Release: Historian to speak Sunday, January 29, at the Thomas Paine Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Author and educator Michael Burkhimer will speak at the Thomas Paine Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (TPUUF), Collegeville, PA, Sunday, January 29, at 10:30 a.m., on the challenges that some religious beliefs present to science and science education.

According to Gallup, roughly half of Americans believe the earth is 6,000 years old and that evolution is false. Such beliefs impact public support for scientific research and science education in our country. They also influence how we collectively deal with environmental issues affecting our survival.

Burkhimer will discuss how faith communities can stand up for education and science while respecting the right to religious freedom and diversity.

Burkhimer has taught geography, ancient history, and American history in the Haverford School District for twenty-two years. He has written two books on Abraham Lincoln, 100 Essential Lincoln Books (2003) and Lincoln’s Christianity (2007). He co-edited The Mary Lincoln Enigma: Historians on America’s Most Controversial First Lady (2012) and, most recently, co-authored The Lincoln Assassination Riddle (2016).  He is review editor of the journal The Lincoln Herald, the oldest continually published journal devoted to the life of Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War. His articles and reviews have appeared in many historical journals.

TPUUF (tpuuf.org), is celebrating its Fiftieth Anniversary as a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person and promotes spiritual, ethnic, racial and cultural diversity in its congregations and throughout the world.