The SSA only exists because of your support. Please donate today. Secular shorts: Going somewhere? Support the Secular Student Alliance while you go. Book travel through our travel gateweay. The Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University launches its new online publication The New Humanist. Check it out! The Audio Archive now contains the audio from all our 2009 SSA Conference talks! Listen today! Joining the Freedom From Religion Foundation at its Seattle Conference? Look for Lyz Liddell, Campus Organizer, and say hi! Contact us! Call us toll free at 1-877-842-9474. You can also email us at ssa@secularstudents.org. We are always happy to hear from you and answer any questions or concerns! What do you think? This is your eNewsletter and we are always updating and changing to fit your needs, so please let us know what you think of our new format! Email enews@secularstudents.org with any suggestions, ideas, or comments. eMpirical Team
Content Manager: Frank Bellamy
Editors: August E. Brunsman IV, Lyz Liddell, Hemant Mehta, Amanda Knief, Jesse Galef, Cameron DeHart
| Introduction It's been a busy fall at the Secular Student Alliance! We've been up to our ears in new affiliates - over 180 campus groups! - and we're working to provide more services than ever. See what we've been up to and what's happening in the movement as you read on! Dr. PZ Myers PZ Myers is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota - Morris, author of the popular and award-winning blog Pharyngula, a founding member of The Panda’s Thumb and an outspoken critic of intelligent design and creationism. An outspoken atheist, PZ Myers is a vocal skeptic of all forms of religion, superstition, spirituality and pseudoscience. He is quoted as having "nothing but contempt for ID," arguing that it is "fundamentally dishonest.” His blog has received awards and critical acclaim, its topics ranging from criticism of intelligent design to elements of his biological research, politics, superstition, and popular culture. In August 2009, Myers was the guest of honor at the Secular Student Alliance trip to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY, where nearly 300 freethinkers met to view the creationist ideas first-hand. He then gave the keynote presentation at the Secular Student Alliance 2009 Conference, where he discussed hands-on ways to counter creationism and other nonscientific silliness. Watch PZ Myers' SSA 09 Conference keynote presentation at our YouTube channel! Rev. Jonathan Weyer While Rev. Weyer is an ordained orthodox minister, he has an uncommon penchant for fostering dialogue and cooperation between the religious and the nonreligious. Rev. Jonathan Weyer is a self-described religious nutjob who lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife Wendy, three kids and a cat. He is a campus minister at The Ohio State University with the CCO-The Cloister and is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Along with Ashley Paramore, board member of the SSA, he planned a discussion with Hemant Mehta that won a Multicultural award from the Ohio State University. He loves bringing together believers, nonbelievers, skeptics, atheists, and doubters to discuss why God calls people to a lifestyle of doubt. In his spare time, he loves to write, read and drink hard cider. He also maintains a blog for the Thomas Society at www.thomas2026.wordpress.com. Rev. Weyer is available to speak on the following topics. - How to cooperate with religious groups
- A Chaplain to Pirates: My life among the Pastafarians (the story of how Ashley and I started working together)
- Creating a blogging world for Christians and Atheists
- Understanding how Christians view the world
- Atheist "Bible Studies"
- Addressing objections to God's existence from a Christian point of view
- Understanding American Christianity
- Why God calls us to be Doubters and Skeptics
If you are interested in having either of these speakers come present at your campus, please contact the campus organizer at organizer@secularstudents.org, or fill out our online Speaker Request form.
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The Secular Student Alliance is a democratic membership organization. In addition to having our affiliate groups (which can join for free and get great services and resources), we also have individual members. Anyone, regardless of student status or age, can join the SSA as a contributing member and help support our organization. You also get to vote for our Board of Directors each year (and even run for the Board if you are so inclined), and get discounts to our conference. Being involved in an affiliate group doesn't mean you are automatically a member of the Secular Student Alliance. We don't require our students to become members of the SSA for their groups to get all the resources we provide, but we definitely encourage it. Membership for students is only $10/year, and you get to have a direct hand in the organization that supports your group. Having students involved in the national organization gives a strong voice to the students we serve, helping us better meet their needs. That's why we're launching our first-ever Student Membership Drive! In order to get more students (and nonstudents) involved in the national organization, we're encouraging members, alumni, supporters and friends of our  affiliate groups to join the Secular Student Alliance. Tell your members, supporters and friends about the SSA and the work we do for our affiliates, and encourage them to get involved! We'll be holding the drive from now through the end of the semester. That's closer than you might think - so start spreading the word sooner rather than later. Why Students?
