CFA Staff to visit numerous campuses during Spring 2004

January

CFA representatives visit campuses in Northridge, Irving and Los Angeles, California; and Tallahassee and St. Petersburg, Florida.

February

CFA representatives visit campuses in Charleston, SC; Akron, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio; and Pittsburgh, Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania.

March

CFA representatives visit campuses in Kalamazoo and Belleville, Michigan; and Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska.

April

CFA representatives visit campuses in Knoxville, Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Representatives of the Campus Freethought Alliance are meeting with activists and supporters on and off campus in the above locations. If you would like to arrange or attend a meeting in any of the above locations, e-mail a CFA Coordinator.

To work with CFA to schedule a talk or debate in your area, click here.


Nine New CFA Affiliate and Prospective Groups
The Campus Freethought Alliance is pleased to announce that nine new campus groups have recently been founded by or have affiliated with CFA since December 2003. These include CFA affiliate groups at University of Idaho, Eastern Michigan University, University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University, University of Virginia, St. Petersburg College (FL), Texas A&M University, University of Central Florida and Rollins College (FL). Other campuses are in the process of forming CFA affiliate groups. This is in addition to the members-at-large who join CFA without a group yet on their campus. To see if there is a CFA affiliate group on your campus, visit http://www.campusfreethought.org/affiliates.htm


Fourteen New CFA Groups in the Process of Forming
Since December 2003, CFA has been contacted by students or faculty at the following campuses expressing interest in starting or revitalizing a CFA affiliate group: Merrill F. West High School (CA), Thibodaux High School (LA), Tufts University (MA), Concordia University (Canada), Skylands Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (NJ), Computer Training School (Nigeria), Pasco Hernando Community College (FL), Massillon Washington High School (OH), Stonehill College (MA), McNeese State University (LA), University of North Florida, Central Michigan University, Bothell High School (WA), Des Moines Area Community College (IA). If you attend one of the schools listed above and would like to get involved with the new CFA group forming there, use the group contact form at http://www.campusfreethought.org/inforequest.php


Center for Inquiry to Offer Master's Degree through SUNY-Buffalo
The Center for Inquiry is partnering with the State University of New York at Buffalo to develop an innovative Master's degree entitled "Science and the Public," which may be available as soon at Fall 2005. The first degree of its kind, CFI's interdisciplinary M.S. in social science will explore the history and philosophy of the scientific outlook and methods as they intersect with public perceptions and attitudes. Drawing on sociological research and philosophical analysis, the program will prepare students for further specialized graduate study in sociology, history and philosophy of science, psychology, religious studies, science communication, public policy, and science education, as well as careers in research, education, public administration, publishing, and science journalism. Questions about the Master's degree program, or the new annual CFI/SUNY visiting research fellowships, may be sent to the director of research and education for CFI, Dr. Austin Dacey, at adacey@centerforinquiry.net.


Center for Inquiry is Traveling in Spring 2004
Throughout 2004, the Center for Inquiry will be offering "frontline briefings" from leading intellectuals and organizers who are defending reason in an irrational world. You'll hear about the latest issues confronting science and reason, and what the Center for Inquiry and its organizations are doing about it - and how you can get involved. In addition, Campus Freethought Alliance staff will meet with students in each area to help them organize rationalist efforts on their campuses. Low registration costs include Saturday luncheon, Sunday continental breakfast and free parking at the venue. For more information about the sessions in your area, see http://www.centerforinquiry.net


CFA Hires Another Campus Organizer
CFA is proud to welcome Zachary Miner as a Campus Organizer. He brings a number of skills to the organization including a commitment to reason and skepticism, a background with community activism and volunteer service, and experience with multimedia production and website design. Miner graduated from Ithaca College in 2002 with a degree in Television/Radio Studies, and it was through his work towards his major that he became involved with the Center for Inquiry and its organizations. For his senior video project, Miner did a documentary on a group of ghost hunters from upstate New York, for which he consulted CSICOP fellows and other CFI experts. In 2002, Miner worked for AmeriCorps for one year and took a position with TechLink New Hampshire, a state-wide non-profit educational organization. There he did public relations, event planning and aided the organization in its goal to help bridge New Hampshire's "digital divide." Throughout the year he spent in New Hampshire, Miner was a frequent online volunteer for the Center for Inquiry. Miner will begin traveling to various campuses this semester and will also field e-mail and telephone inquiries from CFA's thousands of student members, faculty and off-campus supporters, and affiliated groups. To reach Zachary Miner at the Center for Inquiry, please e-mail zminer@centerforinquiry.net or call (716) 636-7571, extension 315.


