https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/home daily 0.75 2023-04-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/4c92a1bc-6dca-40cc-b94c-d6fb58174868/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+8.06.15+PM.png Home - 2022 Summer Series In 2022, The Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum invited you to a summer of celebration of being together again and continued examination of issues at the interface of faith and science: –extending the discussion on human origins and evolution, –expanding the boundaries of faith and embedded truth, –exploring the nature of God’s interaction with humankind. This, our ninth season of Wednesday events ran from June 1 to August 3. Our season started with our invited external speaker – Prof. Martinez Hewlett, professor emeritus of cellular biology from U. Arizona. He now lives in Taos and teaches at UNM. He reviewed and compared models for human evolution. Later talks in Summer 2022 on evolution considered experiments on the origin of life, presented by Patrick Berg, MD, and the importance of bacteria and viruses in the evolutionary process by Glenn Magelssen, PhD. In addition, we expanded the boundaries of faith with presentations related to religion and science, including two talks related to Eastern Orthodox Christianity by Dr. Victoria Erhart (UNM-LA) and Father Jesse Robinson (Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, Santa Fe). There also was a talk on the science of Buddhism by John Ambrosiano, PhD, and a discussion on the image of God by Eric Ferm, PhD. The deep issues of truth in faith and God’s role in the discovery process were addressed in talks by Gary Stradling, PhD., Nelson Hoffman, PhD and Chick Keller, PhD. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/d77be07d-8168-4c7d-ac29-772508b9d386/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+6.54.20+PM.png Home - Join the Forum Virtually We invite those who cannot be physically present in Los Alamos to watch and engage in our meetings virtually via Zoom. Presentations start every Wednesday at 6:30 pm starting on June 1, and running through August 3. Our group has expanded outside of Los Alamos since our presentations went virtual after the emergence of COVID. Each presentation is followed by a question and answer session with the speaker. In addition to questions from the live audience, we also facilitate questions that come from our remote audience. In order to join our zoom meeting, click the button below during the time of a scheduled presentation. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/take-action daily 0.75 2022-05-29 https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/darwinian-evolution daily 0.75 2023-04-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/13076507-4a10-4e6d-8ae4-38fbf8a271a0/Friend-Aquinas2.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/e63a0ab7-a488-4da8-89b8-eccc12225d1f/Faith+and+science+photos.MartyTSV.jpg Darwinian Evolution - Martinez “Marty” Hewlett, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology — Marty has taught at UNM-Taos since 2003. He currently serves as a Research Scholar at UNM-Taos and is an Adjunct faculty member in the Religious Studies Program at UNM. Dr. Hewlett earned his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from USC in 1964 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Univ. of Arizona in 1973. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. David Baltimore at MIT, where he specialized in molecular virology. Dr. Hewlett has received many awards and fellowships for his teaching and research, including the J.K. Russell Fellowship (2006) and the University of Arizona Faculty of Science Innovative Teaching Award two times (1986 and 2000). He has been the Principal Investigator of numerous federal research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). He is the recipient of an American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award (1982-87) and the Fogarty Senior International Fellowship (1986-87). His research specialties include molecular virology as well as philosophy of science. His textbook, Basic Virology, Fourth Edition, (M. Hewlett, D. Bloom, D, Camerini, Wiley-Blackwell Science) has just been published. He is the co-author of Evolution: From Creation to New Creation (Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett, Abingdon Press) and Theological and Scientific Commentary on Darwin’s Origin of Species (Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett, Abingdon Press). Dr. Hewlett is a lay member of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/the-science-of-buddhism daily 0.75 2022-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/9159ba71-7e76-4e04-8ef8-147d4d3a0f60/buddhist.jpg The Science of Buddhism - The Science of Buddhism Dr. John Ambrosiano Buddhism, considered one of the world’s four great religions, is at its core not a religion at all. Professed to be non-theistic (neither atheistic nor agnostic) it is a blend of spirituality, eastern philosophy, and empirical psychology. Its spiritual roots lie in the mystical traditions of India, to which the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) added his own unique perspective. Migrating east, Buddhism acquired much from the Taoist sages of China, and then carrying both Indian and Chinese wisdom to Japan, became Zen. Buddhism was included in Aldous Huxley’s book, “The Perennial Philosophy” where he asserted commonalities among a number of spiritual traditions, including the mystical threads of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, concerning the direct experience of oneness. The science of Buddhism comes from the empirical investigation of the mind, using the only instruments available in ancient times, the minds of investigators themselves. Equipped with exquisite powers of observation derived from meditation practice, Buddhist monks were able to discover ways in which the human mind works that are only now being rediscovered by neuropsychologists. And applying their understanding to direct experience of the world around them, they made further discoveries that echo those of modern physics. This talk will give a brief summary of how Buddhism came about, and then explore the parallels between empirical Buddhist thought and principles of modern psychology and physics. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/a83a6b12-5794-4b48-922b-d06e6bbd4203/losalamos.jpg The Science of Buddhism - John Ambrosiano, PhD John is a retired physicist who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1997 until his retirement in 2019. In 2003, having become curious about Buddhism, he visited several centers in the Santa Fe area, including one in Los Alamos guided by Henry Finney, an artist and Zen teacher affiliated with the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos. In Santa Fe, he met Buddhist teacher and author Matthew Flickstein, and became his student in 2008. A few years later, he began training as a teacher himself, and has been teaching Buddhism and meditation at the Unitarian Church since that time. The group, called Los Alamos Dharma Friends, meets online and at UULA Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/images-of-god daily 0.75 2022-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/35c23b30-141e-4364-8dbc-7664cf840aeb/image.jpeg Images of God - Images of God in the Bible, Art and in our Scientific Work Dr. Eric Ferm On the sixth day of creation as reported in the first chapter of Genesis, God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; . . .”