Students are the rising stars of the freethought movement. Never before have we seen the kind of activity and organization that's happening right now on high school and college campuses. As an organization that exists to support, serve and organize students, we want to have those same people individually involved in our organization. We want your input, support, feedback, and to help foster a commitment to freethought that carries on beyond campus into the rest of our society.  How does the Student Membership Drive work?
We're asking our affiliate groups to tell their members about the Secular Student Alliance and encourage them to join the national organization as individual members. If someone has been an SSA member in the past, encourage them to renew their membership! We believe that building a strong member base will help strengthen the entire movement.
Joining is easy. You and your group's members can join online using PayPal or a major credit card, or join by mail using our printable .pdf membership form. As the Secular Student Alliance is a 501(c)(3) educational public charity, all membership dues (as well as any additional contributions) are tax deductible within the United States. When you or someone from your group joins the Secular Student Alliance, they'll see an option to select a referring group: make sure they know to select your group! Join today at www.secularstudents.org/join!
What's in it for us?
 The greatest benefit in getting your members to join the Secular Student Alliance is having your voice represented in our organization. But to sweeten the deal a little more, we'll be awarding $50 EvolveFISH gift certificates to the two groups who are able to recruit the most members for the SSA.
We realize that there's no way a group on a 1,500-student campus can compete with groups on 50,000-student campuses - so we're dividing affiliates into two tiers: groups with less than 35 members and groups with more than 35. We'll be using the numbers from the latest Affiliation Renewal questionnaire, so we can be sure that we're working with up-to-date information about your group.
I have a question about…We're happy to answer questions. You or members of your group can contact us at ssa@secularstudents.org, or call our office at 614-441-9588. You can also find answers to many questions on our website at www.secularstudents.org.
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If you've been following the blogosphere lately, you've probably heard about Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort's latest attempt to reach out to college students. This November, they will "celebrate" the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species with their "Origin Into Schools" outreach program: distributing free copies of a special reprinted edition of Darwin's work, complete with an introduction by the staunch defender of creationism, Ray Comfort himself. As strong supporters of Darwin's work and proponents of science and reason, we encourage our affiliates to stand up and speak out! We've gathered as much information as we can get our hands on, and found some of the best suggestions we can for our groups to get involved. What's Going On?
 Living Waters, the evangelical Christian ministry of Ray Comfort (Banana Man) and Kirk Cameron (sitcom star of Growing Pains), is on a mission to distribute 100,000 copies of a reprinted version of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, with an introduction by Comfort attempting to refute Darwin's theories. You can see Comfort's explanation of the project on their website. Or, you can download and read the Introduction in PDF form. The highlights of the introduction, according to Kirk Cameron (who explains the project on YouTube), include "a timeline of Darwin's life, Adolf Hitler's undeniable connection with the theory, Dariwn's racism, his disdain for women and Darwin's thoughts on the existence of God." The introduction also "lists the theory's many hoaxes." David Waters' column "Origin of the Specious" in the Washington Post, sums up the project quite nicely.
What Can My Group Do?
Several groups have asked us what we suggest for them to counter the Living Waters outreach. So we've compiled some of our best ideas as well as a few places to find and share more ideas.
Raise Awareness
Tabling is a great way to raise awareness of any issue. Get out on your campus and show the public how much evidence there is in favor of the theory of natural selection. Or include a party to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's work. Host a Speaker
Every campus likely has a professor who would be happy to give a lecture or presentation on evolution. Advertise near where copies of Comfort's book are being given away or at your table! Hold a Protest or Demonstration
Counter misinformation with a crowd of students and signboards refuting Comfort's claims. Protests and demonstrations are a great way to raise awareness and even get some media coverage. Distribute the Original
On the Origin of Species is in the public domain, which means that there are plenty of version that you can reproduce and distribute freely. Check out Project Gutenburg's version, various e-book formats (for your Kindle or eReader), or an audiobook version (great for the trip home for Thanksgiving break!) There's also a great resource on Darwin's work at darwin-online.org.uk/. Letters to the Editor
Raise awareness on campus or in your community through a letter to the editor. You might point out how underhanded an approach Living Waters is taking, or point out how the evidence for evolution is overwhelming. Show a Film
There are several excellent films available for screening that are particularly relevant for this event. Judgment Day is a NOVA production focused on the landmark federal case of Kitzmiller v. Dover School District. Flock of Dodos is a fun, full-length film that examines both sides of the intelligent design v. evolution debate, and comes with permission from the filmmaker to screen publicly on campus. You'll need to reserve a room in advance for these, so start planning now!