CFI Announces Course Offerings for Summer Session 2004
Applications are now being accepted for CFI's summer offerings, available to audit or for State University of New York undergraduate credit. This year's offerings are as follows:

Revelation and Interpretation: A Critical Analysis.
How should one interpret the claims of traditional religious scriptures? What would it mean to say that those claims are true or false? Are there general principles of historical and rational analysis that can be brought to bear? What lessons from the history of Christian biblical hermeneutics can be applied to the interpretation of Islam's sacred texts? This course provides an introduction to biblical criticism and Islamic studies, with a special focus on concepts of progressive revelation. Instructor: Lüdemann & Warraq. 3 credits.

Punishment, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation: Religious and Secular Perspectives.
As individuals and as communities, how are we to respond to wrong-doing and great evil? How are we to relate to the guilty and the aggrieved? Are any acts unforgivable? Can we make sense of horrible evil, and genuine forgiveness, outside of religious traditions? This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the ethics of responsibility, punishment, and forgiveness and the politics of reconciliation. Instructor: Govier. 3 credits.

Faculty
Gerd Lüdemann is Professor of History and Literature of Early Christianity at Georg-August-University Göttingen, Germany, where he is Director of the Institute of Early Christian Studies. He is also a visiting scholar at Vanderbilt University and a research fellow at the Center for Inquiry. The author of hundreds of scholarly articles and reviews, his books (in English) include Primitive Christianity: A Survey of Recent Studies and Some New Proposals (Continuum International Publishing, 2003); Paul: The Founder of Christianity (Prometheus Books, 2002); Suppressed Prayers: Gnostic Spirituality in Early Christianity (Trinity, 1998); Heretics: The Other Side of Early Christianity (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996); and Jesus After 2000 Years: What he Really Said and Did (Prometheus, 2001).

Trudy Govier is former Associate Professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. She hastaught philosophy at Simon Fraser University and the Universities of Amsterdam, Calgary, and Lethbridge. She is the author of A Delicate Balance: What Philosophy Can Tell Us About Terrorism (Westview Press, 2002); Forgiveness and Revenge (Routledge, 2002); Dilemmas of Trust (McGill-Queen's University Press 1998); Social Trust and Human Communities (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997); Socrates' Children: Thinking and Knowing in the Western Tradition (Broadview Press, 1997); God, The Devil And The Perfect Pizza (Broadview Press, 1989); and the internationally popular A Practical Study of Argument (Wadsworth, 2001), now in its fifth edition.

Ibn Warraq is a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry and a noted scholar of the origins and intellectual foundations of Islam. His authored and edited books include Why I am not a Muslim, What the Koran Really Says, The Historical Muhammed, and Leaving Islam (all from Prometheus Books). Warraq's work and commentary on Islam and public affairs have recently been featured in  Times Literary Supplement, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, and on C-SPAN.

Tuition and fees Courses available to audit or for transferable SUNY undergraduate credit. Basic registration fee: $850 (14 days room and board at SUNY Buffalo residence halls; course instruction, course materials, special presentations and lectures, recreational excursions). Additional cost of in-state tuition: $475 per course; out-of-state tuition: $1,350 per course. A limited number of scholarships are available.  See www.centerforinquiry.net/education for further information.


CFI Launches a Daring Fundraising Campaign
The Center for Inquiry is proud to announce The New Future Fund, a bold $26 million campaign to fund CFI programs, capital expansion and endowments. While unprecedented in the history of America's skeptical and humanist movements, this multi-million dollar campaign is attainable. In smaller campaigns, the Center for Inquiry and its affiliated organizations have raised some $15.5 million since 1996. The New Future Fund represents a substantial but far from exponential raising of our sights. CFI's defense of science, reason, freedom of inquiry and humane values demands new methods and new approaches. This has led to the expansion of the organizations headquartered at CFI, such as the Council for Secular Humanism, CSICOP and CFA, and to the development new structures and ways of advancing their shared aims. The campaign is designed to create a long-term resource base for CFI programs and organizations independent of publishing revenues. It will empower CFI and its affiliated organizations to construct and expand facilities, purchase equipment, and fund and staff programs that further humanist, skeptical and rationalist agendas without relying solely on funding from Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry magazines. CFI pursues a unique and urgent mission - the defense of reason in an irrational world - and does so on a scale the world has never seen. With the New Future Fund, CFI indeed "reaches out to a new future." For more information, contact Richard Hull at rhull@centerforinquiry.net or 1-800-818-7071.