. Why does the Bible have God speaking in the plural case (“us” and “our”)? What insight into Gods’ image do we find by examining who we are and the self-images we gift to the world? What glimpse of each of our beings enlightens our image of God? Biblical scholars categorized these views in three general categories: views that serve to resemble God, views that our interpersonal relationships reflect divine images, and views that Gods’ divine image is manifested in our representation of God in our actions in this world. We will review how artists and authors have portrayed Gods’ Image and how they fit into these categories. One mathematician’s introspective view of his image of God in the modern world will be presented, before we break into small groups to discuss Images that resonate with members of each group. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/40360208-d973-43c0-be8c-18bcbf39e853/losalamos.jpg Images of God - Eric Ferm, PhD Eric is an applied mathematician specializing in fluid mechanics and shock physics. He earned his B.S. in Mathematics and Chemistry from Boise State University in 1976 and earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Washington State University in 1981. For 31 years he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory on fluids problems and design and analysis of dynamic experiments. He worked in many groups at the Lab involved in explosive applications, safety, and design, as well as working for several years in the Proton Radiography Program. He retired in 2012. Eric has used his free time since retirement for traveling around the world, barbershop and chorus singing, enjoying being a grandfather and other family gatherings. Eric was raised in the Episcopal church and was a member of Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (BELC) for the 35 years until he relocated to Fort Collins in 2016 where he is now attending Plymouth Congregational Church (UCC). He was trained as a Stephen Minister and Stephen Leader at BELC and has worked over the last two years to help create a Stephen Ministry team at Plymouth. Eric was a founding member of the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum until he resigned in 2016 having relocated to Fort Collins. Covid protocol has allowed him to rejoin the Forum via zoom and he has been involved in the Forum for the last two years. Eric has always enjoyed science and finds enjoyment in reading and studying topics on the history and philosophy of science and religion and the intersection between them. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/eastern-christianity daily 0.75 2022-08-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/3d6150e0-873c-4aa1-b0f3-baf377596c50/iStock-475460738.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/bfc29494-123d-41f1-b946-3625144066fe/losalamos.jpg Eastern Christianity - Victoria Erhart, PhD Victoria completed her undergraduate studies at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM, the “great Books” school. She began graduate school in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, before moving to Toronto to continue theological studies at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto. She completed theological studies with a concentration in Early Christian Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Victoria Erhart has taught World Religions at a variety of colleges and universities. She currently teaches business technology courses at UNM-LA. Her research interests includes Syriac Christianity, pre-modern military history, sustainable and environmental issues and the intersection between science and religion. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/origin-of-life daily 0.75 2022-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/a5c8cd13-9b78-4e0f-a001-e119bdfb99e5/chickoregg.jpg Origin of Life - On the Origin of Life Patrick Berg, MD In 1802, William Paley published his famous watch analogy in Natural Theology. He asserted that if a watch is found in an open field, “the inference we think is inevitable, (is) that the watch must have had a maker- that there must have existed, at some time and at some place or other… an artificer who formed it.” He reviewed the complexity of human anatomy, as well as animals and plants, based on scientific understanding at the time. Seeing complexity far beyond a watch in plants, animal and human anatomy, he concluded that there is a Creator. William Paley’s idea was not new. From the Greek philosophers, to the Bible and the Quran, the existence of God was asserted to be self-evident on the basis of the wonder of the world we live in. However, after the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, scientifically-minded individuals increasingly associated the theory of natural selection with “the” driving force that created “the watch.” This rigid association fueled an uptick in atheism. However, natural selection as “the” mechanism of creation falls apart when we get down to the ground level. When we look at the mechanics of what is actually happening in all living organisms (which is biochemistry), the contribution of the theory of natural selection is placed in its proper perspective. It becomes evident that a completely naturalistic view of creation is actually a belief, that doesn’t come anywhere close to meeting a burden of proof, and isn’t destined to at any point in the near future. In fact, while sometimes the devil is in the details, this presentation might demonstrate God is also in the details. When the details are examined, the wonder of life is affirmed as well today as when William Paley first published Natural Theology. A cell is the basic unit of all life; therefore, the natural starting point for exploring whether natural processes explain how life came to be is to explore the development of the first cell. This presentation will briefly explain the primary mechanisms inside all cells, and then review the current degree to which a naturalistic explanation for them seems plausible, based on the current scientific research. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c0b1a8e8-2de0-46ec-a780-1b1c27f55371/Head+and+shoulder+shot.jpg Origin of Life - Patrick Berg, MD Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Acute Care Surgery, UC Davis Health Patrick grew up as the son of an Air Force officer who was always on the move. For college, he attended Brigham Young University. He graduated with a degree in applied physics and also worked for a year and a half in the Willardson biochemistry lab. He went on to medical school at Texas Tech – El Paso, and graduated with a distinction in research. At the time, he published a number of articles on a post-surgical complication called dumping syndrome, which is about as unsophisticated as it sounds. He completed his general surgery residency at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas, and a fellowship in pediatric surgical critical care at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. He is a major in the Air Force, and clinical assistant professor at UC Davis in the division of trauma and acute care surgery. He married Lindsey Stephens in 2011 and is the father of 3 children. He is a devout Christian who believes that religion and science should be married. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/st-isaac daily 0.75 2022-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ee390d91-ef66-45e3-841d-8ce0298575a0/isaac.jpeg St. Isaac - The Orthodox Church, Faith vs Knowledge: St. Isaac in the 7th century Fr. Jesse Robinson This presentation will ask the questions from an Orthodox Christian perspective: Are faith and science really so opposed? How are they meant to be ordered? What end are they meant to serve? We will examine teachings of Orthodox Christian Fathers, with specific emphasis on the writings of the great ascetic of the 7th century, St. Isaac the Syrian. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/78c4b4b4-e6da-4fbd-ad77-e805a86c90bc/Jesserobinson.jpeg St. Isaac - Fr. Jesse Robinson, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, Santa Fe, NM Father Jesse Robinson was raised in Tempe, AZ where he joined the Orthodox Church with his family and a group of seekers in 1998. He is married to Chelsea, whom he met when he briefly owned an ice cream shop in Phoenix, AZ. He is an okay dad to 3 boys with a 4th baby on the way. He was ordained to the diaconate in November 2018, and to the priesthood in July of 2019. He received his Masters in Divinity from St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in May of 2020. He recently took over as head priest and pastor of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Santa Fe, NM in June of 2021 after the retirement of the beloved founding pastor, Fr. John Bethancourt. Holy Trinity is a parish of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America, which is part of the Patriarchate of Antioch, one of the original Christian churches mentioned in the Bible. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/understanding-confidence daily 0.75 2022-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/7e2ad9b4-e2bf-4ede-ae4a-264ea1f4d53e/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+12.12.39+AM.png Understanding Confidence - Understanding Confidence and Uncertainty in Religion and in Science Dr. Gary Stradling Can we explore Faith Truth and Science Truth in a similar manner? Science is discussed in experiential/quantitative terms which may be shared with others: observation, measurement, analysis, modeling. Faith is often discussed in qualitative terms: mystical, philosophical, emotional. Both science and religion are all about knowledge, truth, confidence, and understanding. We grasp an understanding of their reality and relevance by observation, experience, exploration and experimentation, cogitation, discussion, model building. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ca429010-6ed0-47c9-ae50-ffeff40a6bdf/Gary-Stradling3-8-2022.jpg Understanding Confidence - Gary L. Stradling, PhD Dr. Stradling has served the United States national security for 40 years, since June 1977, when he joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the Laser Fusion Program. He completed five years of federal civil service in the R&D Directorate of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, in the Nuclear Technologies Department. He served as Chief of the Monitoring and Verification Technologies Office, where he led the advanced nuclear test monitoring technologies and Nuclear Arms Control Technologies (NACT) portfolios. Prior to joining DoD, Dr. Stradling served at Los Alamos National Laboratory since 1981. During his career at LANL, he served as a program manager of the AngelFire program providing tactical wide-area-surveillance intelligence technology for the DoD/USMC from 2004-2011. Prior to that he was a member of the Office of Military Applications under the LANL Associate Director for Weapons Engineering and Manufacturing where he led the nascent Reliable Replacement Warhead development program. From 1994-2000, he was detailed to the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. From 1997 to 2000 he served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Missile Defense Policy, advising OSD on NNSA’s new Stockpile Stewardship Program, supporting the nuclear Tomahawk program, and addressing missile defense questions. In 1996 he was Science Advisor to the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Chemical and Biological Programs in the Counterproliferation Office. Prior to that, from 1994, he served three years as Science Advisor to the OSD Director-Arms Control, Implementation and Compliance office (ACI&C), partially concurrent with the Counterproliferation assignment. During that assignment, he was Chairman of the 26-nation (NATO and Warsaw Pact) Open Skies Treaty implementation negotiation group In Vienna, AU, the International Working Group on Sensors. He brought that negotiation to a successful completion, eliminating one barrier to the Treaty entering into force. Dr. Stradling conducted experimental physics from 1981 to 1994 in the Physics Division of Los Alamos, serving the nuclear weapons testing program, the Strategic Defense Initiative (hypervelocity Impact), and the Laser Fusion Program. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics from Brigham Young University in 1976 and 1981 and M.S. and PhD degrees in Applied Science/Plasma Physics from the University of California/Davis in 1979 and 1982. He is the recipient of: the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence, and the German Physical Society Hubert Schardin Gold Medal for leadership in the high-speed photonics community. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having served the Church in many assignments, including as a two year full-time missionary in a Cantonese-speaking mission in Hong Kong, frequently as a youth and scouting leader, as a teacher, and as an administrator. He is a believer, having received many evidences of God’s existence, His active involvement with mankind, His will, guidance, and purposes. He is very familiar with the Bible and more so with the Book of Mormon, as well as other scripture. He is the husband of Rebecca, the enthusiastic father and grandfather of 9 children and 20 grandchildren. While ready to discuss the foundations of theology, he recognizes that all religion is built on essential truths, and seeks to understand those truths, distributed in different ways through mankind over their history. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/the-hologenome-theory daily 0.75 2022-09-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/74811826-6af8-49c4-83ca-8013ee30f09a/bacteria.jpg The Hologenome Theory - The Hologenome Theory of Evolution Dr. Glenn Magelssen The Hologenome theory of Evolution postulates that one must include not only the host (what we see when we look at another human) but also all that human’s microbiome (all of the bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.) when considering the evolution of humans. We will present information about how the microbiome is affected by age, diet, activity, health, etc. and how bacteria play an important and vital role in the human body. We will discuss how some of the microbiome is passed from one generation to the next and how bacteria and viruses may have played a vital role in the evolution of humans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/43c14710-eeaf-4493-bc61-e5cbab624696/losalamos.jpg The Hologenome Theory - Glenn Magelssen, PhD Glenn has a PhD in AstroGeophysics from the University of Colorado. His scientific research has included solar physics, laser and ion beam fusion, neural nets, code development and stockpile stewardship. His scientific work is well documented. He has studied theology most of his life and taken a four year course called EFM from the University of the South on Old and New Testament, Christian history and Christian Theology. He is a Stephan minister, a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church and on The Self Help board. He has given Faith and Science talks on cosmology, genetics, evolution, near death experiences and the history of vaccines. He has been influenced by many authors including