Center For Inquiry On Campus
Campus Inquirer October 2009

In This Issue:

Dawkins Tour a Success!

Richard Dawkins' North American book tour for his latest book The Greatest Show on Earth wrapped up on October 22nd in Philadelphia.  The nearly two dozen events drew tens of thousands of people to venues in Toronto, Indiana, Seattle, New York City, South Carolina, and other locations.

We would like to give a special thanks to the CFI-affiliated campus groups who hosted Dawkins events at their universities:

Additional campus groups got involved by coordinating group travel to attend events; some Boise State Secular Student Alliance members even drove 450 miles across Oregon to attend the event at Portland State!  Groups who organized attendance at tour stops include Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics at Stanford; Students for a Nonreligious Ethos (SANE) at Berkeley; Reed Secular Alliance; Alliance of Happy Atheists at the University of Oregon; Temple Atheists and Critical Thinkers; Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers at NYU; and others.

Joe Hughto, President of the Secular Alliance of Indiana University, was inspired to write the e-mail message below following the event at IU on October 12th.  Read on for his take on the event.

Dawkins at Indiana University: One Student's Perspective
by Joe Hughto, President, Secular Alliance of Indiana University

The message below was sent as an e-mail following the Richard Dawkins "Greatest Show on Earth" event  on October 12th.

Hello everyone,

How about that Richard Dawkins?  Last night we completely filled the IU Auditorium which seats 3,200 people.  We also had to turn away between 500-1,000 more people that were still waiting outside.  To be completely honest, I thought only about 2,000 people would show up so I am overjoyed that we packed that place to capacity.


A view of the packed auditorium / Joe (on right) tables with other SAIU members

As expected, Dawkins pulled no punches when he was talking about religion, especially creationism.  Those comments were met with applause and laughter and that made me notice something; a great majority of the people there were supporters of Dawkins and his message.  That means that we locally have thousands of people who have eschewed religion for reasoning and critical thinking.  I'm actually having difficultly finding the words for how this makes me feel.  When I first started becoming aware of my atheism, I felt like I was one of a small minority that finally 'got it.'  Groups like the SAIU and events like these remind me that we are not alone in our love for reason.

This is why I think it is very important for our group to do as much as we can and be visible as much as we can in the community.  I am quite sure that there are people out there who are just like I was; they feel insulated and alone in their reason.  We need to show them that we are here and that we're not just a bunch of lazy, sarcastic elitists who spend all day lambasting the religious.  We need to show them that we have an awesome community full of awesome people (which we do) and that we are actually doing something to improve our position in society.

I hope for a day when a group like this does not need to exist.  I hope for a day when reason is the driving force behind people's reactions and every new piece of information is met with skepticism.  In order to make that happen, we can't just idly sit around and wait.  We need to go out and make these changes.  We need to do things like volunteer, have lectures, and have discussions with other people that may not agree with us.  We also need to start building community.  We need to make that community one that people will see and want to join because it looks like we're having so much damn fun.


Members of SAIU with Dawkins after the event

Well, there are no announcements or anything of that sort in this email; just me rambling on about what I want to see in Bloomington and around the world.  Let's move forward and do our best to make these things happen, OK?

-Joe

[Photos provided by former SAIU member Eoban Binder.]

CFI's Campaign for Free Expression:
Blasphemy Day and Banned Books Week Roundup

The first Blasphemy Day International, celebrated as part of CFI's Campaign for Free Expression, occurred on September 30, 2009.  The Campaign also supported the American Library Association's Banned Books Week, which ran from September 26 - October 3, 2009.  Many campus and off-campus groups around the world highlighted freedom of expression by putting on events, hosting art shows, engaging in on-campus chalking, holding banned books readouts and lectures on censorship, watching Life of Brian, and putting up free expression boards, among other things.

Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics (AHA!) at Stanford organized a Banned Books Readout on campus, where professors, librarians, and students read passages from their favorite previously-banned and challenged books.


For Blasphemy Day, CFI Michigan State University painted their campus rock, while the Oklahoma State Secular Organization's tabling included a Pascal's Wager Wheel that passers-by could spin to find out which god Pascal's Wager applied to for them.


The Washington University League of Freethinkers held an on-campus event celebrating free speech, with an open megaphone and a sheet on their table on which anyone could write anything.

