The Intersection of Science and Religion: A Place to Stop and Smell the Flowers

Are humans superior to all other forms of life? Or just another ingredient in a massive bowl of evolutionary soup?

Part of Whitney Bauman’s work involves dissecting these viewpoints and understanding how they interact.

Press play to learn:

• How specifically monotheistic religions conflict with evolutionary theory
• What it might look like for humans to be stewards rather than managers of the natural world
• How violence and injustices toward non-human animals can carry over into human-to-human interactions

Whitney Bauman is a professor at Florida International University, where he focuses on the intersection of religion and science and religion and ecology.

This means he investigates questions like, “How have religious and philosophical ideas shaped human-Earth interactions and science, and vice versa?”

Bauman is also interested in developing a critical planetary perspective, which means understanding ourselves as existing alongside other humans and the natural world, as opposed to understanding ourselves through divisive lines, like ‘American’ versus ‘Indian’ or ‘Christian’ versus ‘Buddhist.’

Could a balance between localist or nationalist ideals and the continuance of neoliberal globalization be the key to a better understanding of the planetary community? Bauman and many others would say that it is.

Interested in learning more?

Tune in, and visit https://religion.fiu.edu/faculty/full-time-faculty/whitney-bauman//. Episode also available on Apple Podcast: http://apple.co/30PvU9C