Just to put this up-front, I'm an atheist. That said, I am always encouraged when religious leaders embrace science.
It's always good to see news like this. The Rev. Malcolm Brown, head of the Church of England's public relations office, has released a statement saying that the Church owes Darwin an apology for the criticisms of his evolutionary as heretical nonsense.
Even better-
Brown said the Church of England should say it is sorry for misunderstanding him at the time he released his findings and, "by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand (Darwin) still."
Brown said that from a modern perspective, it was hard to avoid the thought that the reaction against Darwin was based on what would now be called the "yuck factor ... when he proposed a lineage from apes to humans."
We live in a country where a person who doesn't believe in this basic science is now poised to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Even now almost half of Americans don't believe in evolution at all.
Although the church has said that this is not an official policy, they say that they generally agree with Brown's statement. It amazes me that a nation which actually does not have a separation of church and state can be more receptive to basic science than our nation which has it.
It speaks volumes to the failure of our education system and the way our school boards have been gamed to remove science from the classroom. If Sarah Palin gets elected, it will only get worse.
One of the most disturbing moments in the election for me was the question on evolution in the Republican primary debate. The fact that any of them raised their hands is scary enough, but one of them, Mike Huckabee, got close to beating McCain in the beginning. Now McCain has his own Huckabee to run with.
I think it is high time that people of faith who understand science to petition American churches to release similar statements. We have lived in ignorance too long.