Barlow and Dowd converse with Alison Gopnik about her research toward understanding how young children acquire their picture of the world — especially the ways in which they seem to develop, test, and amend hypotheses not unlike the methods of scientists. What sparked the interviewers' interest, however, was a widely read essay she published in a January 2012 edition of the Wall Street Journal, titled "What's Wrong with the Teenage Mind". There she offers both an evolutionary understanding of why making the transition from childhood to adulthood is so prolonged and problematic today — and what can be done to improve the situation. (posted May 2012)
48-minute video now on YouTube of Thomas Berry (1914-2009) reciting nine of his poems to an enthusiastic audience. This was one of the last videos filmed of Thomas in public performance. Videography by Lou Niznik. See also one poem as excerpted, "Thomas Berry recites his 'Earth's Desire' poem." (posted April 2012)
"We're fortunate to have Michael Dowd on our side (the 'our' being humanity)," says Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, who introduces Dowd as part of Skeptic's Distinguished Lecture series at CalTech. This is an unabridged video of Dowd's bridge-building religious naturalism program, as presented in 2009. (posted April 2012)
90-minute video on YouTube of Connie Barlow presenting a highly interactive children's program that journeys back through time (based on Richard Dawkins' 2004 biology book, Ancestor's Tale: Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution.) Connie is thrilled to finally have a video of her presenting this program, as this video should empower teachers, parents, and religious educators to conduct this program themselves. Make sure you click on "more info" so that the text fully scrolls open beneath the video window; you will see an annotated Table of Contents with hotlinked time codes for instant access to different parts of the video. Slides, scripts, and a leader's manual are all freely downloadable for this program.(posted April 2012)
38 hour-long conversations with leading Christian scholars and ministers who fully embrace a deep-time, evolutionary understanding of the world. Hosted by Michael Dowd, this teleseries aired Christmas 2010 and is now available for purchase and digital download (mp3 audios and pdf transcripts, plus study guides) by church discussion-group leaders and college teachers. (posted March 2012)
DOWD begins to BLOG at Huffington Post and Metanexus
Michael Dowd began blogging for the Huffington Post and Metanexus in March 2012. He continues to host the Evolutionary Christianity blog he initiated in November 2010. Click on images left to sample his blogs. (posted March 2012)
54-minute video of a presentation on the practical insights of evolutionary brain science, which Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd delivered at Seabeck Conference Center (Puget Sound, Washington) in August 2009. Make sure you click on "more info" so that the text fully scrolls open beneath the video window. You will see an annotated Table of Contents with hotlinked time codes for instant access to different parts of the video, just like the chapters in a dvd. (posted February 2012)
Barlow and Dowd posted a 64-minute audio interview of evolutionary biologist / neuroscientist Terrence Deacon. The topic is his 2011 book, Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter. Terry is chair of the anthropology department at U.C. Berkeley. His previous book, published in 1997 book, is The Symbolic Species Note: You can access the full archive of the Inspiring Naturalism audio series. (posted February 2012)
Michael Dowd posted an essay that previews three forthcoming books (by Jonathan Haidt, Edward O. Wilson, and Christopher Boehm) that together might turn the tide from a restricted focus in biological and cultural evolution on the gene and the individual organism to a broader understanding that natural selection occurs at higher levels, too. This is especially true for the emergence of internally cooperative human social groups at far greater scales than kin selection and reciprocal altruism have ever been able to account for. As well, this paradigm shift would recast religion as a key adaptation for bonding humans at these greater scales. (posted February 2012)
Michael Dowd spoke from the pulpit on a Sunday morning in August 2011 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His sermon was part of their summer series: Re-imagining Religion. Michael's sermon title: "Reality Is My God, and Integrity Is My Religion." (posted January 2012)
Connie Barlow posted a richly illustrated photo-essay of her 7-week participation in the life of "Sallie Pond" — an ephemeral forest pool in northeastern Alabama in which a local population of Spotted Salamanders lays eggs. Learn why a Spotted Salamander Pond is a superb place to experience in one's imagination two key transitional times in the Epic of Evolution. Note: You can access the full archive of all Sacred Sites of the Epic of Evolution. (posted January 2012)
Michael Dowd was interviewed by Terry Patten in Terry's "Beyond Awakening Teleseries." Michael's topic was "Big Integrity: Deep-Time Eyes and a Global Heart." Audio length = 62 minutes. Note: You can access the full list of free audios by Michael Dowd (and Connie Barlow). (posted December 2011)
