Letter from the President

Dear Campus Freethought Alliance Members,

Some exciting events are coming up for CFA in the weeks and months ahead, but before getting to them, I'd like to give you a quick report on the conference a few weekends ago in Washington, D.C. entitled "One Nation Without God? Secularism, Society, and Justice." Along with many special CFA events and secular humanist organizing sessions, Julia Sweeney of Saturday Night Live performed her new monologue on her road to non-belief, Christopher Hitchens eloquently spoke on why secular humanist activism is important, and there were sessions on gay rights and religious extremism, religious threats to academic freedom, and other important issues. It was a great time, and I look forward to the next conference. I hope to see you all there.

A major event to look forward to is the Center for Inquiry Summer Session this July in upstate New York. The two courses offered this summer are "Psychology of Belief" and "Reason and Ethics" with some of the leading scholars in those fields teaching the session. I strongly encourage all CFA members to attend. Transferable undergraduate credits, as well as a limited number of assistantships, are available. Read the description below for details.

Lastly, I'd like to mention two major CFA events planned this week in the Maryland-Washington D.C. area. The first is tomorrow night (Wednesday, April 23), when CFA director DJ Grothe will be debating best-selling Christian author David Noebel at Georgetown University on whether "secular humanism is the state-supported religion of America's public schools," as Noebel asserts in his Christian activist training videos and Christian college textbooks. Also, on Thursday night CFA is hosting a campus-wide debate at Johns Hopkins University between Harvard's Rich Halvorson and DJ Grothe on secularism vs. religion. Both of these events are free and open to the public, so if you are in the area, I encourage you to attend.

As always, do not hesitate to contact CFA if we can be of any assistance.

In reason,

Debbie Goddard
Temple University
president@campusfreethought.org



Summer Session 2003 at the Center for Inquiry
This July, join a distinguished faculty and an international student body for two stimulating weeks at the Center for Inquiry, one of the world's leading institutions dedicated to critical inquiry and the scientific outlook. Conduct research using the Center's 34,000+ volume libraries. Take in the sights of Upstate New York and Southern Ontario in summer.

The main summer session takes place July 6-20 in Amherst, New York, and features two-week intensive courses in Psychology of Belief and in Reason and Ethics (NOW AVAILABLE FOR TRANSFERABLE UNDERGRADUATE CREDIT THROUGH STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK), as well as sporting and outdoor activities, Philosophy Café, music and award-winning magic performances, and an all-expenses-paid excursion to the acclaimed Shaw Festival in Ontario, Canada. Faculty include psychologist and skeptical investigator Barry Beyerstein, of Simon Frasier University; parapsychologist and science popularizer Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, UK; philosopher
and public intellectual Paul Kurtz, of SUNY-Buffalo; and distinguished ethicist and Nietzsche scholar Robert Solomon, of University of Texas, Austin.

Assistantships available. APPLICATION DEADLINE May 30, 2003. More information and forms at www.centerforinquiry.net/summer2003.htm.



CFA Staff to visit numerous campuses during Spring 2003

May 3-7
CFA representatives visit the Phoenix, AZ region, including campuses such as University of Arizona and Arizona State University, presenting New Religious Threats to Academic Freedom.

Representatives of the Campus Freethought Alliance are meeting with activists and supporters on and off campus in the above locations to help found new CFA groups and give campus-wide presentations.

Arrange or attend a presentation



Events Calendar

4/23 - UCLA. Dr. Robert Price vs. Greg Boyd. Veritas Forum: The Historicity of Jesus.
Campus Freethought Alliance is pleased to announce the Veritas Forum debate between Dr. Robert Price, noted Biblical scholar and critic, and Greg Boyd, professor of theology and bestselling author. Dr. Price is an instructor at the Center for Inquiry and the editor of The Journal of Higher Criticism. He has authored Beyond Born Again (1993) and Deconstructing Jesus (2000), among other books. He has written some seventy articles on religion, theology and the Bible for The Christian Century, The Evangelical Quarterly, Christian Scholars Review, and other publications.