Share Ideas
There is a thread on the forums at the RichardDawkins.net site about what students can do (registration required). It's a great place to find and share ideas. There are also two Facebook groups dedicated to idea-sharing and brainstorming about how to best react. Join either or both "Keep Ray Comfort Honest" or "Kirk Cameron has gone too far - but we can stop him" to share ideas and get involved.
Let Us Know!
We love to hear what our affiliates are up to. If you pulled off a great protest, table or an innovative idea for how to handle the Origin Into Schools, we'd love to hear about it!
Additional Resources
We're working to collect resources to help your group. Check back often, as we'll be updating this page as we get more information!
List of Original 50 Schools: While we do not have a list of all the colleges & universities that Living Waters intends to target, we have tracked down a copy of the first 50. Check it out to see if your school is included!
Origin Into Schools in Canada: Many students have been asking for a list of the campuses where Comfort wants to distribute the books. So far, we do not have access to a U.S. list, but we do have a list of the schools in Canada. If you're a Canadian affiliate, check this list to see if your school will be targeted! NCSE Resources: The National Center for Science Education has put together a plethora of resources for those who want to promote Darwin and his work, including some targeted specifically at the Comfort nonsense. Check out their website at DontDissDarwin.com. Evolution and Outreach Journal: This free online publication contains lots of great articles written by scientists for laypersons. Great for sharing with your group or linking to on flyers and websites. Get full online access here. On Hitler and Darwin: When Ben Stein's Expelled was first released, he issued a comment about the study of evolution being a cause for the Holocaust. The Anti-Defamation League put together a short-and-sweet response to that nonsense, which applies equally well to Comfort's distressingly similar accusation. The Brights' Evolution Flyer: The Brights have put together a great "Did you know?" flyer outlining some of the most common misconceptions about evolution and listing some sources for further reading. It's a great resource to have available at tables, protests, and other events. Flock of Dodos producer PSA: Randy Olson, the producer behind Flock of Dodos, has created a spoof "PSA" about the Comfort giveaway. Watch here and share with your group or campus!
TreeLobster Anti-anti-science bookmarks: The good comic artists at TreeLobster have created a printable, high-resolution, full-color bookmark that nicely compliments Comfort's book-and-intro combination. Download the image, print on cardstock and distribute the bookmarks alongside Comfort's Origin. By Amber Scott  | Amber Scott, 2009 Summer Intern
at the Secular Student Alliance
|
Along with Jonathan Sussman, I was one of the summer interns for the Secular Student Alliance during the summer of 2009. I chose to apply for this internship for many reasons, and was delighted to be awarded one of the available spots. By engaging with the SSA office staff as an intern I learned many things, including office and organizational skills, as well as the finer points of running a student organization, and gained a deeper appreciation of the scope and significance of the operations of the Secular Student Alliance. There were many reasons that I decided to apply for an internship with the Secular Student Alliance, most significantly because of similarities in my own experience and personal ideology. One of the most defining experiences of my youth was my engagement in the Unitarian Universalist church. By attending youth conferences and becoming involved in their planning and leadership I was transformed from a shy young girl into a confident, outspoken proponent of progressive politics and social justice. A strong humanist thread runs through Unitarian Universalism, and UU’s themselves tend to be allies and sympathizers to the freethought movement. Being involved in the Unitarian Universalist denomination during my formative high school years helped me develop a deep appreciation for religious and non-religious pluralism, as well as an understanding of the need for secularism in a democratic society. My involvement crystallized when I came to college and met other campus UU’s, who helped me to co-found an Ohio State University campus ministry group. My choice of major as an undergraduate also shaped my ideas about diversity and secularism. I completed my Bachelor’s in art education and am currently a graduate student in the same area. As a future educator, the need for church state separation and non-theocratic educational materials is extremely evident to me. In a democratic, pluralist society there is a fine line between teaching and preaching when it comes to world religions. In particular in the United States there is undue historical stress on Christianity and Christians, though even among our most prominent founding fathers there were non-religious and non-theist figures. Another reason aside from my own convictions that I chose to apply for an SSA internship was that I had never worked for a non-profit organization before and wished to expand my experience in that area. As a graduate student living in Columbus I felt that this would be an exciting opportunity to connect more with an organization in my area. My experiences as a Secular Student Alliance intern were