Fran Quigley wrote an op-ed column for the Indianapolis Star titled, "A Place for Inquiring Minds," after visiting CFI Indiana one Sunday afternoon and witnessing the children's program in action.  In 1828, Frances Wright wrote, "Turn your churches into halls of science."  Wouldn't it be great if instead of filling children's heads full of dogma, the churches would teach them the scientific method?

Two Sunday afternoons a month CFI Indiana's CFI Kids program under the direction of volunteer parent, Joe Oliver, does just that. Saturday, March 13 was the first Darwin Day for Kids at CFI Indiana.  About 40 kids and 30 adults participated. The children's programs at CFI Indiana are child/parent programs.  At least one parent must accompany their child/children. 

At 10:00 am, Charles Darwin ( Craig Gosling ) appeared.  He talked about his childhood, home life, bad experiences at boarding school, and further education. Darwin was an avid collector of things such as beetles, minerals, leaves, coins, eggs feathers, sea shells, fossils, etc. Parents of each child were given samples of the things Darwin collected. Darwin explained how life began and how evolution works. Kids had a chance to compare the size and shape of their hands, feet, ears, and face with actual casts of a gorilla, orangutan, chimp, and monkey. These casts were made by Craig when he was on the medical school faculty.  Darwin told the kids about their relationship with other primates. Craig is a retired professor of medical illustration from the Indiana University School of Medicine .  He is an illustrator, sculptor, Darwin admirer, nature lover, writer, poet with books about science and superstition. 

After a pizza lunch, the children were divided into groups and took turns visiting the various stations which were set up by CFI Indiana Friends of the Center Craig Gosling, Fred Mandelkorn, Joe Oliver, Steve Silbaugh, and Margaret Schwarz.  

The title of Steven Silbaugh's station was "Building Blocks of Life and the Universe ---The Elements of the Periodic Table."  Kids had hands-on experience with both common and uncommon elements. Hopefully, they started to understand that all the world is made of elements and their combinations. When you think about it, biological evolution really acts by selecting those elements and molecule combinations (i.e. organisms) that best suit their environments.

Kids located several elements on the periodic table, experienced which are heavy and which are light and did tests to learn which moved toward or away from magnets.  For example, they learned that iron, cobalt, nickel and gadolinium are strongly magnetic, that magnesium is weakly magnetic and that bismuth and one form of carbon move away from a magnet! Europium was also a big hit, since kids could see that one of its compounds would glow if activated by a bright light.  Kids also learned that the elements with higher atomic number are radioactive. One radioactive sample was a pre WW II orange Fiestaware plate with a uranium oxide glaze.

Steven Silbaugh, PhD., is a former Eli Lilly senior research scientist and homeschool science instructor.  He did some of his early training in the same lab that did the medical testing of the first American astronauts.  During his career, his research focused on the lung.  In New Mexico, he did studies to evaluate the biological effects of air pollution and inhaled radioactive materials.  At Lilly, he did research to discover drugs to treat asthma.  His current interest is helping kids (and their parents) truly understand the most important principles of science --- plus try to do it in a fun and motivational way. 

Joe Oliver's station was on a round piece of plastic on the floor.  He covered Super Absorbent Polymers (SAPs) and their uses-–agriculture/landscaping, diapers, hazardous material cleanup, etc.  They grow as much as 500 times their original size.  The kids loved to watch them grow before their eyes and shove their hands in the slimy feeling material.  He then covered buoyancy with a ping pong ball and an air stream.  The kids were fascinated with the floating ball and learned that if the pressure below and around the sides of the ball is greater than the downward force of gravity the ball will stay in the air in one general place.  He finished with a short lesson on centripetal force with a penny in a balloon.

Joe is CFI Kids coordinator at CFI Indiana.  This group has started a series on the scientific method.  The last one was on static electricity, which the kids had more fun with than Joe ever expected.  The next one is magnetism.  Future ones will be on electricity.  The kids are picking the experiments based on what they wish to learn more about.  

Joe is the father of four freethinking children.  His wife Amber also helps out with the group.  Joe has done prior service in the Indiana Army National Guard receiving education from the Army School of Information Technology.  His civilian career has been in industrial technologies.  He currently sells electric motors and diagnostic equipment and is back in school studying biotechnology.  

Fred Mandelkorn who is a retired electrical engineer with a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania talked about light, telescopes, and stars.  This tied in with Steve's display of the elements, because the heavy elements are formed in stars and their supernovae.  Fred demonstrated imaging with a lens and light bulb, and then had the kids make a simple telescope by holding two lenses in line.  He also had a simple hand-held spectroscope (to see a "rainbow" from white light), so that kids could see that white light from an incandescent bulb is different from white light from a fluorescent lamp.  He also ran interactive computer simulations of various scientific demonstrations on a computer.  This was probably the kids' favorite activity at his station.    

Margaret Schwarz who is an avid bird watcher and member of the local Audubon Society .  Showed pictures and talked about birds and how they evolved. 

All in all it was a great day for kids and adults alike.   We are already making plans for Darwin Day for Kids, 2011.

Pictures of CFI Indiana Darwin Day for Kids 2010

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This brings back memories of the last few days of my 31 year career at Perry Meridian High School which is 5-6 miles north of Greenwood High School.  Actually, the current principal at Greenwood High School was on the staff at Perry Meridian High School at the same time that I was for a few years.

