56th Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation

Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
July 20 - 23, 2001

Caring for God's Creation

Program Tidbits - an early look at what's going on!

Global Stewardship & Environmental Ethics Symposium : Saturday, July 21, 2001

Session I: "Philosophical & Theological Perspectives On Stewardship & Environmental Ethics"
Moderator: Dr. John Wood Global Resources Commission, chair

10:30 a.m. "Care Theory and "Caring" Systems of Agriculture"
Janel M. Curry, Professor of Geography & Environmental Studies, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

11:00 a.m. "Biblical Wisdom & Ecological Ethics: Looking at Scripture Again for the First Time"
Steven Bouma-Prediger, Professor of Religion, Hope College, Holland, MI

11:30 a.m. "Genetic Engineering of Nature & a Theology of Nature"
Rolf Bouma, Doctoral Candidate in Religious Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA

12:00 a.m. "Ethics of Agricultural Biotechnology"
Uko Zylstra, Professor of Biology, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

12:30 p.m. END to Lunch

Session II: "Global Stewardship & Environmental Ethics in Research & Practice"

Moderator: Dr. Hessel ("Bud") Bouma III, Bioethics Commission chair

1:30 p.m. "Caring for God's Creation through the Proper Use of Our Energy Resources"
Kenell J. Touryan & John A. Turner, Research Scientists, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO

2:00 p.m. "Industrial Ecology as an Environmental Ethics Course For Engineering Students"
Jack Swearengen, Professor of Manufacturing Engineering, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA

2:30 p.m. "Assessing Property for Conservation Value - Natural Areas Inventory
Jonathan Schramm, Student in Biology, Randall Van Dragt & David Warners, Professors of Biology,
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

3:00 p.m. "The Struggle for Survival & Sustainability: Farming Households in Low-Income Communities"
Jeri Stoad, Stan Freyenberger, & David Norman, Agricultural Economics Department, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

3:30 p.m. END - to Break

Session III: "Global Stewardship & Environmental Ethics: "Sustaining Biodiversity"
Moderator: Dr. Janel Curry, ASA Member

4:00 p.m. "Preserving Biodiversity: Perspectives from Science, Ethics, & Theology"
Joseph K. Sheldon, Professor of Natural Science, Messiah College, Grantham, PA

4:30 p.m. "Caring for Creation: What About Weeds?"
David Clements, Professor of Biology, Trinity Western University, Langley, BC

5:00 p.m. "What Creature Do You Love?"
John Wood, Professor of Biology, The King's University College, Edmonton, Alberta

5:30 p.m. END

ABSTRACT

Creation is groaning

Ghillean T. Prance

The more I travel around the world, and I am doing a lot of that at present, the more I have come to realize the seriousness of the environmental crisis. I am truly alarmed by what I have seen and will present some examples from my travels and research. Creation is truly groaning (Romans 8: 22). Evidence for human-caused climate change can no longer be denied, species loss is increasing especially in the tropics in spite of conservation efforts, urban pollution makes it almost unbearable in many large overcrowded cities of the developing world. The increasing population of the world is putting undue pressure on land-use, soil fertility, food production and water resources. In spite of many international efforts and treaties, the overall situation is not improving; this is because this is not only an environmental crisis, but also one of morals. Profit and short-term gain at any expense are the Gods of today. If we are to address the care of creation seriously then it must begin with attention to the moral issues. Some secular organizations are recognizing this fact. It is therefore our Christian obligation to become involved in the stewardship of creation, yet there is a certain complacency about this in many churches I have visited. Christ was present at creation (Colossians 1:16) and so we are destroying His handiwork. This lecture will conclude with some of the biblical reasons why New Testament Christians should be leaders rather than bystanders in the promotion of environmental stewardship and sustainable use of our precious resources such as soil and water.

Pulitzer Prize winner (Summer for the Gods) Dr. Edward Larson will offer a special Templeton Lecture "God and the Galapagos" at 9:15 AM on Monday, July 23, 2001. 

Abstract
Everyone knows that the Galapagos Islands played a central role in Darwin's formulation of his theory of organic evolution.  Less well known is the equally central role that the Galapagos Islands played in the ensuing scientific debates over that theory.  This lecture will review those post-Darwinian debates fought over Galapagos tortoises and finches by such leading protagonists as Louis Agassiz, Richard Owen, David Starr Jordan, Henry Fairfield Osborn, David Lack, Ernst Mayr and Julian Huxley, with an eye toward the religious subtext of their scientific theorizing.