Peter Mayer's classic end-of-year ballad, "One More Circle," has been made into a captioned and richly illustrated music video for contemplation or sing-along, using Connie Barlow's nature photos from travels throughout North America. You can also access all four music video collaborations between Peter Mayer and Connie Barlow. (4:30 min, posted December 2011)
Michael Dowd presented the Sunday morning service at Unity Center of Davis on 28 August 2011. His theme, "Thank God for Evolution," centered on distinguishing sanity v. insanity and maturity v. immaturity in the world today, especially given the widespread "idolatry of the written word" demonstrated by many religious institutions. Audio length = 45 minutes (posted November 2011)
Connie Barlow's 2001 book is now freely available online. It is a classic in evolutionary ecology and an entertaining example of using "deep-time eyes" to help us see the magic of reality in our kitchens and lurking nearby some of our favorite street trees (honey locust and ginkgo). Connie posted a playful 5-minute video introduction to this book on her YouTube channel. Also, a short text article (in PDF) on its practical implications: "Garden of Eden on Your Dinner Plate?". (285 pages, posted October 2011)
Barlow and Dowd created a VIDEO posted on Youtube that celebrates the 2011 book by Richard Dawkins, The Magic of Reality (22 minutes, posted October 2011)
The news report is titled, "Evolution doesn't have to clash with Christianity, author tells CLU crowd." An interview with Dowd prior to the event can be accessed online: "Bestselling author to give free lecture at CLU". (posted October 2011)
Michael Dowd's dynamic illustrated talk for the interfaith celebration of Darwin Day in Omaha, Nebraska, February 2011, and hosted by Countryside UCC Church. Evolutionary topics include the importance of a Big History perspective in which we forthrightly see our evolved human nature as challenging us with mismatched instincts, especially in modern environments full of "supernormal stimuli" temptations. Death as "natural and generative at every level of reality " means it is to be honored, not feared." (68 minutes, posted September 2011)
Episode 10 of the "Inspiring Naturalism Podcast Series" features astrophysicist Joel Primack and cultural historian Nancy Ellen Abrams in conversation with Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd. Images and metaphors for helping us understand and feel a sense of belonging with the entire cosmos are topcs of discussion, drawn from their 2006 book, View from the Center of the Universe, and their 2009 Terry Lectures at Yale University, now available as an illustrated book, The New Universe and the Human Future. (70-minute audio, posted September 2011)
In August 2011, Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd gave twinned theme talks at two events in the American West: "Evolutionize Your Life" (by Michael) and "Evolutionize Your Death and Legacy" (by Connie). Inspired by the audience response and poignant storytelling that ensued, Connie wrote a call-to-action in essay form, urging her boomer generation to transform the debilitating and financially untenable death-denial that pervades American culture — largely because of literalist Christianity that interprets death as "the enemy." More on a naturalized understanding of the role death plays in the universe can be accessed via our webpage "Death Through Deep-Time Eyes". (posted August 2011)
Michael Dowd promoted an evidential, evolutionary understanding of reality and faith at the local Unitarian Universalist Church in Durango. The news report concludes with Dowd saying, "Sending our teenagers out into the world without an understanding of mismatched instincts surrounded by supernormal stimuli is like sending out teenagers 20,000 years ago and not telling them anything about sabertooth cats." (posted August 2011)
Episode 9 of the "Inspiring Naturalism Podcast Series" features children's book author Jennifer Morgan in conversation with Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd. Key topics include how creativity emerges from chaos, and how individuals and cultures can derive gratitude and hope from our common creation story. (54-minute audio, posted August 2011)
Big Historian David Christian published a provocative paper in 2010 that called for the return of "universal history." He calls for history to, once again, have "a powerful impact on public thinking about the past because it will begin to play a role similar to that of traditional creation stories: it will aspire to create a map of the past as a whole. That map that will allow individuals and communities throughout the world to see themselves as part of the evolving story of an entire Universe, just as they once mapped themselves on to the cosmologies of different religious traditions, from the dreamtime stories of indigenous Australians to the Ptolemaic maps of medieval Christianity." (posted August 2011)
Michael Dowd delivered one of his most prophetic sermons on Darwin Day at Countryside UCC Church in Omaha Nebraska on Feb 13, 2011. Title: "Getting Real About God, Guidance, and Good News". (posted July 2011)