A New Spanish-language Magazine for Science and Reason
The first issue of Pensar, a quarterly magazine in Spanish, is now available. It is the first international magazine of its kind dedicated to the Spanish speaking world. Involving specialists from a variety of countries, Pensar deals with the investigation of fringe science and paranormal claims: parapsychology, alternative medicine and psychology, UFOs, life after life, astrology, communication with the dead, "miracles", supernatural phenomena and other manifestations of the paranatural. The results of this research will also be presented and discussed with the aim of encouraging productive exchanges with our readers. The goal is the promotion of the scientific outlook and freedom of inquiry. Representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, México, Paraguay, Perú, Puerto Rico and Venezuela make up Pensar's staff, which also includes a board of consultants composed of prestigious scientists, magicians, journalists, and teachers. The editor is Alejandro Borgo, an Argentinian journalist and writer. The first issues covers the ignored anomalies of the Turin "shroud", the conflict between creationism and evolution in education, the well-known myth that we use only 10 percent of our brain, along with local news coming from the represented countries, and two columns with controversial questions: is the world falling into an ecological disaster? Are women preferred targets of pseudoscientists?


New Feature of the Campus Inquirer: Book of the Month
Unintelligent Design by Mark Perakh

Cal State Physicist Mark Perakh critically reviews recent trends toward harmonizing religion and science. From intelligent design theories to arguments allegedly proving the compatibility of biblical stories with scientific data and "Bible codes" containing secret messages, Perakh shows that, however sophisticated in appearance, all such approaches are little more than tailoring evidence to fit the desired theory. Beginning with the design theorists, Perakh provides a detailed critique of the publications of William Dembski, Michael Behe, and Phillip Johnson. In each case he clearly demonstrates lack of substantiation, internal contradictions, and multiple fallacies that mar their works. In Part Two he critiques the "mental acrobatics" of various Christian and Jewish writers whose works attempt to prove such unlikely propositions as: the inerrancy of the Bible, the harmony of the Torah and science, the duration of the six days of creation, and deriving a theory of nonrandom evolution from the Talmud. Part Three describes how genuine science is conducted, what the laws of science actually mean to practicing scientists, and what distinguishes real science from pseudoscience. In conclusion, Perakh discusses the rise and fall of the so-called Bible code as an example of how well-marketed pseudoscience can successfully cloak itself in the mantle of science. For everyone interested in separating scientific facts from the hype of trendy theories about science, this book is must reading. CFA group leaders interested in purchasing multiple copies at a deep discount for a book club or discussion group, contact DJ Grothe at djgrothe@centerforinquiry.net.


Events Calendar

1/27 -- Affirmative Action: For and Against - Should We or Shouldn't We? New Port Richey, FL.
Featuring CFI Florida's director Toni Van Pelt. A look at the latest Supreme Court ruling and how this affects our society. This dialogue will take place at Pasco-Hernando Community College, 10230 Ridge Rd., New Port Richey, in the Performing Arts Center from 7 - 9 PM. For more information, visit http://www.phcc.edu.

1/27 -- Understanding the Religious Views of Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason." Florida State University. Tallahassee, FL.
Paine' The Age of Reason starts with an affirmation of faith: "I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life." Yet Paine quickly proceeds to reject the creeds "professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, ... by any church that I know of." He proceeds to do so by rejecting any belief that is based in hearsay, that is, in the assertions of others. This leads him to reject prophesy, the idea of a word of God existing in print, or in writing, or in speech. Yet he styles himself as a Deist, as one who believes "that the Creation we behold is the real and ever existing word of God, in which we cannot be deceived." How, then, can we understand Paine in a way that makes The Age of Reason comprehensible? Richard Hull took his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Indiana University, and spent 30 years in the Philosophy department at State University of New York at Buffalo. He retired from that post in 1997, and has since had several different positions. Currently he is Development Officer for the Center for Inquiry, and assists with fundraising for all the divisions of the organization, such as CSICOP, the Council for Secular Humanism, the Campus Freethought Alliance and the Commission for Scientific Medicine.A lecture sponsored by CFA and the Union of Freethinking Students at Forida State University. 8 pm, Room 101C in the Student Life Building. Form more information, email ThomasSH@aol.com.

