This past weekend, Goshen College hosted the Conference on Religion and Science, an event which has been held almost every year since its creation in 2001. The conference took place over three days, from Friday to Sunday, with a session each day, along with meals shared together at Westlawn and at an Amish restaurant. There were also discussions, including a student-only session and a worship service which were not public.

The keynote speaker for the entire weekend was Sarah Fredericks, associate professor of environmental ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Over the course of the three days, Fredericks gave three separate talks, entitled “Dealing with Environmental Guilt and Shame,” “Can We Rest During Climate Change?” and “Joy Amidst Climate Change?”

The first two were open to the public, while the final one on Sunday was available only to registered participants. Additionally, Friday night’s “Dealing with Environmental Guilt and Shame” was counted as a bonus convocation for GC students. There were around 60 people in attendance on Friday night.

Carl Helrich, founder and director of the conference and professor emeritus of physics, explained that the conference is modeled after the “Cosmos and Creation Conference” through Loyola University Maryland. It is formatted such that the speaker has three opportunities to develop a topic and conclude.

Helrich said that Fredericks’ topic of climate change fits well with the conference because the environment poses both theological and scientific questions.

This idea was elaborated on by Kevin Powell, a consistent attendee of the conference for around 20 years. Addressing specifically the topic of the first talk, Powell said, “Guilt and shame are two different ways that religion tries to get people to do the right thing. Science is something that tries to get people to do the right thing as well because it understands reality and has an empiric ability to predict what will happen if you do this. You need both of those in order for something to work well.”

Many of the attendees of the conference have been coming for a number of years, according to Powell, and the demographic often includes theologians, scientists and science educators.

Fredericks began with a cartoon on the screen that depicted a humorous representation of a woman making excuses about why she hadn’t brought reusable bags to go shopping. She then went on to speak at length about the differences between guilt and shame, as well as their implications for progress in the realm of environmentalism.

Guilt has to do with the action itself that was done, according to Fredericks, and shame is more related to the identity of the person.

Madeline Bollinger, a senior elementary education major, explained her takeaway from Fredericks’ talk. She said, “She kind of argued that shame is a little bit more paralyzing, while guilt leaves more opportunity for change in your behavior.”

“I didn’t realize that it would be so focused on philosophy and ethics, but I’m really glad that it was,” Bollinger said. “[It was interesting to hear how Fredericks] has hope for tapping into religion as a way of addressing climate issues.”

According to Powell, this conference differs from others because it isn’t the sort of thing that takes place in a major city, with lots of scientists in a large hotel. Powell said that the combination of scientifically and religiously focused attendees, along with a “high-caliber person like Sarah Fredericks,” are the trademarks of the conference.