Paul Martin was a major mentor to Connie Barlow. He wrote the foreword to her 2011 Ghosts of Evolution book, and coauthored with her the first advocacy piece for assisted migration. Here Connie posts an hour-long AUDIO interview she recorded of Paul in 1999, plus a 6-minute video she just produced from a recording of him she made in 1997, with images overlaid. (posted July 2011)
Connie Barlow posted a new destination for this website's Sacred Sites of the Epic of Evolution inventory. She made the pilgrimage in 1999 to the stupendous fossil site in Hot Springs, South Dakota, called "The Mammoth Site." But here she posts reflections, photos, audio, and links to inspire others to make such a pilgrimage. (posted July 2011)
Mary Hitch delivered a sermon titled "Evolutionary Spirituality" at her Unitarian Universalist congregation in Comal County Texas in July 2011. She did a great job of using some of the evolutionary brain science material in Michael Dowd's book, Thank God for Evolution, so we have posted her sermon template on this website and encourage others to download and adapt it for their own purposes. (posted July 2011)
Connie Barlow was interviewed by Claire Zammit for the online series Women on the Edge of Evolution. The topic: Why evolution served our ancestors, why it challenges us now, and how to step toward a brighter future. (posted May 2011)
Announcing Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow's first ONLINE COURSE, developed in collaboration with professionals pioneering a new approach for transformative e-learning. "Evolutionize Your Life!" draws on Dowd and Barlow's approach for translating the discoveries of evolutionary brain science and evolutionary psychology into practical tools for improving lives and relationships. "EVOLUTIONIZE YOUR LIFE": The science of how to decode human behavior, eliminate self-judgment, and create a big-hearted life of purpose and joyful integrity. Preview teleseminar May 18 (downloadable later, as well); course begins in June.
(posted May 2011)
Connie Barlow discovered this 2003 photograph (left) of a feast they enjoyed, prepared by Epic of Evolution elder PHILEMON STURGES (1929 - 2005). So she added the photo full size to illustrate the page used to share the lyrics (and audio) of the "grace" song Philemon wrote, and which they love to sing at meals. (posted May 2011)
Backed by stunning illustrations, Prof. David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in a riveting 18 minutes. This is "Big History": an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline. Also, check out the "Big History Project" website being developed (with funding from Bill Gates) to make timelines and course syllabuses freely available to high school teachers throughout the world. (posted April 2011)
Finally, available for complementary listening or download is the classic audio, which in cassette tape format 2 decades ago, awakened so many people who are now leaders in the Epic of Evolution movement. (posted December 2010)
This 27-minute documentary, produced by New Hampshire's public television station, first aired in December 2010. The camera crew filmed Michael Dowd, "America's evolutionary evangelist," at one of seven presentations he made during November 2010 at UCC and Congregational churches in New Hampshire. (posted December 2010)
28 hour-long conversations with leading Christian scholars and ministers who fully embrace a deep-time, evolutionary understanding of this world are broadcasting each evening till Christmas in the month of December. Hosted by Michael Dowd, the free series (with all audios posted online for later listening or downloads) is a lively, insightful, and sometimes poignant opportunity to listen in on some amazing dialogues. (posted December 2010)
The 1:15 hr program Michael Dowd has been delivering as his introductory talk to a diversity of secular and religious audiences during 2010 is now available for free online viewing. Note: If your internet speed is slow, it may take a while for this page to upload, so be patient. If your internet speed is exceedingly slow, you will need to access a faster server. (posted September 2010)
Scientifically accurate and inspiring videos available on YouTube have been embedded on this classic page of The Great Story website. Also updated is the companion Stardust Background webpage that contains a wealth of accessible information and charts to understand the process of stellar nucleosynthesis and how the mass of a star profoundly affects its brightness and lifespan. (posted September 2010)
While creating a full-year curriculum for elementary age kids ("My Universe Story"), Connie Barlow wrote 2 rap poems for use alongside 2 beloved evolutionary parables: "The Lucky Little Seaweed" and "Ozzie and the Snortlefish." (posted October 2010)
Connie Barlow has produced a 30-minute script, and Jon and Heather Cleland-Host have produced a 45-minute script, that tells the 65 million year story of the North American continent. Performers include elementary-age children, plus older teens or adults. Costuming and props are important, but little rehearsal is required because the only words spoken are by 2 narrators, who get to use scripts. Because the theme is "death and rebirth" the play is ideal for the Easter/Spring season. (posted October 2010)
