For what it's worth, Jack Haas and I have often tried to steer the
asa list toward other topics of discussion (even though I personally
am very interested in origins issues). I know Jack had the same
interest as editor of the journal. At one point we even thought of
having the old evolution list to be the place where origins issues
were discussed and to keep the asa list free from origins
discussions. We ended up not even suggesting that idea and now, since
the evolution list is defunct, it's not even possible.
Personally, I'd like to see some discussion of the December 2001 issue of PSCF.
Hardly anyone follows this list guideline, but it might be worth
reminding folks so that you can ignore posts in areas that you aren't
interested in. It also may remind us of some of the areas that ASA
people are interested in.
______________________________________
These are the subject areas originally listed--obviously, they are
deliberately broad. If you place one of these headings in your
subject line, it will help people ignore things they're not
interested in. If you think a broad area is missing, you could invent
your own subject area and list it in the subject line similarly.
ASA -- announcements and discussion of ASA policies
JOBS -- announcements of positions available and jobs wanted
ORIGINS -- creation/evolution discussion
ETHICS -- discussion of medical and other ethical questions raised by
modern science
BIBLE -- discussion of exegetical/theological issues related to
scientific questions
ENVIRON -- discussion of environmental issues and ethics
SOC/PSYC -- discussion of Christianity and psychology and the social sciences
A subject line would look like this:
ETHICS: Y chromosomes and behavior
and then a reply
Re: ETHICS: Y chromosomes and behavior.
___________________________
Finally, I remind everyone that your computer has a delete key and
that no one is obligated to read everything and also that there is an
"unsubscribe" command for this list. This isn't necessarily to
contradict Peter's generally good advice, but just to remind us all
of the voluntary nature of the list and the "big tent" nature of the
ASA.
TG
>Allan Harvey wrote:
>
>"A good example is the current discussion of doctrines of original
>sin, which I consider OK because it has a significant impact on
>science/faith discussions. But extended discussions on topics
>pretty much entirely unrelated to science/faith issues (important
>though the topics might be) should stop. My opinion is that the
>recent discussion about compassion, welfare policies, etc. is in
>this category."
>
>Lucy responds:
>
>Allan, I could not disagree with you more. The recent discussion
>regarding compassion and welfare policies is **EXACTLY** what the
>science/religion debate is all about. I cannot imagine anything
>being more "on target." In fact, I spent two summers up at
>Princeton Theological Seminary studying just these kinds of topics
>precisely because (at the time) Princeton was the only seminary with
>an endowed chair created to explore these issues.
>
>"Compassion" is all about Christianity. And the particular welfare
>we were discussing, food aid, is all about science. Agriculture,
>transportation, antibiotics, caloric intake, and so on are all
>issues of science that mesh with our Christian perspectives and thus
>impact policy.
>
>The science/religion debate cannot be limited to the worn argument
>between creationism and evolution or to the newer argument between
>evolution and intelligent design. The purpose of the ASA, it seems
>to me, is to explore **all** science/religion topics, including stem
>cell research, euthanasia, emergency room technology that keeps
>people alive, the moral responsibility concerning reproductive
>rights with mentally retarded individuals in the face of technology
>that can prevent their ever becoming pregnant, and so on.
>
>These are the kinds of issues explored on the seminary campuses that
>discuss science/religion topics. Check out the publications, for
>example, from CTNS (the Center for the Study of Theology and the
>Natural Sciences).
>
>I encourage everyone on the ASA list to continue these and other
>similar topics. This is the "stuff" of day-to-day science/religion
>struggles.
-- _________________ Terry M. Gray, Ph.D., Computer Support Scientist Chemistry Department, Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 grayt@lamar.colostate.edu http://www.chm.colostate.edu/~grayt/ phone: 970-491-7003 fax: 970-491-1801
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Feb 28 2002 - 13:26:42 EST