Open Letter to "The Reality Club" at Edge.org
Dear Reality Club, I am an atheist and a naturalist. In other words, I do not try to limit our understanding with notions of incomprehensible entities. Like you, I am deeply concerned with the state of science education today. Like many of you, I think religion is best understood scientifically, as a natural phenomenon. As I will argue shortly, the idea of religion and science as non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) is a hindrance to a better understanding of humanity. Unlike you, I have spoken out in favor of the recent Louisiana legislation which supports teachers who wish to take a critical approach to evolutionary theory in the public classroom. (Much to my surprise, my first article on the subject was heralded by the Discovery Institute. However, I am not surprised that they failed to link to my second article , which details my views on the role of religion in public education.) My reasons for supporting the legislation are simple. Despite the questionable intention...