THE   FOCUS
centerforatheism.org

April 11, 2007 Volume 3, Issue 14/15
Published by the Center For Atheism (CFA)
Editor: Suzy Lanza


The Focus provides links to articles collected from major newspapers and magazines, and is emailed weekly.

This Week in Atheism is a cable show that discusses the articles featured below, every Wednesday at 6:30 PM (EST), Manhattan Cable station 57.

Live streaming is available at: http://www.mnn.org.

Comments, suggestions and subscription: thefocusatcfa@aol.org.




          This Week’s Featured Articles
          
          Are humans hard-wired for faith? - CNN.com 
 
          god Debate: Sam Harris vs. Rick Warren - Newsweek Beliefs - MSNBC.com

          

 

          News Articles
          (Some publications may require that you sign up for membership to view their article.)



     ATHEISM

     Atheists Split Over Message - New York Times 

       
Good reason to feel threatened - Chester Daily Local Online

       Debate over god and ethics comes to Utah - Salt Lake Tribune


    
BOOKS, MOVIES, THEATRE, TELEVISION, VIDEOS, DVDS

    Einstein & Faith | TIME

    Evolution for Everyone - David Sloan Wilson - Books - Review - New York Times

    ‘Evolution for Everyone’ - New York Times

    Play inspires forum on evolution - Casper Times Tribune

    An Atheist Response - You Tube

    god: The Failed Hypothesis / The Comprehensible Cosmos | Book Reviews | The 
    Australian

   EVOLUTION, CREATIONISM, I.D.  

    Darwin's doubts revealed in his letters to friends - Independent Online Edition >  
    This Britain
 
        
       
  HUMOR

     Pissed Catholic Mother - You Tube

 SCIENCE

        Birds Do It. Bees Do It. People Seek the Keys to It. - New York Times

      Pas de Deux of Sexuality Is Written in the Genes - New York Times                          
       Now You See It: Expanding the Visible Color Spectrum -- Researchers engineer
     mice to see the world .
Scientific American Mind: 

      Did the Red Sea Part? No Evidence, Archaeologists Say - New York Times 

    Time in the Animal Mind - New York Times

    Philip G. Zimbardo - Finding Hope in Knowing the Universal Capacity for Evil - 
    New York Times
 
       
      
    SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
      
Pennsylvania County Agrees To Settle Lawsuit Challenging 'Faith-Based' Jail  
       Ministry
 - Americans United

      The Case for Teaching The Bible | TIME 
       

   MISCELLANEOUS

       Generic fundamentalists attack church-state wall! » GetReligion    

       It’s Stem Cell Time DefCon Blog » Blog Archive »
 
       Is Secularism the Best Antidote to Islamism? | The Huffington Post The Blog
 
       BYU Campus Protests Dick Cheney Speech - washingtonpost.com
 
       Remember a Previous Life? Maybe You Have a Bad Memory: Scientific American
 
       Gospel according to Judas | Salon Books  

 

          CFA Programs

ATHEISTS TO COUNTER ‘NATIONAL DAY
OF PRAYER’ WITH BLOOD DONATIONS
Lifesaving Action, Not Passive Prayer, Is the Message

          What do you do on May 3, 2007, the “National Day of Prayer,” if you are an atheist, do not believe in prayer, and are opposed to the observance of a prayer day being imposed on all American citizens? 
          While believers are praying on May 3, groups of atheists will go to Blood Banks in scores of US locales to donate their blood and sign up for organ donation programs. It is a nationwide action which we hope will point out that there are alternatives to silently beseeching a deity to perform miracles.
           “We want to make a public statement about how nonreligious people can observe the so-called National Day of Prayer, which we have renamed Gift of Life Day.”
          If you want to start A Gift of Life Day in your localation, contact Ken Bronstein at centerforatheism@aol.org.

The Center for Atheism (CFA) was established by the New York City Atheists as a separate and independent national organization to propose, develop, and be a catalyst for new national activities supporting the objectives of atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, skeptics, secularists and separation-of-church-and-state advocates.

CFA will accept and review suggestions from individuals and other secular organizations that will foster our goals.

 

 

          Special Notices
 
 Deadlines Soon for Harvard Humanist Conference 
"The New Humanism" Conference at Harvard, is coming up in less than two weeks-- this may be your final chance to be part of this event featuring Salman Rushdie, Amartya Sen, Steven Pinker, E.O. Wilson, Dar Williams, Ned Lamont, Lori Lipman Brown, Sherwin Wine, Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr., Lou Appignani, Fred Edwords, William Murry, Daniel Menaker, Rebecca Goldstein, the leading Humanists from around the US and the world, and much more! Register here, right away!

Deadlines as follows:  

***THIS WEDS. 4/11 AT 5PM IS THE DEADLINE TO:***

1) Place a greeting in our program book and raise visibility for your group among our hundreds of attendees, and/or honor retiring Harvard Humanist Chaplain Tom Ferrick on his 30 years of service to Harvard and Humanism. 

Greetings are $500 for a full 5.5"x8" page, $250 for a half page, $100 for a small greeting, and $1250 for full color back cover. To arrange your greeting, make a tax-free donation in the appropriate amount here, in the space marked "Support the 30th Anniversary Conference," then send a brief message and hi-resolution image/logo to humanist@hcs.harvard.edu and thenewhumanism@gmail.com. Greetings will also be projected on our conference screen between presentations. 

2) Take part in our Humanist Expo, featuring the leading Humanist and related organizations, and more! Register your organization here while space remains. 

***NEXT WEDS 4/18 AT 5PM IS THE TENTATIVE DEADLINE FOR INDIVIDUAL/GROUP REGISTRATION!***
We may be forced to close registration a day or so earlier than this; then again, our venue may allow us to keep it open a day longer. We will keep you posted, but meanwhile may I recommend not waiting until the last minute, when we may have to shut some out!  Click here to register: 

Or, if you plan to send us a check for $204 (full registration for a non student over 30-- see link above for heavy student discounts, etc.) please send IMMEDIATELY, made payable to the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, The Memoorial Church, One Harvard Yard, Cambridge MA 02138. Checks arriving later than Tuesday 4/17 are not guaranteed to secure registration. 

For the latest on the conference, see our website: http://www.thenewhumanism.org, and thanks to everyone around the world for your amazing support! We deeply appreciate it.
--
Greg M. Epstein
Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University
Memorial Church, One Harvard Yard
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-5986

 

 

          Legislation Alerts

There are no legislation alerts this week.

 

Comments, suggestions, and subscriptions: THEFOCUS@CENTERFORATHEISM.ORG.