I discovered one morning that my department head was scurrying around and typing up a ballot of some sort but trying to be secretive about it.  I asked her what it was and she said that it was for the senior class to vote on whether or not a student would say a prayer at the graduation ceremony.  Immediately I said, "They can't do that."  to which she replied that they could and that the students had brought in evidence that it was legal.  She showed me a brochure that the students had given to the principal and he and she were convinced that it was legal.  

Well, it still didn't sound right to me.  So, I immediately (without telling my department head or anyone) emailed Ken Falk , Legal Director of ACLU of Indiana and Fran Quigley who at that time was Executive Director of ACLU of Indiana.  I was a board member but only a few people that I worked with knew that and I am sure my department head and principal did not know.   The environment I worked in was permeated with conservative Christians and knowing that I was on the board of such a terrible organization would not have set well with them.

Even though I was sent a copy of the letter sent to the Superintendent of the school district by ACLU, I never heard it mentioned by anyone around me.  However, the next day I heard that the vote would not take place and that the principal had called the senior officers in and explained to them why they were not taking the vote.   I don't think my department head and principal knew that I was the one who had alerted ACLU but they knew that I had objected to the vote and the prayer.  So, they were especially hush-hush around me even though I worked in the same department.

I would say that the information in the brochure that was shown to the principal by the students probably came from Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice or another similar source.  Here is a quote from their website :

Can we have student-led prayer at graduation?

Yes! In Lee v. Weisman , the Supreme Court held only that it violates the Establishment Clause for school officials to invite clergy to give prayers at commencement. Justice Kennedy made clear, for the majority, that the Court's decision was limited to the particular facts before the Court.  Thus, any change from the factual situation presented in Lee might alter the resulting opinion from the Court.

Indeed, following Lee, at least one Federal Appeals Court has ruled that "a majority of students can do what the State acting on its own cannot do to incorporate prayer in public high school graduation ceremonies."  In Jones v. Clear Creek Independent School District (Jones), a post-Lee decision, the Fifth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of a school district resolution permitting high school seniors to include a student-led invocation in their graduation ceremony if the majority of the class so votes.

A counter to this is  "Prayer in Public Schools and Graduation Ceremonies" by Dr. W. Kenneth Williams, Scholar-in-Residence Baptist Joint Committee, Washington, D.C.

Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice, a legal advocacy group established in counterpoint to the American Civil Liberties Union, has sought to capitalize on a 1993 case that the Supreme Court chose not to review. In Jones v. Clear Creek Independent School District , the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held it permissible for a student to say a "non-proselytizing, non-sectarian" prayer in graduation ceremonies, if the students voted to have prayer. The ACLJ sees the Supreme Court's choice not to hear the case as tacit approval of the lower court's resolution.

This is wrong. The Supreme Court receives more than 6,000 petitions for review annually. It accepts only a little over 100. Does this mean that the court approves of the other 5,900? No. It is simply impossible for the high court to review every case presented to it. The ACLJ is making a claim that cannot be legally supported.

I will leave the legal interpretations up to the likes of ACLU of Indiana's Ken Falk and CFI's Derek Aruajo , but I want to tell you the rest of the Perry Meridian story.  All was very secretive but I had a feeling that it was not the end of it.  So, I was not surprised when at a point in the graduation ceremony there was a pause as the president of Fellowship of Christian Athletes made her way to the stage and "spontaneously" gave a prayer.   The principal, superintendent, and at least one school board member were seated on the stage behind her and none of them made any move to interfere with a student whose name was not listed in the program just "spontaneously" coming to the stage.  Since I had supervision duty in the back of the room behind the graduates and facing the stage, I was standing right beside two of the assistant school superintendents.   They neither flinched nor registered any surprise at what happened.  I did not show any reaction either. 

The graduation exercises at Perry Meridian were always very well supervised and I had been a part of that supervision for 13 years.  Anyone else among the graduates who had made their way to the stage "spontaneously" would have been confronted and probably escorted out courtesy of the uniformed police present. 

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At that very moment, I heard someone say, "Hi, Reba."  I turned and there was my best friend from my public school teaching days, Pat.  So, I said, "Hey, you came along at just the right time.  I need a dollar so I can get a coke."

Three years ago, when a couple of people at CFI mentioned that Indiana should be thinking about opening a center, at first I was not interested at all.  Where would be get the money to support it?   I didn't want the burden of being responsible for a center and especially the financial worries of finding the money to keep it going.  I had been retired for a couple of years after spending 31 years in a building with no windows.  I was enjoying my freedom and especially being able to hike with Indianapolis Hiking Club and enjoy the great outdoors.  I felt like a bird out of a cage.  Why would I want to go back to being cooped up in an office all day?

However, I began to think about a possible location in case we did take that "leap of faith."   Criteria:  Central location.  Near the IUPUI campus.  I remembered from hikes along the downtown Canal Walk that there were office spaces there.  That would be centrally located since our membership was spread over the Indianapolis metropolitan area and it was just across the street from the IUPUI campus which includes the Indiana University School of Medicine , and the Indianapolis branch of the Indiana University Law School. 

Probably way too expensive for us to afford even if there were one available, I thought, but worth a look.   I had been at the Indiana State Capitol building for a HAPA rally concerning reproductive rights. The Capitol building is about three blocks from the Canal Walk.  It was sub zero temperature, the sidewalks were covered with ice and snow, and I was on the verge of a very bad cold.  However, I decided to brave it and take a look anyway.  So, I walked from the Capitol building, through the passage between the state office buildings, down the stairs to the Canal Walk, crossed the pedestrian bridge that spans the canal, walked about a block, and lo and behold, there was a door with a "For Lease" sign and a phone number.

