Category: Freethought and Free Speech on Campus
Introduction
At the Center for Inquiry, we have always known that if we are to achieve our mission of a secular society based on science, reason, free inquiry, and humanist values, we must engage young skeptics, freethinkers, and atheists now and help them become the leaders of tomorrow. Our CFI/On Campus program does exactly that. Since …
Is Campus Censorship the New Normal?
Yale University: Censoring ‘Sissy’ and the Muhammad cartoons Despite its unequivocal public commitments to free speech and academic freedom, Yale University failed to live up to these ideals last year in two well-publicized incidents. One is somewhat comical, the other far more sinister—but each illustrates that the endemic will to censor is all too common …
Education for the Future: The Liberating Arts
What do I mean distinctively by education? The learning process, the process of expanding the dimensions of experience and intelligence, the increase in imagination and understanding, the ability to adapt and adjust. Now let me make it clear that although schools are essential to this educative process, they are not the only institutions that should …
Tales Told Out of School
It was well past 2:00 A.M. when I finally made it back to my room for the evening. I was covered in chalk and had had two police encounters that night-the first concerning an assault and the second concerning harassment. I was exhausted, having spent the previous four hours biking around campus passing groups praying, …
This article is available for free to all.The War on Hate
As the saying goes, sometimes the defense of free speech compels us to defend speech we otherwise abhor. It apt ly describes a situation that occurred this year at my school, the University of Oregon (UO). UO received national attention for a free-speech controversy that divided students, faculty, and community members. Associated Press covered the …
News from the Campuses
Across the Midwest: ‘Draw Muhammad’ Protest Sparks Discussion, Profanity, but No Violence In May, three Center for Inquiry/On Campus-affiliated groups organized activism campaigns in reaction to threats made by RevolutionMuslim.com against South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The radical Muslim Web site posted a statement warning the two entertainers that they would likely …
Energy and the Human Far Future
The sun created life on earth and made the earth green. It drives the seasons and keeps the earth warm. It created human beings, actually shaped us from the matter of the earth. It radiates enough energy each second to supply all present human energy needs for a million years. No god conceived by …