scattered science-and-religion notes...

Dennis Overbye's follow-up to Far Out, Man, But Is It Quantum Physics? instantly reminded me of several of you, my friends...

I think believing in free will despite [his belief that it is a myth] is one of the tragic necessities of life. After all we all know that we and our children and the whole human race is going to die. Why bother getting out of bed in the morning, let alone composing screeds like this that will only invite even more and longer and more abstruse email in return?

The first part is easy. I get up about 6:30 most mornings because that is when a certain spoiled and rather fat cat begins to yowl to be fed. If I don't get up she won't stop and she will wake up the rest of the family, who will then yell at me.

This month, Overbye also profiled an English mathematician who recently received a major prize for religious thought:

Noting that Charles Darwin is buried in Westminster Abbey, Dr. Barrow said that in contrast with the so-called culture wars in America, science and religion had long coexisted peaceably in England. "The concept of a lawful universe with order that can be understood and relied upon emerged largely out of religious beliefs about the nature of God," he said.

From a UU World feature on pro-evolution evangelists Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow: When they realized their calling, "they gave away all their possessions, bought a van, and decorated it with symbols of a Jesus fish kissing a Darwin fish."

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On a tangential note, I am intrigued to see that Students Flock to Seminaries, but Fewer See Pulpit in Future is currently on top of the NYT's "most emailed" list. Given the composition of my various circles...