By Susan Sprake, president, LAF&SF
Eric Ferm, vice president, LAF&SF
Robert Dryja, treasurer, LAF&SF
Amy Birnbaum, member of Board of Directors, LAF&SF
Daniel Holladay, member of Board of Directors, LAF&SF
John Singleton,  member of Board of Directors, LAF&SF
Kirk Weisbrod, member of Board of Directors, LAF&SF
Nels Hoffman, member and past president, LAF&SF

We, the above signed members and officers of the Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum (LAF&SF, or the “Forum”), were dismayed to read a recent opinion piece written by Gary Stradling, published in the July 6 print edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post (link).

The piece begins, “In our Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum we have the opportunity to examine …”, as if Gary has been authorized to write on behalf of LAF&SF.

In fact he has not been so authorized. The opinions Gary expresses are not the issue here. It is only to be expected that a diversity of opinions, however hurtful to some, would exist among the Forum’s membership, and we don’t propose to debate them here. The point of our letter is that Gary is not entitled to wrap himself in the mantle of LAF&SF and proceed to issue a manifesto or a credo, or to pontificate on matters of cultural criticism and social policy, as if he speaks for the Forum.

That is not what the Forum is for. The Forum exists to allow persons of all faiths, or no faith at all, to consider the ways in which science and religion interact with one another, sometimes conflicting, but more often complementing and reinforcing.

Although most of our board members are Christian, of many denominations, we have always sought the broadest possible membership, and this summer are pleased to include a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist teacher among our seminar speakers.

So Gary’s earnest sermon, bordering on polemic, thwarts or even sabotages the vision and purpose of the Forum, by making it appear to be the mouthpiece of a particular religious group, to the exclusion of others.

It’s a free country, and Gary is entitled to write and publish what he wants. But he is not entitled to represent LAF&SF. We are considering how best to guard against such misrepresentation in the future.