CFI Ontario

Threat of the Religious Right to the Core Liberties of the United States

Eddie Tabash is a constitutional lawyer in the Los Angeles area. He is the chair of the First Amendment Task Force for the Center for Inquiry and for its subsidiary, the Council for Secular Humanism. He is a specialist in the application of the United States Constitution to the controversies swirling round religion and government. He is a two time runner up in elections for the California Legislature. He is an appointee of Congressman Brad Sherman to the State Central Committee of the California Democratic Party. He also chairs the national legal committee for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

He will be making his first election year presentation, outside of the United States, informing Canadians about the grave threat to the very fabric of American modern secular government that is at issue in the current presidential election.

$6 general, $4 students, FREE for Friends of the Centre for Inquiry

"Appreciating the Human Perspective: An Invitation to Educational Living."

Brief Description:

If we cannot get out of the human perspective, then how can we get into it with deeper feeling, thought, and responsible action? Based on his article from Free Inquiry (April/May 2007), this talk will look to what humanists are saying 'yes' to in their personal lives, their relationships, their understandings of the world, their work, and their commitments to the larger social good. An Educational LIVES Model will be offered as a framework for experiencing the connections, complexity, and creativity needed to appreciate, comprehend, and extend the human perspective. A lively and informative session is planned.

Background:
Dr. John M. Novak is professor of education at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario. He has been an invited keynote speaker on six
continents, having addressed educational audiences from north of the Arctic Circle to the bottom of New Zealand. His books and monographs, authored, co-authored, and edited, include, Fundamentals of Invitational Education, Creating Inviting Schools, Inviting
Educational Leadership, Democratic Teacher Education, and Inviting Educational Technology. He has written articles for Free Inquiry and spoken to international, national, and local humanist groups.  Presently, he is Past-President of the Society of Professors of Education.

http://www.ed.brocku.ca/~jnovak/

Cost:  $5 regular, $4 students, FREE For Friends of the Centre for Inquiry

Lecture and Book Launch:
Gretta Vosper, United Church Minister at West Hill United Church, Toronto, and founder and Chair of the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity

In Gretta Vosper's church there are no prayers, no miracles-performing magic Jesus and no omnipotent God at all. Vosper's book argues that the Christian church, in the form in which it exists today, has outlived its viability and either it sheds its no-longer credible myths, doctrines and dogmas, or it's toast. With a humanist worldview, Vosper proposes a radical change at the heart of faith. The new church she envisions will play a viable and transformative role in the shaping of a future society. What will save the church from certain demise, Vosper argues, is a new emphasis on just and compassionate living.

A catered receptions shall precede the talk at 6pm exclusively for Friends of the Centre. 

Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity:  http://www.progressivechristianity.ca/ccpc/index.php

MacLeans Magazine coverage "The Jesus Problem":  http://www.progressivechristianity.ca/ccpc/index.php

Globe and Mail coverage "Taking Christ Out of Christianity" http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080322.wchurch22/BNStory/National/home

Cost:  $6 general, $4 students, FREE for Friends of the Centre

Renowned Toronto-based Mentalist James Biss presents "MIND BLOWING"