Enjoyed my week at
Regent for
Wonder and Devotion: Bringing Science and Faith Together for the Church. I was struck by how important history was in bringing Science and Faith together. The history of theology in reading the book of Genesis, and the history of the Church's relation ship with science. The history of science and how it's been married to ideologies.
A couple of bits that I found interesting:
The first Christian response to Darwin's On the Origin of Species is dated six days prior to it's publication. Review copies are a very old practice. The first review was positive.
By the 1920's Evolution had been married to political theories such as the
Eugenics Movement. The text book that was at the center of the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial" had a section dedicated to the praise of Eugenics. Quotes like "If the stock of domesticated animals can be improved upon, it is not unfair to ask if the health and vigor of the future generations of men and women on the earth might not be improved by applying to them the laws of selection." The opposition to Evolution was more complex than simply insisting on a literal six day creation as it's made out in the popular understanding of the "Scopes Monkey Trial".
Really enjoyed the Canadian premier of
Test of Faith. They have a number of great clips, so from the film some not on the
Test of Faith YouTube chanel. For example you can hear Dr Denis Alexander on
How have different ideologies used Darwinism for their own purposes? There is a good
clip from Darrel Falk. He explains his concerns about both the science and the theology of the Intelligent Design movement - and says that both are deeply flawed. He very much echoes the thoughts that Dr. Alexander shared at the conference.
- Peace
I buzzed a fair bit from Nothern Voice and have posted pics to flickr. But haven't blogged anything about it. I've had a hard time summing it up. After all how do you relate a drawing with letters, realizing the editor of the Vancouver Sun doesn't understand the term 'public domain', eating sushi with Gov 2.0 types, talking with a member of the Thunder Bird support team about Lightning and Google Calendar, talking with Transit Bloggers about how great Vancouver's Bike Route system is and all the other cool random moments at Northern Voice? Northern Voice is a target rich environment for making connections about tech, art, Vancouver and the state of the net. Time well spent.