In preparing the online resources for an audiocourse that Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow will offer in 2011, Connie stumbled upon a vital hubpage (already on our own website!) for classic essays in the 1990s phase of the Epic of Evolution movement. You can access here 14 such essays in PDF by Connie Barlow, Ursula Goodenough, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Ruth Rosenhek, John Seen, Bill Bruel, Larry Edwards, Jennifer Morgan, plus intra-group forums. (posted August 2010)
Connie Barlow has just rewritten this script for easy and fun use in elementary school classrooms. In this new kids' version, in addition to the 4 main characters, now 8 other children get to volunteer in the moment to read 1-3 sentence scripts when they each come on-stage to briefly assume the role of one of our Solar Systems' planets. (posted August 2010)
In early August 2010, Michael Dowd delivered a new sermon title at several large, liberal Christian churches in Oklahoma City. His title, "Thank God for the New Atheists!" Although his message was well received in liberal Christian settings, media attention led to conservative Christian responses that were highly critical. In response to such a posting by Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dowd wrote this essay specific to the "biblical Christianity" that Mohler uses as his base. (posted August 2010)
"The Great Story in Kosovo", which was created onsite in 2010 by resident James Nicholls, is a remarkable 21-minute example of how this story encircles the globe — and can delight children everywhere. Note several remarkable sequences where a book of evolution is paired with the Koran, so that children can see they can honor both. Here, the children learn that they are made of stardust, and go on a physical journey that carries them through the countryside around Kosovo, as the 13 billion year epic of their ancestry is laid out proportionally over the miles. (posted July 2010)
"Praise Darwin!" - 10-minute YouTube video of an Evolutionary Revival Comedy
In 1986 Charlie Varon performed live a 14-minute show, "The Evolution Revival Meeting". It is out-of-print, but Michael Dowd had an audio cassette, which Connie Barlow digitized, excerpted, and then added graphics to produce a 10-minute video posted on YouTube. With a half dozen playful paleo paintings by Ray Troll, this video is a stitch! (posted July 2010)
Connie subtitled this 9-page essay, "An invitation to parents and religious educators to present a coherent cosmology to our children." Composed as a critique of Dale McGowan's invited lecture at the annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists nationwide (in June), Connie calls for a reassessment of the way kids in religiously liberal families and institutions are taught "religious literacy". Our postmodern celebration of diversity and advocacy of free choice actually means we deny our children a basic human requirement: "a coherent cosmology (creation story / worldview) through which to enjoy and securely navigate the years of childhood wonder, learning, and innocence." (posted July 2010)
Finally, Connie Barlow is working on a FULL-YEAR children's curriculum, to bring the 13.7 billion year story of everyone and everything into the classroom of liberal religious institutions or private schools. She posted the first 3 lesson plans in draft form to solicit feedback for shaping this new project. A total of 28 events are put into story and craft, one per week, with a bead selected to signify each. Final class project: a full loop of Universe Story beads. (posted July 2010)
Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd posted on their "Inspiring Naturalism" Podcast Series a 2-part interview/conversation with curriculum innovator Jon Cleland-Host. Podcast 4a, "Inspiring Naturalism for Families" is full of practical suggestions for bringing the Universe Story into family holidays and other celebrations. Podcast 4b, "It's All Really There!" is a stunningly inspiring and emotionally resonant reflection by Jon on how the Universe Story gives him meaning and purpose, and why he and his wife are determined to make this living force available to their 3 young sons. (posted July 2010)
In June, 2010, People's Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Ludington MI invited Rev. Dowd into the pulpit to preach, for the first time, a controversial new sermon titled, "The New Atheists As God's Prophets." This sermon is based on material Dowd first posted in podcast form in September 2009, immediately after having been diagnosed with cancer. (posted June 2010)
Connie Barlow has posted on her YouTubeChannel ("ghostsofevolution") 3 short video clips taken from the public domain, which she edited and embellished with graphics. Most recent is a 6-minute clip of Loyal Rue, presenting the essence of his book, Religion Is Not About God. A second video (3 minute) is a clip of a presentation at Yale by Nancy Ellen Abrams, coauthor of View from the Center of the Universe. Third is an amazing 8-minute clip of a widely heralded extemporaneous presentation by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, which Michael Dowd regularly uses in his own public presentations. (posted June 2010)