C. S. Lewis, Joseph Sitler, Walter Wangerin, Richard Feynman, John Steinbeck, Clarence Jordan and Paul Tournier https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/interactions-with-the-divine daily 0.75 2022-09-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/64862797-adbd-414c-8b48-265f5ad548ff/peter.jpg Interactions with the Divine - Interactions with the Divine – a statistical view Dr. Chick Keller This talk asks the question whether science can elucidate aspects of interactions with the Divine which involve a reaction. Does God answer prayers, are miracles still happening, does God allow Satan to possess people, are near death experiences spiritual or just the brain shutting down, etc. To study these and other question we ask if such events are wide spread among faiths and cultures or limited to faithful Christians. Comparing statistics with beliefs seems to assist the faithful in understanding the nature of our interactions with the Divine and the spiritual aspects of ourselves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/a1b7769a-0a50-41da-8955-db3224078e37/Chick_Keller.jpeg Interactions with the Divine - Chick Keller, PhD Charles F. “Chick” Keller entered Catholic seminary after High School. After four years of philosophy and theology he was worried that theologians didn’t know enough about what science had shown, that might require updating of traditional theology. He studied Physics and Mathematics at Penn State and received a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Indiana University in 1969. Chick joined Los Alamos National Laboratory where he worked in a variety of computer-based studies, including climate change. He eventually became the highly respected director of the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Los Alamos. Chick was one of the founders of PEEC, the Pajarito Environmental Education Center, locally known as the “Nature Center”. In 2017, Chick was named one of the “Living Treasures” of Los Alamos. Chick has read widely about aspects of science as it impacts theological concepts, and is a founding member of Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum, where, over the years, he has given a number of talks on issues where faith and science intersect. He is a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/the-heavens-declare daily 0.75 2022-08-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/40cecab9-86e4-4618-893b-f435dd36aa67/big+bang.jpg The Heavens Declare - “The Heavens Declare”: The Universe and Judaeo-Christian Truth Claims Dr. Nels Hoffman The writer of the biblical book of Genesis asserted that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” while the Psalmist similarly stated that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” This idea, that the universe had a beginning at a definite point in time, and was the work of an extra-cosmic creator, is a truth-claim firmly fixed in Judaeo-Christian thought. But Aristotle, in several places in his Physics, argued that the universe was eternal, and could not have had a beginning. By the early 20th century, Aristotelian and Epicurean ideas of the Eternity of the World, extended by Newton and Descartes, were accepted by most educated people. It is one of the reasons that, for example, Einstein felt obliged to introduce a “cosmological constant” into his field equations, to explain why our supposedly infinitely old universe had not collapsed into a gravitational singularity. But an infinitely old universe presented various other problems, such as Olbers’ Paradox (Why is the sky dark at night?) and Kelvin’s Paradox (Why isn’t the entropy of the universe infinite?) Then, in 1912, Slipher observed that many astronomical “nebulae” (actually galaxies) were moving away from the Earth at great speeds. By 1929, Hubble, using Leavitt’s period-luminosity relationship for variable stars, showed that the more distant a galaxy was from earth, the faster it was receding from us. Hubble’s discovery confirmed earlier proposals by Friedmann and Lemaître, inspired by Einstein’s 1915 general relativistic theory of gravity, that the universe is expanding. More recent observations and theory have confirmed the idea of cosmic expansion beginning at a well-defined point in the past – the “Big Bang” – with great reliability. Today, most educated people agree that the universe had a Beginning, in harmony with the biblical viewpoint – or, at least, that our particular universe certainly looks that way. But the idea of a Beginning has been extremely distasteful to some atheists, notably Hoyle, who pointed out in 1955 that the initial conditions of an instantaneous Beginning, which are crucial for determining the properties of the universe today, cannot be determined by any scientific theory, as they cannot be the physical effect of some earlier physical cause. Thus Hoyle anticipated a critique of current Multiverse ideas, namely, that the Multiverse implies that there is not, nor can there be, an explanation for why our universe is the way it is, and that we ought not to seek such an explanation. In this talk we’ll look at ideas about the hypothetical Multiverse. We’ll also review the evidence supporting the Big Bang, and describe the peculiar properties of our universe which permit the existence of physics, chemistry, life, and us – and why God might want the universe to be the way it is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/2080b0a5-1f28-4ec0-a82a-608e557c9047/s200_nelson.hoffman.jpeg The Heavens Declare - Nels Hoffman, PhD Nelson M. Hoffman is a physicist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in the Plasma Theory and Applications Group of the Computational Physics (XCP) Division. He earned a B.A. in Physics from Rice University in 1970, and a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Wisconsin in 1974. His research interests are mainly in the areas of laser-driven fusion and plasma physics, currently emphasizing ion-kinetic models for transport in laser-driven capsule implosions, gamma-ray diagnostics of such capsules, and statistical inference (“machine learning”) applied to data analysis. He has authored or co-authored more than 85 technical publications, which have garnered more than 2300 citations. Nels is a member of First United Methodist Church of Los Alamos, and is active in the Kairos Prison Ministry. He is a founding member and past president of the Los Alamos Faith & Science Forum (LAF&SF). Influenced by the writings on the history of science and culture by Toby Huff, Lawrence Principe, James Hannam, David Lindberg, Joseph Henrich, and many others, Nels believes it is highly likely that, without the crucial influence of Christianity in human cultural history, modern science would not even exist. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/archives daily 0.75 2025-05-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c53ff54f-4a48-4a9b-8517-08e2c03f8abc/2024+galaxy-Composite-2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/cd642d2a-6a14-431d-9f2e-fdcf0e18fe7f/2023+Comp-+Small-2b.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/4c92a1bc-6dca-40cc-b94c-d6fb58174868/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+8.06.15+PM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/478be8a0-4aa7-43b8-8c2e-a149f437116a/mars-and-guy-larry-landolfi-logo.png Archives - Summer 2021- Why Do Faith and Reason Interact? In 2021, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum invited the public to our eighth annual summer program entitled “Why Do Faith and Reason Interact?” – again via Zoom. The Summer 2021 series explored a wide range of issues at the forefront of the science-religion intersection. At the first session, we reminded our audience about the mechanics of Zoom. Bob Reinovsky then presented an introduction to, and relationships among, the topics that were presented throughout the summer. The summer series included two talks on the foundations of modern science, two talks dealing with ethics related to science and religion, three talks related to Adam and Eve, and a final lecture on the very timely issue of vaccines. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8a90e4ae-405f-46ec-81e6-96327a75959f/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+1.58.37+AM.png Archives - Summer 2020- Hope, Nature, Sin, and Transhumanism In Summer 2020, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum examined · the issue of hope in this uncertain age · the relation of religion and ecology · the age-old question of original sin · the problem of evil in light of recent scientific discoveries · the future of humanity in the context of bioengineering advances · near-death experiences All lectures took place on-line using Zoom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ef180fbe-a3fa-4f3c-b862-8d58cce7eb26/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+1.57.08+AM.png Archives - Summer 2019- Are You a Robot? Brain, Mind, Soul In the summer of 2019, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum asked: Are You a Robot? If you use the internet at all, you may have been asked whether you are a robot. Many web sites do this, trying to protect against spurious account creation. On one level, it’s an easy question to answer — no, you’re not a robot, you’re a flesh-and-blood human. But on another level, it’s more difficult. Can we be sure our behavior is not programmed by our genes, life experiences, instincts, and habits — to say nothing of our addictions and psychoses? How free are we, really? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/b991ca0f-8326-4965-8c0f-2bb83af9cf45/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+2.37.50+AM.png Archives - Summer 2018- Purposeful Evolution The theme for the 2018 weekly seminar series was “Purposeful Evolution.” Our intention in these seminars was to explore recent ideas in evolutionary theory that broaden the mechanisms of evolution well beyond the limits of NeoDarwinism or the Modern Synthesis, and which are sometimes referred to under the rubric of the “Extended Evolutionary Synthesis”, or EES. The choice of this theme emerged from numerous discussions and meetings of the Forum’s board members, originally motivated by their study of the book Science and Religion: Beyond Warfare and Toward Understanding (Anselm Academic, 2016), by Joshua Moritz, and by articles in Nature and The Atlantic describing the EES. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/e84a05aa-6bfe-4cc6-923c-6841cbbbcfc0/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+2.13.08+AM.png Archives - Summer 2017- Hope: Science, Religion and the Future In the Summer of 2017, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum presented a series of talks by local speakers during June and July, beginning May 31. The theme of the summer was “Hope: Science, Religion and the Future”. The meetings followed our usual format: light supper at 6 pm, talk at 6:30, followed by questions for the speaker and then table discussions. In a change from the past two years these talks were in the Fellowship Hall of the Unitarian Church. Also, as part of the summer program, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum invited distinguished theologian John Haught of Georgetown University to visit Los Alamos and present two lectures, which he did on Thursday June 22 and Friday June 23. His lectures were titled “Science, Religion, and Cosmic Purpose” and “Evolution and Faith: What Is at Stake”. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ebc5a57b-0912-4418-8ebc-fe645fef2f0f/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+2.12.08+AM.png Archives - Summer 2016- What Makes Us Human The Los Alamos Faith & Science Forum announced our third summer series starting on June 1, continuing on the topic “What Makes Us Human?”. Members of the forum led the discussion each week in June and July at Kelly Hall at Trinity on the Hill. On July 13-14, Prof. Justin L. Barrett, Thrive Professor of Developmental Science in the School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, founding editor of the Journal of Cognition and Culture, and author of numerous articles and chapters concerning the cognitive science of religion, visited and gave two keynote lectures, and had a chance to meet with members of the community. These lectures and discussions were interesting and accessible to all members of the community interested in faith and science, no matter what religion or scientific background. They commenced at Church of Christ at 7pm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c15273ca-1cb4-4351-bbdc-c6f396a643c5/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+6.54.20+PM.png Archives - Summer 2015 The Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum conducted our second summer discussion series in 2015. We used the book Origins: Christian Perspectives on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design, by Deborah Haarsma and Loren Haarsma as a starting point for our discussions – the origin of the universe, of life, and of humanity. Members of the forum led the discussions each week in June and July at Kelly Hall at Trinity on the Hill. On August 4-6, Deborah Haarsma and Loren Haarsma visited and gave three keynote lectures at Church of Christ, and had a chance to meet with members of the community. Our hope was that these lectures and discussions were interesting and accessible to all members of the community interested in faith and science, no matter what religion or scientific background. Talks were aimed at a general audience. Dinner was provided at 6 pm, with a presentation at 6:30 and discussion at 7pm, ending around 8 pm. All were welcome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c9471df2-6d4a-4243-ac5e-bca68cb9566d/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+2.20.28+AM.png Archives - Summer 2014 In 2014, we ran a 10-week lecture series with dinner and discussion. Topics included the Big Bang, complexity and its origins, the nature of evil, Christianity and the scientific revolution, chaos theory and the role of the Creator, and evolution. Lecturers included scientists and clergy from the community. Each week began with dinner, followed by a 30-minute lecture on the topic for that week, which segued into discussions at the different dinner tables. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/directions daily 0.75 2022-05-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/edb26cba-99f0-4c96-9b01-87217ca9d8c5/Screen+Shot+2022-05-25+at+6.28.25+PM.png directions https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2021 daily 0.75 2023-05-22 https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2020 daily 0.75 2022-05-27 https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2019 daily 0.75 2022-05-27 https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2018 daily 0.75 2022-05-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1618497259178-6XJGK9GR6YAVBQL5L519/20140301_Trade-151_012-2.jpg Summer 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1607638148090-Y6OFDI575CM3NQV732RJ/Large+JPG-Aro+Ha_0387.jpg Summer 2018 https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2017 daily 0.75 2022-05-27 https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2015 daily 0.75 2022-05-27 https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/about-2 daily 0.75 2025-12-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/54607764-d492-46c1-8324-312d1d3f8c50/iStock-1277042598-2.jpg About - LOS ALAMOS FAITH AND SCIENCE ANNUAL REPORTS Every year we compile a report on our activities and budget from the preceding year. Click on the links below to view reports for the corresponding years. 