Familiar Faces Join CFI Outreach Team
Adam Isaak started full-time at CFI in late January; he is the new producer of CFI's radio show and podcast, Point of Inquiry. He's also working with campus and community outreach, bolstering CFI's digital media offerings, and assisting with web development. Before taking the position at CFI, he was president of the Campus Freethought Alliance at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He has worked with CFI previously, interning in Amherst last summer and coordinating the student Digital Media Outreach Committee.
Ed Beck joins us at CFI in Amherst as a part-time outreach intern. Ed served in the Marine Corps from 2002–2006 and is currently studying international relations and cultural anthropology at the University at Buffalo. He's the co-founder of both the UB Freethinkers and Buffalo Freethought, a regional meetup-style group. Ed volunteered at CFI over the last year, helping out with event management, local outreach, and the occasional mailing. Ed will also utilize his organizing experience to help develop new resources for the CFI On Campus website and provide support to new campus groups.
Stephanie LeRoy is the campus outreach intern at CFI New York City. Stephanie started working for CFI by volunteering at Camp Inquiry last summer as a counselor and arts facilitator; she now assists CFI NYC's executive director Michael De Dora Jr. Since September she has helped organize events for CFI NYC and has put her art skills to work by doing the design tasks there. Stephanie is the president and founder of Free Inquiry & Secular Humanism at CUNY Hunter College and started two other freethought groups in New York at her previous colleges.
Welcome to the team!
If you're interested in an internship at the Center for Inquiry, keep an eye on future Campus Inquirer newsletters for announcements of open positions, or send us an e-mail to be notified of internships in Amherst. You can also check the CFI Employment Opportunities page for long-term positions; we're currently looking for a full-time web designer.
Blasphemy Law Privileges Religion and Threatens Free Speech
by Adam Dinan, UCC Atheist Society
University College Cork, Ireland
It is staggering to think that in 2010, a Western democracy is updating its legislation on the issue of blasphemy rather than doing away with this archaic and dangerous concept. Here is a law which fosters and encourages outrage as an acceptable means of expressing disagreement—rather than healthier, more reasoned public debate—and which privileges religious ideals over those of a secular nature.
Just as worrying is the fact that many otherwise reasonable people seem to have bought into the notion that this law is necessary and worthwhile, due mainly to misunderstanding encouraged by a campaign of soundbites and propaganda from those pushing a theocratic agenda. These lobby groups have claimed that the law represents a necessary protection measure in order to minimise harm and to maximise liberties, and have reminded us that the right to free speech is not absolute.
This is an attempt to establish a false dichotomy: no one opposing the law has claimed that free speech should be unlimited, or that those who abuse it should not be brought to justice. Almost all of us fully accept the need for legislation covering defamation of character and incitement to hatred of individuals. What we are arguing is that where limits are imposed, they should serve to protect other human beings and not beliefs or ideas.
The distinction is a crucial and obvious one, and it seems to be only when religion comes into question that confusion arises. We do not expect a person's opinions on anything else to be protected by the law in such a manner. You are free to offend my political views, say, or my artistic taste, without fear of legal repercussions.
When we have a difference of opinion, we are expected to rationally debate the matter and express our disagreements in a dignified and controlled way, and certainly not to attempt to silence the other viewpoint because it discountenances our own or is in some way insulting to us. In effect, what the criminalisation of blasphemy does is set aside a particular area of social discussion—that concerning religion—and define it as being worthy of some special protection.
From a secular viewpoint, both religious and non-religious beliefs should be equally open to criticism. Rather than bringing in new laws to deal with this supposed crime, what we ought to be doing is reforming our Constitution to update and modernise its content. Ireland is now a pluralistic and multicultural society, not the one-religion theocracy that it was when blasphemy first became a listed offence in 1937.
Dermot Ahern
We need to make suitable changes to our Constitution to reflect this fact. Indeed, the government seems to accept this reality, but has claimed that a referendum on the issue would have proved a "costly distraction" at a time of economic recession. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, the man behind the new legislation, has also defended his actions by pointing out that prosecutions are unlikely.