May 30, Michael was called the night before to substitute for his colleague, Rev. Ian Lawton, executive minister at the large and progressive church in Spring Lake, Michigan: C3 Exchange. Michael rose to the occasion and extemporaneously delivered "Deep-Time Remembering, Deep-Time Blessing". You can access this free audio via our podcast series at the link above. (posted June 2010)
In this podcast series Michael Dowd interviews/dialogues with clergy, theologians, religious educators, and other leaders in evolving faith to not only accommodate but to celebrate the evidential understanding of ourselves and our universe, as given by modern science. The first interview posted is with theologian and Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong. (posted May 2010)
We launched our first podcast series, "America's Evolutionary Evangelists" in September 2009, to give us an opportunity to offer ideas and experiences from our own work. Now we have launched an entirely new series, "Inspiring Naturalism," in which we interview/dialogue with scientists, educators, and other leaders in this emerging movement toward science-based (hence, natural) worldviews and wonders. The first interview posted is with evolutionist Prof. David Sloan Wilson. (posted May 2010)
QUESTIONS for group discussion of Dowd's and Barlow's chapters in the 2009 book, The Whole World Kin: Darwin and the Spirit of Liberal Religion
On our own podcast page ("America's Evolutionary Evangelists"), we have added a list of the podcasts that we (Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd) regularly listen to. (posted April 2010)
February 27 Michael and Connie hit the road again, after 6 months of cancer treatment for Michael and healing in the Seattle area. February 28 Michael gave the Sunday morning lesson at the Unity Church of Portland (posted March 2010)
Tory Sonstroem, Director of Religious Education at
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Stockton, California, has posted on this site the stage directions that her congregation used in performing this short evolutionary parable at an intergenerational worship service in February 2010. The script itself can be downloaded via the main parables page on this website. (posted March 2010)
Connie Barlow has posted a 5-minute music video on YouTube that she created to playfully summarize the science concepts in her 2001 book, The Ghosts of Evolution. Richly illustrated and ideal for kids, too! (posted February 2010)
Michael Dowd discusses how and why the Bible has become perhaps the Church's greatest liability: Atheists Promote Bible Reading?! He goes on to suggest that the future of faith lies in moving from mythic (unnatural) to measurable (undeniable) views of "divine revelation": The Salvation of Religion: From Beliefs to Knowledge. (posted February 2010)
Connie Barlow has posted the Stardust component of her "Death Through Deep-Time Eyes" program, from film captured at her July 2009 presentation on this topic at the Unitarian Center of Ashland, OR, and with lots of added illustrations. (posted January 2010)
In preparation for his live online interview for the "Awakening the Impulse to Evolve" series, Dowd produced this essay and posted it on his blog. It is available here in PDF. You can also listen to the 1:15 hr interview of Michael, by Craig Hamilton, on these concepts by signing onto the "Awakening to the Impulse to Evolve" on the website EvolutionarySpirituality.com (posted January 2010)
Connie Barlow has posted two 10-minute segments on YouTube of her evolutionary program on death, from film captured at her July 2009 presentation on this topic at the Unitarian Center of Ashland, OR. (posted January 2010)
Connie Barlow wrote a chant-song, "In the Beginning," to tell the story of stardust and our deep connection with the night sky at the world's first evolutionary revival (held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, February 2008). She has now produced slideshow and/or movie forms available for free online viewing or download. (posted December 2009)
Connie Barlow has posted 10 videos thus far under her new YouTube name "ghostsofevolution". Among them, music videos of her photographs set to evolutionary songs by Peter Mayer and by Keith Mesecher, plus YouTube video remixes of segments of Neil deGrasse Tyson, Carl Sagan, Michael Dowd, and Nancy Ellen Abrams (posted December 2009)
When we launched our website in April 2002, "Great Story Beads" was one of our first pages. It has remained one of our most visited pages. Representing the 13.7 billion years of cosmic history in beads is a fun and meaningful activity for both kids and adults. Because so many people have sent us photos of their loops of beads and also children's curricula based on this project, Connie had to do a major webpage revision to make this topic attractive and navigable. (posted November 2009)
Finally, Connie Barlow has converted her most successful children's program into downloadable scripts, digital slides, and instructions so that any parent or teacher in schools or religious education can bring the 3.8 billion journey of life to youngsters in fun and meaningful ways. She has also updated the children's curricula webpage, which now contains 8 distinct titles for free download and use. (posted November 2009)
The Symphony of Science Phenomenon
