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Does the natural world provide rational evidence for an intelligent designer? Is the question itself a scientific one or is it religion masquerading as science? Are there ways to affirm solid science and genuine religious faith or do they necessarily conflict when it comes to evolution?

These questions are currently generating tremendous social tension, evident in prominent court cases and polarized public debates between advocates of extreme positions. Biologist Jeff Schloss will explore these and other provocative questions in “Evolution, Religion, and Intelligent Design: Scientific Debate or Culture War?” on Thursday, June 7, at 4:30 p.m. at Ventura’s , 550 San Jon Road.

The free lecture is part of an on going series, ������Ƶ in Ventura: Conversations About Things That Matter. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. It is sponsored by Santa Barbara Bank & Trust.

Schloss is in demand internationally as a speaker and writer on the contentious issue of evolution and religion.

“It is so sad that a discussion that could be so fun has become so polarized and combative,” he says. “This is especially true of the recent and prominent intelligent design controversy.”

Instead of silencing conflicting answers that often divide us, Schloss wants to explore some proposals for mutual understanding, through honoring the deep questions that unite us all.

“From kid’s fascination with dinosaurs to coffee house chats to the world’s great philosophers,” Schloss says, “people are prone to wonder how life came to be and what, if any, its purpose is.

In light of exciting new scientific findings, Schloss says he will survey the arguments and critique stereotypes and serious errors in a range of positions. This mediating approach has made him one of the few thinkers on this topic who has collaborated and published with leading scientists and philosophers both advocating and strongly rejecting intelligent design.

His recent work includes articles in the “Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology,” the “Cambridge Series on Astrobiology,” the “Oxford Handbook of Science and Religion,” and the book, “Evolution and Ethics,” which won a Science-Religion Book of Distinction Award. He also speaks widely and has been invited to deliver lectures on evolution and religion at Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Emory, Oxford, Cambridge, Heidelberg, and Edinburgh Universities.

“The crucial question in this and other issues that fracture our culture these days is how we have a civil discussion of issues many not only disagree about,” he says, “but honestly think the other side is out-to-lunch on.”