Turns out the rent was much less than I had feared and I fell in love it.  Now, were I an evangelical minister, I would say that God led me to it. Right? 

So how to explain the above two incidents and the thousands of similar experiences that everyone has occasionally?  God?  No self-respecting Secular Humanist would say that!!  Pure coincidence?   Probably not. 

My friend and her husband have season tickets at IRT and it was not likely that many of my other friends would have turned up there.   So, that cut down the odds of it being pure chance.  I had in mind some criteria for a center location, I had hiked the canal walk many times and thought of looking there.  So, it was not pure chance that I found the center location.

One word for this is serendipity which The Free Dictionary by Farlex defines as (1) The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.  (2) The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.  (3) An instance of making such a discovery.  Wikipedia gives examples from Economics, Chemistry, Pharmacology, Medicine and Biology, Physics and Astronomy, Inventions, etc.  Wikipedia says, "Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally stumbles upon something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated. The word has been voted as one of the ten English words that were hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company."  However, very religious people have a simple way to explain these types of experiences, "God did it."

Then there are those times in life, much more serious than needing an extra dollar to buy a coke, when someone just happens to come along at the right time.  The country song,  Angels Among Us [minus the religious references and viewing "angels" as a metaphor for a human being who happens along to be helpful instead of a supernatural being that swoops down from sky] is one of my favorites.  We can all think of individuals who were our human "angel" during trying times in life.

Oh I believe there are angels among us. 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

They come to you and me in our darkest hours.
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.
To guide us with a light of love.

When life held troubled times, and had me down on my knees.
There's always been someone to come along and comfort me.
A kind word from a stranger to lend a helping hand.
A phone call from a friend just to say I understand.

Now ain't it kinda funny at the dark end of the road.
Someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

They wear so many faces; show up in the strangest places.
To grace us with their mercy in our time of need.

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President Obama plans to invest $900 million of the fiscal year 2011 budget in strategies to get high school graduation rates up, transform the schools by bringing in new staff and training teachers to use better techniques in the classroom.  He has enlisted, Gen. Colin Powell to work with this campaign called Grad Nation which is a 10-year effort that aims to mobilize more high school graduates to attend college and reverse the high school drop out rate.

As a 37-year veteran of public education--the last 13 as a high school guidance counselor, I would like to offer the following suggestions:

1.  Increase funding for school corporations so that they can hire more teachers and limit class sizes.  These at-risk students need more one-on-one attention.  No teacher can give them the time they need in a large class. 

2.  Increase the funding for vocational schools, update and expand these programs to provide the skills needed in today’s society.  Allow students to begin vocational training at a younger age.  Not all students have the interest and/or ability to succeed in traditional academic classes.  It has been my experience that if I could encourage a student to “hang in there” until his/her eleventh grade year when they could begin vocational school in the school system where I worked, they would most likely graduate.  However, many are lost before they reach that point. 

3.  Hold parents accountable for seeing that their children attend school.  Many students are behind in their learning because they missed too much school.  Doctor’s verification should be required if a student misses beyond a few days per year. A child cannot learn if they are not in school.

4.  Graduation requirements need to fit the ability of the student.  Many students drop out because of the increased requirements (especially in math) and their problem with passing the Graduation Qualifying Test.  The State of Indiana has the Academic Honors Diploma and the Core 40 Diploma which as designated on their transcript show that the student has pursued a rigorous college preparation curriculum.  However, to get even a Traditional Diploma a student must pass two years of college preparation level math and pass both parts of the GQE.  This is the reason some students become discouraged and drop out. A student on a traditional diploma should be required to enroll in some kind of vocational education.  Because of the cuts in funding, many of the useful electives these students would have available have been removed from the curriculum.

5.  This one is the major piece in the school dropout puzzle. It is the one over which schools have no control.  Unstable home environments are the major root cause of school dropout rates.  Nearly every student that I have seen who dropped out of school before graduation came from a conflicted home situation. Many of these students have moved from one school to another often in the middle of the year.  They have lost the continuity necessary for real mastery to take place.  Many have gone from one home situation to another and feel that no one wants them or really cares about them.  They have not learned the importance of self-discipline, motivation, and work ethic.  They don’t see a purpose to getting an education.  Schools are judged by the test scores of students who come to them with these problems. This is the piece that is most frustrating to educators and the one over which they have the least control.  However, the above suggestions would give the schools more tools to encourage these students to graduate with skills needed in today’s society. 

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Public education is the bedrock of our democracy.  The United States is unique among the countries of the world in our attempt to educate every student.   In most countries, it is only the top tier of students (maybe 20% or less) who are offered twelve years of free academic education.   Yet, our average test scores which include the 100% are compared with the top 20% from these countries.   There are studies that show that the top 20% of US students compare quite favorably with those of other advanced countries such as Germany, Japan, China, and India.  

In the film series Two Million Minutes , Robert A. Compton criticizes United States public education but draws the comparisons with students from small private schools where they have a rigorious selection process for admission.   Yet, our public schools have to take everybody.  He puts blame on teachers and vilifies Schools of Education and Teacher's organizations.  His answer is what is portrayed by these private, selective schools in the US, China, and India.  Yes, our private schools who only take the top students could compare favorably but what happens to the rest of the students who can't qualify for these schools? 

