It's time to dust off your Darwin costume again: Darwin Day 2021 is just around the corner! Despite the pandemic, a handful of colleges and universities, schools, libraries, museums, churches, civic groups, and just plain folks across the country — and the world — are preparing to celebrate Darwin Day, on or around February 12, in honor of the life and work of Charles Darwin. These events provide a marvelous opportunity not only to celebrate Darwin's birthday but also to engage in public outreach about science, evolution, and the importance of evolution education — which is especially needed with assaults on evolution education already under way in state legislatures. NCSE encourages its members and friends to attend, participate in, and even organize Darwin Day events in their own communities. To find a local event, check the websites of local universities and museums as well as the Darwin Day Celebration registry. And NCSE will be reprising its social media campaign in support of evolution education — look for (and use) the hashtag #whyteachevolution on Darwin Day, and don't forget to check out our #whyteachevolution essays.
And with Darwin Day comes the return of Evolution Weekend! Dozens of congregations across the country and around the world are taking part in Evolution Weekend, February 12-14, 2021, by presenting sermons and discussion groups on the compatibility of faith and science. Michael Zimmerman, the initiator of the project, writes, "Evolution Weekend is an opportunity for serious discussion and reflection on the relationship between religion and science. One important goal is to elevate the quality of the discussion on this critical topic — to move beyond sound bites. A second critical goal is to demonstrate that religious people from many faiths and locations understand that evolution is sound science and poses no problems for their faith. Finally, as with The Clergy Letter itself, Evolution Weekend makes it clear that those claiming that people must choose between religion and science are creating a false dichotomy." At last count, 110 congregations in 33 states (and five foreign countries) were scheduled to hold Evolution Weekend events.
