I’m not certain if I will do this on a certain day, but I am going to do so at least once a week.

Here are a few related to a column that ran a few weeks ago. The Rev. Steve Kern, senior pastor of Olivet Baptist Church, had contacted me about a story I wrote on a pastor who wrote a book  about science, specifically evolution, being intertwined with religion.

Kern disagreed completely and the column was about his thoughts about science and religion. Here is the resulting correspondence in italics. I’ve placed my answers below each letter, along with another e-mail about a completely different story:    

From Kirk:

 Ms. Hinton, This is in response to the above article. You quoted a pastor, the Rev. Steve Kern, who was, and I assume still is, bewildered by the theory of evolution. He also criticized evolution because, he believes, it says that God is not needed. What’s the point of helping others if natural selection is true?, he asks. the only opposing view is that you mention Rev. Michael Dowd and his book “Thank God for Evolution” with no further information. You have provided no critical analysis of Rev. Kern’s statements.

The fact that he was bewildered is hardly a criticism of the scientific theory of evolution. I was bewildered by algebra, more often than not. This does not disprove algebra. It is more a criticism of the person, not the theory. Further, what does the fact that God may or not be needed have anything to do with it. We don’t ask that of the scientific theory of gravity. The theory of gravity is accepted in the scientific community just as evolution is. Natural selection has nothing to do with whether we should help others. That’s ridiculous. People who accept evolution healp others the same as those who don’t. One can have morals and ethics whether they accept evolution and independent of any religious belief. Even though I accept evolution I still give a significant amount to charity.

Giving no context or an objective analysis of the statements is not responsible. Evolution is a scientific theory that has been scrutinized, refined and accepted by large numbers of people who have studied it objectively from all over the world and by people from different faiths. This is the same scientific community that has given theories that Rev. Kern does accept eg. gravity, electrodynamics, genetics, etc. Even though you may not accept evolution (I really don’t know), a more balanced article is still expected. Maybe input from the science side of the newspaper would have helped since this really is an article critizing evolution, not really a religious article.

Anyway, thanks for your time.

Carla:   Thanks Kir for the e-mail and I’m sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted.

I wrote an article in February about churches participating in a Darwin Day related initiative and I included comments from several Oklahoma pastors who hold similar beliefs as  Michael Dowd. In that article I had quite a bit of contrasting opinion from an Oklahoma pastor who actively opposes evolution. It was a rather lengthy article. A few weeks later we had the story on Michael Dowd’s presentation at First Unitarian Church in which I basically summed up Dowd’s presentation on his book “Thank God for Evolution.”

The column was a way to get the opposing view out there, since the story on Dowd’s presentation was simply about his presentation.

In this case, I thought it was well established in the column that Kern was speaking out about an earlier story (which did not run in the Religion portion of the paper, but in the main section of the paper because it happened on a Sunday and was tied to another event the following Wednesday) on Dowd.

I have found that evolution is one of those subjects where people on either side do not feel that they have quite said enough in support or opposition. It is one of those “lightening rod” issues that it seems that we will always be debating.     

It was not my intention to offend either group with any of the articles, columns, etc. I will look at different ways to approach the subject. Read on …

Nancy:

Hi Carla, I just read the article about a pastor thinking evolution is illogical. The Southern Nazarene University Division of Science and Mathematics will be hosting Dr. Denis Lamoureux on our campus April 20-21. He will be giving a public talk but the date and time is yet to be confirmed. He is an evangelical with three earned doctorates. He has just published a book “I Love Jesus and I Accept Evolution” which you can find here:  “I Love Jesus and I Accept Evolution.”

In short, he is a Christian that holds a different perspective on this issue than pastor Steve Kern. Dr. Lamoureux addressed the issues of sin and death in his books. I have attached some articles that another paper printed prior to his visit in their community.

Carla: People will be interested to know about author Lamoureux’s upcoming visit. We’ll try to find out more information about included it on the Religion theme page this coming Saturday, April 18. Thanks for the information.

Catandtony: Dear Ms. Hinton,

I doubt very seriously if you will answer this, but I read your article in the Daily Oklahoman dated March 29, and felt compelled to respond to your current focus on Nazism. My question to you is this: You speak of “genocide.” What’s the difference between what the German Nazis did than what can now be legally done in the United States by aborting millions of “living” unborn humans … which currently way exceeds the claimed 6 million Jews. If you are an honest,  realistic person, and not one that’s in denial, would you not also call this a current genocide? Your focus should be on the hear and now if you have learned anything from history. Unless you have a Nazi mindset that can excus the current genocide. Millions do.

Also, do you have any “solutions”? Or is your focus just on history? Also atrocities have gone on since day one. You have no idea what currently goes on, and what will continue to go on … because that is human nature. Wake up.

