Subject: .. SS.t. re DARWIN DAY

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 14:27:34 EST

I did a program in 2004 "Was Darwin a Unitarian?"   Don't think it's on our 
website.  I'm sending your message to our Sunday Services Committee with a 
recomendation that they plug the program in in February 2006.  We're already 
scheduled for Feb. 2005.

I'll be checking out your website at a later date.

>> To our Darwin Day friends at the UU Church of Pensacola (FL),

>> In late 2002, Arthur Jackson sent you a long email about Darwin Day. 

>> This

> is a reminder that the project is ongoing and growing.

>> Did you know that Charles Darwin attended a Unitarian church and school

> during his earliest years in Shrewsbury, England?  We have maps and 

> pictures

> at http://darwinday.org/life/shrewsbury.html , in the first paragraph 

> below

> the map-picture and also halfway down the entire page.  Darwin's spirit

> seemed to be like modern UU's, exploring all things and drawing 

> conclusions

> from real world evidence.  His family and the Wedgwoods also showed a 

> social

> conscience, being early public opponents of slavery.

>> You may already realize that Darwin's 200th birthday will occur on

> February 12, 2009.  You may have held events to celebrate science and

> humanity in previous years.  For those who don't know, Darwin Day

> Celebration is a nonprofit organization designed to promote an 

> international

> celebration of Science and Humanity each year on or near Feb. 12, as we

> proceed towards 2009.  Darwin and the theory of evolution are being used 

> as

> symbols of scientific progress, and our goal is to achieve a global

> celebration by 2009.  Currently, events are being registered on our Web 

> site

> for 2005.

>> The purpose of this letter is to invite you to visit our website at

> http://www.darwinday.org -- and then to consider joining many others in 

> this

> constructive educational effort.  If you are the minister of a Unitarian

> Universalist church, you might consider a sermon related to Darwin and

> evolution.  Perhaps an examination of how knowledge is obtained through

> traditional faith (receiving beliefs from earlier generations, gathering

> supporting evidence, and avoiding challenges) versus how knowledge is

> obtained in science (guessing about truth through falsifiable hypotheses 

> and

> encouraging attempts to disprove the false hypotheses).  You might call 

> for

> the evolution of IDEAS that do not promote survival in a new environment.

> Perhaps reflect on your personal evolution and possible lessons useful to

> others.  Perhaps an examination on how a failure to evolve one's life 

> skills

> makes one vulnerable to sudden shifts in circumstances.  Perhaps you could

> recount Darwin's own evolution from a gentleman dabbler to a reluctant

> revolutionary, because the evidence he saw convinced him of a new truth.

> Perhaps you could reflect on the likely consequences of the recent results

> of DNA sequence comparisons that show that all humans recently lived in

> Africa until about 100,000 years ago and we are VERY closely related.

> Perhaps something about current events relating to Darwin's ideas, like 

> the

> Georgia court's recent ruling that the schoolbooks could not be required 

> to

> have labels denigrating evolution.  Or you can develop your own better 

> idea.

>> We recently revised the DarwinDay.org site to emphasize science education

> and the very HUMAN story of Darwin's life.  Our Web site offers 

> information

> to assist you in developing ideas for a celebration event that is suitable

> for your own unique circumstances.  To sign up quickly as a supporter,

> register at http://darwinday.org/register/index.php and to publicize your

> event go to http://darwinday.org/regevent/index.php .  If you have reason

> not to register at our site, we'd still like to hear what you are doing, 

> so

> feel free to e-mail to us at mailto:[email-masked]

>> Supporters of Darwin Day include prominent scientists, educators,

> philosophers, and writers such as: Patrick Bateson, Provost, Kings 

> College,

> Cambridge; Edward O. Wilson, Harvard University; Richard Dawkins, Oxford

> University; Daniel C. Dennett, Tufts University; Steven Pinker, Harvard

> University; Helena Cronin, London School of Economics; Eugenie Scott,

> National Center for Science Education; Steve Jones, Univ. College London;

> and many others.  We encourage you to join them and become an enthusiastic

> participant in this project.

>> Sincerely yours,

>> Robert J. (Bob) Stephens, Ph. D.

>> Emeritus Director, Cell Biology Program,

>> SRI International, formerly Stanford Research Institute.

>> Chairman of the Board, Darwin Day Celebration, a nonprofit corporation

>> http://darwinday.org

>> P.S. If you do not want to receive additional e-mail from Darwin Day

> Celebration, simply reply to this e-mail at [email-masked].