Blasphemy Day International created a media firestorm.  Check out the articles below for a sampling of the coverage the event received:

The student group at the University of Northern Iowa's Blasphemy Day chalking had a huge impact on campus.  Read on for the full story from the current President of the UNI Freethinkers and Inquirers.

Blasphemy Day at the University of Northern Iowa
by Trevor Boeckmann, President, UNI Freethinkers and Inquirers

Last month, like most student groups, the University of Northern Iowa Freethinkers and Inquirers participated in Blasphemy Day...with an unexpected result.  We'd been planning the event for quite some time, brainstorming ideas to contribute our part.  Slowly, the ideas devolved into what we believed would be the least offensive.  "Pin Jesus on the Cross" turned into a Eucharist buffet, which turned into merely chalking.  So, on the Tuesday night before Blasphemy Day, that's what we did.  After a dinner at Pizza Hut, about ten UNIFI members came out to start chalking.

The instructions were simple: chalk Bible verses, secular quotes, and anything else you so desire.  After all, this was for a day dedicated to free speech.  After a couple of hours of chalking, I started touring campus, admiring our work.  The outcome was unbelievable; our chalk saturation put the Obama campaign team to shame.  It was everywhere.  There were quotes, images of the Twin Towers with "Imagine No Religion" sprawled underneath, "Fuck Jesus Christ" as a nod to the often-attacked Facebook group, and a plethora of other comments (admittedly, both in good taste and poor).  We had done something similar the spring before: a 3:00 a.m. chalk run by our former President and me to chalk our favorite Bible verses after noticing a religious group had chalked their own.  While I expected a reaction, I was not prepared for what was to come.

It wasn't long after that my phone started ringing off the hook.  Someone noticed our chalk being washed out near Bartlett Hall; a report of three girls spitting on our chalk by the campanile; a gentleman crossing out our chalk by the Union.  Secluded incidents quickly became campus-wide and lone vigilantes quickly became a part of organized efforts.  What was happening to this campus?


A partially washed-out verse from Exodus on Tuesday night

I grabbed my bike and camera and started making rounds.  If our chalk was getting defaced, I wanted evidence of who was doing it.  Following several encounters, UNIFI former President Cody Hashman and I walked down a sidewalk, noticing recent defacings.  Next to "Question with boldness even the existence of a god," "imagine my cock in your eye socket, fun times you cunts" was crudely written.  At the end of the sidewalk, two people with chalk were still going.  We raced down, I snapped some pictures, and Cody started questioning what they were doing.  The man responded, "Don't worry, we're fixing it."  When informed we were the original chalkers, he immediately got angry and lunged at me to get my camera, only managing to whip it.  I stood, terrified, as he took off in the other direction.  I immediately called the UNI police and eventually they found us all.

After the story got straightened out, one officer began talking to me about our chalkings.  He compared what we're doing to going to a political rally with guns and "shooting up the place."  He informed us we could be committing a hate crime, but they weren't sure yet.  Later that night, the same officer would tell me I was "pissing [him] off" as I expressed my concerns of a police officer implying we should stop chalking.

Hours of Facebook replies, chalking encounters, and one final police encounter later, it was morning.  The campus was up in arms.  From Facebook statuses to the campus newspaper to classroom discussions—everyone was talking about Blasphemy Day, and they all had opinions.  That afternoon, UNIFI was having lunch when a visiting preacher jumped up on a bench to start preaching the word of God.  How could we miss an opportunity like this?  I immediately grabbed my Bible and jumped up there with him, preaching my Biblical favorites.  My verses of the sins of homosexuality and treatment of women butted up against his verses of love and tolerance as a crowd gathered.  Little did I know what this would lead to as I ran off to class.

Halfway through class, the text messages started coming.  "Get to the Union...now."  I sprinted out of class and couldn't believe what I saw—a mob of 50-60 people had gathered spontaneously.  Through the crowd I could see the UNIFI officers in the middle excitedly engaged in debate with campus religious leaders.  Apparently our Vice President had taken on the discussion with the preacher and it had morphed into this: an open dialog on a forbidden topic.  This is what Blasphemy Day was all about.  People came and left and the crowd began to shrink, but in all this discussion lasted over five hours.