interesting and satisfying, and opened me up to a new realm of possibilities in student organizing and the freethought movement at large. The SSA staff and associates I worked with were friendly, warm and always ready to help me complete my day to day office tasks. My main activity as an intern was to revise the document known as the Group Running Guide – a large compendium of best practices that the Secular Student Alliance sends out as part of its group starting packets to jump-start affiliate groups nation-wide. I really enjoyed this project because I felt that I could lend a lot of insight to the content I was revising and creating. I have founded and held leadership positions in various student organizations throughout my high school and college career, and was delighted to see so many helpful resources compiled in one document. Along with my work on the Group Running Guide I learned how to use many programs and web tools in connection to updating the Secular Student Alliance website and managing events such as the Creation Museum Trip and 2009 Conference. Attending and helping to organize the Creation Museum Trip and 2009 Secular Student Alliance Conference may have been my favorite experiences of my internship. Meeting students and speakers from across the country with values similar to mine was both enlightening and fun! Hearing prominent non-theists speak who hold positions in the education world (such as bloggers Hemant Mehta and PZ Myers) inspired me to rally for change and become an ally and advocate for my future students. It was also refreshing to connect with students from outside of Columbus and to discuss our experiences within the freethought movement. The Secular Student Alliance does a fabulous job putting on a conference that is both engaging and informative. After attending I feel pumped up and ready to go back to my local groups to make this the best school year yet! In addition to all of the experiences and personal growth I gained by participating in this internship, it is clear that having interns present in the office benefits the Secular Student Alliance as a whole. Having some young, eager freethinkers to hand projects off to helps to free up the staff of the Secular Student Alliance to do campus organizing, fundraising, web development, press releases, and all of the multiplicity of responsibilities that need to be addressed on a daily basis. Having students in the office also lends a young, grassroots perspective to resources, organization, and event planning. It is also important to note that by getting students involved in the organizational aspects of the freethought movement increases the chance that these young people will stay involved after graduation. In its current state the Secular Student Alliance office is shared by Camp Quest and the Humanist Community of Central Ohio. By meeting the adults behind these organizations and forming professional relationships with them young adults and students can more easily form bonds with respective off-campus groups. Overall, internship opportunities within the Secular Student Alliance create mutually beneficial relationships between freethinking students and SSA staff, relationships bound to continue to benefit both parties in the future. It is with great honor and pleasure that I accepted and fulfilled my internship with the Secular Student Alliance; I sincerely hope that many other students will be afforded this opportunity in the future. Back to Top! By Leslie A. Zukor Congratulations to Jon Adams of Utah State University for winning the American Atheists' Chinn Scholarship . Each year, American Atheists gives three awards to student atheist activists, among which are a $1,000 prize for an LGBT non-theist.  | Jon Adams,
2009 Chinn Scholarship winner
|
Adams has been an atheist since high school. It was during high school that as a member of his school's debate team, Adams was required to research numerous topics and cover all points of view. In learning to approach an argument from all sides, Adams began to question some of the received wisdom of his Mormon tradition. “In honing my critical thinking skills and becoming more aware of the issues, I grew disillusioned with my conservative Mormon upbringing,” Adams explained, citing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' conservative-leaning ideology. As a result, Adams resolved to become an active force for change in his community. After reading about the Mormon Church's proscribing against interracial marriage, Adams jettisoned his faith. “I recoiled at learning these things. The truthfulness of the church aside, I could never worship a god who authored or allowed these racist beliefs. The church’s doctrinal history of racism was primarily responsible for my loss of faith.” As the result of his atheist transformation, Adams started the Political Awareness Club and became his school's newspaper's l  iberal opinion columnist. However, it was as a college student that Adams became a full-fledged atheist activist. Although Adams advocated atheism as Vice President of Utah State's Religious Studies Club, Adams believed that secular humanism could be better represented if he started an atheist group of his own. “My presence in the Religious Studies Club ... further perpetuated the misunderstanding that secular humanism was a religion,” Adams said. As a result of his desire to promote secularism, Adams founded the Secular Humanists, Atheists, and Freethinkers (SHAFT) at Utah State, a club that advocates for the rights of unbelievers.
