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Volunteer Opportunities with the
Center for Inquiry

Get involved with the campus freethought movement on the international scale! You can contribute your knowledge and wisdom as an experienced campus group leader, or donate your design or writing skills.

CFI is looking for student volunteers to advance reason, science, and freedom of inquiry on campuses at the national or international level. Below are brief descriptions of the volunteer committees:

Activism: The chair of the committee works in coordination with CFI's new Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C., to help implement grassroots activism campaigns.

Digital Media Outreach: assists in creating multimedia resources for the CFI On Campus website and viral videos for outreach.

Promotions: designs campus promotional materials including stickers, buttons, brochures, flyers, and posters.

Podcast: contributes to the Course of Reason, CFI's new podcast highlighting campus freethought activism.

Publications: helps coordinate revisions of CFI's Campus Group Organizing Guide and contributes to the Campus Inquirer, the Secular Humanist Bulletin, and other publications at CFI.

Web: assists in developing and expanding CFI's campus website.

To get involved with a committee or for more information about the committees, e-mail Debbie Goddard at dgoddard [at] centerforinquiry.net.

Opinion:
Reflections on Crackergate

by Max Jackson, Campus Freethought Alliance at UCF

One Sunday, Webster Cook found himself under attack, verbally and physically, during a Mass hosted by Campus Catholic Ministries at the University of Central Florida. Why? For walking away with the Eucharist wafer rather than putting it in his mouth. He would tell you that he just wanted to show it to his friend. The Florida media would tell you that he was just an immature, destructive troublemaker (or according to Fox News, committing a hate crime).

Regardless of his intent, there resulted a violent altercation. Webster was verbally and physically coerced towards either returning the Eucharist or swallowing it. He stubbornly refused to do either, confused and indignant at the startling and unexpected violence. He walked away with the Eucharist, keeping it in a drawer in his home until he could speak with a bishop about the use of violence in its attempted reclamation.

This is when the sensationalism started. "BODY OF CHRIST HELD HOSTAGE" wailed one over-dramatized headline, with videos of teary-eyed priests begging Webster to return this most precious of artifacts. Webster was portrayed as an immature, attention-craving rogue, and the Catholic world tore into him.

There are some dark, bitter ironies to all of this, foremost being the acronym "WWJD?" that was more likely than not in that room somewhere on that day. What would Jesus have done? I might be ignorant about it, but my shallow understanding of Christianity indicates that Jesus would more closely resemble Webster here than the Catholics—which isn't to give him messianic implications. Webster acted very stubbornly, and the entire incident could easily have been avoided had he acquiesced to their demands and returned the cracker during the service. His actions, however stubborn, were nevertheless in the right.

There are some even worse implications here, and if you are reading this then you and I probably share the same views on them. There were legions of people who would have proudly murdered Webster and his family, the promised heavenly reward fueling their defiance of man's mortal law. Ironic that many of those who craved Webster's blood on their hands were likely the same people who wept for the innocent lives tragically lost on September 11th. Ask yourself this: how would America have reacted had Webster stepped on Muslim toes?

We cannot afford to ignore the implications here. Religion has its good and its bad, but its worst evils are far from gone. It is important for the faithful and skeptical alike to recognize the need for reform, for compassion, for a rational approach to life. The West is not immune from evil, and an unfortunate many of those who point the finger at the Muslim world for being backwards are guilty of the same faults.

The incident is largely behind us, but the lessons remain: promoting free inquiry in a world that craves emotional satisfaction over truth will prove difficult and highly challenging. Ours is a battle not just against religion and superstition, but against human nature itself. However, progress continues, and with hard work and dedicated effort, we can all make a difference.

Max Jackson is president of the Campus Freethought Alliance at the University of Central Florida and is a Campus Regional Director for the Center for Inquiry. He is majoring in psychology and political science and minoring in anthropology.

The Center for Inquiry is Hiring!

The Center for Inquiry is looking for an additional web developer, so please help us spread the word. Salary and benefits are competitive.