Several points arise here. Firstly, the maximum fine of €30,000 is disconcertingly high for such an offence, in spite of the apparent lack of support within government. No explanation has been offered for this, and in fact, the initially proposed fine was a whopping €100,000. Secondly, monetary costs could have been offset by including the blasphemy provision in a joint referendum with last year's Lisbon Treaty, which was still at planning stage when this whole issue arose. According to an Irish Times poll, a two-thirds majority of people would support such a referendum.
Thirdly, in the absence of a referendum, it would have been possible for the Minister to leave the pre-existing legislation unaltered. This legislation had been ruled unenforceable by a high court because it did not explicitly define what "blasphemous libel" meant, whereas the new legislation does, thereby re-introducing the possibility of prosecutions.
The media freedom wing of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which encompasses 56 nations, has warned that reviving the law will have a "chilling effect" on journalistic integrity, and submissions made recently on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Conference before a U.N. committee used the exact same wording as our new legislation, apparently in an attempt to legitimise their own proposals to establish defamation of religion as a principle of international law.
This campaign at the U.N. had been ongoing for several years prior, largely with the sole backing of Middle Eastern states, but has been bolstered by events here. Ultimately, while prosecution for this contrived offence is again a worry, the most serious consequences may be the indirect result of what such a law symbolises in terms of our attitude towards free speech.
Adam Dinan is an undergraduate student of microbiology at University College Cork, Ireland. He is the chairperson of the UCC Atheist Society, Ireland's first student group for non-religious people, as well as student officer with Atheist Ireland, a national lobby group promoting constitutional reform and a secular education system.
Organizing With Reason
by Dan Riley, CFI Campus Organizer
Many look at CFI's campus outreach with a skeptical eye. Herding cats is indeed no easy task. It is often difficult to find total agreement among the students in a movement that lacks a monolithic perspective. Objectively, though, perhaps our stated disagreements highlight one of our greatest strengths. While I do have appreciation for some of their charitable work, I can't stomach church attendance or religious affiliation precisely because of religion's insistence on asserting as facts things that are demonstrably false, morally repugnant, or impossible to prove. They understand that congregations thrive on uncritical agreement, hence popular, unifying catch-phrases like "Jesus is Love," "The Bible is Truth," and "Tim Tebow Levitates." A critically-thinking mind zeroes in on disagreement with intense curiosity and asks direct questions: how will the Almighty judge the souls of those who follow different deities and prophets? Does anyone agree on what God actually means? Why the need for Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti? If inaccurate—or unverifiable—answers are given to these simple questions, a truth-seeking person remains unremitting in his or her doubt, while maintaining a zest for accuracy. This is how progress is made and independent conclusions reached; over time, with honesty, answers to difficult questions become more plausible. Despite the differences within our ranks, though, I think common ground can generally be found among the leaders in the freethought movement. And despite the negative description of atheists subtly but firmly given to me as an American youth—that they're mean-spirited, untrustworthy, selfish—I have found us to be very much otherwise. And to the aghast of our critics, yes, we do organize. We do it with reason.
We organize to free minds from oppressive authority and pernicious memes; to relish this life for this life, for one's own purpose; to hold up open-mindedness and learning as a sacred team to ward off organized ignorance and superstition; to explain humanity's evolutionary rise as a creation story free from celestial tyranny; to note the role of secularism in progress past slavery and misogyny; to promote a social compact that transcends nationality, race, and sexual orientation; to stand up for the courageous minority; to rid the latently explosive ideas of tribal religion from the minds of the young; to believe in the possibility of human reason and compassion; to observe that when a person believes that God is speaking to him or her through the tapping of rainwater on the roof, that person is deemed delusional—when a person believes that God is speaking to him or her on Sunday while sitting in a pew, that individual is deemed religiously mainstream; to avert our inherent tendencies towards submission to authority; to protect our innate empathy from those wishing to exploit it; to recognize that while one may have difficulty discerning the full truth, one can often quite easily identify a lie; to give rights to people, not ideas; to say that intelligence and honesty should not preclude one from elected public office; to assert the fragility of life and our dependence on one another; to confirm Steven Weinberg's belief that "putting God ahead of humanity is a terrible thing"; to dedicate oneself to activism so that, in the words of Robert Ingersoll, "light might conquer darkness still."