He touts that American students don't go into scientific fields while those from China and India do.  He makes a point that when American companies are looking for people in scientific fields, they go to other countries.  However, both of these countries are only educating their elite students and it is my opinon that the major motivation of American corporations is that people in these countries will work for lower wages than Americans will--not that there are no Americans capable of these jobs

At the HASTI conference recently, we met many dedicated science teachers who are working everyday to advance science education in our schools--some against overwhelming odds.  Teachers don't just work an 8-hour-day.  Most of the school day is spent with students but then there is preparation, paper grading, and extra activites beyond that.  They have to work the number of hours it takes to get the job done--not just those for which they are officially paid.   Summers are often spent
taking additional courses to keep their licenses as well as second jobs to supplement their income.  

I started my teaching career in 1962 at a salary of $4,300 and finished in 2005 at about $70,000.  In Indiana a teacher with 18 years of experience makes twice what a beginning teacher does.  After 18 years, there are no automatic raises per year for experience.  My salary was probably one of the highest in the district because I had a masters degree, the maximum credit hours above the masters degree for which extra pay was given, as a guidance counselor I was paid for three weeks more than teachers were, and I taught summer school for 20 years which added to my total  salary.   So, most teachers, especially the younger ones with families were paid much less than I was and usually worked summer jobs to supplement their incomes. 

Without the bargaining power of Indiana State Teachers Association and the National Education Association , teacher salaries would not have increased over the years as they did.  There is much criticism of "teacher's unions."  However, most any profession that is not represented by some kind of union or professional organization is still in the lower pay brackets.  ISTA and NEA are also the strongest lobbies for advances in education that benefit students. 

I will have to admit that the education courses that I took in undergraduate and graduate school were basically worthless as far as any practicality in the classroom.  However, from my contact with student teachers and younger teachers going into the profession there seems to be improvement.  No one can learn how to manage a classroom and teach in a public school by sitting in classes listening to professors--many of whom are the poorest teachers and could not survive in a public school classroom.   It has to be "on-the-job" training and the newer teacher preparation programs seem to be requiring more actual classroom observations and experiences than I ever had.   Much of teaching, especially in a public school, is somewhat of an art and depends on personality and ability to relate to students.  I found that even the most unruly student would "come around" when there was time to establish a personal rapport with them.

I plan to write some future blogs on the subject of public education and explore more of the assaults being levied against it by people with various motivations as well as propose some ideas to make public education better.  The future of our country depends on it. 

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On February 4 and 5, CFI Indiana had a booth at the HASTI Conference (Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc.) at the Indiana Convention Center .   HASTI is the Indiana affiliate of the National Science Teachers Association .   CFI Indiana's Craig Gosling designed and planned the booth and he and Chris Brown designed a special new poster which we can continue to use for future events.  

Craig is retired from the Indiana University School of Medicine where he was a medical illustrator and head of that department. Chris is one of his proteges and a current member of the illustration department at the IU medical center.   Chris has generously donated his time to help us with other projects in the past as well as this one. 

Craig has volunteered many hours at CFI Indiana leading discussions, staffing the center, designing the display in our reception area,  running shuttles to and from the airport when we have guests, and generally anything he is asked to do.  Craig has a special primate exhibit of casts of hands and feet of large primates that he made while working at the medical center.  That exhibit was a major attraction for the teachers who visited our exhibit.   He also posted a picture that people were asked to write captions and got a $100 gift card donated by Half-Priced books to give to the winner.

Craig, Steve Duerr, and I spent three days including set up and tear down at the booth.  Steve is another of my great volunteers.  He handles all the technology and audio visual equipment at the center, was in charge of our remodeling project a year ago, did a good percentage of the carpentry, dry walling, and painting on the project, plus we have a large CFI logo in our reception area which Steve made.   He runs shuttles for our guests, leads discussions, and generally does anything that needs to be done.  He is also the technical engineer and cohost of a local podcast, Freethoughtindy.com along with Craig and me. 

Two really great guys.  CFI Indiana would not be what it is without them. 

Being at the HASTI conference was a great experience for us as individuals and tremendeous exposure for CFI Indiana and CFI as a wider organization.   I am not sure how many science teachers visited our booth but we were busy most of the time.  Seventy-three signed up to be on our CFI mailing list but there were numerous others who came and looked but did not leave their emails.  They were very interested in our booth and in our organization and glad we were out there defending science.  We passed out nearly 150 buttons with the CFI logo and "Teach Science and Reason" on them which they gladly took. 

We also promoted our upcoming Darwin Day Science Conference which is March 20. We are offering a special registration fee for teachers and it has been approved by the IUPUI School of Education  for one hour of graduate credit.  So, we are hoping to see many of these science teachers again on March 20. 

Having a booth at the HASTI conference was also a profile raiser for CFI with other organizations. There were nearly 100 other organizations there including most of the universities in the state, the museums, science related companies including Eli Lilly , various organizations related to nature and science, textbook companies, as well as general sales vendors.  Several people from those booths also visited ours.

Craig comments were:

Very impressive! I met at least a hundred Indiana educators and every single one believed in evolution. They all followed the principles of science and reason, and they were dedicated to their profession. I suggested to each one, as they selected from our free fossil basket, that if they believed the earth was 6,000 years old they probably did not want to have a fossil that was over 300 million years old. Everyone laughed and took their fossils. We filled several pages with requests to receive CFI emails and program notes. The Evolution Caption Contest was a big hit.  The HASTI meeting was a great success and I hope we do it again next year. Our exhibit booth was one of the most popular at the meeting.