Web Developer

Description:
A Web Developer for the Center for Inquiry will help to revitalize and maintain the web presence of an international non-profit organization. Responsibilities include: maintaining our current PHP-based systems as well as several static HTML sites, and occasionally designing email messages. Benefits include health insurance, creative freedom, and plenty of learning opportunities in an intellectually stimulating environment.

Required Qualifications:

At least one year web development experience
Thorough understanding of standards-compliant XHTML/CSS and JavaScript
Basic image editing skills (Adobe Photoshop)
Creative, enthusiastic, and flexible with the ability to embrace new technologies

Preferred Qualifications:

Ruby, Python, and PHP programming experience
Expertise with Ruby on Rails or comparable web application frameworks
Experience using and maintaining SQL databases such as MySQL
Comfortable at the command-line of UNIX servers
A history of involvement in the open-source software community

How to Apply:
Email cover letter, resume, and portfolio link to azoppa [at] centerforinquiry.net.

CFI Leadership Conference 2008 Wrap-up

Amherst, NY – Over ninety student group leaders from across North America converged at CFI Transnational July 17 - 20 for the fourth annual "Convocation of Centers and Communities for Inquiry," which also featured concurrent sessions on campus freethought activism. It was a busy weekend packed with workshops, presentations, lectures, and social and networking opportunities.

Paul Kurtz with CFI Leadership Conference attendees

More than 55 institutions were represented at the conference, including students and faculty from the following schools:

Aquinas College * Bates College * Bentley College * Broward College * Cal State Northridge * Camosun College * Carleton University * Carnegie Mellon University * Case Western Reserve University * Cherry Creek High School * College of William and Mary * Dalhousie University * Edison College * Edmonds-Woodway High School * Furman University * Grand Valley State University * Indiana University Bloomington * IUPUI * McMaster University * Michigan State University * Minnesota State University Moorhead * Mount Royal College * The New School * North Lake College * North Seattle Community College * North Union High School * Oklahoma State University * Portland State University * Rochester Institute of Technology * Rollins College * Roosevelt University * Ryerson University * Stanford University * SUNY at Buffalo * SUNY Brockport * Temple University * Texas Wesleyan University * University of Alberta * University of British Columbia * University of Calgary * UC Berkeley * UC Irvine * UCLA * UCSB * Université de Montréal * University of Central Florida * University of Cincinnati College of Medicine * University of Delaware * University of Florida * University of Guelph * University of Idaho * University of Illinois at Chicago * University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign * University of Northern Iowa * University of Ontario Institute of Technology * University of Ottawa * UT Austin * UT Dallas * University of Toronto * University of Victoria * University of Washington * University of Waterloo * University of Western Ontario * Utah State University * Wilfrid Laurier University * York University * and others

The event was one of the most well-attended CFI conferences in recent years dedicated to training grassroots freethought leaders. The Center for Inquiry invested tens of thousands of dollars in the event to keep the student registration fee low and to ensure that group leaders would be able to attend from all across North America. CFI would like to give a special thanks to the many donors and supporters who made it possible to bring these students to the conference. To help support CFI's campus outreach program, please click here.

Attendees left the conference enthusiastic and excited to continue the forward momentum, with many volunteering to work directly with CFI to advance reason and freedom of inquiry at the national and international level. Read on for summaries from two of the students.

Michael Garrett Amini
Secular Student Union
University of Washington

"It's so odd to see him in person...I'm just used to hearing his voice on my iPod."

"I know it! I keep waiting to hear him talk about how much he loves Audible.com," I replied to fellow student Eric Magro, who was enjoying D.J. Grothe's presentation every bit as much as I was.

Where I come from, religion is quaint, and beliefs are kept personal, if they are held at all. Seattle is one of the most atheistic cities in the States (and one of the most well-read cities as well, oddly enough), and the coalition of the militant faithful may as well be fighting on foreign ground. I tune in to various podcasts and newsfeeds, mapping the wins and losses of the 21st Century culture war, and eagerly listen to the news from the far-off lands of Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, and New York.

