Date: Monday, April 28, 2008
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: SCE – Cardinal Room (Third floor across from the inner circle)

Austin Dacey serves as a representative to the United Nations for CFI, and is also on the editorial staff of Skeptical Inquirer and Free Inquiry magazines. His writings have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times. His new book is The Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life. This book presents a cogent argument for secular liberalism. Dacey, a philosopher who teaches at Polytechnic University and the State University of New York at Buffalo, claims that values and ethics—defining what is right and wrong, good and bad—are not the sole domain of theologians. To contribute to our understanding of enlightened secularism, he cites like-minded thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Dewey, Adam Smith, John Rawls, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Plato, John Locke and Baruch Spinoza, among others. Dacey’s presentation is especially timely in view of the emphasis by some current presidential candidates on their religious identity. Not since 1960, when John F. Kennedy, as a Roman Catholic, argued for church-state separation, has the issue of secularism versus religion been so prominent in a national election. Dacey’s analysis helps to put this question into the larger perspective of liberty and conscience. Dacey advocates for democracy over authoritarianism, not hesitating to challenge theocratic Islam, for example, as a new totalitarianism. He calls on secular liberals to stand up for reason and science, the separation of religion and state, freedom of belief, personal autonomy, equality, toleration, and self-criticism. This is a thoughtful, well-reasoned argument for progressive secularism.

Date: Sunday, April 13, 2008
Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: Room 613 (behind elevators), University Center East building, 750 S. Halsted (UIC campus)

Please join RAFT and CFI to hear and converse with our special guest, Dan Barker, the co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is a major association of nontheists that has successfully challenged the faith-based initiatives and also promotes freethought and defends the constitutional principle of the separation of state and church. This is an afternoon event.

Dan will drive in from Madison, WI to talk about FFRF activities, lawsuits, outreach and his cheerfully atheist music!

Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Time: 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Location: ROOM 4289 SEL (East Side of the SEL. Take the stairs / elevator to the fourth floor, we will have signs posted directing you to the room)

FREE FOOD and REFRESHMENTS

Join RAFT for an interesting afternoon! Biology professor Stephen Kelso will be talking about biological basis of our beliefs. Interesting experiments may happen during this presentation!!! Stay tuned!

Date: Sunday, March 9th
Time: 1:00PM
Where: Cardinal Room, Student Center East, Third Floor

The Center for Inquiry/Chicago, and RAFT – Rationalists and Freethinkers of UIC, are both pleased to present a very special afternoon panel discussion featuring Norm R. Allen, Jr., the executive director of African Americans for Humanism, and Sibanye, the Coordinator of the CFI Community of Harlem:

Free Your Mind – the Rest Will Follow

Religion and religious leaders have always had a strong influence in public life, especially among Blacks, but many religious views are as baffling, contradictory, and inhumane as the religions that spawned them. We must ask, “How well is the Black church serving the Black community?”

There is an alternative to religion – a life stance that is more beneficial to the ongoing quest for freedom, justice, and equality.

Join us as Norm Allen and Sibanye discuss secular humanism and political liberation in the African American community, and why a secular humanist life stance is beneficial in the ongoing quest for freedom, justice, and equality.

A question and answer period will follow the presentations.

Norm R. Allen, Jr. is the executive director of African Americans for Humanism and the Co-director of the Center for Inquiry/Transnational program. He is the author of The Black Humanist Experience: An Alternative to Religion, editor of African American Humanism: An Anthology, and an associate editor of Free Inquiry magazine.

Sibanye is the Coordinator of the CFI Community of Harlem, a group that offers programs and support for secularists within the Harlem community.

More info: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/chicago

Check out this article. Also watch the accompanying news story that aired on CBS news. RAFT was briefly mentioned.

RAFT / CFI members on a tour “Behind the Exhibits” with Dr. Ron Pine at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Behind the Exhibits at the Field Museum – Part 1
Behind the Exhibits at the Field Museum – Part 2

Rationalists and Freethinkers at UIC present: “UIC Decides”. This is a short montage of the opinions expressed by students at the University of Illinois at Chicago concerning current crop of presidential candidates.

UIC Decides – Part 1
UIC Decides – Part 2

Date: Sunday, February 10TH
Time: 10:30AM
Location: SCE – White Oak Room (Take the escalators to the third floor from the inner circle)

The Center for Inquiry/Chicago is pleased to present:

Current Knowledge of Life’s Prehistory and What Darwin Knew and Didn’t Know About It – with guest presenter Dr. Ron Pine of the Field Museum

Help celebrate Darwin’s 199th birthday (this week) with our distinguished guest, who has been with us once or twice over the past few years and always has new and engaging things to say.

Dr. Ron Pine is currently a Research Associate at the Field Museum of Chicago, having previously worked at the Smithsonian and served as a professor at George Williams College. His research specialty is the classification, ecology, and biogeography of mammals, especially those of Latin America. He has degrees from the Universities of Kansas and Michigan, and a doctorate from Texas A&M.

He started leading “nature hikes” for people of all ages when he was 15, which progressed to his leading numerous scientific expeditions to five continents and various islands. He also is the author of at least 70 scientific publications, including one technical monograph and one co-authored textbook.

We provide the hot, caffeinated coffee and a stimulating round table format. You need not be a Friend of the Center (member) to attend this meeting, but non-members will be asked for a modest contribution ($3 for students). So, if you find that you like us, please do join as a Friend of CFI/Chicago!

Try giving up blood!

The data:

1. February is National Volunteer Blood Donor Month
2. February 6th is Ash Wednesday (the start of Lent)

The conclusion:

RAFT will be hosting a Lent themed blood drive from 10:00AM to 3:00PM in Student Center East Room 613 (sixth floor) on the aforementioned 6th of February! Enjoy FREE snacks and juice while helping to save the lives of those in need. RAFT will even be marking worthy donors with our very own supply of Rational Ashes! We hope to see you all there.

Join RAFT for our first meeting of the semester.

Date: Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Time: 3:30pm – 5:00pm
Location: UIC Student Center East; East Terrace (this is the area with big windows east of the Inner Circle)

FREE FOOD and REFRESHMENTS

At the meeting RAFT will:

Welcome new members
Provide information about upcoming events
Discuss the current crop of presidential candidates

As always, free food will be provided. Also, CBS News will be filming and conducting some student interviews at the meeting for a piece they are doing on the rising number of student groups like RAFT.

Hello, everyone. Several updates have been implemented on this website. They are meant to increase the usability and overall look of the site. One of the major differences was the implementation of “Textile” markup. Now whenever you post a forum post please use these formatting guidelines with several exceptions (“Align Blocks” and “Apply Attributes” tags are not allowed).

Hopefully this will simplify things for everyone.

Just a quick note. You may notice that the box that lists recently discussed forum posts is out of order. During the updating process dates got reset. Everything works fine now and if a reply is made it will float to the top.