Long Reads Archives : International Research Network for the Study of Science & Belief in Society

6th April 2022

Religious Belief and the Geohistory of the Planet: Between Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy

By Richard Fallon In September 2021, Nature-affiliated journal Scientific Reports published a striking article arguing that the Bronze Age city of Tall el-Hammam was destroyed by a cosmic airburst. The authors, Ted E. Bunch et al, speculated that the Genesis story of the destruction of Sodom preserves memories of this impact – and received intense criticism in response. Just a few months later, scholars in Geology described another…

8th March 2022

Engineers communicating science, and the religion and science debates in fin-de-siècle Spain

By Jaume Navarro and Javier Sierra de la Torre In 1876, two Spanish versions of Draper’s History of the Conflict between Religion and Science appeared on the market. One, a translation from the French version, issued in weekly instalments, passed largely unnoticed. But the other, a direct translation from the original version, was highly publicized by liberal and republican politicians, philosophers, and academics as a tool for the promotion of…

Newspaper cartoon from 1875 depicting Draper wearing Eastern costume

26th October 2021

Tyndall, Draper, and “Eastern” Religions

By Bernard Lightman When John Tyndall, well known physicist and superintendent of the prestigious Royal Institution, delivered his “Belfast Address” in 1874 as President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science he touched off a storm of controversy that lasted for several years. The lecture was a tour de force, covering the entire history of science and its complicated relationship to philosophical materialism, particularly with reference…

20th July 2021

All the Light Here Comes from Above: Edward Hitchcock, Man of Science, Man of Faith

by Robert T. McMaster Image from William S. Tyler, History of Amherst College During its First Half Century 1821 to 1871 (Springfield, Mass.: Clark W. Bryan and Company, 1873). Edward Hitchcock (1793-1864) was not the only star in the firmament of American science in the nineteenth century, but he was certainly one of the brightest. Raised among the wheat and rye fields of Deerfield, Massachusetts, he was expected to…

15th December 2020

Crusading for Moral Authority: Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Science in the United States

By Joseph O. Baker, Samuel L. Perry and Andrew L. Whitehead “Culture in Crisis” wall at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky On August 30 2020, Los Angeles megachurch pastor John MacArthur told his congregation “There is no pandemic.” Grace Community Church was meeting in defiance of local and state ordinances against large in-person gatherings. After citing a common misinterpretation of data about COVID-19 from the…

17th November 2020

Half of College Biology Students in the United States Think Evolution is Atheistic

by Liz Barnes Photo by Eugene Zhyvchik on Unsplash Does someone have to be an atheist to accept evolution? According to the philosophy of science and many science educators the answer is no. However, my recent study has revealed that over half of college biology students in the United States think that in order to accept evolution fully, they would have to be an atheist. This is…

29th September 2020

Evolution as a Trojan Horse

By Bernard Lightman The Trojan Horse by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, in the Story of Mankind (Public Domain) With the benefit of hindsight, we can now see that over the course of the past 150 years a remarkable reversal has taken place. Whereas once the investigation of nature had derived status from its intimate connections with the more elevated disciplines of ethics and theology, increasingly…

30th June 2020

The ‘Scientific Interpretation’ of the Bible and the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom

By James C. Ungureanu In his Autobiography, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) gave three specific reasons for his growing religious doubts. He became morally revolted by the God of the Old Testament, whom he characterised as a “revengeful tyrant.” Moreover, the discovery of the “fixed laws of nature” made belief in miracles seem “incredible” to him. Finally, he concluded that recent historical-critical scholarship—or biblical criticism—demonstrated that the Gospels were completely…

2nd June 2020

نظرة موجزة على تاريخ النقاش حول وجود الحياة خارج كوكب الأرض

بقلم بارانديس تاجبخش مطبوعة حجرية لـ “مدرج الياقوت” للخدعة ، كما طُبعت في The Sun. المصدر: ويكيميديا كومنز (المجال العام). في عام 2018، بدأ القمر الصناعي لمسح الكواكب الخارجية العابرة مهمته التي تستغرق عامين للبحث عن الكواكب خارج المجموعة الشمسية، والتي تدور حول حوالي 200,000 نجم تقع على بعد 300 سنة ضوئية من الأرض. وكان القمر الصناعي لمسح الكواكب الخارجية العابرة قد تبع خطى تليسكوب كبلير الفضائي التابع لوكالة ناسا،…

2nd June 2020

Una breve ojeada a la historia del debate sobre la vida extraterrestre

Por Parandis Tajbakhsh Una litografía del “anfiteatro de rubíes” del engaño, como se imprimió en The Sun. Fuente: Wikimedia Commons (dominio público). En 2018, el Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS por sus siglas en inglés) comenzó su misión de dos años de búsqueda de planetas extrasolares, orbitando alrededor de 200.000 estrellas ubicadas dentro de un radio de 300 años luz de la Tierra. TESS siguió los pasos del Telescopio Espacial…

