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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clergy Letter Project | 2/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T10:20:15.824628+00:00 | kb-cron |
The Clergy Letter - from Unitarian Universalist Clergy – An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science As Unitarian Universalists, we draw from many sources, including "Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life," and "Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit." While most Unitarian Universalists believe that many sacred scriptures convey timeless truths about humans and our relationship to the sacred, we stand in solidarity with our Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters who do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook. We believe that religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts. Fundamentalists of various traditions, who perceive the science of evolution to be in conflict with their personal religious beliefs, are seeking to influence public school boards to authorize the teaching of creationism. We see this as a breach in the separation of church and state. Those who believe in a literal interpretation of the Biblical account of creation are free to teach their perspective in their homes, religious institutions and parochial schools. To teach it in the public schools would be to assert a particular religious perspective in an environment which is supposed to be free of such indoctrination.
We the undersigned, Unitarian Universalist clergy, believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and other scriptures may comfortably coexist with the discoveries of modern science. We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as "one theory among others" is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children. We urge school board members to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by affirming the teaching of the theory of evolution as a core component of human knowledge. We ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth. Buddhist Clergy Letter
The Clergy Letter - from American Buddhist Clergy – An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science "If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims or adopt them as metaphor." The Universe in a Single Atom Tenzin Gyatso - The Dalai Lama
As the above quote indicates, the Buddhist tradition is primarily a rational religion. The earliest Buddhist teachings are intended to help all sentient beings to live a life of integrity in harmony with reality. While the specific science of evolution is not explicitly taught in our faith, it is implicit in the core teaching of interdependent origination, which demonstrates that all things are interconnected and contingent upon one another for their form and development. Likewise, a creator deity is not relied upon for a creation story. The ancient Indian fables of the Buddha’s various incarnations from animal to human are readily understood not as a literal history but as metaphor describing the evolving nature of life. In fact, the concept of Buddha itself is best understood as a symbol for humanity’s evolutionary potential. For all of these reasons, we admonish public school boards to affirm their commitment to teaching the science of evolution. We understand the role of public schools is to educate students in the established principles of science and in other subjects of general knowledge.Humanist Clergy Letter The Clergy Letter - from American Humanist Clergy – An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science As Humanists, we have adopted a lifestance that is guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience. Humanism is not anti-religious. It embraces a progressive philosophy which affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. Humanist clergy serve a growing number of individuals who variously identify as Humanists, agnostics, non-religious, and atheists, and their allies, by providing leadership, moral guidance, rites of passage, and life celebration services in a similar fashion to the clergies of other traditions. Fundamentalists of various religions who perceive the science of evolution to be in conflict with their sectarian beliefs are seeking to influence public education authorities to require or authorize the teaching of creationism or to deprecate the teaching of evolution. We see this as a breach of the separation of church and state. Those who believe in a literal interpretation of the biblical or other religious accounts of creation are free to teach their perspectives in their homes, religious institutions, and private religious schools. But to teach creationism in its various forms, or to compromise the teaching of evolution to placate religious sensibilities, in the public schools would be to assert a particular religious perspective in an environment which is supposed to be free of such indoctrination. We, the undersigned Humanist clergy, stand in agreement with the global scientific community that the evidence of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution is overwhelming. This consensus is in no way particular to Humanism, and we stand in solidarity with our colleagues of the Christian, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, Muslim, and Buddhist faiths who have also embraced evolution as a vital scientific concept essential to public science education curricula. Teaching evolution in a public science classroom is no more an endorsement of Humanism than it would be of any of these otherwise disparate religious orientations..