Musician and video-artist John Boswell has topped the chart with two YouTube music videos that use auto-tune software to manipulate the voices of Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson into song. In its first month of posting, Boswell's first music video contribution in his Symphony of Science series topped the YouTube charts: "Number 1 Top-Rate Video of all time. Connie and Michael have celebrated this cultural phenomenon in their Oct 22 podcast, titled "Symphony of Science, and in two blogposts: "New Music Video Celebrates Science — and Tops the Charts" and "Sacred Science Music Videos". Boswell's new webpage is SymphonyofScience.com. (posted October 2009)
A new issue is posted online with links to a selection of Michael Dowd's blogs, "America's Evolutionary Evangelists Weekly Podcast", a new children's book by Connie Barlow, and more. (posted October 2009)
Wow! Connie has posted a new webpage with high quality downloadable music videos that she regularly uses in her church and other programs. Her photographs, plus the musical compositions of Peter Mayer and of Keith Mesecher, captioned with lyrics to facilitate sing-along, are ideal ways for liberal churches to bring ecological-evoutionary themes into their services in visually rich and rousing ways. (posted October 2009)
Normally, we don't use this webpage for posting links to other websites, but this 4 minute YouTube video of Carl Sagan (from Cosmos) is a gem. Click to be inspired by this deft Remix that tweaks Carl's own narration such that he sings his way through moving elements of his profound television series. (posted September 2009)
Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd contribute a photo-essay of their July raft trip down the Grand Canyon with the National Center for Science Education. One highlight of the trip was spanning 1.2 billion years of geological time between one's own hands at "The Great Unconformity." Surely, the Grand Canyon as a whole, and this site in particular is a "sacred site of the Epic of Evolution." (posted August 2009)
In August 2009, Connie Barlow delivered this sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island, WA. Click link above for free listening. (posted August 2009)
Michael used his insights and perspective from his recent raft trip down the Grand Canyon to deliver a stunning and well received performance on live television interview. Fox News hosts called his perspective "overdue." (posted July 2009)
On 19 July 2009, Rev. Dowd shared with Mountainside Center for Religious Living (Placerville, CA) bold new understandings derived from his recent 300 mile raft trip through the Grand Canyon. (Photo left of Dowd in side canyon waterfall.) (posted July 2009)
On 17 June 2009, Rev. Dowd shared his cosmic gospel message at the Wednesday evening service of Michael Beckwith's Agape Spiritual Center in Culver City, CA. Three cameras captured this 35-minute dynamic talk. The full video is now available free online. When you get to the page, click the play arrow. (posted July 2009)
Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow have repeatedly weighed in with blogposts on how an evolutionary worldview can lend insight for not only understanding the current epidemic of sex scandels that are felling politicians right and left but also for suggesting practical advise for a less calamitous future. The link above contains a hotlinked list of all of these blogs from our evolutionary brain science webpage. You can also go directly to the latest political sex scandal blog, triggered by the confessions of Governor Sanford (South Carolina) and U.S. Senator Ensign (Nevada). (posted July 2009)
The provost of Texas Wesleyan, along with 3 faculty members, praises Michael Dowd's contribution as keynote speaker at their annual University Day events. (posted July 2009)
Within the Paleozoic portion of the TIMELINE on our website, we have embedded a new music video from YouTube that is a fun way to celebrate the recent discovery of one of our very own ancient ancestors — a "transitional fossil" between fish and land-based amphibian ("tetrapod"). Also visit the photo- and video-rich official Tiktaalik website. (posted June 2009)
Josh Dodge donated this professional rendering of a hand-drawn chart Michael Dowd had long been using in his programs to speak of the trajectory of evolution in producing greater and greater top-level complexity through time. (posted June 2009)
On 7 June 2009, Jeff Carreira and Elizabeth Debold of EnlightenNext talked with Connie Barlow about, what Ken Wilber calls, "The Third Face of God" — that is, the creativity at work in the Universe at all nested levels. This interview is part of the EnlightenNext weekly webcast, available by online subscription. (posted June 2009)
Connie Barlow has written her first children's book. It is intended to provide children with a comforting "cosmic container" that will safely hold them and their grief when death (of a pet, a grandparent, a friend) comes their way. It conveys for children much of the content that she is accustomed to presenting to adults — that death is natural and plays a creative role at every level of reality (see Connie's webpage on death). The children's story is published on this website in draft form for comments. Connie is thinking about self-publishing it for sale at hers and Michael's ongoing public presentations. (posted June 2009)
