, Michael Dowd, Joshua Gorman, and Tom Atlee all contributed brief summaries of ongoing and future projects among us that merit attention during this "Year of Evolution" (the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th of his On the Origin of Species). Next we brainstormed on each project during a two-hour conference call. Connie then compiled the short summaries into a pdf and posted them online.A total of 26 projects are listed in that document. Several are now complete and others are underway. Most time-sensitive were two proposed by Jon-Cleland Host: "Darwin Day Worship Materials" and "Darwin Day Letters to
Editors." Both were instigated by Jon, with additions and editing by Connie. Both were completed on time, and an email was sent to a thousand Unitarian Universalist clergy and lay leaders to alert them to these resources in advance of Darwin Day, February 12.
If you are curious as to what we are up to, check out this link. Only two or three of the 26 projects will require funding to pursue. The rest we are just doing for the love of it. Perhaps you, too, will be inspired to find a way to contribute your talents toward some service or project in this "Year of Evolution."
Download PDF...