 
Trevor "preaches" back at the preacher / The group that spontaneously came together to debate religion

Still, my day wasn't done there.  I escaped from a few hours of debate to catch back up on the Facebook carnage.  On one profile in particular, I discovered threats to UNIFI members and an invite for me to visit this gentleman in his room.  Immediately I contacted the police.  I spent that evening in the Union, alternating between defending Blasphemy Day and trying to keep up on homework.  As closing time approached, the Union manager approached me to assure I was getting an escort home.  Once I left the Union, she couldn't watch out for me anymore.  That's when it hit me: for the first time in my three years at UNI, I was terrified to walk alone back to my dorm.

At the end of the day, it was all worth it.  We made our point, and dialog occurred because of it.  Personally, the stories it left with me made it all worth it.  There was the bad, including my sister disowning me, not feeling safe on my own campus, and seeing law enforcement attempt to dissuade us from exercising free speech.  But more important to me were the stories of people finally getting why blasphemy matters.  I'll never forget the Facebook message left for me from a girl I barely know: "We are on completely opposite ends of the spectrum, but if your rights get taken away, so do mine.  I am grateful to know that I too, may write whatever I want."

Trevor Boeckmann is a junior Economics major at the University of Northern Iowa where he serves as the President of the UNI Freethinkers and Inquirers.

[The school newspaper also wrote an article about the event: Celebration of International Blasphemy Day offends, raises questions over free speech]

Bring Point of Inquiry to your Campus Radio Station

CFI invites you to bring Point of Inquiry, its radio show and podcast, to your campus.  Point of Inquiry, connected with Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry magazines, is the weekly long-format interview show hosted by D.J. Grothe focusing on exploring the implications of the scientific outlook with leading thinkers from many different fields.  Past episodes have featured prominent scientists and social critics including Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jill Tarter, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Ann Druyan, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Shermer, Susan Jacoby, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett.

Bring Point of Inquiry to your campus!  Point of Inquiry can now be heard on a number of campus and community radio stations throughout North America.  The process for bringing the show to your school involves the following:

  • Let us know of your interest by emailing Dan Riley at driley@centerforinquiry.net.
  • Contact your community's or school's radio station to explore the possibility (is there an opening in the schedule?).
  • Download the episodes, or request higher-quality digital recordings of past episodes from CFI.  Any past episode is available for re-broadcast for free.

This is another way that you can help advance science and secular values at your school.  We look forward to working with you to bring the show to new audiences!

New CFI Campus Groups

The Center for Inquiry is pleased to welcome fifty new prospective and affiliate campus groups that have joined CFI in the last year:

Australia: (alphabetical by state)

Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales
Wollongong University, Wollongong, New South Wales
University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria
University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia

Canada: (alphabetical by province)

Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON
University of Guelph, Guelph, ON

Nigeria:

Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Osun, Nigeria

United States: (alphabetical by state)


New group at Colo. State gets the word out

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, GA
Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL
Ball State University, Muncie, IN
Earlham College, Richmond, IN
North High School, Evansville, IN
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, MA
Smith College, Northampton, MA
University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME
Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
St. Cloud State University, MN
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Elon University, Elon, NC
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, NC
University of North Carolina - Greensboro, NC
Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ
UNLV, Las Vegas, NV
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
University of Rochester, NY
Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
The University of Tennessee - Martin, TN
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, WI
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, WI

To get involved with one of these groups or to work with us to support them, please e-mail Dan Riley at driley@centerforinquiry.net, or visit the CFI On Campus website to learn how to start a group on your campus.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, October 29, 6:00 p.m.
Victor Stenger: "The New Atheism"
CFI Austin
Opal Devine's Freehouse, 700 W. 6th St., Austin, TX

Thursday, October 29, 7:00 p.m.
Tom Flynn: "The Demography of Unbelief"
CFI Pittsburgh
Carnegie Science Center, One Allegheny Ave., Pittsburgh, PA

Thursday, October 29, 7:00 p.m.
Alister McGrath vs. Stephen Law: "Does the Natural World Point to God?"
CFI London
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London, UK

Thursday, October 29, 7:00 p.m.
Herb Silverman vs. E. Ray Moore: "Is America a Christian Nation?"
Pastafarians at the University of South Carolina
USC Belk Auditorium Room 005, Columbia, SC

Thursday, October 29, 7:30 p.m.
Tobin Craig: "Crisis of European Sciences"
Center for Inquiry | Michigan State University
MSU Union, Third Floor, Lake Ontario Room, East Lansing, MI