Last night, I watched Judgment Day--Intelligent Design on Trial  for the first time.  This is a PBS NOVA program about the landmark trial in Dover, Pennsylvania.   Barbara Forrest , who will be one of the speakers at our Darwin Day Science Conference on March 20, was a key witness at this trial.  I was extremely impressed with the science teachers from Dover who stood up against the school board's attempt to introduce intelligent design into their classrooms. 

Science teachers are natural allies in our defense of science and reason.  We need to continue to make more efforts to network with them. 

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You're Invited To A
Celebration of Life
with George W. Bush
and Sandi Patti
to benefit
Life Centers
Thursday, April 14, 7:00 PM
Conseco Fieldhouse
Indianapolis

and on the back side

Life Centers welcomes
George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States,
as keynote speaker for the
27th Annual
Celebration of Life
Join us for an inspiring evening with George Bush
and Grammy Award-winning artist Sandi Patty!
Thursday, April 14, 7pm
Concert Seating - Doors open and concessions available at 6pm
Learn about our life-saving mission at lifecenters.com
For tickets, visit ticketmaster.com, call 1-800-745-3000
or visit the Conseco Fieldhouse Box Office.

Sure, I would like to celebrate life.   I have a good life with no financial worries, a roof over my head, family, friends, good health, etc.  Sure, I would like to celebrate life.   However, even before I investigated further, my intuition told me that this was not the kind of life celebration that would draw me to it.  The address on the postcard was not "resident" but had my name.  What mailing list did they get this from?  

Conseco Fieldhouse is the home of the Indiana Pacers and seats 18,345.  I would imagine that the rental price is a hefty sum. Sponsors listed for this event are Hendricks Regional Health and St Vincents Health . 

As I as I went to the Life Center website , I discovered that:

Helping women in unexpected pregnancy situations is a special way of sharing Christ's compassion, love, and hope. Life Centers affirms the value of life in this way by providing a network of care that includes counseling, healing support, and resources that explain the truth about life.

The mission of Life Centers is to affirm the value of life by providing a network of care to those experiencing pregnancy-related crisis and by compassionately presenting biblical truth resulting in changed lives to the glory of God.

Ministry Overview:
Life Centers is a pregnancy resource center based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1982, Life Centers provides compassionate care to thousands of women facing unplanned pregnancies each year in Central Indiana.

At our eight pregnancy centers our dedicated staff and volunteers provide confidential, free services including pregnancy tests, ultrasound exams, peer counseling, support services (such as diapers, bottles, maternity and baby clothing, etc.) and post-abortion support groups.

At the heart of our life-saving mission is our passion to proclaim biblical truth that results in changed lives to the glory of God. We believe the love and salvation found in Jesus Christ is the hope for those facing unplanned pregnancies.

Except for all the religious references which give me reason to be suspicious, this sounds as if they are really helping women in difficult situations. 
 
Statement of Faith: [ the bolding is mine ]

The National Association of Evangelicals Statement of Faith has been adopted by both Care Net and Life Centers. All employees and volunteers of Life Centers adhere to the following basic Biblical truths:

1.We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible authoritative Word of God.

2.We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

3.We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

4.Life Centers is committed to integrity in dealing with clients , earning their trust, and providing promised information and services. Life Centers denounces any form of deception in its corporate advertising or individual conversations with its clients.

5.Life Centers is committed to assisting women to carry to term by providing emotional support and practical assistance. Through the provision of God's people and the community at large, women may face the future with hope and plan constructively for themselves and their babies.

6.Life Centers does not discriminate in providing services because of race, creed, color, national origin, age or marital status of its clients.

7. Life Centers does not recommend, provide, or refer for abortion or abortifacients . 

8.Life Centers offers assistance free of charge at all times.

9.Life Centers is committed to creating awareness within the local community of the needs of pregnant women, and of the fact that abortion only compounds human need rather than resolving it.

10. Life Centers does not recommend, provide, or refer single women for contraceptives. (Married women seeking contraceptive information should be urged to seek counsel, along with their husbands, from their pastors and/or physicians.)

11.Life Centers recognizes the validity of adoption as an alternative to abortion, but is not biased toward adoption when compared to the other life-saving alternatives. Life Centers is independent of adoption agencies, relating to them in the same manner as to other helpful referral sources. Life Centers receives no payment of any kind from these agencies, does not enter into contractual relationships with them, and does not share combined office space. Adoption agencies are not established under the auspices of centers. Life Centers neither initiates nor facilitates independent adoptions, though they may refer for independent adoptions in states where it is legal.             

They have a state approved "Choose Life" license plate from which they receive $25 for each plate sold. 

On Larry King Live last week, there was a discussion of Focus on the Family's ad that is scheduled to run during the Super Bowl.  Here is an exchange between Terry O'Neil , President of National Organization for Women (NOW) and Jim Daly , President and CEO of Focus on the Family :

O'NEILL: Focus on the Family is actually one of the most extreme anti-abortion groups around there, you know. And -- and you fund these crisis pregnancy centers that have been shown -- there's a report out of Congress. Henry Waxman's committee issued a report on crisis pregnancy centers using false and deceptive practices in their efforts simply to convince women -- no matter what was good for the woman -- to continue a pregnancy...

KING: Do...

O'NEILL: ...because Focus on the Family thinks that's the right thing to do.   

DALY: And it was paid for by just a handful of friends that are supporters of Focus on the Family.

