From:* Jason Schoenack
*Sent:* Tuesday, October 06, 2009 11:01 AM
*To:* Jason Schoenack
*Subject:* What IS the SRLS anyway? FW: Thanks for being on our SELECT PANEL!

I. In the realms of science and religion, I am first and foremost a layperson, trying to make sense of the world

a. I have lived in FM all my life, grew up in MHD with my 2 younger brothers Aaron and Nathan who both still live in FM, graduated from MHD High, NDSU, U of Mary, technical support at Microsoft, growing up my family went to Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead where my brothers and I were all confirmed, my parents are still believers but not overly religious, and are pretty accepting of my convictions for the most part

b. I’m married to Lilie Schoenack, we live in Fargo, 2 kids Michelle and Noah

II. My worldview, like most people’s, has changed during my life

a. But I think that maybe, at some point, a person needs to take a position, and decide on a system that works for them, to investigate reality, and to judge the reliability of certain kinds of claims

b. Fortunately for many of us, if the system that we choose to use doesn’t seem to be working out the way that we had hoped, we can change it any time we want

c. A few years ago Lilie and I, both being drawn towards being informed, and keeping things real, started to think that we should proactively arrive at a reasonable and informed position on some of the biggest questions that are commonly addressed by both religion and science

d. Since then we have been on a never-ending knowledge quest, and that’s one reason why we keep coming to the SRLS meetings

e. One thing I’ve come to know, is that there is very little that I do know, but what I CAN do is to continue to learn and refine my understand and try to reach reasonable conclusions about things

f. I’m a freethinker, a skeptic, an optimist, and a non-believer

III. So what IS the SRLS anyway?

a. Comments

i. For me, in a nutshell, the SRLS is a safe, open, and controlled atmosphere for exchanging ideas and opinions about the relationship between science and religion, in the end, everyone walks away knowing something new and possibly refining their own understanding of things, in that way, everyone wins.

b. Reminiscences

i. I learned about the SRLS meetings from the then-Secretary of the Red River Freethinkers, Davis Cope, who recommended them highly! Lilie and I had just become involved with the Red River Freethinkers and were looking for any group discussing science and religion, the SRLS was a godsend

ii. My own first SRLS meeting featured speaker David Dushane, who gave an excellent talk that encouraged me to come back again the next week

iii. The civil blend of decorum and candor were striking to me and I was excited to hear more talks

IV. The SRLS meetings have enriched my life and have certainly had a part in shaping and refining my understanding of things

a. They have promoted an open-mindedness in me that I might not otherwise have

b. They have lead me to meeting some of the most intellectual, curious, passionate, and active thinkers in the area

c. They have also given me some confidence that my understanding of both science and religion has increased since coming to SRLS meetings

V. I’ve learned a lot from the SRLS meetings

a. I’ve learned that … there are a lot of principles and values that believers and non-believers plainly agree on, and that they maybe only differ on the reasoning or method of “getting there”

b. I’ve learned that … believers can learn something from non-believers, and non-believers can learn something from believers, and with some reasonable ground rules, maybe they really can they can peacefully coexist

c. For me, the SRLS has given me new knowledge and information, helping me to continually refine and improve my understanding of things, I’ve learned that this process will never end for me, and I will be gathering and processing new and existing information forever

d. The SRLS meetings have in fact been a source of information and informed opinions on not only religion and science, but on a wide range of topics

VI. The SRLS meetings have repeatedly caused me to reconsider my understanding, and my positions and opinions on things, and to remain open to the possibility that I might not know everything yet

a. I used to think that all religions were all kind of on the same page with things, but I’ve learned that there are probably as many different interpretations of spirituality as there are species of beetles

b. Finally, I didn’t really understand before that, even though I’m drawn more to the scientific way of looking at things, theology has had an enormous influence on humanity, and, for that reason alone, religion is an invaluable source of knowledge worthy of continual study and debate