2nd June 2020

Aperçu de l’histoire du débat sur la vie extraterrestre

Par Parandis Tajbakhsh Une lithographie de «l’amphithéâtre rubis» du canular, telle qu’elle est imprimée dans The Sun. Source: Wikimedia Commons (domaine public). En 2018, le Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (Satellite de recensement des exoplanètes en transit) (TESS) a lancé sa mission de deux ans consacrée à la recherche de planètes extrasolaires, gravitant autour de 200 000 étoiles situées dans un rayon de 300 années-lumière de la Terre. TESS a succédé au télescope spatial…

2nd June 2020

A Brief Look at the History of Extraterrestrial Life Debate

By Parandis Tajbakhsh A lithograph of the hoax's "ruby amphitheater", as printed in The Sun. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain). In 2018, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) began its two-year mission searching for extrasolar planets, orbiting around 200,000 stars located within 300 light-years of the Earth. TESS followed in the footsteps of NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, launched in 2009to find Earth-sized or smaller planets around…

21st April 2020

هل يوجد 100,000,000 مؤمنين بالخلق في الولايات المتحدة؟

بقلم جيمس رايلي في يونيو 2019، أصدر معهد جالوب أحدث استطلاع للرأي حول المواقف العامة من التطور والخلق في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية (most recent poll of public attitudes on evolution and creation in the USA). وفقًا لمسحهم، كان 40% من سكان الولايات المتحدة الذين تم أخذ عينات منهم من الأشخاص الذين يعتقدون أن الكون والكائنات الحية تنشأ من أفعال محددة من الخلق الإلهي، كما هو الحال…

21st April 2020

¿EXISTEN 100.000.000 DE CREACIONISTAS EN LOS EE.UU.?

Por James Riley En junio de 2019, Gallup publicó su encuesta más reciente sobre las actitudes del público respecto a la evolución y la creación en los Estados Unidos. Según su encuesta, el 40% de la muestra de la población de EE.UU. eran creacionistas. Es decir, cuando se les preguntó: “¿Cuál de las siguientes afirmaciones se acerca más a su…

21st April 2020

Y A-T-IL 100 000 000 CRÉATIONNISTES AUX ÉTATS-UNIS?

Par James Riley En juin 2019, Gallup a publié son dernier sondage sur les attitudes du public à l’égard de l’évolution et de la création aux États-Unis. Selon cette enquête, 40 % de la population américaine échantillonnée était créationniste. Autrement dit, à la question : « Laquelle des affirmations suivantes se rapproche le plus de votre point de vue sur l’origine et le développement…

21st April 2020

Are there 100,000,000 creationists in the USA?

By James Riley In June, 2019, Gallup released their most recent poll of public attitudes on evolution and creation in the USA. According to their survey, 40% of the sampled US population were creationists. That is, when asked: “Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings?” 40% of respondents selected: “God created human beings pretty…

22nd November 2017

كيف يجب أن نرد على التحيز المتعلق بالمعتقدات؟

بقلم ستيفن ه. جونز تأملات في رهاب الإسلام (الإسلاموفوبيا): لا يزال يمثل تحديًا لنا جميعًا كان نشر تقرير رننيميد ترست عن الإسلاموفوبيا: تحدي لنا جميعاً في عام 1997 بمثابة لحظة فاصلة في تاريخ إدراك ورفض التحيز ضد المسلمين. وهو أول تقرير للسياسة البريطانية يركز على مشكلة الإسلاموفوبيا، وغالبًا ما يُنسب إليه الفضل في تعميم المصطلح. وفي الأسبوع الماضي صدر تقرير محدث بعنوان “الإسلاموفوبيا: لا يزال تحديًا…

22nd November 2017

¿CÓMO DEBEMOS RESPONDER A LOS PREJUICIOS SOBRE LA CREENCIA?

Por Stephen H. Jones Reflexiones sobre Islamofobia: todavía un reto para todos nosotros La publicación del informe del Runnymede Trust “Islamofobia: todavía un reto para todos nosotros” (Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All) en 1997 fue un momento decisivo en la historia del reconocimiento y la oposición a los prejuicios antimusulmanes. Al primer informe de la política británica que se centró en el problema de la islamofobia, con frecuencia se…

22nd November 2017

COMMENT RÉPONDRE AUX PRÉJUGÉS SUR LE SUJET DE LA FOI ?

Par Stephen H. Jones Réflexions sur L’islamophobie : un défi pour nous tous La publication en 1997 du rapport du Runnymede Trust L’islamophobie : un défi pour nous tous a marqué un tournant dans l’histoire de la reconnaissance des préjugés antimusulmans et de l’opposition à ces derniers. Premier rapport politique britannique à se concentrer sur le problème de l’islamophobie, il est souvent reconnu pour avoir popularisé le terme. La semaine dernière, un rapport…

22nd November 2017

How should we respond to prejudices about belief?

By Stephen H. Jones Reflections on Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All The publication of The Runnymede Trust’s report Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All in 1997 was a watershed moment in the history of recognising and opposing anti-Muslim prejudice. The first British policy report to focus on the problem of Islamophobia, it is often credited with popularising the term. Last week an updated report, Islamophobia: Still a Challenge…