1/28 - Are UFOs Real? A debate between James McGaha and Stan Friedman, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN.
Sponsored by Campus Freethought Alliance at Middle Tennessee State University. Information: freethnk@mtsu.edu. James McGaha is a retired United States Air Force Command Pilot and the Director of the Grasslands Observatory where he does research on near earth asteroids and supernova. He has over 400 MPEC publications of NEO's. Asteroid 10,036 McGaha is named in his honor. He is a consultant with the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, and a contributor to Skeptical Inquirer magazine. Stan Friedman is a former nuclear physicist who worked for companies such as General Electric, General Motors, Westinghouse, TRW, Aerojet General Nucleonics, and McDonnell Douglas on projects such as nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets, and nuclear power plants for space. Since 1967 he has lectured on UFOs at more than 600 colleges and over 100 professional groups. He has published more than 70 papers on UFOs besides his dozens of conventional articles and appeared on hundreds of radio and TV shows. Stanton T. Friedman received BSc and MSc degrees in physics from the University of Chicago in 1955 and 1956. He was employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist for such companies as GE, GM, Westinghouse, TRW Systems, Aerojet General Nucleonics, and McDonnell Douglas on such advanced, classified, eventually cancelled, projects as nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets, and nuclear power plants for space. Since 1967 he has lectured on the topic "Flying Saucers ARE Real!" at more than 600 colleges and over 100 professional groups in 50 states, 9 provinces, 13 other countries. He has published more than 80 UFO papers and appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs. The debate will take place at 7 PM at the Business and Aerospace Building (BAS) in the State Farm Lecture Hall. Free and open to the public.

1/28 - Beyond the Anthropocentric Conceit. A special lecture by Bill Cooke.  UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

Sponsored by the Campus Freethought Alliance and the Associate Secular Students of UCLA. Bill Cooke, PhD, is Director of International Programs for the Center for Inquiry, the home of the Campus Freethought Alliance.  A longtime freethought activist and writer, Bill brings his expertise and experience to bear on the subject of humankind's understanding of its place in the cosmos.  Free and open to the public. 7 - 9PM in Bunche Hall on the UCLA campus, room 2181. For more information, email Mike Caffel at EmperorRuckus@aol.com .

2/12 -- Charles Darwin's birthday celebration. Amherst, NY.
The Center for Inquiry will host its 3rd Annual Darwin Day Celebration and Fish Fry on February 12, 2004, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 1310 Sweet Home Road, Amherst, NY. Admission is $10.00 at the door, $5.00 for Friends of the Center and students. The event includes a fish dinner with the price of admission, Darwinian games and amusements for kids, a raffle and a talk by Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education. To find out more about the event and RSVP, call Kevin Christopher at (716) 636-4869 ext. 218. Other branches of the Center for Inquiry will be hosting Darwin Days. For information, see www.centerforinquiry.net and www.darwinday.org.

2/20-2/22 - The second annual CFI Florida conference. Tampa, FL.
This year's conference, "Skepticism and Secular Humanism: An Affirming Life Stance," will be held at the Radisson Riverwalk Hotel, 200 North Ashley Drive, Tampa, Florida. Speakers will include Dr. Paul Kurtz, professor emeritus of philosophy at SUNY-Buffalo and the founder and chairman of the Center for Inquiry, Susan Jacoby, author of the forthcoming "Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism" and Executive Director of Center for Inquiry-New York-Metro, Robert Solomon, Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy and Business at the University of Texas at Austin Texas, and Helen Thomas, Dean of the White House Press Corps. For more information, and a full list of speakers, please visit http://www.centerforinquiry.net/florida-events.htm. Please note: The cut-off for the hotel rooms being held for CFI is January 20th. On that day all of the remaining space will be released for general sale. The hotel is already sold out, so it is urgent that you make your reservations ASAP. Call the Radisson in Tampa at 813-223-2222 if you plan to attend. Be sure to say you are with the CFI or the Center for Inquiry group.

2/20 - What's the Proper Role of Religion in American Public Education? College of Charleston. Charleston, SC.
Highlighting current controversies such as the intelligent design movement, school prayer, religious movements that seek to replace the classical liberal arts curriculum, and controversies surrounding student activities fees, secularist activist DJ Grothe will lecture to the students of College of Charleston's political science department about the practical strategies for engaging in the current debate over the role of religion in public education. Mr. Grothe serves as the Director of Campus and Community Programs for the Center for Inquiry, a secular, pro-science public education organization. He has traveled and lectured widely throughout North America, speaking on ethics, religious-political extremism, church-state separation and science advocacy. His writings have been published in newspapers throughout the United States, and he has spoken on numerous radio and television programs. The lecture will take place at 4PM in Physicians Auditorium. Contact the College of Charleston's political science dept at deej@cofc.edu for more information.

3/29 - Does God Exist? A debate between William Lane Craig and Austin Dacey Purdue University. West Lafayette, IN.

