Evidence in Science and Religion

What constitues evidence? Is scientific evidence different from say, religious evidence? How? Stanley Fish has some thoughts:

The very act of looking around is always and already performed within a set of fully elaborate assumptions complete with categories, definitions and rules that tell you in advance what kinds of things might be “discovered” and what relationships of cause and effect, contiguity, sameness and difference, etc., might obtain between them. In Hebrews 11:1, St. Paul speaks of the “evidence of things not seen.” In the up-to-date accounts of scientific inquiry, the corollary would be “the evidence of things not directly seen,” but things that can be brought to (indirect and provisional) visibility by the assumption and application of powerful theories and the procedures they call into being.

Read the article here.

"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a woman..."

... who's had her salon appointment interrupted by a bunch of young zealots. To wit:

Vigilante gangs of ultra-conservative Salafi men have been harassing shop owners and female customers in rural towns around Egypt for “indecent behavior,” according to reports in the Egyptian news media. But when they burst into a beauty salon in the Nile delta town of Benha this week and ordered the women inside to stop what they were doing or face physical punishment, the women struck back, whipping them with their own canes before kicking them out to the street in front of an astonished crowd of onlookers.

Read the story here.

A New Flock for Military Chaplains

The International Humanist and Ethical Union adopted a resolution on the pastoral support of non-religious military personnel that calls for:

1.States that provide support for religious personnel, veterans, and their families through the provision of chaplains to make Humanist equivalents available to non-religious personnel, veterans, and their families.

2.States that provide counsellors or chaplains to support all personnel, regardless of religion or belief, but that limit the opportunity to apply for these jobs to religious applicants, to end such restrictions and open all such roles to all qualified people.

3. Humanist groups to seek ways that they can ensure that non-religious service personnel are not discriminated against in their national armed forces and that all service personnel have full enjoyment of their guaranteed human rights.

Read the full resolution here.

The Clergy Letter Project

Michael Zimmerman, Professor of Biology at Butler University, developed the Clergy Letter project to battle the misperception that science and religion are inevitably in conflict. Focusing specifically on the theory of evolution, Zimmerman maintains "numerous clergy from most denominations have tremendous respect for evolutionary theory and have embraced it as a core component of human knowledge, fully harmonious with religious faith." The Project aims to promote the view that "religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts." In the end, "the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist."

Additional resources from the Clergy Letter Project are available here.

Atheist Ads: You Can Live Moral, Meaningful Lives without God

The Christian Post covers the Center for Inquiry's multimedia campaign whose message is "that nonreligious people can find meaning in a life that is human-centered, and that reliance on the supernatural is unnecessary." countering CFI, a Biola University professor asks, "what does it mean to do good in a world that's really just a gigantic accident of matter and energy?"

Read the article here.

Protests at Military Funerals Are Protected Speech, Justices Rule

The Supreme Court decision to protect fundamentalist church members who mount anti-gay protests outside military funerals was rendered by Chief Justice John Roberts:

"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker," Roberts said. "As a nation we have chosen a different course — to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."

Alito strongly disagreed. "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case," he said.

Read the article here.

Navy Grants Acad Grad Conscientious Objector Status

"Reversing two earlier denials, the U.S Navy has granted conscientious objector status to Michael Izbicki, a Naval Academy graduate most recently stationed at the Naval Submarine School in Groton... After being assigned to submarine training, he was given a routine psychological exam. Among the several hundred questions, he was asked if he could launch a nuclear missile. 'It was the first time anybody had really put it so bluntly,' he said. 'At that point I thought to myself, I couldn't.' That answer flagged him for further interviews with a Navy psychologist, who recommended that he talk to a Navy chaplain. After numerous meetings, Izbicki said the chaplain suggested that he might be a conscientious objector — a term he only vaguely knew — and gave him an application to study. He eventually decided that his Christian beliefs forbid him from killing. He initially hoped he could continue his career in a noncombat role, but ultimately decided he could not support war in any way. 'I believe that Jesus Christ calls all men to love each other, under all circumstances,' Izbicki wrote in his application for discharge. 'I believe his teaching forbids the use of violence.'"

Read the story here.

Are We There Yet?

Gender equality vs. religious principles at a high school wrestling tournament... even though the match was forfeited.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa high school wrestler who was one of the favorites to win his weight class defaulted on his first-round state tournament match rather than face one of the first girls to ever qualify for the event.

Joel Northup, a home-schooled sophomore who was 35-4 wrestling for Linn-Mar High this season, said in a statement that he doesn’t feel it would be right for him to wrestle Cedar Falls freshman Cassy Herkelman. Herkelman, who was 20-13 entering the tournament, and fellow 112-pounder Ottumwa sophomore Megan Black, who was 25-13, made history by being the first girls to qualify for the state tournament. Black was pinned quickly in her opening round match.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan and their accomplishments. However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times,” wrote Northup. “As a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most other high school sports in Iowa.”

Expanded story at Fox; opinion pieces: kudos for sticking to principles; give the girl a chance.

Science & Religion on Morality

Just in time for our section on religion and ethics, the NYT has published a review on Sam Harris' new book, How Science Can Determine Human Values. The review takes issue with Harris' position, that science can uncover the source of human morality, but along the way it provides a fair mapping of what's at stake in the larger debate, as well as tying in strands from realism, relativism, and utilitarian theory.