Down the Wormhole

Episode 18

Dr Michael Zimmerman sits down with us to discuss some of the work he has been doing around religion and evolution for the past several decades as we look at some of the cases being decided today. how do we reclaim the authority of experts? Can/should we teach some form of intelligent design in public schools? What is at stake in this discussion?

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produced by Zack Jackson

Clergy letter project, founded by Michael Zimmerman

https://www.theclergyletterproject.org/ 

Court Cases / Board of Education rules

1981 Arkansas: McLean vs. Board of Education

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4726786 

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mclean-v-arkansas.html 

2004 Wisconsin, Grantsburg

https://ncse.ngo/grantsburgs-third-try 

2005 Pennsylvania, Dover vs Kitzmiller  [teaching intelligent design as alternative] 

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/21/education/judge-rejects-teaching-intelligent-design.html 

1987 Louisiana; Edwards v. Aguillard [do not have to teach creationism in parallel to evolution]

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edwards-v-Aguilard 

2008 Louisiana; “Science education act” 

http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=503483&n=SB733%20Act%20473 

2019 Ohio Science bill

https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/11/ohio-lawmakers-clear-bill-allowing-students-to-turn-in-inaccurate-work-in-name-of-religion-second-anti-science-bill-in-a-week.html 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ohio-school-religion-answers/ 

Various states/years

https://www.pewforum.org/2009/02/04/fighting-over-darwin-state-by-state/ 

Definitions/People

Stephen Jay Gould

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/21/us/stephen-jay-gould-60-is-dead-enlivened-evolutionary-theory.html 

Intelligent Design

https://intelligentdesign.org/whatisid/  [pro]

https://web.archive.org/web/20021113213410/http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2002/1106id2.shtml [against] 

Irreducible Complexity

https://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/origins/ic-cr.htm [pro]

http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Suboptimal.cfm [against]

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/05/30/devolution-2 [against]

http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/design2/article.html [invoking the flagellum]

God of the gaps

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps 

Ship of Theseus 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus 

Does accepting evolution mean that you can no longer believe in a personal God who is involved with the world? Are there ways to read evolution into the Bible? Did God really create everything? How do we even begin to have these conversations?

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/

produced by Zack Jackson

Movies

[Ian] The Dark Knight : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/ 

[Zack] Toy Story 2 : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120363/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 

[Adam] Star Trek Wrath of Khan: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084726/

[Kendra] Lion King 2 simba’s pride : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120131/

[Rachael; broke the rules again] Raiders of the Ark : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082971/ 

Definitions/People

Spectrum of creationists: https://ncse.ngo/creationevolution-continuum 

https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/young-earth/young-earth-creationist-view-summarized-and-defended/ [pro]

https://biologos.org/personal-stories/confessions-of-a-failed-young-earth-creationist/ [someone’s personal account; anti]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Earth_creationism

https://biologos.org/articles/series/science-and-the-bible/theistic-evolution-history-and-beliefs 

http://www.religionfacts.com/day-age-creationism 

https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_654.cfm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleological_argument   [definition]

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/teleological-arguments/ [article describing various needs in the 

teleological argument for the existence of God]

https://www.theopedia.com/divine-action [definition]

https://answersingenesis.org/bios/ken-ham/ [in support of his ideologies]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-giant-ark-is-just-the-start-these-creationists-have-a-bigger-plan-for-recruiting-new-believers/2017/05/24/b497bd14-2920-11e7-be51-b3fc6ff7faee_story.html 

https://www.britannica.com/science/heliocentrism 

St. Agustine stealing pears

https://augustinianvocations.org/blog-archive/2017/1/19/st-augustine-and-the-pear-tree-a-lasting-story 

https://lutheranreformation.org/get-involved/bible-study-luther-genesis-37-15/ 

https://www.sefaria.org/Joshua.10?lang=bi [Joshua 10:12 quote]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/3224-years-later-scientists-see-first-ever-recorded-eclipse-in-joshuas-battle/ [was it really an eclipse?]

https://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.68.4?lang=en [Quote from Genesis midrash, 68:4]

Episode 16

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/

produced by Zack Jackson

Kleptoplasty Sea Slug:  

https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/biological/aquatic-plants-and-algae/structure-and-function/weird-science-kleptoplasty