Later on the same program, Andrea Tantaros , the conservative commentator and columnist and  James Carville , CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist had the following exchange: 

CARVILLE: Would the National Organization for Women -- in a free country, would you afford them the chance to buy an ad on CBS also?

TANTAROS: Sure, why not? It's a free country. You advocate for free speech.

CARVILLE: Yeah, again, I don't -- again.

TANTAROS: They don't have the money to do it.

CARVILLE: If they pay the money, Tim Tebow -- I don't really have a problem with running the ad either. But once CBS -- that's fine. Once CBS has opened this door, there will be advocacy groups buying for ads, I guess, if they can raise the money. We'll see. That's fine.

KING: Andrea, what do you make about the gay Internet dating service being denied an ad?

TANTAROS: Look, Larry, if there's one thing we can all agree on, on this panel, it's free speech. James, I've heard you argue for it many times and I think that we have that right in this country. Focus on the Family just happens to have the money to do it and I'm glad that they can do it.

KING: So did the gay Internet dating service. Why shouldn't they get their free speech on?

TANTAROS: Hey, that's CBS' issue. That's another thing that we have, private industry, where businesses and networks can make their own decisions. Hopefully, that doesn't change either.

CARVILLE: Well, I don't quite understand. You're saying that Focus on the Family -- it's a free country, and they ought to be able to have the ad. But that the gay dating service shouldn't.

TANTAROS: I never said the gay dating service shouldn't. I never said the gay dating service shouldn't.

CARVILLE: OK. We're in agreement then. We're in vigorous agreement here.

Celebrate life. Wouldn't if be fantastic if CFI Indiana had the money to rent Conseco Fieldhouse for a celebration of the Exuberant Secular Humanist life?   Wouldn't it be great if CFI had the money to air an ad during the Super Bowl?  Oh, but the gay dating service had the money but still weren't allowed to air their ad and after all CBS is a private company and can decide what ads it airs. On the other hand if we did have the money, I like what Terry O'Neil said, "Well, the truth is, if I had $2.5 million, I wouldn't give it to CBS. I would be using it to advocate equality for women."

Why is it that the right-to-lifers will go to any expense and deception to interfere with a woman's right to choose instead of using that money to feed the millions of children throughout the world who are starving to death?  That would be a true celebration of life. It is not surprising which side the former President is on.

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Not all change is good.  Sometimes it is wise to wait and let nature take its course.  Some problems just naturally solve themselves.  Sometimes drastic and quick action is necessary.   Most change takes time.  The great social changes evolved over a stretch of many years--the abolition of slavery, civil rights, women's rights, rights of workers, etc. 

Some situations and problems are very complicated.  There is no simple solution and for every positive consequence of an action there may well be a negative unintended consequence.  It is a delicate balance. 

On January 27, 2010, just one year after the inauguration of President Barack Obama who promised hope and change, many Americans are very disillusioned.   They believed in "The Audacity of Hope" in "Change We Can Believe In."  They supported, admired, and placed their trust in a new charismatic leader.  The first President with African ancestry symbolized a triumph over racism.  It sent a message that if a child of mixed race, raised by a single parent, grandson of average middle class Americans and native Africans could become President of the United States, any child could achieve that dream.

However, overshadowing the triumphant celebration loomed many dire problems.  Thousands of people were losing their jobs and their homes.   Thousands did not have health care.  The whole economy was way out of balance.   Businesses were closing. There was a war going on and many, many problems worldwide involving hunger, disease, corrupt governments, and religious and territorial rivalries. 

Yes, many Americans expected this new, awesome President to solve all the problems in the space of an average TV show--well at least between his inaugural and his first state of the union address.

But then there were other Americans, who saw in this new President a challenge to their universe.  Was it racism?  Was it fear of losing their special privileges?   Was it fear of the government taking over services that had traditionally been left to the private sector?  There were media figures and politicians who fanned and exploited that fear with misinformation and exaggeration. There were politicians who said "no" to anything and everything that the new President proposed.   Was it purely for their own political gain?  Were they following the lead of the media pundit who stated that he wanted President Obama to fail?

Looking ahead to the second year of the Obama administration, we Americans need to be more patient.  It is my fear that especially the young voters who worked so hard for President Obama's campaign will be so disillusioned that they will be reluctant to continue to participate.  If this happens, the opposition wins. 

Those who believe in the programs advocated by President Obama need to continue to support and speak out.  Those who are spreading misinformation, fanning the flames of hysteria, and thinking only of their own political future need to stop and think about what they are doing to our country.  People of all opinions need to think rationally, weigh the evidence available, and work together to solve the problems of our country and the world.

Change we can believe in takes time.  We can't just sit and wait for it to happen.  We need to work toward it.  However, we should not expect miracles to happen in the space of a TV show (including commercials).

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January 7, 2010

The Honorable Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.
Office of the Governor
Indiana State Capitol Building
200 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Dear Governor Daniels:

In a recent interview with News Channel 15 in Fort Wayne, IN, you made statements that reflect your lack of understanding of the nonreligious point of view.

Based on The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, U.S. Religious Landscape Study, 2008 , persons who are unaffiliated with any religion constitute 16% of the Indiana population (the same as the national percentage). This makes the “unaffiliated” the fourth largest group in Indiana behind Evangelical Protestants (34%), Mainline Protestants(22%), and only two percentage points behind Catholics at 18%.  In a more recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 40% of Hoosiers indicated that religion is not important in their lives. 