Greg Boyd is professor of theology at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota and Senior Pastor at Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul. He received his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Minnesota, his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, and his Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. Mr. Boyd has written numerous articles and published seven books, including the bestseller Letters From a Skeptic (Victor, 1996) which has been translated into five languages. His other books are Trinity and Process (Peter Lang, 1992), Oneness Pentecostals and the Trinity (Baker, 1994), Cynic Sage or Son of God (Bridgepoint, 1995), Jesus Under Siege (Victor, 1995), God at War (InterVarsity, 1997), and The God of the Possible (Baker, 2000). For more information about the debate, e-mail adacey@centerforinquiry.net.

4/23 - Georgetown University. David Noebel and DJ Grothe. Clergy in the Classroom: Is Secular Humanism the Religion of the Public Schools?
Campus Freethought Alliance and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are pleased to present a discussion between David Noebel and DJ Grothe, entitled Clergy in the Classroom: Is Secular Humanism the Religion of the Public Schools?

David A. Noebel, president of Summit Ministries, has been a college professor, college president and candidate for the U.S. Congress. He is an author, editor, public speaker, and ordained minister. He is recognized as an expert on "worldview analysis" and the decline of morality and spirituality in Western Civilization. Summit Ministries, a Christian leadership training center, was founded in 1962. Noebel also serves as editor The Journal, his ministry's monthly review of the news. He travels worldwide lecturing in high schools, universities, and churches. He is a member of the Council for National Policy, the National Association of Scholars, the American Philosophical Association, and the Society of Christian Philosophers. Noebel has been a guest on numerous national radio and television programs, including The 700 Club, Focus on the Family, Truths that Transform, Point of View, Today’s Issues, the Moody Broadcasting Network, the AFA Network, and The Josh McDowell Program. Noebel has authored numerous books, including Understanding the Times: The Religious Worldviews of Our Day and the Search for Truth, a landmark guide to understanding the ideas and forces that are shaping our times. It is currently used, in either its unabridged or abridged formats, in over one thousand Christian high schools, churches and colleges. Noebel has also authored or co-authored numerous other books and articles, including Clergy in the Classroom: The Religion of Secular Humanism; The Marxist Minstrels; The Beatles: A Study in Drugs, Sex and Revolution; The Homosexual Revolution; The Legacy of John Lennon; War, Peace and the Nuclear Freeze: A Balanced Christian View; AIDS: A Special Report and The Battle for Truth. Noebel’s most recent work was The New York Times Best Seller Mind Siege with Tim LaHaye released in January 2001.

As National Field Director for the Council for Secular Humanism, DJ Grothe serves as one of the coordinators of the Campus Freethought Alliance. Before pursuing graduate studies in philosophy and intellectual history at Washington University at St. Louis, Mr. Grothe worked as a corporate magical entertainer and public speaker for companies such as IBM, Southwestern Bell, Esteé Lauder and Ralston Purina. Mr. Grothe has traveled and lectured throughout North America and abroad. His writings have been published in newspapers throughout the US, and he has appeared on dozens of radio and television programs. He is currently writing a book on the need for public argument in a democratic society. For more information about this event, e-mail adacey@centerforinquiry.net.

4/24 - Johns Hopkins University. Rich Halvorson and DJ Grothe. Is the Secular Worldview Viable?
Merganthaler, Room 111, 8PM.
Johns Hopkins University Freethinkers, Campus Freethought Alliance, and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute present a debate on competing philosophical worldviews between two bright young exponents. Rich Halvorson is a Harvard University senior who has been active in the Institute for Humane Studies and Intercollegiate Studies Institute. DJ Grothe is National Field Director for the Council for Secular Humanism and a coordinator of the Campus Freethought Alliance. Halvorson and Grothe will be featured at an upcoming Harvard Veritas Forum. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact Chris at hopkinsfreethought@hotmail.com.

5/1 - National Day of Reason
Campus Freethought Alliance joins others who value the separation of church and state in celebrating the National Day of Reason, observed the first Thursday in May. A response to the federally-funded National Day of Prayer, the National Day of Reason’s goals are to celebrate reason and to raise public awareness of the persistent threats to religious liberty posed by the intrusion of the government into private worship. Groups and individuals around the country are commemorating this day in various ways. Visit www.nationaldayofreason.org for more information and to add your name to the list of supporters of reason and church-state separation.