Al regel achat: while standing on one foot--story explanation (and how it is used in modern Hebrew)

https://www.haaretz.com/word-of-the-day-al-regel-akhat-1.5318459 

Elephants adapting to be tuskless

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/11/wildlife-watch-news-tuskless-elephants-behavior-change/ 

Peppered Moths of London

http://www.mothscount.org/text/63/peppered_moth_and_natural_selection.html 

Chicken or Egg…first the egg!

https://www.science.org.au/curious/earth-environment/which-came-first-chicken-or-egg 

We don’t understand big numbers

https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/11/1000000-grahams-number.html 

Coywolf (or wolfoyte if preferred)

https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/animal-behaviour/is-this-coyote-wolf-hybrid-taking-over-north-america/ 

Worm composting

http://www.franklincountywastedistrict.org/vermicomposting.html 

Zack's Worm Bin

https://amzn.to/330caxl

Lactose tolerance or intolerance, who’s the mutant now?

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/12/27/168144785/an-evolutionary-whodunit-how-did-humans-develop-lactose-tolerance 

And this one has a map: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27938-everything-you-need-to-know-about-lactose-intolerance/

Reading up on evolution

https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/resourcelibrary.php 

https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-evolution 

Video on natural selection (Crash Course): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTftyFboC_M&list=PL3EED4C1D684D3ADF&index=14

Video on evolution (Crash Course) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3GagfbA2vo&list=PL3EED4C1D684D3ADF&index=20 

History of language evolution

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=axx 

Or a TED-ed short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWDKsHm6gTA 

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper (Kindle Edition)

https://amzn.to/2O4ekYo

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch (Kindle Edition)

https://amzn.to/33YQN0G

A forest of language trees, showing their relationships: 

https://eurotalk.com/blog/2015/06/03/the-language-forest-how-are-world-languages-related/ 

Darwin

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin 

As we begin our first evolution miniseries, our hosts take some time to discuss why this topic has become so central to the "religion vs science" conflict and why it matters to us. How do we reconcile a sovereign God with the randomness of natural selection? Can we find meaning through science or only facts? Who ever thought that breeding pugs was a good idea?

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/

produced by Zack Jackson

Favorite fruits

Kiwiberries

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actinidia_arguta 

Watermelon [and how they’ve changed in the last few centuries]

https://www.vox.com /2015/7/28/9050469/watermelon-breeding-paintings 

Banana [other fruits talked about too]

https://www.sciencealert.com/fruits-vegetables-before-domestication-photos-genetically-modified-food-natural 

Threat to the cavendish: https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/22/africa/banana-panama-disease/index.html 

Strawberries [a brief history]

https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/strawberryhistory.html 

Dogs

Labradoodle Regrets:  

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/us/labradoodle-creator-regret.html 

French Bulldog insemination

https://www.frenchie.shop/blogs/frenchie-shop-blog/do-french-bulldogs-have-to-be-artificially-inseminated [pro-Frenchie site]

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/03/30/25974515/your-french-bulldog-is-an-abomination [biased against them]

Pugs

https://www.petmd.com/dog/breeds/c_dg_pug [Note the medical issues associated with them]

Theistic evolution

https://biologos.org/articles/theistic-evolution-history-and-beliefs 

Theodicy

In-depth philosophy article

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evil/ 

General definitions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodicy 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/theodicy-theology 

Pardes

An explanation and experience: https://onbeing.org/blog/the-spaces-between-the-consonants/ 

In this episode, our hosts take you on a tour of the bizarre and often misunderstood world of the Satanic Temple and their efforts to fight for religious freedom. What role do satirical religions play in our modern world, and should they be treated like traditional religions? Can we create an organization for secular humanists that has the benefits of religion without a deity?