In your remarks, you referred to people whose world view is not based on “faith” as atheists.   While some prefer the term atheist, others prefer such terms as agnostic, freethinker, secular humanist, or scientific naturalist.  Some who identify as a “none” on a religious survey consider themselves to be religious or spiritual in their own way but do not identify with any organized religion. 

I respect your referring to yourself as a “Matthew 6 Christian” who keeps his religious expressions private.   A public official is certainly entitled to his/her own personal religious beliefs but should (as you said in your interview) “take very seriously the responsibility to treat my public duties in a way that keeps separate church and state and respects alternative views.”

Respecting alternative views entails refraining from making derogatory remarks about atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, and the non-religious. I take strong exception to your statement on WANE-TV on December 24, 2009 that “Atheism leads to brutality.  All horrific crimes of the last century were committed by atheists—Stalin and Hitler and Mao and so forth—because it flows very naturally from an idea that there is no judgment and there is nothing other than the brief time we spend on this Earth.”   This statement is simply false and is demeaning to those of us who are not religious. 

Aside from being historically inaccurate—Hitler was a Roman Catholic who wrote in Mein Kampf, and said in various reprehensible speeches, that he was “acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator”—your statement ignores the vast majority of atheists and non-believers who live upstanding, moral lives.

The Center for Inquiry-Indiana is the largest organization in Indiana that provides a community for those who prefer to base their world view on science and reason rather than faith.   We are a branch of the Center for Inquiry, which has NGO status at the United Nations and works on human rights issues there.   We have an Office of Public Policy in Washington, DC and advocate for many causes with which I am sure you would agree.  Our Indiana branch networks with other organizations locally to do the same. 

The mission of the Center for Inquiry is to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. I am enclosing a copy of Affirmations of Humanism which states the basic principles on which Center for Inquiry is based.   I don’t think you will find any general disagreement with these principles. 

The Center for Inquiry is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and as such cannot take a stand for or against a particular political party or candidate.  We do take a stand on certain issues.  As individuals, some of us have supported you because we agreed particularly with your efforts to attract high tech science oriented businesses to Indiana.

 As “freethinkers” we represent a diversity of opinions on specific issues.  Consequently, some will support your policies on certain issues and some will not.  We are evidence-oriented in our approach to life and base our decisions on which candidate and/or party to support on what we view as the best outcomes and consequences for all concerned.

The Center for Inquiry-Indiana is located at 350 Canal Walk, Suite A, less than 5 blocks from your office.   I invite you to contact me and make an appointment to come and tour our center and learn more about us. 

Sincerely,

Reba Boyd Wooden
Executive Director
Center for Inquiry-Indiana 

[Thanks to Derek Aruajo , CFI Vice President and General Counsel, for his editing and suggestions which made my letter better.] 

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Our country was founded--this is just an historic fact; some people today may resist this notion but it is absolutely true--it was founded by people of faith. It was founded on principles of faith. The whole idea of equality of men and women [and] of the races all springs from the notion that we're all children of a just God. It is very important to at least my notion of what America's about and should be about and I hope it's reflected most of the time in the choices that we make personally.

. . . People who reject the idea of a God -who think that we're just accidental protoplasm- have always been with us. What bothers me is the implications -which not all such folks have thought through- because really, if we are just accidental, if this life is all there is, if there is no eternal standard of right and wrong, then all that matters is power. And atheism leads to brutality. All the horrific crimes of the last century were committed by atheists -Stalin and Hitler and Mao and so forth- because it flows very naturally from an idea that there is no judgment and there is nothing other than the brief time we spend on this Earth.

Everyone's certainly entitled in our country to equal treatment regardless of their opinion. But yes, I think that folks who believe they've come to that opinion ought to think very carefully, first of all, about how different it is from the American tradition; how it leads to a very different set of outcomes in the real world.

These remarks came from the person who received the Man of Achievement Award from the Anti Defamation League on November 23, 2009.    So are atheists the only group left the governor can bash and still get such an award?

I heard Governor Daniels make similar remarks at a luncheon I attended on November 10, 2005.  This was a luncheon held at Primo Banquet Hall where 1000 "faith leaders" were fed at the expense of Indiana taxpayers to the tune of at least $15,000.

So how did I happen to be there?  (I felt like a spy.)  Well, because of going with the group from Indy CARD (Coalition Against Religious Discrimination) to talk with Ms Parker-Sawyers one day, I was on the email list for the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives .  So, I got an email invitation to this event.  When I accepted the invitation, I got another email which said that the invitation was not suppose to go to their whole mailing list but just to those who lived in the state.  I replied that I did live in the state. 

The next email said that it was only for “faith leaders” in the state of Indiana.  So I emailed back “so am I to understand that we secular people are not included.”  The next email came from a person further up the chain, David Liebel, which said, “Rhonda Dalton shared your email correspondence with me, and asked if I would respond to your question.  The 2005 Governor’s Luncheon for Faith Leaders is geared towards the clergy, staff, and lay leaders of faith-based organizations in Indiana.  For the luncheon, the definitions of leader and faith-based organization are up the individual.  My view is that if someone is interested enough to attend, they are more than welcome.”  So I responded that I would be there. 

There was no question from the beginning that this was a religious affair from the personal testimony of Paula Parker-Sawyers , the director and emcee for the affair, to the prayer, to the songs by the choir, to Governor Daniel’s speech, to the introduction of the board members.

