The recent Sojourners forum was, I think, groundbreaking. True, it was only a beginning, and there is much more to do, but I believe one positive outcome is that it shows there are more than three alternatives: religious right, religious left, and secular left.

I think we all sensed that the three candidates were striving to find higher ground and common ground and creative space beyond the current left-right polarizations where the air is hot and pretty stale.

Sadly, the questions were sometimes relics from the polarized territory - questions about evolution, abortion, and so on. I think what is becoming possible is a new kind of question deeply rooted in faith and values.

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E. O. Wilson is, I believe, right and wise to engage in this conversation about protecting life on earth. The scientific community must engage with Southern Baptists and others of sincere faith - as long as their engagement is truly "forged in an atmosphere of mutual respect." The alliance Wilson calls for is both necessary and possible.

But its progress will be halting and shallow until both sides experience a deep shift in their thinking.

On the scientific side, I agree with Dr. John Haught, who reflected on a similar conversation convened by Wilson, Carl Sagan and Stephen Jay Gould back in 1992. Haught said, "It is hard to imagine how any thorough transformation of the habits of humans will occur without a corporate human confidence in the ultimate worthwhileness of our moral endeavors." This confidence requires, he said, "a conviction that the universe carries a meaning, or that it is the unfolding of a 'promise.'"

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