2016 LAF&SF Annual Report 2017 LAF&SF Annual Report 2018 LAF&SF Annual Report 2019 LAF&SF Annual Report 2020 LAF&SF Annual Report 2021 LAF&SF Annual Report 2022 LAF&SF Annual Report 2023 LAF&SF Annual Report 2024 LAF&SF Annual Report 2025 LAF&SF Annual Report https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/home-2 daily 0.75 2024-07-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c53ff54f-4a48-4a9b-8517-08e2c03f8abc/2024+galaxy-Composite-2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/b308d889-939f-4a6d-bbba-aba765533b22/IMG_2091.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/archives-2 daily 0.75 2024-04-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/4c92a1bc-6dca-40cc-b94c-d6fb58174868/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+8.06.15+PM.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/478be8a0-4aa7-43b8-8c2e-a149f437116a/mars-and-guy-larry-landolfi-logo.png Archives-2 - Summer 2021- Why Do Faith and Reason Interact? In 2021, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum invited the public to our eighth annual summer program entitled “Why Do Faith and Reason Interact?” – again via Zoom. The Summer 2021 series explored a wide range of issues at the forefront of the science-religion intersection. At the first session, we reminded our audience about the mechanics of Zoom. Bob Reinovsky then presented an introduction to, and relationships among, the topics that were presented throughout the summer. The summer series included two talks on the foundations of modern science, two talks dealing with ethics related to science and religion, three talks related to Adam and Eve, and a final lecture on the very timely issue of vaccines. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8a90e4ae-405f-46ec-81e6-96327a75959f/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+1.58.37+AM.png Archives-2 - Summer 2020- Hope, Nature, Sin, and Transhumanism In Summer 2020, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum examined · the issue of hope in this uncertain age · the relation of religion and ecology · the age-old question of original sin · the problem of evil in light of recent scientific discoveries · the future of humanity in the context of bioengineering advances · near-death experiences All lectures took place on-line using Zoom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ef180fbe-a3fa-4f3c-b862-8d58cce7eb26/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+1.57.08+AM.png Archives-2 - Summer 2019- Are You a Robot? Brain, Mind, Soul In the summer of 2019, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum asked: Are You a Robot? If you use the internet at all, you may have been asked whether you are a robot. Many web sites do this, trying to protect against spurious account creation. On one level, it’s an easy question to answer — no, you’re not a robot, you’re a flesh-and-blood human. But on another level, it’s more difficult. Can we be sure our behavior is not programmed by our genes, life experiences, instincts, and habits — to say nothing of our addictions and psychoses? How free are we, really? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/b991ca0f-8326-4965-8c0f-2bb83af9cf45/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+2.37.50+AM.png Archives-2 - Summer 2018- Purposeful Evolution The theme for the 2018 weekly seminar series was “Purposeful Evolution.” Our intention in these seminars was to explore recent ideas in evolutionary theory that broaden the mechanisms of evolution well beyond the limits of NeoDarwinism or the Modern Synthesis, and which are sometimes referred to under the rubric of the “Extended Evolutionary Synthesis”, or EES. The choice of this theme emerged from numerous discussions and meetings of the Forum’s board members, originally motivated by their study of the book Science and Religion: Beyond Warfare and Toward Understanding (Anselm Academic, 2016), by Joshua Moritz, and by articles in Nature and The Atlantic describing the EES. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/e84a05aa-6bfe-4cc6-923c-6841cbbbcfc0/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+2.13.08+AM.png Archives-2 - Summer 2017- Hope: Science, Religion and the Future In the Summer of 2017, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum presented a series of talks by local speakers during June and July, beginning May 31. The theme of the summer was “Hope: Science, Religion and the Future”. The meetings followed our usual format: light supper at 6 pm, talk at 6:30, followed by questions for the speaker and then table discussions. In a change from the past two years these talks were in the Fellowship Hall of the Unitarian Church. Also, as part of the summer program, the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum invited distinguished theologian John Haught of Georgetown University to visit Los Alamos and present two lectures, which he did on Thursday June 22 and Friday June 23. His lectures were titled “Science, Religion, and Cosmic Purpose” and “Evolution and Faith: What Is at Stake”. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ebc5a57b-0912-4418-8ebc-fe645fef2f0f/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+2.12.08+AM.png Archives-2 - Summer 2016- What Makes Us Human The Los Alamos Faith & Science Forum announced our third summer series starting on June 1, continuing on the topic “What Makes Us Human?”. Members of the forum led the discussion each week in June and July at Kelly Hall at Trinity on the Hill. On July 13-14, Prof. Justin L. Barrett, Thrive Professor of Developmental Science in the School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, founding editor of the Journal of Cognition and Culture, and author of numerous articles and chapters concerning the cognitive science of religion, visited and gave two keynote lectures, and had a chance to meet with members of the community. These lectures and discussions were interesting and accessible to all members of the community interested in faith and science, no matter what religion or scientific background. They commenced at Church of Christ at 7pm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c15273ca-1cb4-4351-bbdc-c6f396a643c5/Screen+Shot+2022-05-12+at+6.54.20+PM.png Archives-2 - Summer 2015 The Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum conducted our second summer discussion series in 2015. We used the book Origins: Christian Perspectives on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design, by Deborah Haarsma and Loren Haarsma as a starting point for our discussions – the origin of the universe, of life, and of humanity. Members of the forum led the discussions each week in June and July at Kelly Hall at Trinity on the Hill. On August 4-6, Deborah Haarsma and Loren Haarsma visited and gave three keynote lectures at Church of Christ, and had a chance to meet with members of the community. Our hope was that these lectures and discussions were interesting and accessible to all members of the community interested in faith and science, no matter what religion or scientific background. Talks were aimed at a general audience. Dinner was provided at 6 pm, with a presentation at 6:30 and discussion at 7pm, ending around 8 pm. All were welcome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c9471df2-6d4a-4243-ac5e-bca68cb9566d/Screen+Shot+2022-05-26+at+2.20.28+AM.png Archives-2 - Summer 2014 In 2014, we ran a 10-week lecture series with dinner and discussion. Topics included the Big Bang, complexity and its origins, the nature of evil, Christianity and the scientific revolution, chaos theory and the role of the Creator, and evolution. Lecturers included scientists and clergy from the community. Each week began with dinner, followed by a 30-minute lecture on the topic for that week, which segued into discussions at the different dinner tables. