Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Atheists on Twitter; Science and Religion


Text: S.J. Velasquez (Pew Forum, Religion News Service)

P.Z. Myers' Twitter bio reads, "godless liberal biologist." The avid atheist is far from alone in the cyber world. He has more than 7,700 followers, who subscribe to his atheism- and evolution-themed Internet updates.


When Myers led about 300 like-minded evolutionists to the Creation Museum, thousands more followed along via the Internet, avidly anticipating each 140-character "tweet" about the Kentucky center, which renounces evolution in favor of a Bible-based view of natural history.

"It's a very peculiar medium," Myers said of Twitter. "I can also see that it is quite useful." Complete story (Mayrequire registration)

Religion and Science: Conflict or Harmony?
On August 7, Francis S. Collins was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new director of the National Institutes of Health. At the May 2009 Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics, and public life, Collins (the former director of the Human Genome Project and an evangelical Christian) discussed why he believes religion and science are compatible. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, the religion correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR), discussed how the brain reacts to spiritual experiences.