Evolution Weekend February 8-10, 2008

By Matt Young

Evolution Weekend has approximately 750 participants from 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 9 other nations; last year, Evolution Sunday garnered a bit over 600 participants (see my earlier posting at http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2007/02/evolution-sunda-3.html ). Here, for anyone willing to help publicize Evolution Weekend, is part of an e-mail I received from the organizer, Michael Zimmerman:

… I have posted two press releases that you can use. I’ll provide the two web addresses below. The first one is a general press release that explains what Evolution Weekend and The Clergy Letter Project are all about. It does not refer to any particular congregation. Whether you are participating in Evolution Weekend or not, please think about sending the press release to any media outlet you can think of – local, national or international.

The second press release has been modified to easily enable participants to customize it for their own use. You’ll see that there are some places in red that need to be filled in with specific local information. Please modify the release accordingly and share it as broadly as you can with your local media.

Here are the two web addresses:

General Press Release: http://www.butler.edu/clergyproject/pdf/press%20release%20-%20general.doc

Local Press Release: http://www.butler.edu/clergyproject/pdf/press%20release%20-%20local.doc

Professor Zimmerman asks clergy who are planning to participate in Evolution Weekend this year to take a minute to search for your name on the list of participants ( http://www.evolutionweekend.org ) and add your name if it is not there.

As I wrote last year, the “Clergy Letter Project is terribly important because it counters the view that evolution is inherently atheistic, and the signers of the document are the natural allies of us who want to promote good science education and keep all species of creationism out of the public schools and indeed out of the public agenda.” I have dutifully forwarded the general press release to my local newspaper.