Sponsored by the Campus Crusade for Christ and the Campus Freethought Alliance. William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife Jan and their two teenage children Charity and John. At the age of sixteen as a junior in high school, he first heard the message of the Christian gospel and yielded his life to Christ. Dr. Craig pursued his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College (B.A. 1971) and graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. 1974; M.A. 1975), the University of Birmingham (England) (Ph.D. 1977), and the University of Munich (Germany) (D.Theol. 1984). From 1980-86 he taught Philosophy of Religion at Trinity, during which time he and Jan started their family. In 1987 they moved to Brussels, Belgium, where Dr. Craig pursued research at the University of Louvain until 1994. Austin Dacey is a philosopher at the Center for Inquiry, a think tank affiliated with the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he is a visiting assistant research professor of philosophy. He serves as director of research and education; executive editor of Philo, an academic journal specializing in philosophical naturalism; and a contributor to the Center's popular magazines Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry. He has lectured and published widely on issues at the intersection of science, religion, ethics, and society. He is co-author of The Case for Humanism: An Introduction (Rowman & Littlefield 2003) and co-editor with Quentin Smith of a forthcoming collection on Richard Gale's philosophy of religion. In 2002 he earned a doctorate in philosophy. He lives in New York City.


Freethought News

The Politics of Peer Review
Expert review of scientific information is usually a good thing. But as a recent White House proposal to expand peer review of government regulatory science shows, there are big exceptions. The rigorous vetting of unpublished research by independent, qualified experts--what's often called "peer review"--is an undisputed cornerstone of modern science. Central to the competitive clash of ideas that moves knowledge forward, peer review enjoys so much renown in the scientific community that studies lacking its imprimatur meet with automatic skepticism. Academic reputations hinge on an ability to get work through peer review and into leading journals; university presses employ peer review to decide which books they're willing to publish; and federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health use peer review to weigh the merits of applications for federal research grants. When members of Congress make an end run around this vetting process and pump R & D cash directly into their home districts, they're widely disparaged for supporting a particularly odious and anti-scientific version of pork-barrel politics. To read more of this column visit http://www.csicop.org/doubtandabout/peerreview.

Crossing Over Crossed Out
John Edwards, the TV personality who claims to be in contact with the dead, will soon pass away himself... from the television scene, that is. Citing three seasons of low viewership, Universal announced that the show would finish its run at the end of the current season. The show has been reviled by many in the skeptical community as nothing more than illusion and the practical application of such well-documented "psychic" techniques as cold reading and using assistants to gather information ahead of time. See Joe Nickell's CSICOP investigation for a detailed look at the techniques involved: http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/i-files.html. For the full New York Post story, visit http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/44536.htm.

Pledge of Allegiance Case Set for March
The date for one of the most controversial legal cases in American history has been set for March 24th. Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, the case in which Michael Newdow, a doctor and lawyer, will argue that including the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge is unconstitutional, promises to create a firestorm of criticism from both sides of the issue. For the full story from the Miami Herald, visit http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7693431.htm.

Inside the Rancho Cotate High School Conservative Club
The author details the agenda of a conservative club in a California high school, one which has caused a great deal of debate among both students and teachers. The leader of the group, Tim Bueler, has taken flak from many sides for his reactionary stance against immigration. Teachers, who were themselves the target of Bueler's attacks, have taken care to respect the rights of the Conservative Club, but they say their patience with the groups rhetoric is growing thin. For the full story, visit  http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/01.15.04/conservatives-0403.htm.

Diversity or doctrine on campus? -- Resolution defends free-speech rights
Concerned about college campuses becoming too liberal, conservatives in Colorado have advanced a bill that would condemn mandatory diversity training and support among other things, "the right to speak disapprovingly against certain sexual behaviors." The bill is being sponsored by house and senate republicans and championed by conservative groups across the state. Liberal lawmakers dismiss the bill saying that the more pressing issue facing colleges is that of tuition hikes, which keep Colorado's low-income population from being able to attend college. For the full story from the Rocky Mountain News, visit http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/legislature/article/0,1299,DRMN_37_2574990,00.html.

Old Conspiracies, New Beliefs
Michael Barkun's new book, "A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America," gives a critical look at popular conspiracy theories in America and how, in recent years, they have become interconnected. He argues that the believers of UFOlogy are drawing many conspiracy theorists -- anti-Semites, those suspicious of the government, those believing in cults such as the Illuminati, the Freemasons and the Assassins -- to their cause, creating a "fusion paranoia." Barkun worries about the possible consequences of a country, and indeed a world, where previously unrelated fringe groups are able to band together and, perhaps, wield political power to the detriment of those who do not profess belief. He also discusses the rise of the conspiracy theory through history, its usual targets, and how it has evolved, and may continue to evolve, in the modern era of mass communication. For the full story, visit http://www.danielpipes.org/article/1439.