Copy of email sent on December 6, 2010:
To: "Paulson, Steve" <steve.paulson at wpr.org>, "Fleming, Jim" <jim.fleming at wpr.org>, Listener at wpr.org, gene.purcell at ecb.org, John Greene <jgreene at kuer.org>, jmcalpine at americanpublicmedia.org, esweeney at kcpw.org
This past weekend brought yet another unhappy experience of listening to nearly unbearable sections of what is not really the "best" of our knowledge, and also Krista Tippett's banal program. To the operators and broadcasters of these programs from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Utah, please make note of the following:
You all, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Utah (via KUER), and American Public Media are acting as Templeton's chumps, and I ask that you stop. Furthermore I am writing to let you know that I won't be a Templeton chump myself, and neither should the other secular and Enlightenment advocates who happen to also be public radio listeners and federal and state tax payers.
Lawrence Krauss on Templeton, as from
http://krauss.faculty.asu.edu/14a08801.htm
"...Sir John Templeton, a multimillionaire financier, has decided that science and religion should be connected more closely, and he has the wherewithal to insure that that happens. First among the carrots he offers academics is the annual Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. At over $1.2-million dollars, it is the largest scholarly prize in the world -- the Nobel is worth $960,000 -- and it is awarded at Buckingham Palace, by Prince Philip."
"Templeton's program goes beyond the prize. As the World-Wide Web site of the John Templeton Foundation puts it, 'Sir John Templeton is deeply committed to fostering an expanded vision of God that is informed by recent discoveries of science about the nature of the universe.' He created the foundation to be a 'critical catalyst for progress, especially by supporting studies which demonstrate the benefits of an open, humble and progressive approach to learning.' In the belief that 'a path of cooperation between the sciences and all religions will lead humanity to a deeper understanding of the universe,' the foundation engages in a range of activities -- such as awarding grants and prizes to people and groups, encouraging them to explore the links between religion and science. For example, it gives prizes of $10,000 to academics and institutions that develop interdisciplinary courses in those areas..."
"...Templeton's overall program is ill conceived, and so is the field of study that he wants to promote in our colleges and universities. When faced with ready cash to support research and attend conferences, academics -- including this academic, to be fair -- often rush with too little thought to the trough. But it is significant that higher education did not broadly connect science and religion before Sir John's largesse -- and for a good reason: Combining the two fields is an intellectually uninteresting exercise."
"Science and religion are on opposite sides of the human experience. Science may enter into theological discussions, but I can attest -- after more than 20 years as a physicist -- that religion never enters into scientific discussions. That fact is reflected in the makeup of many of the Templeton-sponsored programs, which involve prominent theologians and historians, but very few scientists..."
"...Although there is nothing wrong with paying some scholarly attention to whatever marginal common ground science and religion may share, overemphasizing their commonality is dangerous -- especially when the driving force behind the effort is not the strength of ideas, but one man's money, compounded by the misplaced enthusiasm of some religious zealots..."
Dr. Krauss is the recipient of the following awards, which I would like you to contrast with your own degrees in public administration and/or journalism:
* Gravity Research Foundation First prize award (1984)
* Presidential Investigator Award (1986)
* American Association for the Advancement of Science's Award for the Public Understanding of Science and Technology (2000)
* Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize (2001)
* Andrew Gemant Award (2001)
* American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award (2002)
* Oersted Medal (2003)
* American Physical Society Joseph P. Burton Forum Award (2005)
* Center for Inquiry World Congress Science in the Public Interest Award (2009)
* Helen Sawyer Hogg Prize of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and the Astronomical Society of Canada (2009)
Also Dr. Krauss is the only physicist ever to have received the highest awards from all three major physics societies in the USA: the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Institute of Physics.
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A link to info on the Templeton funded "Bible literacy project," and the camel's nose which I KNEW was there when I first heard Krista Tippett, the apparently preferred preacher on MY publicly funded radio station and from MY state's publicly funded university:
http://www.infidels.org/kiosk/article782.html
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And I again refer you to a very detailed expose on Templeton in The Nation:
http://www.thenation.com/article/god-science-and-philanthropy
And my own latest forum posting about the issue:
http://www.atheistforums.com/the-templeton-foundation-the-distortion-of-science-t25020.html?highlight=templeton
...which is available as the top result from the following google search: templeton distortion science
It's just great that your programs and stations take money directly or indirectly from an organization that viewed Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ," as the most inspirational film of 2004. Isn't that special?
And while you all are engaged with Templeton in creating a new interdisciplinary science of Godly love, there are some key questions you have not answered:
Which God?
Whose God?
What God?
The god of which religion?
Let us make note of the new favored religious preacher of public radio, Krista Tippett, as fostered and paid for by public universities, and also the new public radio religious program "To the Best of our Knowledge." Both programs seek to dove tail up exactly with the goals of Templeton as per Templeton's recognition of the related programs and their hosts, to mix & conflate science & religion, and to misrepresent & distort science in the process (& to confuse listeners and to provide pabulum to the religious subset of listeners, to the alienation of those of us who had tougher times with religion) - this is what we have when you gleefully accept the largess of a conservative sugar daddy who wants to do what he wants to do. But since you all are helping to foist Templeton's God upon me and upon all your listeners, I'd like to know exactly who Templeton's god was. Since you all are His new representatives, I'd really like to know.
Maybe you should ask, since your Tippett and your Steve Paulson & the producers of all the related programs want us to believe in Templeton's god.
Sincerely,
Jonathan
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