Carla: Thanks for your e-mail catandtony. Your e-mail reminded me of the reasons I have never attempted to do this, correspond with readers on the blog. It’s hard to communicate with someone who seems to be attacking you. One is not sure if the person really wants to hear what you have to say or if they are just attempting to draw you out into launching a counterattack. Whichever it is, I wrote the story about the “Deadly Medicine” exhibit that you are referring to because it is a new exhibit at Science Museum Oklahoma, brought to our community by the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City and community partners.

It is one of the ways the federation and the metro area Jewish community fulfills its commitment to “never forget” the victims of the Holocaust. It’s their way of sharing history with the community but also encouraging  community members to remember their own role to speak out against oppression in our world today.

I am aware that many people see abortion as a form of genocide. However, my story was not about abortion, but about the Holocaust exhibit “Deadly Medicine.”

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

In the Oklahoma City metro area, Nightline airs at 10:35 p.m. on Cox Channel 8. 

Dowd, author of the new book “Thank God for Evolution,” is to tour Oklahoma next month.

We included some of the dates and locations of his tour with a story about Darwin Day and Evolution Weekend that ran on the cover of the Feb. 7 Life section.

I’ve since learned that more Oklahoma tour stops have been added.

Here are the dates and locations: 

Sunday, March 01, 2009

10:00 am

Forum | “The Epic of Evolution: Our Common Creation Story”

All Souls Unitarian Church

2952 South Peoria Ave, Tulsa, OKLAHOMA 74114

(918) 743-2363

—-

Monday, March 02, 2009

7:00 pm

Presentation | “Thank GOD for EVOLUTION”

First Christian Church

3700 N Walker Ave

Oklahoma City, OKLAHOMA 73118

(405) 525-6551

—–

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

7:00 pm

Presentation | “The Gospel According to Science: Evolutionary Good News”

All Souls Unitarian Church

2952 South Peoria Ave

Tulsa, OKLAHOMA 74114

(918) 743-2363

—-

Thursday, March 05, 2009

7:00 pm

Presentation | “Thank GOD for EVOLUTION”

Church of the Open Arms

United Church of Christ

3131 N Pennsylvania Ave

Oklahoma City, OKLAHOMA 73103

(405) 525-9555

—-

Sunday, March 08, 2009

10:00 am

Lifespan Education Class

First Unitarian Church

600 NW 13th St

Oklahoma City, OKLAHOMA 73103

(405) 232-9224

—-

Sunday, March 08, 2009

11:00 am

Sermon | “Thank GOD for EVOLUTION”

First Unitarian Church

600 NW 13th St

Oklahoma City, OKLAHOMA 73103

(405) 232-9224

—

Monday, March 09, 2009

7:00 pm

Presentation | “Thank GOD for EVOLUTION” by Michael Dowd

UU Community Church

205 West Main St

Norman, OKLAHOMA 73069

(405) 447-6138

—-

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

7:00 am

Presentation | “The Gospel According to Science: Evolutionary Good News”

UU Church

320 S Stallard St

Stillwater, OKLAHOMA 74074

(405) 372-0620 

—-

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

7:00 pm

Presentation | “The Gospel According to Science: Evolutionary Good News”

First Unitarian Church

600 NW 13th St

Oklahoma City, OKLAHOMA 73103

(405) 232-9224

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

The Religion News Service recently reported that the executive committee for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology has chosen Salt Lake City instead of New Orleans for its 2011 convention ”in large part” because of the science standards. The RNS said the letter from society president Richard Satterlie is posted on the group’s Web site under the headline: “No Thanks, New Orleans.”

“That’s too bad,” Kyle Plotkin, a spokesman for Louisiana Gov. Bob Jindal told the RNS.

“New Orleans is a first-class city for a convention.” 

Apparently the group of scientists are unhappy with recently adopted science curriculum standards in Louisiana.

Jindal signed the law last year, agreeing with its supporters that science teachers need wider latitude to use supplemental materials for lessons on topics such as evolution, global warming and cloning.

The RNS reported that state teachers unions have said educators already are free to use materials other than textbooks, though a handful of students testified before lawmakers that teachers are sometimes unsure of how to handle questions that challenge established scientific theories, particularly evolution.

The governor was encouraged to veto the bill, with vocal opposition coming from many science groups in Louisiana and nationally.

They described the law  as a back-door attempt to allow Judeo-Christian creation theology or “intelligent design” — the concept that biological life forms are the result of an intelligent being — to be taught as part of science class.

“It is the firm opinion of SICB’s leadership that this law undermines the integrity of science and science education in Louisiana,” Satterlie wrote to Jindal.