A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BOOK - THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION!
From Tom Atlee
October 13, 2007

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Hardcover copies of Michael Dowd's "Thank God for Evolution!", which has been endorsed by 5 Nobel Prize winners and 120 other scientific, religious, and cultural luminaries, are now available for $15 each (40% off retail price), when ordered directly from his publisher, Council Oak Books.

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Tom Atlee Writes:

Dear friends,

As many of you know, I've been working with "evolutionary evangelist" Michael Dowd for a couple of years now. In May 2005 I helped organize his first "evolutionary salon" <http://www.thegreatstory.org/ev-salon.html> with evolutionary scientists, spiritual people and activists. That unusual gathering had a profound effect on me.

At the salon and during the following summer and through extensive conversations with Michael, a vision of conscious evolutionary activism emerged that soon captivated my imagination:

Those of us who see ourselves as conscious evolutionary agents will see our work as a natural outgrowth of the sacred 13.7 billion year story of evolution unfolding in, around, and through us right here and now. We will view the daunting crises humanity faces as potentially empowering opportunities for the evolution of consciousness and the transformation of social systems. We will be guided by the realization that our struggles are the struggles of evolution, itself, becoming more conscious. Evolution is no longer just a matter of mindless random mechanism. It can -- and increasingly does -- call forth greater awareness, choice, intelligence, wisdom, integrity, humility, and compassion. This is the process of conscious evolution unfolding in and around us today.

Could there be a movement of thousands and eventually millions of people who see themselves actively involved in this deeply participatory, richly meaningful, intensely challenging sacred story of our times? I realized that such people would see co-intelligent processes and wise democratic innovations as powerful tools for the wise evolution of humanity. What a trip! This vision soon subsumed -- and empowered -- everything I'd been working on for almost two decades. As we wake up into greater awareness -- and as our social systems wake up into greater co-intelligence -- we upshift the potential presence and role of consciousness in the whole ongoing unfolding of the universe.

I have no idea whether this vision -- an Epiphany that changed the course of my life -- will come to pass in the form it came to me. But I do feel called -- strongly called -- to help it emerge in whatever form it takes. I've come to trust my callings: All my co-intelligence and wise democracy work arose from such callings.

That brings me to the subject of this note: I want to alert you to a book that I honestly expect will shake up the deepest assumptions of millions of people: Michael Dowd's "Thank God For Evolution! - How The Marriage Of Science And Religion Will Transform Your Life And Our World." I have a pre-release copy in my hand. It is a beautiful book; you can see it (and much else) on its website <http://thankgodforevolution.com>.

I want to share two remarkable endorsements from Nobel Prize winners:

"The science vs. religion debate is over! A must reading for all, including scientists." -- Craig Mello, 2006 Nobel Prize winner in physiology/medicine

"The universe took 13.7 billion years to produce this amazing book. I heartily recommend it." -- John Mather, NASA Chief Scientist, 2006 Nobel Prize winner in physics

I know what Craig Mello means. This book thoroughly rewires the frustrating, noisy debate between fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist scientists. And I know what John Mather means, because Thank God For Evolution! does much more. It offers thrilling new insights into who we are, what we are doing here, where we're going, and what the big picture is that we're operating in -- not some distant big picture, but the wildly co-creative big picture in which we're living and breathing right now, right here in our personal and collective lives. Evolution's lessons are waiting to be discovered everywhere within and around us.

The more I reflect on it, the more everything I've talked about for years makes tremendous sense when viewed as part of the "Great Story" adventure of evolution. My contribution is to weave into that Story our role in ongoing social systemic change, so that transformational social change work becomes an inspiring activity with cosmic, deep-time significance.

If the evolutionary perspective speaks to you, I hope that you will be among those joining Michael, process maven Peggy Holman, myself, and hundreds of others in making this powerful, celebratory evolutionary worldview into a force that transforms our world into something deeply sane, wise, alive, and joyfully evolving for hundreds of generations into the future.

Thank God For Evolution! will be available in local bookstores, Amazon, etc., the first week in November. Michael has told me that right now, as a subscriber to this list, you and your friends can order it in advance (before November) for a 40% discount directly from the publisher using this URL <http://tinyurl.com/3yqrps>. The book is in stock and orders will be shipped out immediately.

I know Michael well. He is a charismatic, high-integrity figure, a compelling speaker, and a tireless evolutionary agent. He is committed to extensive media interviews and publicity for his book, and has inspired some real professionals to support this effort. Given the book's high quality, the enthusiastic response of reviewers <http://thankgodforevolution.com/praise/>, and the extremely hot science-versus-religion debate raging in the U.S. right now, we expect Thank God For Evolution! to rapidly become a best-seller.

Finally, do take a few minutes to enjoy the book's website. Plans are underway to make it highly participatory, with many forums for discussing the issues raised in the book and for engaging readers in evolutionary activities.

The unfolding Story continues, with each of us playing our roles....

Coheartedly,
Tom

PS: Much of Michael's book focuses on an evolutionary reframing of Christianity -- the majority religion of the U.S., and Michael's roots as a former Catholic and evangelical minister. However, the book is not in any way limited to that. The Great Story of evolution has obvious and very similar implications for every spiritual tradition. Thank God For Evolution! has been enthusiastically endorsed, for example, by Michael Lerner (Jewish), Joanna Macy (Buddhist), and Starhawk (Pagan). In the words of Kevin Kelly, WIRED magazine Editor-at-Large and author of many books, including Out Of Control, "That evolution is a divine force has not been well appreciated, or articulated, up till now." Anyone open to the sacred -- even atheists -- will find this book mind-blowing. (Yes, Michael even has leading atheist scientists who have offered their endorsement!) Check out Michael's promises here.