Dan Riley is a campus organizer at the Center for Inquiry. He has a B.A. in political science from Duke University and has experience working in the legal profession and as an organizer in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
CFI Announces Three New Hosts for Point of Inquiry
CFI is pleased to announce the new hosts of the popular Point of Inquiry podcast: Chris Mooney, bestselling author of The Republican War on Science; Robert M. Price, professor of theology and scriptural studies at Coleman Theological Seminary, professor of biblical criticism for the CFI Institute, and author of many books including The Reason Driven Life and Deconstructing Jesus; and Karen Stollznow, author, skeptical investigator, director of the San Francisco Bay Area Skeptics, and prolific blogger.
Mooney is expected to host about half of the approximately 50 new shows per year, with the balance evenly split between Price and Stollznow. Launched in 2005, Point of Inquiry was hosted by CFI Vice President for Outreach D.J. Grothe until his recent departure from CFI to become president of the James Randi Educational Foundation. To listen to the latest episodes or to read more about the new hosts, go to the Point of Inquiry website.
The Skeptical Inquirer Magazine Announces T-Shirt Design Contest
Attention all fans with a creative and artistic streak: a competition to design a new T-shirt for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and The Skeptical Inquirer is now underway. The winner of the T-shirt contest (determined by popular vote on Facebook) will be awarded $500 and a complimentary three-year subscription to The Skeptical Inquirer magazine—and free T-shirts, of course, once the design is produced. Members of The Skeptical Inquirer and CSI staff will choose three designs from all those submitted, and then we will open it up to our Facebook Fanpage members to pick the winning submission.
Some past designs:
See more of our past designs in our Facebook photo album.
The second-place winner will receive $250 and a two-year subscription to the magazine, and the third-place finisher will receive $150 and a one-year subscription. All winners will receive complimentary T-shirts.
The deadline to submit designs is March 31, 2010.
Designs should be submitted via e-mail to: skeptinq@aol.com or mailed to:
Skeptical Inquirer T-Shirt Contest
attn: Barry Karr
PO Box 703
Amherst, NY 14226
Restrictions: No employees or contractors of the Center for Inquiry, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), or the Council for Secular Humanism may enter. Contest is void where prohibited by law. In the event that a prize winner resides outside the United States, an alternate prize may be substituted if required by postal regulations in the winner's country. See more required legalese on the Facebook fanpage.
Join CFI Indiana and the IUPUI Freethinkers for their
Saturday, March 20, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Indiana University/Purdue University—Indianapolis, IN
Once again, CFI Indiana and the freethinking students of IUPUI offer you the opportunity to explore advances in the field of evolutionary biology. We'll also look at the controversy still surrounding Darwin's theory of evolution as school boards and state departments of education continue to push Creationism/Intelligent Design into science curricula. Plus, we'll learn how religious communities are being brought onboard to support Darwin's idea.
Special guest speakers include:
- Dr. Barbara Forrest, professor of philosophy, Southeastern Louisiana University
- Dr. David Orentlicher, professor of law, Indiana School of Law and co-director, Center for Law and Health
- Toni Van Pelt, VP and Director of Public Policy, CFI Office of Public Policy
- Dr. Eric Meslin, Director of Indiana University Center for Bioethics
- Dr. Jeremy Wilson, assistant professor, Department of Anthropology, IUPUI
- Denise Marie Sobieski, science teacher, Terre Haute North High School
- Lauren Becker, VP and Director of Outreach, CFI
- Dr. Michael Zimmerman, professor of biology, Butler University, and founder of the Clergy Letter Project
Registration: General admission: $30; full-time students: $10; student Friends of the Center: free! Also, discounted rates for non-student Friends of the Center and teachers. Lunch and evening reception tickets may be purchased for an additional $10 each and must be reserved and paid for by Friday, March 12.
For more information or to register, visit the conference website.
