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Evolution, global warming, human cloning, abortion rights. The cultural and political debates playing out on today’s world stage invoke frenetically partisan passions, and yet they are symptomatic of a broader cultural rift: the division between Christianity and science. Michael Ruse, author of Science and Spirituality: Making Room for Faith in the Age of Science, is a persistent figure on the frontlines of this divide. Negotiating the fine line between scientist and skeptic, Ruse pushes to show how it is possible for a believer of any faith to engage in an open and informed intellectual dialogue—for science and religion to coexist. He’s not alone. Over the weekend, Ruse blogged about the Templeton Foundation for The Huffington Post. The Foundation’s stated mission is “to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness, and creativity.” This year, the Foundation honored Francisco J. Ayala with its prize for “a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works. It is the world's largest annual monetary award given to an individual, currently valued at 1,000,000 pounds sterling.” (Past winners included Mother Teresa and Chuck Colson, former Watergate burglar -turned- born-again Christian). Yet no worthy award presentation is without controversy! Read on as Ruse dissects the role of the Templeton Foundation in influencing debate today (“It is hardly too strong a term to say that it is an object of derision by many of today's scientists…”), and accusations against Ruse’s friend Francisco Ayala – called a “master of non-committal waffle” by Minnesota biologist P.Z. Myers.
Read More“Great science doesn’t stand still. It picks up and carries ideas and findings way beyond the wildest hopes of its founders.” — Michael Ruse, one of our favorite Darwin defenders and author of the forthcoming Science and Spirituality. Get a double dose of Ruse by checking out his take on What Darwin Got Wrong (Farrar, […]
Read MoreScience and Religion expert Michael Ruse is one of our favorite Cambridge authors. He's nuanced, compelling, and unwilling to settle for simple, doctrinal arguments on either side of the creationism debate. The Chronicle of Higher Education's Brainstorm blog recently added him as a writer, where "[y]ou might see him writing about science and religion (especially creationism and evolution), college football, film, and other similarly uncontroversial matters." Ruse's latest post "Why I am Weeping for Florida State University" ties in neatly to Weisbrod and Asch's piece on college football coach bonuses. As we start the New Year, Florida State University is in the headlines for two reasons. The first is that on New Year's Day, in the Gator Bowl, FSU beat West Virginia. It was the final game of our coach, Bobby Bowden. The lead headline in the New York Times Sports Section is "Bowden Goes Out on Top of Shoulders." The magazine Science also has news about FSU. "Recession Hits Some Sciences Hard at Florida State University." We have just fired 20 tenured faculty and another 15 tenure-track faculty. And don't think that these were just second-raters or indeed presume that any of them were. Included wasDean Falk, one of today's leading paleoanthropologists and, among other things, the expert on the brain of Homo floresiensis (the hobbit). She got a pink slip on her 65th birthday. (Disclosure: Dean is a good friend. In this post I am absolutely not making a judgment about whether, given the firings, she was legitimately included or not. If you read the Science article, you will see that decisions were made on the judged vulnerability of departments, and she is a member of one such department, anthropology.) I don't know which item of news depresses me the more.
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