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

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Our opening question about our favorite tricksters:

Ian: Loki:

https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/the-aesir-gods-and-goddesses/loki/ 

Rachael: Loki and Puck: analysis of Puck

https://www.thoughtco.com/character-analysis-puck-midsummer-nights-dream-2984577 

Zack: Benjamin Linus from Lost :

https://lostpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Benjamin_Linus 

Adam: Dolos [I don’t love using wiki, but I just couldn’t find anything meaningful elsewhere]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolos_(mythology) 

Kendra: Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

https://buffy.fandom.com/wiki/Spike 

The Satanic Temple

https://thesatanictemple.com/ 

It’s not the Church of Satan:

https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/what-is-the-difference-between-the-satanic-temple-and-the-church-of-satan 

Article on the documentary, Hail Satan?,  produced this year

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49392867 

[if you want another article, explaining the documentary director idea that highlights what we spoke about regarding community and the search for meaning] 

https://www.wired.com/2019/05/geeks-guide-hail-satan/ 

List of approved religions in the American military: you will notice neither Pastafarian nor The Satanic Temple are listed.There are over 210 religious affiliations listed as of 2017.

http://americanhumanist.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Faith-and-Belief-Codes-for-Reporting-Personnel-Data-of-Service-Members.pdf 

Durkheim and religion

http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/Summaries/forms.html#pgfId=6212 

Durkheim and philosophy as religion (slightly different take than the above citation)

https://www.iep.utm.edu/durkheim/#H4 

Mircea Eliade and religion

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mircea_Eliade#Contribution_to_the_study_of_religion 

[or from britannica, but I found this explanation to a bit more dense]

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mircea-Eliade#ref274286 

Is Buddhism a religion?

https://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/is-buddhism-a-religion 

John Oliver and debt collecting

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/john-oliver-buys-15-million-of-medical-debt-for-60/?fbclid=IwAR0FBYs-n884jjIzwLQ1DotAVCEhn2bJRGc35hC2nR-BZzbRExRjQKJtCFI

Episode 13

We welcome special guest Kenneth Makuakane as we revisit the conflict between scientists and Hawaiians over the sacred peak of Mauna Kea. Kenneth brings his unique humor, deep wisdom, and artist's spirit to dig into the deep questions of our time. How do we forge a life together that includes space for scientific progress without trampling on indigenous peoples?

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/

produced by Zack Jackson

A bit of history of Hawaii: 

https://www.britannica.com/place/Hawaii-state/History 

http://www.hawaiihistory.org/index.cfm 

What is a dodecahedron?

https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/dodecahedron.html 

Story about the carob tree

https://www.sefaria.org/Taanit.23a?lang=en [14 paragraphs/bullet points down]

UCC and Space Junk

https://www.ucc.org/space_debris 

Dr. Who wiki on the 9th planet

https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Mondas

5 Love Languages

https://www.5lovelanguages.com/ 

Episode 12

Should religious prayers be allowed in government sessions and public schools? Do we need to make space for satirical "religions"? What about state symbols and rituals in our religious spaces? Can we be religious in the public sphere or should we only default to secular, scientific ways of being?

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/

produced by Zack Jackson

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Franklin quote

Karaoke songs!

Episode 11

In this special episode, we interview Rabbi Geoff Mitelman about the Sinai and Synapses Fellowship that originally brought the five of us together. Applications for the next cohort are open now, and there is a lot to get excited about!

Apply for the fellowship by December 4th at... 

https://sinaiandsynapses.org/sinai-and-synapses-fellowship/

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/

Produced by Zack Jackson

Episode 10

When one group’s liberties diminish another group’s, who decides which liberty comes out on top? What about when the government gets it wrong? Holy envy, holy hospitality, Supreme Court shenanigans, and no easy answers on this week’s episode of the Down the Wormhole Podcast!

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/

Produced by Zack Jackson

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Christian artists celebrate religious freedom win in Arizona Supreme Court

More Perfect Podcast: The Imperfect Plaintiffs

More Perfect Podcast: The Heist

In part 1 of our miniseries on the complicated relationship between religion and politics, we look at the history of "the separation of church and state" in the US, and try to get to the heart of what the founders intended. It should be fun and not controversial at all!

Support this podcast on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/DowntheWormholepodcast

More information at https://www.downthewormhole.com/

Produced by Zack Jackson

Pope Felix III 

Thomas Jefferson and the origins of the phrase "the separation of Church and State"

Everson v. The Board of Education

Big City or Big God?

Chrome plugin that changes "treating people with respect" to "treating people with respect" 

'In God We Trust': display in Kentucky schools marks effort to mix church and state