March 2004 

Welcome to Addenda, a monthly e-mail newsletter from MARS HILL AUDIO. In each issue we will give you a glimpse of the upcoming issue of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, as well as regular features such as New on our desks and Listener Mail (coming in April). As we formalize into a newsletter what has been until now a very simple mass e-mail, we welcome your comments and suggestions.

New on our desks: On Scientific and Poetic Wisdom

Two recent articles from The New Atlantis and The New York Times examine the role literature plays in encouraging wise decisions about our use of technology. The New Atlantis article, "The Scientist and the Poet" by Paul A. Cantor, attends to the notion of hostility between poetry and science. Cantor, a professor at the University of Virginia, writes about the engagement of Romantic poets with science, concluding that it is dangerous to sever scientific wisdom from poetic wisdom: "...science can tell us how to do something, but it cannot tell us whether we should do it. To explore that question, we must step outside the narrow range of science's purely technical questions, and look at the full human context and consequences of what we are doing."

The New York Times article, "The Meaning of 'Human' in Embryonic Research" by Edward Rothstein (a guest on Volume 15 of the Journal), explains that the President's Council on Bioethics understands that poetic wisdom should inform scientific wisdom and has, thus, published Being Human, an anthology that displays—in literature from across the ages—human nature in all of its sufferings and glories. Rothstein writes, "President Bush's mandate for [the Council] was 'to undertake fundamental inquiry in the human and moral significance of developments in biomedical and behavioral science and technology.' One way of understanding that human and moral significance is to examine the written record of humanity's attempt to understand itself."

Leon Kass, chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics and one of the editors of Being Human, discusses the Council's earlier report about how biotechnologies could influence human nature, titled Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, on Volume 66 of the Journal.

"There is a broad consensus on the work of Norwegian writer and Nobel Prize winner Sigrid Undset (1882-1949). 'Mainstream' critics deride her for starting out with promise, then losing all literary luster when she converted to Catholicism in 1924, and abandoning the feminist cause. Catholic critics praise her later work as most mature, and rejoice in converting her biography into a passion of return. Norwegians love Undset because...she is Norwegian. Currently, however, James Crossely observed in the Review of Contemporary Fiction, 'though her Nobel Prize came to her in 1928, there's a certain mustiness about her reputation, as though she'd lived in the era she most famously recorded.'

Thus begins a new essay on Sigrid Undset by Jonathan Reinhardt of Harding University, an intern last summer at Mars Hill Audio. Read or print the entire article (Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free downloadable program, is required).

We are pleased to announce a new audio series currently in development. On "Dialogues on Judges and Justice," we will examine recent decisions from the U. S. Supreme Court and from other federal and state courts, analyzing trends in legal reasoning on matters of special concern to Christians, including cases pertaining to religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and the understanding of human rights. Each 75-minute issue (twice a year) will feature interviews with prominent legal scholars, philosophers, historians, and other court-watchers, reflecting on significant decisions just handed down or on cases about to be heard.

As we get underway we invite your suggestions, specifically on legal scholars (and others) you think could make a valuable contribution to this project. Please reply to this e-mail or send your suggestions to our mailing address below.

Many of you are familiar with the MARS HILL AUDIO Report on courtship and marriage, "Wandering Toward the Altar: The Decline of American Courtship". What you may not know is that much of the material in this report has been assimilated into a weekend seminar led by the Rev. Skip Burzumato, a member of the Mars Hill Audio board of directors and Executive Director of the Center for Christian Study in Charlottesville.

The seminar is geared toward young adults, parents of any aged children, extended family members, pastors, youth workers, teachers, or any combination of these groups. Possible formats could include a parents’ weekend retreat with an adult Sunday School class, a parent/teen weekend retreat, a senior high youth retreat, a young adult or singles’ group retreat, or possibly a youth worker staff training event. The content of the Forum can be tailored to the particular audience.

Father Skip has led this seminar at a number of churches around the country. See the Center for Christian Study web pages for further information.

Conflict & Conscience in Healthcare, sponsored by The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, will take place on July 15-17 at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. Speakers and panelists will include a number of past MARS HILL AUDIO Journal guests, such as Dr. J. Budziszewski, Dr. Nigel Cameron, and Dr. John Kilner. According to the brochure, the conference is intended for "physicians, nurses, lawyers, chaplains, media professionals, clergy, public policymakers, educators, students and anyone interested in bioethical challenges."

For details see www.cbhd.org or call 1.888.246.3844.

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