I hope and trust that this newsletter finds you, your families and your congregations safe and healthy. And I hope that in this time of social distancing you’re reaching out to others in a safe manner and thus remaining socially active and psychologically healthy.
In this Clergy Letter Project update you’ll find the following five items:
3. Realities on the Ground for Science and Faith Amidst Covid-19 (read on the web);
5. Interfaith Solidarity Network Endorses Climate Crisis Letter (read on the web).
1. Teaching about Climate Change within Congregations
I shared the following announcement in our February newsletter and thought that this would be a good time to repost it. In a time of social distancing, this curriculum might be perfect for many congregations – and the 20 percent discount is still available. Enjoy!
Our good friends at
Living the Questions have recently produced an exciting curriculum for teaching about the climate crisis. Entitled “ProFuture Faith: The Prodigal Species Comes Home,” the package consists of an eight-session DVD and internet-based course that “bridges the gap between head and heart, science and faith.” It features Clergy Letter Project member Michael Dowd, an eco-theologian, author, and TEDx speaker who many of you know well. You can read more about this product by clicking
here.
I’m delighted to say that Living the Questions is offering a
20 percent discount to Clergy Letter Project members. Simply use the discount code CLP2PFF at checkout to obtain your discount.
2. Fact-Checking Covid-19 Propaganda
In a manner that makes no sense, the coronavirus pandemic has become every bit as much a political battle as a public health battle. As part of the political battle, the attack on expertise mimics what we’ve seen in the evolution-creation “controversy” and in the “controversy” over the reality of global climate change.
In an attempt to correct the rampant misinformation, I’m sharing an
article that recently appeared in
Science, the publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The article fact-checks a viral excerpt from the forthcoming movie
Plandemic demonstrating just how scientifically inaccurate the claims made by the movie are.
3. Realities on the Ground for Science and Faith Amidst Covid-19
Our good friends at Sinai and Synapses have just posted a fascinating conversation with Dr. Elaine Howard Ecklund, the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, and the Director of the
Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University. As Sinai and Synapses notes, “she is one of the world’s experts on the interplay between science and religion, especially sociologically. What is happening on the ground for faith communities as they interact with questions of science and health? As COVID-19 has taken over the world, faith communities are grappling with questions of access and justice, and the questions surrounding religion and science have become even more important and even more complicated.” You can watch the video of her conversation
here.
4. The Climate Crisis Letter
Our Climate Crisis Letter remains available for signature. I’ve written enough about this Letter since its inception that I don’t need to say more now – but, please, if your signature is not yet on it, let me know and I’ll add it immediately. The crisis is real and our collective voice is important. You might also want to take a look our page of
personal statements. This page presents statements by some of those clergy members who have signed the Climate Crisis Letter. If you’d like to add a personal statement of your own, please share it with me and I’ll get it posted immediately.
5. Interfaith Solidarity Network Endorses Climate Crisis Letter
Concluding Thoughts
I’ll end this newsletter the same way I began it: I hope all of you, your relatives and friends are healthy. I also hope you found some information in this month’s newsletter that was both useful and engaging. Be well and practice effective physical distancing.
Finally, as always, I want to thank you for your continued support and as I do every month, I urge you to take one simple action. Please share this month’s Newsletter with a colleague or two (or post a link via any social media platform you use) and ask them to add their voices to those promoting a deep and meaningful understanding between religion and science. They can add their signatures to one of our Clergy Letters simply by dropping me a note at
mz@theclergyletterproject.org.
Spread the word; change the world. Together we are making a difference.
Michael
Michael Zimmerman
Founder and Executive Director
The Clergy Letter Project
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