Rational Thought

Rational Thought is now defunct. Thanks to everybody who participated in our events over the years! This website will stay up for a while, and if anyone is interested in starting a similar group again in the future, feel free to get in touch with us. We also preserved the subscriber email list as a Google group (link).

The old webpage with the archive of past events is still available here.

And here is the page for this past Darwin Day Celebration 2006.

Past Events

"Did Jesus Even Exist?" by Richard Carrier

Info on the speaker:
Historian Richard Carrier is the author of Sense and Goodness without God and a contributor to The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave. He lives in the Bay Area and is frequently invited by freethought groups across the nation to give presentations on the historicity of Jesus, the historical method, and other topics. His website is at www.columbia.edu/~rcc20.

Link to the handouts:

Handout 1 (Outline and References)
Handout 2 (Passages Quoted)

A Brief History of Alternative Medicine

Abstract:
We will discuss the evolution of so-called alternative medicine through the 1970s-2000s, its intentional transformation through creative language distortion, the background roles of organized pseudoscience, cults, sectarian schools, economic-political entities; and its influences in governmental agencies, the National Academies' Institute of Medicine, Medical schools and universities, medical journal editorial staffs, and in academia.
Dr. Sampson will answer questions on scientific and social aspects of this phenomenon, which he feels is unprecedented - a massive coordinated ideological and anti-scientific movement.

Info on the speaker:
Dr. Sampson is Clinical Professor Emeritus of Medicine, formerly in Oncology at Valley Medical Center, and Chair of the Cancer Advisory Council of California representing Stanford. He is the editor of the journal "Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine" (www.sram.org), published by the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health, an Affiliate of the Center for Inquiry (CFI); he is also a frequent speaker at CFI events.

Flyer: Download here

Panel Discussion "Whither Church/State Separation? - A Secular Perspective"

For several years now, the constitutional separation of politics and religion has been under severe attack. Court cases about the public display of the Ten Commandments spring to mind. Even more sweeping is the Bush administration's financing of faith-based initiatives, and extremely troubing its support for prison programs with prominent religious components. Come hear what these panelists have to say about "Whither Church/State Separation?"

Panelists

Annie Laurie Gaylor is the co-founder and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the editor of the Foundation's journal Freethought Today. She is also the author of "Woe to the Women: The Bible Tells Me So", "Betrayal of Trust: Clergy Abuse of Children", and "Women Without Superstition: No Gods - No Masters".

Tim Gordinier is the Director of Public Policy and Education at the Institute for Humanist Studies, where he spearheads the Institute's legislative agenda. He has a doctorate in Political Science with a focus on constitutional law and specifically on the religion clauses of the First Amendment.

Eddie Tabash is a civil rights attorney and the Chair of the National Legal Committee for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. He has been active in the abortion rights movement in California and has successfully represented the secular humanist position in a number of high profile debates, such as with William Lane Craig or Peter Van Inwagen.

Contact

Martin Mueller
martin.mueller (at) stanford.edu
(650) 926-3837

Last updated: 1/07/07
Webmaster: rt-announce-owner@lists.stanford.edu