Science and Spirit Magazine

Science & Spirit, September October 2004. See the web site
www.science-spirit.org, is a fairly new arrival on the scene. I think I
acquired my subscription when I joined CTNS last year.

Their motto: Exploring things that matter.

This issue looks at politics as that area of our life relates to both
religion and science. It is very much worth reading, for it details how
politicians sometimes treat science (and scientists) only as a means to
already chosen political goals.

Mark Twain: "in religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions
are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination."

I think that statement to be true; I am determined that it not be true of
me.

Page 4. The editor, Karl Giberson, has a two page essay on "seven second
sound bites." He writes: "Many of the great questions of our time have
deep religious, moral and scientific roots. They are never as simple as
they appear ... It is a time for wisdom, which, unfortunately, rarely
comes in seven second bursts." And, "Such challenges are typically met by
gathering advisors with expertise, long attention spans, and no
preference for sound bites."

Page 28 begins a discussion of the coming election. No sides are taken.
The stem cell controversy is analyzed. Dr. Elizabeth Marincola, director
of the American Society for Cell Biology, told Bush that he was "trying
to ensure the advice he receives is the advice he wants to hear." The
article goes on to say, citing the book MERCHANTS OF IMMORTALITY by Hall,
that previous (Democratic) administrations have been guilty of similar
actions. The infamous Russian "Lysenko" case is discussed as perhaps the
second worst example in history (You will have to read the article to see
what the worst one was -- hint -- it was still carried on in the 1970s by
several western countries.

The following is from an open letter to George W. Bush, signed by 48
scientists, all of them Nobel Laureates: ""... the Bush administration
has ignored unbiased scientific advice in the policy making that is so
important to our collective welfare." "[the administration] is, to an
unprecedented degree, distorting and manipulating the science meant to
assist the formation and implementation of policy ... ." It is not known
if George had anyone read it to him (sarcasm intended). Issues addressed
included wildlife protection, air and water pollution, workforce safety,
missile defense, climate change and others. The report concluded that
"the current administration has repeatedly allowed political
considerations to trump scientific qualifications in the appointment
process." Lewis Branscomb, a long time respected scientist, says that he
has not witnessed "this kind of cynicism with respect to objective
scientific advice since I've been watching government ... ."

According to many scientists "this administration has not only imposed
its political will upon scientific issues, it has also gone to
extraordinary lengths to limit the information on these issues available
to the public ... ." Last year the White House tried to replace a data
set in an EPA report on global temperature increases with a discredited
study funded by oil interests. The EPA balked at this, but the original
data was simply deleted.

Page 32 begins a section where W and K are given an opportunity to
comment on a number of science-related issues. It was here I was able to
see what Bush means when he says, as he sometimes does, that he holds to
the church-state separation principle. He says: "[I] believe in the
separation of church and state ... people are able to worship freely in
our country, and if you choose not to worship, you're just as patriotic
as your neighbor. Freedom of religion means freedom to practice any
religion you choose, or the freedom not to practice."

Of course the above, while lofty and true, has almost nothing to do with
church-state separation.

To be fair, K's response is not all that much better

Page 35 begins an article on the church-state separation issue. Both Bush
and Kerry are portrayed as devout, committed, Christians, and I for one
have no reason to think otherwise.

Science & Spirit is recommended reading for those of us who take both
science and Christianity very seriously.

jb
                                                                         
                www.burgy.50megs.com/rhetoric.txt

________________________________________________________________
Speed up your surfing with Juno SpeedBand.
Now includes pop-up blocker!
Only $14.95/ month - visit http://www.juno.com/surf to sign up today!
Received on Sun Oct 10 14:27:25 2004