Connie Barlow has written a new curriculum for religious education of kids making the transition from childhood to early adolescence. It can be FREELY DOWNLOADED from this website. It is based on the mythic Disney movie The Lion King and a 2008 book by Bill Plotkin on a mythic approach to life and life's transitions: Nature and the Human Soul. (posted May 2009)
Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd were interviewed for a full-page, pictorial news story in the Ludington Daily News, Ludington Michigan. (posted May 2009)
Connie Barlow offers a webpage of links to the audios and podcasts of ministers (mostly in her own faith tradition, Unitarian Universalism) who deliver intellectually top-notch and soul-serving sermons. (posted April 2009)
The softcover, Penguin/Plume edition of Thank God for Evolution was issued April 2009. Listen to Michael reading the short, new preface to this edition. (posted April 2009)
Connie Barlow contributed a photo-essay of four days along the Arkansas River near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Find out why she declares, "This riverine area has become a sacred site of the Epic of Evolution for me because of the juxtaposition of two species of life — one living, and the other extinct. (posted March 2009)
Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow had a packed scheduled around Evolution Week in Texas. Connie created a photo-essay of their Texas events and travels. (posted February 23, 2009)
Michael Dowd was plenary speaker for 3 hours at the October 2008 "And God Said It Was Good" conference, held at Marquette University, a jesuit college in Milwaukee WI. The conference sessions are now available for online video viewing. (posted February 23, 2009)
Michael Dowd's book, Thank God for Evolution is now available for download onto your computer or I-Pod for audio listening. The author reads his own words, so it is particularly moving. (posted February 17, 2009)
The second issue of the e-zine was published on the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. A free online publication supporting a sacred understanding of mainstream science. (posted 12 February 2009)
On February 6, Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow made a pilgrimage to a Sacred Site of the Epic of Evolution. Johnson Space Center in Houston is where Earth first directed the launch of
a piece of itself, off of itself, in order to see itself in its entirety, through the eyes
of the human: the Apollo missions. (posted February 11, 2009)
Connie has done a number of things to commemorate Charles Darwin's 200th birthday on February 12. The compilation of "26 Evolution Projects and Proposals" immediately below is one. So was the February 8 "Evolution Sunday" sermon Connie delivered at Thoreau Unitarian Universalist church near Houston TX. Finally, the day before his birthday, Connie posted this photo-essay of her 1994 pilgrimage to one of the premier sacred sites of the epic of evolution: Down House, the home of Charles Darwin, and where he wrote On the Origin of Species. (posted February 11, 2009)
2009 is Evolution Year, thanks to its being Charles Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his landmark book, On the Origin of Species. Connie Barlow, Michael Dowd, and colleagues have posted a pdf that outlines all 26 projects and proposals they are engaged in that would promote a sacred and practical understanding of evolution in many different venues. (posted February 2009)
Jon Cleland-Host, a scientist and lay leader of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Midland MI, has developed a list of worship resources with evolution as the theme that can help a minister or worship leader flesh out an order of service for any evolution-theme service, notably what has come to be known as "Evolution Sunday" to commemorate Darwin's birth each year on February 12. (posted February 2009)
Loren Acton flew on a 1985 NASA mission of the Space Shuttle Challenger. After reading Michael Dowd's book, Thank God for Evolution, Acton contacted Michael to let him know that the book inspired him to preach this sermon in his Methodist church in Montana. We then posted the sermon audio on this website. (posted February 2009)
Draft of an 8,000 word chapter by Connie Barlow, contributed to a forthcoming book edited by Unitarian Universalist minister Fred Muir. The book is titled, Sleeping with the Fishes: Charles Darwin and the Spirit of Liberal Religion, and it will be published (by Skinner House Books) just in time to commemorate the 150th anniversary of publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in November 2009. This chapter is Connie's summary of her work and philosophy in bringing the Epic of Evolution into religious education for children. (posted February 2009)
A short proposal written by Connie Barlow to stimulate the funding and creation of a website to foster musician and videographer collaborations to produce a new form of music video to assist contemplation and sing-along at worship services of liberal churches, on the themes of evolution and ecology, from an interfaith perspective. This project was stimulated by ongoing music video creation by Connie, who is doing her own video work toward an 8-song DVD, in collaboration with singer-songwriter Peter Mayer. (posted January 2009)
