Asay: A lot of scientists believe that there’s not enough political will to really tackle this issue. Do you share that cynicism?
Conover: I am a hopeful person. There are some days—and I’ve had a few recently, [given] some news about the environment—that are kind of down days. But in general, I am a hopeful person. It’s kind of a core thing for me.
Asay: One thing that particularly struck me in this documentary is how Cal, I think, talked about this sense of wonder that scientists have to have to do their jobs well—the sort of wonder over creation that Christians also share, or are supposed to share.
Conover: There was a time in the mid-1800s, the great revival movement and so on, there was no difference between being religious and being scientific. They were very much drawing on the same thing. And I think it’s exactly what you’re saying. That ability to be amazed. Some people have said that the goal is to live life in a kind of radical amazement. To be spiritual is to be amazed.
And Cal talks about that with what was a new word for me, in a sense. The word behold.
Before I talked with Cal, Behold the Earth was not our working title for the film. I think our title was The Bible and the Earth. And Cal started talking about this word behold. And he said, you know what that means? And I said, well, it sounds old-fashioned and a little irrelevant, and he said, no, it’s to truly look at something, to be open to all the lessons that it can teach. And he talks about how difficult it is to really behold. Behold the lilies of the field. It’s really used a lot in Scripture and with that view, and understanding, it is really eye-opening. That speaks to me as a filmmaker. That speaks to the experience that we were trying to convey in the film, and I think he put the finger on it with that word. Behold.
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