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2022 daily 0.75 2023-04-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/a8e3399b-58aa-4e81-b8c6-9881cf5ebee1/F%26S+Forum+2022.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/god-after-einstein daily 0.75 2023-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/92931f53-228d-48e4-a6c9-149e5e7e1a38/Church%2BMilky+Way.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/9914d7a2-c52a-4822-ad1e-5fb30745aff5/Haught-2.png https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/teilhard daily 0.75 2023-06-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/3c045019-7970-4978-a3a8-20a585cc4e99/Ruins%2BMW.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/9914d7a2-c52a-4822-ad1e-5fb30745aff5/Haught-2.png https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/biblical-archeology daily 0.75 2024-08-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/73564902-5988-4265-b863-70a7ea601521/Sodom.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ed31e1f4-25b0-49cc-bbc2-bf733288de9a/Collins.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/islamic-bioethics daily 0.75 2024-08-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/04ec9814-039e-45b7-8ee1-bac5c0e3cf9e/Mosque.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/fdb51593-e051-434e-bb53-01a9c159c69d/Victoria.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/minds-beyond-earth daily 0.75 2024-08-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8d2b0e33-510a-4189-994f-84662d075847/VLA-MilkyWay_NIK_1051.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/87a85ed4-051e-4ef0-b717-11e9c958449d/Screenshot+2023-04-22+at+14-11-31+Contact+3+%E2%80%94+Los+Alamos+Faith+and+Science+Forum.png https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/maimonides daily 0.75 2024-08-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/41da8a20-8da7-4fb9-acab-6ed37d2ccf27/Maim%C3%B3nides_C%C3%B3rdoba.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8cacc289-d8ed-4a8d-b68b-52d8d3f60596/Jack+Shlachter.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/nuclear-pacifism daily 0.75 2024-08-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/754eaa5c-e9d0-411a-9faf-981d7e420f13/Castle_Bravo_007.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/d392444c-0800-4811-9ce0-7684f699e25d/Juzaitis.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/consciousness daily 0.75 2024-08-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8c4f7672-c289-4c7a-8e21-3054f56bd4df/universal-consciousness-light_orig.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/fb7a0f34-58c4-4e69-bd20-628effee5010/Ambrosiano.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/art-int daily 0.75 2024-09-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/270f94db-f8a3-4e98-b087-490173ad7fe5/AI-2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/066c0096-f5ac-4b26-a971-a36300031ff6/Carroll.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/mormon daily 0.75 2023-04-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/208f3c3c-eba7-42f4-87cf-6c3740670cbd/Smith+and+Tablets.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ca429010-6ed0-47c9-ae50-ffeff40a6bdf/Gary-Stradling3-8-2022.jpg Mormon - Gary L. Stradling, PhD Dr. Stradling has served the United States national security for 40 years, since June 1977, when he joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the Laser Fusion Program. He completed five years of federal civil service in the R&D Directorate of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, in the Nuclear Technologies Department. He served as Chief of the Monitoring and Verification Technologies Office, where he led the advanced nuclear test monitoring technologies and Nuclear Arms Control Technologies (NACT) portfolios. Prior to joining DoD, Dr. Stradling served at Los Alamos National Laboratory since 1981. During his career at LANL, he served as a program manager of the AngelFire program providing tactical wide-area-surveillance intelligence technology for the DoD/USMC from 2004-2011. Prior to that he was a member of the Office of Military Applications under the LANL Associate Director for Weapons Engineering and Manufacturing where he led the nascent Reliable Replacement Warhead development program. From 1994-2000, he was detailed to the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. From 1997 to 2000 he served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Missile Defense Policy, advising OSD on NNSA’s new Stockpile Stewardship Program, supporting the nuclear Tomahawk program, and addressing missile defense questions. In 1996 he was Science Advisor to the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Chemical and Biological Programs in the Counterproliferation Office. Prior to that, from 1994, he served three years as Science Advisor to the OSD Director-Arms Control, Implementation and Compliance office (ACI&C), partially concurrent with the Counterproliferation assignment. During that assignment, he was Chairman of the 26-nation (NATO and Warsaw Pact) Open Skies Treaty implementation negotiation group In Vienna, AU, the International Working Group on Sensors. He brought that negotiation to a successful completion, eliminating one barrier to the Treaty entering into force. Dr. Stradling conducted experimental physics from 1981 to 1994 in the Physics Division of Los Alamos, serving the nuclear weapons testing program, the Strategic Defense Initiative (hypervelocity Impact), and the Laser Fusion Program. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics from Brigham Young University in 1976 and 1981 and M.S. and PhD degrees in Applied Science/Plasma Physics from the University of California/Davis in 1979 and 1982. He is the recipient of: the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence, and the German Physical Society Hubert Schardin Gold Medal for leadership in the high-speed photonics community. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having served the Church in many assignments, including as a two year full-time missionary in a Cantonese-speaking mission in Hong Kong, frequently as a youth and scouting leader, as a teacher, and as an administrator. He is a believer, having received many evidences of God’s existence, His active involvement with mankind, His will, guidance, and purposes. He is very familiar with the Bible and more so with the Book of Mormon, as well as other scripture. He is the husband of Rebecca, the enthusiastic father and grandfather of 9 children and 20 grandchildren. While ready to discuss the foundations of theology, he recognizes that all religion is built on essential truths, and seeks to understand those truths, distributed in different ways through mankind over their history. https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2023 daily 0.75 2024-04-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/52bce28b-43e2-4624-a2e6-a1b1b42efc26/2023+Comp-2.