Sitting amidst my heroes on the other edge of the country, I couldn't help but surge with excitement. A thought bounced through my mind as I shook hands with Paul Kurtz...some quote about the shoulders of giants. Every new introduction was as astounding as the last as I made my way through the faces, young, old, and in denial. I could feel the passion behind every handshake. I could see compassion behind every smile. Here, I thought to myself, is one of the greatest collections of minds I have ever seen. These are the people that would die fighting for the rights of humanity.

Kurtz leads a toast to the Convocation; Michael workshops with group leaders

It was an honor to be a part of the conference. I was inspired and humbled by the stories I heard from my new friends, and as we discussed various ideas to further our campus groups, I began to see the true strength of the Center for Inquiry.

As romantic as the notion is, a lone voice of reason just isn't enough anymore. Geographic distance means less and less as we become increasingly networked, facebooked, myspaced, twittered, text messaged, wiki-ed, and iPhoned. The fate of what was once a fortress of freethought solitude in the West is now intrinsically tied to the fate of the entrenched South, the embattled East, and even that of our friends above the 49th Parallel. CFI International is needed more today than at any other time in its existence.

As I sat down on the airplane for the long flight home, the pastor seated next to me introduced himself politely. Noticing my T-shirt, he asked, "CFI? What's that?"

The kind pastor ended up giving me a ride home from the airport.

Michael Garrett Amini is currently enrolled full time at the University of Washington, where he is the president of the Secular Student Union. He is 21 years old, and currently in minor pentatonic with a blue note.

Rodrigo Neely-Recuero
Atheists, Humanists, and Skeptics
University of Texas at Dallas

The CFI Student Leadership Conference brought together almost a hundred campus activists and leaders committed to promoting freethought. The experience of being around so many like-minded individuals was refreshing and encouraging, to say the least. A great many bonds were formed, we were trained in workshops on how to be more effective, and we got to see a great many delightful lectures from intellectual giants like Paul Kurtz, Robert M. Price, Austin Dacey, and Joe Nickell.

As nice as all that was, I came away with more than just self-congratulatory affirmations. On the first day of the conference the issue of semantics came up, atheist vs. freethinker vs. agnostic vs. whatever. The use of semantics is important and difficult for our groups, with varying consequences for different words. Most of these words are vague at best. But from this conference I came away with the importance of using two terms, and perhaps even replacing many of these terms with these. The two terms are "secular humanist"—referring to the positive nonreligious ethics of Paul Kurtz and other philosophers—and the other is "naturalist"—which refers to the use of science and nature as a foundation for knowledge. I realized that these terms carry clear and positive meanings, which are clearly spelled out and actually represent a worldview as opposed to the lack of one. The result is that I have finally become confident that the term Secular Humanist describes what I am, and Naturalism defines how I interpret the world I live in.

D.J. Grothe

There was also a controversial talk given by D.J. Grothe about our cultural competitors, such as the Campus Crusade for Christ and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (which gave us Dinesh D'Souza and Ann Coulter). D.J. essentially made the case that though we are freethinkers, and we are hesitant to be too homogenous, perhaps the time has come for us to be more organized, more disciplined, and more focused about promoting and securing the process of free inquiry in society. This message from D.J. Grothe was what resonated most deeply for me, and I am optimistic that I am not alone among the many campus leaders and activists that attended the conference. I daresay wait and see what this perspective will yield in the months to come, or better yet instead of waiting and seeing, get involved!

Rodrigo Neely-Recuero is a neuroscience major at the University of Texas at Dallas and the host of the pro-science podcast Mindcore. He believes that promoting free inquiry is necessary for our world to have a productive democratic political process, and he really likes comic books.

Conference photos provided by Roy Natian, Derek Rodgers, Scott Rowed, and Gary Wiepert.