Science society addresses need for faith dialogue

Junior Jesse Yoder is seeing the faculty through new eyes as he attends weekly discussions as part of the Shenandoah Anabaptist Science Society (SASS).

"I admire and respect the faculty involved and see the discussions as an opportunity to learn more about the academic world of philosophy and see how faculty interact with each other during a lunch-time chat," said Yoder.

The discussions center around the book Whatever Happened to the Soul? by Nancey Murphy and others. According to Yoder, the book is about the philosophical perspective called "non-reductive physicalism" which is a stance that argues against the separation of mind/soul and body that many strains of Christianity tend to espouse and is rooted in Cartesian dualism. Non-reductive physicalism states that because evidence shows that damage to the brain can completely alter personality characteristics that have previously been attributed as the soul, people have to find a new way of thinking about the word and their relationship to spirituality.

The Shenandoah Anabaptist Science Society was developed by Anne Hershberger and Roman Miller, who submitted a proposal to the Templeton Foundation for a grant given to local society initiatives. The foundation granted a three-year grant this past March which Miller said works as a matching grant. The grant money has been supplemented by various departments at EMU along with individual donors. SASS is organized and directed by a Steering Committee that includes representation from 11 different campus departments or programs and local persons.

Miller emphasized that the organization is in its beginning stages. He does not see this as a huge movement, but a way to provide space for faith-science dialogue.

Current membership is in the mid thirties according to Secretary Tara Kishbaugh. While the group is open to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, community members and high school students interested in a science and faith dialogue, the majority of members thus far are faculty. Kishbaugh said that there are only about four or five undergraduate student members thus far.

As one of a few undergraduate students who have been attending discussion sessions, Yoder commented that the discussion is very philosophical, often using terms and ideas that non-philosophy students, especially undergrads, might not know. The majority of faculty and seminary students makes speaking up during the discussions rather intimidating for undergraduates. However, Yoder attends the sessions because he finds philosophy fun and enjoys questions about humanity, consciousness, and religion "because they cross many career or major-specific boundaries and have a profound impact on our lives."

The need for creating cross-discipline dialogue was one of the primary reasons for forming SASS. There are issues of faith and science that cross over disciplines, and, because academics have a tendency to be very departmentalized, there needs to be a space where the differing departments can address those issues together, Miller explained. He also said that the group included Anabaptist in their name because of their bias that an Anabaptist perspective can help in dealing with these issues. That perspective has been largely silent, said Miller.

As part of generating diverse dialogue, the society wanted to be open to as many groups as possible, including community members and advanced high school students. While Kishbaugh said she has not yet been contacted by any high school students, she noted that Myron Blosser, who teaches biology at Eastern Mennonite High School, is a member of the steering committee.

Yearly membership costs $5 for students and $10 for a professional membership. The steering committee deliberately made the fee low so that it would not be a barrier for anyone, but they deliberately made it not free, said Miller. Benefits of membership includes receiving the SASS Newsletter, freely attending SASS forums, luncheons, and book studies, and receiving discounts for study books, field trips and meals. SASS plans to do at least one book study each semester and members might get a book for $5 that would cost others $20, Miller said. There are luncheon programs still in development, and each semester SASS will sponsor a field trip to an off-campus conference or meeting and invite students who are members to go along.

Miller said he has told his students that if they really want to join and do not have the $5, he will give them a job to do to earn the money. Thus far, no one has taken him up on the offer.