The choir from an Indianapolis Charter school (chartered by the Mayor--one teacher told me) sang religious songs.  The governor extolled his personal faith, praised the leaders of faith, etc.  He said that every president had been a person of faith and that faith was built into all of our founding documents, and that all governments that had not been based on faith in a higher power have been very bad, that faith was necessary for democracy, etc.  He made no allowances for people without “faith.” He made some kind of remark to the effect that people who did not have faith were ????.  (I didn’t get the exact word and don’t want to misquote him.) Then, he listed Separation of Church and State as one of our basic liberties. ???? 

Then came the introduction of board members (quite a crowd)--all were “faith leaders.”  The community part of this seemed to have gotten lost somewhere in the translation of the name of the office.  I heard one Jewish leader and one Muslim but all the rest appeared to be Christian of some kind.  It appeared to me to be skewed toward Catholic and Conservative Christian.  I heard at least one Methodist and one Presbyterian. 

I wrote about my experience and sent it to our CFI Community of Indiana mailing list.  However, I finally just chalked it up to political pandering to an audience he assumed were all religious and agreed with him.  If they have held such an affair since 2005, I have not been invited.

PZ Myers, in his blog titled, " I'm So Sorry for you, Indiana," says, "But then, you elected this profoundly stupid man to be your governor, so it's all you own fault."   and, "I hope you do better in your next election, Indiana. Try to find someone who doesn't confuse faith with justice next time, OK?"

Well, I will have to admit that I voted for him for reelection in 2008 and have defended him to other people.  Why?   I certainly did not like what I saw and heard at the luncheon in 2005 but marked that off (as I said above) to pandering to the audience he thought he was speaking to.  Not an admirable thing to do--but what politician has not done this?  Aside from that, he has not seemed so right-wing to me. 

When the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Indiana [We already have a law forbidding it.] was debated in the legislature, he did not speak out in favor of it nor openly encourage its passage.  It was even rumored that he worked behind the scenes against it because he thought it would hamper his efforts to attract high tech businesses to Indiana. 

Working to attract bio tech industry to Indiana has been one of his strengths which seems to be proscience.  From a fiscal standpoint, Indiana was in better shape than most states when the recession hit.  The same could not be said about job losses, however. 

Another indication to me that he was not at the right-wing extreme, was that he did not campaign for the 2008 GOP Presidential ticket and when Sarah Palin visited Indiana on more than one occasion, he did not even go to the rally.  Another deciding factor for me was that, in my opinion, the Democrats did not run a candidate against him who had strong leadership skills. 

So, why now this public discussion of religion and atheist bashing?  A person who posted on my facebook page said, "Now that Daniels has his eyes on a presidential run, we should expect his quick decent into conservative party lunacy. I'm sure he'll be lashing out at gay marriage, the homosexual agenda, womens right's, and yes--why don't we teach the "controversy."

A post on The Atlantic Politics Channel, June 5, 2009 titled "2012: Is Mitch Daniels The Future Of the GOP?" states:

In today's Washington Examiner, Byron York prods into Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels' potential future as GOP savior and flag-bearer in 2012. As York notes, Daniels is immensely popular in his home state--in fact, his 69 percent approval rating is 16 points higher than Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's, and his 68 percent favorable rating is six points higher than President Obama's. On top of that, he won reelection by a hefty margin of 18 points in 2008 even as Obama carried the state.

Mitch says he won't run but where have we heard that before?   A run for the presidency would be hard for any ambitious politician to turn  down and it is rare that anyone has. 

Matt Tully, columnist for the Indianapolis Star , on December 27, 2009, posed the "Top Ten List of Political Questions, Races, Moves, and More to Watch in 2010:"

1. The Battle Royale in Indiana will be the race to win control of the Indiana House. Gov. Mitch Daniels would love to have Republicans back in control in the legislature during the final two years of his term and his GOP has been working hard to recruit candidates.

6.  Daniels is not on the ballot next year, but 2010 looks to be a big year for him.  The Statehouse races will help determine the fate of his agenda in 2011 and 2012.  Moreover, political observers will watch obsessively for any hints at a national run.  

Here is a partial summary of an interview on Point of Inquiry , November 6, 2009 with Frank Shaeffer , author of, Crazy for God and  son of Francis Schaeffer , a leading founder of the Religious Right:

He details how his relationships were affected by his leaving the movement. He explains exactly how fundamentalist Christianity took over the Republican Party. He describes the anti-democratic and anti-American elements within Evangelical Christianity. He draws a direct line from the worldview promoted by the Religious Right to the Tea Party movement, the rise of Glen Beck and Sarah Palin, the recent murder or Dr. George Tiller, and the use of biblical passages calling for the assassination of President Obama.

He shows how the Religious Right actively wants America to fail, in order to prove that it has taken the wrong path in adopting secular, democratic and humanist values. He explores how evangelical "foot soldiers" are often used by secular neoconservatives to advance political aims seemingly unrelated to Christianity, such as energy deregulation and public policies in support of the insurance lobby.

So, has Mitch Daniels been a not-so-closeted right-winger all along?  Or is it the reality that if he wants to be a candidate for higher office on the GOP ticket that has pulled him more to the right?  Way to go, Mitch! Start bashing those terrible atheists! That should endear you to those RRRs (Religious Right Republicans).  And, after all, we may be the only group you can bash and still get an award from the Anti Defamation League.

Other blogs on this topic include:

Freethought Fort Wayne

Blog Hag Blog

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