One Human Family: Christian Reflections on Racism and Science
This event has now ended. Please view this page to see all our upcoming events.
Interface at Regent College offers lectures, articles and other resources that probe and preserve the relationship between theology and science—working toward healing the breach between these disciplines as they have taken shape in our late modern age. In 2020/2021, the Interface project focuses especially on promoting the engagement with science in ministry education at Regent College.
Join us on March 3 as we welcome Dr. Deborah Haarsma, who will give a lunchtime lecture titled One Human Family: Christian Reflections on Racism and Science.
The last year has brought front and centre the ongoing systemic racism in our culture. Many factors contribute to our racism, and sadly, science and medicine are a part of it. Racial disparities in medical care and other services have caused COVID cases and deaths in the United States to be much higher among people of colour. “Science” has been misused to justify atrocities such as the Tuskegee experiments and eugenics. But the evidence from evolutionary biology and genetics does not justify racism. While genetics reveals minor differences in geographical ancestry groups, these genetic differences do not align with cultural racial categories such as “black,” “Asian,” and “white.” In fact, genetics shows that we are a remarkably unified species. The scriptures go further, teaching that every person is made in the image of God and we are to love every neighbour. Both God’s world and God’s word show us that we are one human family.
Dr. Deborah Haarsma is President of BioLogos. She is a frequent speaker on modern science and Christian faith at research universities, churches, and public venues, and her writing appears in several recent books. As a research astronomer, Haarsma has studied galaxy clusters and the expansion of the universe using telescopes around the world and in orbit. She holds a PhD in astrophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Haarsma will be giving another lecture on Tuesday, March 2 and participating in a conversation with Dr. David Robinson on Wednesday, March 3.
Learn more about Interface at Regent College here.
This event is made possible through the support of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER). Regent College is currently participating in their Science for Seminaries program.
If you would like to submit questions to Dr. Haarsma during the lecture, please email them to [email protected].