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/directions2023 daily 0.75 2024-04-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/aa9c30e2-560f-4f50-a98e-8c586a18e1a3/SALA.png https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/transhuman-1 daily 0.75 2023-08-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/42b15248-a4fe-4c63-9d21-15a06634de6d/fantasy-astral-comp-Tel-LA-Fermi.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/066c0096-f5ac-4b26-a971-a36300031ff6/Carroll.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2024 daily 0.75 2025-01-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c53ff54f-4a48-4a9b-8517-08e2c03f8abc/2024+galaxy-Composite-2.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/antisemitism daily 0.75 2024-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/22aaa55a-b4d9-41c0-b140-295378bee496/Schachter-2.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/7e2b3d2b-fdff-453f-8e27-c8eacd24b1ac/Schachter-1.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8cacc289-d8ed-4a8d-b68b-52d8d3f60596/Jack+Shlachter.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2023-1 daily 0.75 2024-04-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/52bce28b-43e2-4624-a2e6-a1b1b42efc26/2023+Comp-2.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/israelitetemple daily 0.75 2024-09-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/271db0f9-6c94-47a0-bfdd-825ea42b687d/Carroll.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/1a54e17c-0721-4698-a656-e882e86e5b81/Collins-2.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/066c0096-f5ac-4b26-a971-a36300031ff6/Carroll.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/collins-exodus daily 0.75 2024-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/31f5466f-24c1-48fb-9b20-16a56d17aeeb/Collins.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/ed31e1f4-25b0-49cc-bbc2-bf733288de9a/Collins.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/keller-galaxies daily 0.75 2024-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/14af6964-b7a4-46fd-acd3-52f1b3b552e3/Chick-gallaxy.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/a1b7769a-0a50-41da-8955-db3224078e37/Chick_Keller.jpeg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/hoffman-culture daily 0.75 2024-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/2253a829-75f5-4c6e-ad81-a2590cf76aed/Tambaran_House+SAMGIK-new-HT-aug2013-501.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/87a85ed4-051e-4ef0-b717-11e9c958449d/Screenshot+2023-04-22+at+14-11-31+Contact+3+%E2%80%94+Los+Alamos+Faith+and+Science+Forum.png https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/newberg-brain daily 0.75 2025-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/43f82792-d1b7-4adb-acbd-8d1b95905ca2/Newburg.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/c6828ce2-f273-4aca-8a63-3968df2d8885/Newberg-2.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/hill-near-death daily 0.75 2024-11-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/63fc8abb-1fc6-406b-9a74-3a70f81e0d3c/Hill.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8f20d3f6-fbe4-438a-8213-76b760a458e9/Hill-1.jpeg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/ambrosiano daily 0.75 2024-11-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/46519adf-39b2-4c3f-b29a-a5d241112790/Ambrosiano.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/488a0165-4683-400a-8f6a-db435e658fa0/Ambrosiano-bio.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/weisbrod-righteousmind daily 0.75 2025-05-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/0497e6c0-5fbc-4bf7-80cd-b01c211caa35/Righteous+Cartoon.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/208d2048-a75e-48e9-9820-c2c864571fdd/Portrait2.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/home-2024 daily 0.75 2025-05-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/27903af5-ea69-46b3-adf9-eb0794b2e708/2025+collage.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/zoom-meeting-link daily 0.75 2025-06-07 https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/summer-2025 daily 0.75 2026-02-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/27903af5-ea69-46b3-adf9-eb0794b2e708/2025+collage.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/stump-evolution daily 0.75 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/46cfa0e7-68d6-425a-840b-6233f85c93a2/Presentation+image-2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/dcb58e68-cd17-4794-bf53-28690ecaa0fa/Jim_Stump+%282021%29.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/stump-spriritual-journey daily 0.75 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/46cfa0e7-68d6-425a-840b-6233f85c93a2/Presentation+image-2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/dcb58e68-cd17-4794-bf53-28690ecaa0fa/Jim_Stump+%282021%29.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/shlachter-free-lunch-will daily 0.75 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/58a61e8c-e1a0-4c51-b2d5-870a14001f62/free+will.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8cacc289-d8ed-4a8d-b68b-52d8d3f60596/Jack+Shlachter.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/ambrosiano-fbf daily 0.75 2025-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/117657f6-66ec-4f4f-9da2-b86941d096e0/Spiritual+lotus.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/488a0165-4683-400a-8f6a-db435e658fa0/Ambrosiano-bio.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/chamberlin-origins daily 0.75 2025-07-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/8bfcc8b0-3a58-4c63-a772-c1ad98e89ee7/Origins-2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/e486b8b5-5218-4aea-ae09-090d89362d3a/Becky.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/keller-guzik daily 0.75 2025-07-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/d67244f8-2259-4e70-b232-920020eed816/Cosmos+and+Life-2.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/a1b7769a-0a50-41da-8955-db3224078e37/Chick_Keller.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/0d58f20c-141c-4361-9500-2a73334486f1/JoyceonZoom4-13-2025.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/hoffman-genes daily 0.75 2025-07-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/4f13fbb1-1058-4049-9632-89a9a7c1c0e4/Ape+on+cliff+v2c.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/e4fdd8ca-4b70-4220-98f7-566c7c353fe2/Photo+and+flower+1.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/loike-1 daily 0.75 2025-08-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/765dc1a8-b348-4fc8-a865-4b111ea89180/Loike+presentation.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/5010757b-b929-499e-8192-3cf926541526/John-Loike-in-lab-300-dpi.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/carroll-1 daily 0.75 2025-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/0c26b9d2-194e-4d74-8bf9-7608432173f6/Carroll.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/066c0096-f5ac-4b26-a971-a36300031ff6/Carroll.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/directions2025 daily 0.75 2025-05-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/1ec19e24-a606-4517-842e-e0775f8235d3/Unitarian+Church+Location-2.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/home-2025 daily 1.0 2026-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/27903af5-ea69-46b3-adf9-eb0794b2e708/2025+collage.jpg https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org/become-a-member daily 0.75 2026-02-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/627db040d41af66356387243/1684909718077-JDNUH64IV08Q5Y6PASN4/Forum+Audience-2.jpg