CFI Chicago is pleased to present its first annual Spring Conference!
Dangerous Nonsense: Exploring the Gulf between Science and its Impostors
Saturday, April 24, in Chicago, IL
Bunkum grows like a weed in American culture—whether it's climate change denial, conspiracy theories, or healing by prayer. Some ideas are not only nonsense, they are dangerous nonsense, with serious implications for our lives. In this age where misinformation can be spread more easily than ever before, understanding the role of the scientific process in human affairs is critical to our survival. This conference will present top scientists in biology, physiology, and physics, each of them gifted at explaining both the science and its impostors of their respective fields. Join us and gain valuable insight into exploring the world through science and reason.
Confirmed Speakers:
- Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, professor of evolution and ecology, contributing writer for Skeptical Inquirer
- Dr. Veronica Drantz, professor of physiology
- Dr. Michael Albrow, physicist at FermiLab
- Dr. Ron Pine, explorer, retired biology professor, and debunker of "intelligent design"
- Dr. Dario Maestripieri, professor of evolutionary biology
- The Mentalist 'Mystopher' and Carolee, "Serving Fork-Fulls of Magic and Imagination"
Register before March 31:
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Register after March 31:
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Go to the website for more info or to register, or contact chicago@centerforinquiry.net or (312) 226-0420 with any questions.
Join CFI's Office of Public Policy in Washington, DC for the third annual Civic Days at the Capital! Every year, Civic Days brings non-believers, secular humanists, and skeptics from across America to engage in citizen lobbying on important issues (and also to have a little fun!).
This year, we have developed an exciting roster of training and sightseeing events to enhance the Civic Days experience. The tentative schedule of events is as follows:
Saturday, April 24: Social gathering at CFI DC with pizza and salad in the evening
Sunday, April 25:
Morning: Policy briefings and lobby training
Afternoon: Two exhibits at the Smithsonian: Darwin, and Human Evolution
Monday, April 26:
Morning: A walking tour of Robert G. Ingersoll's life in Washington DC; lobby training; briefing by an invited member of Congress on current legislative priorities
Afternoon: Tour of Capitol Visitor Center including a visit to the House of Representatives' Gallery
Tuesday, April 27: Lobbying visits on Capitol Hill, debriefing, and departures
Registration: General Admission: $100; Students: $25.
** Note: Several CFI branches are offering travel stipends to help students attend Civic Days. If you're interested in applying for a stipend and there's a CFI branch in your state, please contact them to see what opportunities are available. If there is not a CFI branch in your state but you would like to be considered for a travel stipend, please email Dan Riley.
For more information about Civic Days, contact Matt Separa at (202) 546-2330 or msepara@centerforinquiry.net, or visit the Civic Days website.
Forging a Humanist & Secular Coalition: Taking the Next Steps
April 30 – May 2, in Sarasota, FL
Join the Humanists of Florida Association (HFA), the Center for Inquiry, the American Humanist Association (AHA), and the leaders of fourteen other groups to learn about evolutionary thinking, the importance of becoming a part of the political action, attracting families and raising freethinkers, creating a community of like-minded people, and forging partnerships with other freethought and humanist groups.
- David Sloan Wilson, co-director of the Evolution Institute
- Amanda Metskas, co-author of Raising Freethinkers & executive director of Camp Quest
- Dave Shafer, president of Humanist Unitarian Universalists
- Steve Schafersman, president of Texas Citizens for Science
- Lauren Becker, VP and director of Outreach at CFI
- Sean Faircloth, executive director of the Secular Coalition of America
- Ronald A. Lindsay, president and CEO of CFI
- David Niose, president of AHA
Registration: Special student rate of $50! Discounted rates for Friends of the Center and HFA members. Includes all workshops and presentations, a reception Friday night, lunch and dinner on Saturday, and continental breakfasts for hotel guests on Saturday and Sunday. Single Day and meals-only registrations are also available.
** Note: CFI Tallahassee is offering a limited number of scholarships to encourage students and young adults to attend. Application for the scholarships is open to Florida residents age 18–30. Please email Marci Whittenberger for more information. Deadline: Midnight, March 15th.