Friday, October 30, 4:00 p.m.
Michael De Dora Jr.: "The Future of Freethought"
Secular Penn
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Friday, October 30, 7:00 p.m.
Tarek Fatah: "The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State"
CFI Ontario
Bahen Centre for Information Technology, 40 St. George St., Room 1130, Toronto, ON


PZ Myers draws 200 for CFA at MSUM

Sunday, November 1, 11:00 a.m.
Al Seckel: "Your Mind's Eye"
CFI Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA

Monday, November 2
Michael De Dora Jr.: "The Future of Freethought"
Temple Atheists and Critical Thinkers
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Tuesday, November 3, 7:00 p.m.
"No God.  Now What?"
CFI Southern Arizona
University Medical Center, DuVal Auditorium, 501 N Campbell Ave., Tucson, AZ

Wednesday, November 4, 7:00 p.m.
Carl Bajema: "Darwin: Then & Now"
CFI Michigan
Gourdneck Lake Meeting Room, Lower Level, 300 Library Ln., Portage, MI

Thursday, November 5, 7:30 p.m.
Joe Bochinski: "The Science of Discrimination"
Center for Inquiry | Michigan State University
MSU Union, Third Floor, Lake Ontario Room, East Lansing, MI

Thursday, November 5, 8:15 p.m.
Tom Flynn: "The Trouble With Christmas"
AU Rationalists and Atheists
American University, Mary Graydon Center, Room 200, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC

Friday, November 6, 2:30 p.m.
Victor Stenger: "The New Atheism"
Metro State Atheists
Metropolitan State College of Denver, Tivoli Multicultural Lounge, 900 Auraria Pkwy, Denver, CO

Saturday, November 7, 9:00 a.m.
Carl Sagan Day
CFI Fort Lauderdale
Broward College Central Campus, 3501 SW Davie Rd., Fort Lauderdale, FL

Sunday, November 8, 12:00 p.m.
D.J. Grothe: "Darwin Made Me Do It"
CFI Daytona Beach
Red Lobster, 2625 West International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL

Wednesday, November 11, 7:00 p.m.
D.J. Grothe: "Darwin Made Me Do It"
CFI Michigan
Women's City Club, 254 E. Fulton, Grand Rapids, MI


CFI GVSU gets attention at the activity fair

Thursday, November 12, 7:00 p.m.
D.J. Grothe: "Darwin Made Me Do It"
CFI Michigan
Baldwin District Library, 300 W. Merrill St., Birmingham, MI

Thursday, November 12, 7:00 p.m.
Doug Lenat: "CYC-ology"
CFI Austin
Old Quarry Branch Library, 7051 Village Center Dr., Austin, TX

Thursday, November 12, 7:30 p.m.
Joe Bochinski: "Monkey Business"
Center for Inquiry | Michigan State University
MSU Union, Third Floor, Lake Ontario Room, East Lansing, MI

Saturday, November 14, 7:30 p.m.
Jamy Ian Swiss: "Heavy Mental"
CFI Michigan
Wealthy Street Theater, 1130 Wealthy Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI

Saturday, November 14, 5:00 p.m.
Massimo Pigliucci: Keynote Address
KSU Student Coalition for Inquiry
Kennesaw State University, Social Science Building, Kennesaw, GA

Sunday, November 15, 11:00 a.m.
Angela Hawken: "Is Corruption Measurable?"
CFI Los Angeles, 4773 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA

Sunday, November 15, 3:00 p.m.
Dan Barker vs. Kevin Cauley: "Can We Be Good without God?"
Free Thought Society of Texas State
Texas State University, Alkek Teaching Theater, San Marcos, TX

Tuesday, November 17, 7:00 p.m.
The Psychology of Religion: "Religious Belief and the Mind"
CFI New York City and Atheists, Agnostics, & Freethinkers at NYU
NYU Kimmel Center Room 802, 60 Washington Square South, New York, NY

Sunday, November 21, 11:00 a.m.
Brian Moore: "Socialism"
CFI Tampa, 5201 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL

News of Note

For up-to-the-minute news about CFI's campus outreach initiative and affiliated campus groups, you can follow us on Twitter!

News items and articles featuring the Center for Inquiry and affiliated campus groups:

Articles of Note:



Center For Inquiry
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