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CFI Indiana Celebrates Success

December 31, 2009

Dear Friends,

The year 2009 has been busy and productive for CFI Indiana.  The total attendance at events was more than 4,220.  We added 427 new contacts to our mailing list and 68 new Friends of the Center.   Our family activities—CFI Kids and Secular Family Network—also grew in numbers and events and we started a new 20s/30s group, which is attracting more young adults to the Center.  Each month at our Café Inquiry program we hosted various scientists and enjoyed interesting discussions on medicine and mental health, religion, and other topics.  We had fun at the Annual CFI picnic and two parties at the homes of CFI Indiana Friends of the Center.  Also, thanks to our growing membership and support, we were able to host eleven special out-of-town speakers, a CFI Indiana Institute,  and the first CFI Secular Celebrant training, a new program which will enable secular people to have secular officiants for their special milestones in life.  We've also been working with other organizations in our community including the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign, and we garnered several major articles in the local press . 

Special Guest Speakers included:

• Annie Laurie Gaylor —“Women Without Superstition—No Gods No Masters”
• Susan Sackett —“Humanism in Star Trek”
• Nica Lalli —“Nothing: Something to Believe In
• James “the Amazing” Randi —meet and greet
• Dale McGowan —parenting workshop—“Raising Freethinking Kids”
• Ibn Warraq —“Current State of Koranic Studies” and “Religion, Science, and History: A Discourse on Historical Methodology”
• Bob Price —“Now Accepting Implications: ‘Thorough-going Skepticism’ as the Inevitable Result of Biblical Criticism” and  “Surprised by Myth”
• John Shook —“Why Be Skeptical Towards Religion?”
• Jeff Schweitzer —“Beyond Cosmic Dice: Moral Life in a Random World”
• Tom Flynn —“ Robert Ingersoll : The Most Remarkable American Most People Never Heard Of”
• Richard Dawkins —over 100 of our members went to Indiana University in Bloomington to hear him speak
  

Indiana Institute

• Religion Under Examination: with Ibn Warraq, Bob Price, and John Shook

Community Outreach

• Spirit and Place Festival —partnered with the German American Society and The Athenaeum Foundation for a program titled, “Inspiring Places— Magnificent Victory Monument for Rational Outlook on Life —Das Deutches House/Athenaeum”
• Reba was on “Faces of Faith” panel at Wishard Hospital and Indiana University Medical Center
• English as a New Language –offered every week for people learning and/or improving English skills
• Food Collection and packing for Gleaners Food Bank.
• Care package for troops in Iraq.
• Worked with other progressive organizations in the community on issues of mutual interest.
• Allowed other organizations to use our center for their meetings

Local Press Articles

• NUVO: articles on Annie Laurie Gaylor, Susan Sackett, and Jeff Schweitzer programs
• Indianapolis Star:   Op-Ed column by Fran Quigley, “A Place for Inquiring Minds”
• Front page article "Religious Skeptics Have Faith Their Voices Will Be Heard"
• Mentioned in several articles concerning the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign.  

Upcoming Special Events for 2010

Religion Under Examination—Intensive Sessions— After our Religion Under Examination conference September 11-13, some attendees expressed interest in learning more about the topics discussed and being able to spend more time with the speakers.  So, the following all day, intensive sessions have been scheduled with each of the speakers.  Click here for more information.  It is not necessary that you attended the conference in September in order to attend these intensive sessions. These sessions will be held at CFI Indiana, 350 Canal Walk, Suite A, Indianapolis.

Saturday, January 16, 2010— Ibn Warraq
Saturday, February 20, 2010— Bob Price
Saturday, April 17, 2010— John Shook 

Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc. (HASTI)— 40th Annual Conference, Professional Development for Indiana Science Teachers, "A Defining Moment--HASTI Goes XL," February 3-5, 2010, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN. CFI Indiana will have an information booth at this conference.  This is a great opportunity to promote science, CFI in general, and our upcoming Darwin Day Science Conference.  Click here for more information.

Darwin Day for Kids— Saturday, March 13, all day, Center for Inquiry Indiana, 350 Canal Walk, Suite A, Indianapolis. There will be plenty of educational and enjoyable science activities for kids.  Joe Oliver and other CFI parents are organizing this.  Several CFI members will be presenting activities for the kids.

Darwin Day Science Conference— Saturday, March 20, all day, IUPUI Campus Center, 40l University Boulevard, Indianapolis.  Sponsored by CFI Indiana and IUPUI Freethinkers.  This will be the fourth Darwin Day Conference sponsored by these two organizations.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Dr. Barbara Forrest , Professor of Philosophy, Southeastern Louisiana University, expert witness in Kitzmiller v Dover Area School District, and coauthor of Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design
• Dr. Michael Zimmerman , Professor of Biology, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN, and founder of the Clergy Letter Project and Evolution Weekend
• Ms. Toni Van Pelt , Director of Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy
• Ms. Lauren Becker , Vice President for Outreach, Center for Inquiry Transnational
• Ms Denise Sobieski, Indiana Science Teacher
• Dr. Jeremy J. Wilson , Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, IUPUI

Invited Speakers:

• Dr. Eric Meslin , Director of Indiana University Center for Bioethics
• Dr. David Orentlicher , Professor of Law, Indiana School of Law and CoDirector, Center for Law and Health, member of Indiana House of Representatives , 2002-2008

We need your help in order to maintain our center and to continue to bring you quality programming.   Please become a Friend of the Center and/or make a donation .   All donations above the basic membership are tax deductible.

Or, help us celebrate our 10th Anniversary by giving "10 for 10!"

Visit our secure on-line donation page  and give what you can to support 10 more years of Indiana freethought.

Thank you for your on-going support throughout 2009!  We're all looking forward to another successful year.

Sincerely,

Reba Boyd Wooden
Executive Director
Center for Inquiry Indiana
317-423-0710
rwooden@centerforinquiry.net