For more on the conference, visit the HFA website or email info@floridahumanist.org.
Mark your calendar! More CFI Regional and National Conferences
CFI Indiana Institute: Religion Under Examination, with John Shook
April 17 in Indianapolis, IN
Most people are born into one religion and hardly question their childhood beliefs, but in this global age of communication, religious and nonreligious people can compare and criticize traditional views with the help of religion scholars using modern techniques.
Registration: General Admission: $60; Friends of the Center: $50; Students: $25. Visit the website for more information.
African Americans for Humanism Conference: New Directions for African American Humanists
May 16 in Washington, DC
Scheduled speakers include Norm Allen, Executive Director of African Americans for Humanism; Sikivu Hutchinson, editor of blackfemlens.org, and Debbie Goddard, CFI Campus Organizer.
Registration: General admission: $45; Friends of the Center and AAH members: $35; Students: $15. For more information, visit the website.
CFI Student Leadership Conference 2010
June 24–27 at CFI Transnational in Amherst, NY
If you're involved in the leadership of an affiliated student group, this is not to be missed! Look for more information in future newsletters.
A Note on D.J. Grothe: Looking Back, Moving Forward
by Debbie Goddard, CFI Campus Coordinator
A new year has arrived, which brings new resolutions and ideas for the future as well as some time to reflect on the past. At CFI, we started the year off with a big change in the Outreach Department: D.J. Grothe, former VP and Director of Outreach, left to take the position of President of the James Randi Educational Foundation, while Lauren Becker, a tireless advocate for science, was promoted to fill his position.
I first met D.J. at a CFI conference in Atlanta in the fall of 2001, a few months after he was hired as the Council for Secular Humanism's Field Director and I'd started volunteering with the campus outreach program. He first became involved in the freethought/skepticism movement through campus grassroots organizing, as I did. As my involvement increased over the years, I had several opportunities to travel to New York City, Amherst, and other cities for events including the CFI Institute summer sessions, debates and seminars in NYC, CFI NYC's grand opening in Rockefeller Center, the 2003 CFI conference in D.C., and more—I even held a work-study position at CFI NYC while a student at Temple University. Over the course of these experiences and many dinners and late-night conversations, I came to know D.J. and other CFI field staff pretty well.
Atlanta, 2001: D.J. demonstrates card magic skills to the gathered students
When I was hired by CFI as a field organizer a few years ago, I was glad to be granted the opportunity to reinvest the knowledge and experience I'd gained over years of volunteering back into the grassroots movement. D.J. was my boss and friend, and while he forged successful CFI branches across North America and directed CFI's international campus outreach program, he also provided personal guidance and opportunities for professional development.
Although D.J.'s employment at CFI ended at the close of 2009, a new door has opened. He's working for a different organization now, but we're all glad to know that he remains deeply involved with the movement, committed to supporting critical thinking, science, and skepticism at the grassroots and beyond. Additionally, his position with JREF opens up exciting new avenues for cooperation between our organizations and new possibilities for advancing our shared values. And on a personal level, I'm sure he and I have many more adventures and late-night conversations in store, perhaps at NECSS in NYC later this semester, maybe at TAM 8 in Vegas over the summer, definitely at Dragon*Con in Atlanta during Labor Day weekend. I'm looking forward to those and am excited to see what the next decade brings.
Help support the student movement!
The Center for Inquiry's campus outreach supports over 200 campus groups around the world. CFI's student initiative provides leadership training, promotional and educational materials, volunteer and activism opportunities, and more. Student leaders learn the skills they need to:
- Start and manage successful groups on their campuses
- Organize major events that have far-reaching impact at their colleges and in their communities
- Get other students and faculty involved in key issues, including free inquiry, church/state separation, secularism, skepticism, science advocacy, and humanist ethics
Paul Kurtz with attendees of the 2009 CFI Leadership Conference
We need your help to continue this. Please donate as generously as you can so that we can continue to invest in the leaders of tomorrow, securing the future of science, reason, and freedom of inquiry.
Digital Resources