As the President of SHAFT, Adams has spearheaded a number of events. Among them was a debate between a Catholic believer and an atheist professor, wherein each had to argue in favor of the other's position. The event was a resounding success and drew over 150 people, which led to both school and local press attention. To complement his debate activism, Adams sponsored an “Atheist Bake Sale,” whereby the club sold “Blasphemy Brownies,” “Christ Crispies,” and “Burnt in Hell Cookies.” SHAFT made nearly $100 in profits. In addition to his work with SHAFT, Adams has promoted atheism by writing a column in Utah State's student newspaper. Covering topics as diverse as evangelism, Proposition 8, and Mormonism, Adams combines a thoughtful voice with an impressive depth. “[M]y secular humanism can't be divorced from my politics,” the columnist explains, which is why Adams advocates progressive values. And Adams' writing abilities, along with his tireless secular activism, makes the Secular Student Alliance proud that Adams is the winner of the American Atheists' Chinn Scholarship. The other two American Atheists scholarships are given without regard to sexual preference; Andrew Cederdahl and Shelley Mountjoy received the $2,000 and $1,000 awards, respectively. Andrew Cederdahl was covered in the August 2009 eMpirical and Shelley Mountjoy will be covered in the next eMpirical. The application deadline for the 2010 awards is January 31st.  Leslie A. Zukor is the President of the Reed Secular Alliance and the founder of the Freethought Books Project, more information about which can be found at http://www.reedsecular.org/freethought-books-project. Her hobbies include nature photography, baseball, and writing for various publications. She is a senior Anthropology major at Reed College, in Portland, Oregon. Back to Top!  What level of support for a secular future makes you HAPPY and PROUD? Donate by Dec. 21 and your money will be matched dollar for dollar!
Secular Student Alliance member Todd Stiefel knows that 2009 has been a fantastic growth year for the Secular Student Alliance. Not only has our affiliate count continued to rise dramatically (almost 20 new groups just since our August conference!), but SSA services have facilitated an incredible variety of campus activities and events promoting secular values and visibility for freethinking youth. (For more detail, be sure to read our Activity Summary.) Recently Todd learned that the 2009 economy has presented difficult fundraising challenges for the Secular Student Alliance, a completely independent organization that relies entirely on the secular community to continue its work. From January 1, 2009 to October 1, 2009 the SSA took in approximately $93,000 -- a full $60,000 less than in the same period for 2008. Our successes are far outpacing our resources -- meaning we need more help than we've ever needed in order to accomplish more good than we've ever been in a position to accomplish. Todd told us he wants to make 2009 as strong financially for SSA as it has been programmatically. He is offering a $50,000 matching challenge to the rest of the secular community to support the Secular Student Alliance. Since the challenge began on October 8th, we've already raised over $17,000. The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science has pledged an additional $5,000 towards the match. But there is still a long way to go and we need your help. Specifically, Todd Stiefel will match all donations to the Secular Student Alliance from now through 12/21/2009, up to a total of $50,000. Please Donate Now and see the impact of your gift instantly doubled! This offer includes donations, monthly giving, membership dues, and any other contribution to the Secular Student Alliance given by 12/21/2009. Only income raised from now until Dec. 21 qualifies for this dollar-for-dollar match; Todd's funding is entirely contingent on your financial support. Please help us meet Todd Stiefel's challenge so we can start 2010 with the resources required to keep up the momentum of our incredible growth. Make a tax deductible donation to the Secular Student Alliance now and double the power of your gift. 
Thank you for your support of the Secular Student Alliance! Back to Top! While we all had a good laugh, we felt that this picture was missing something. It needs a caption, a speech bubble, or a good bit of photoshopping to make it really worth posting on our office wall. So we leave it to you to show us what we're missing! Add a caption a la I Can Haz Cheezburger, do your best photoshopping, or add a thought bubble to let us know what Lyz was thinking! Send your submissions to captions@secularstudents.org along with your name and email address. You can submit just the caption, or you can submit an edited version of the photo. You can also send us the link to an edited version, but make sure the link works so we can see your entry! We'll be posting the funniest and most creative submissions on the Secular Student Alliance website. The overall winner will receive a free T-shirt featuring his/her design, and we'll make the design available as a T-shirt on our CafePress store for others to enjoy! ! Back to Top!  Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University, offers a look into the nonreligious community with his new release Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. The book is the latest in a long line of secular pieces that have fueled the atheist youth movement.
As chair of the Advisory Board of the Secular Student Alliance, the largest campus atheist organization in the United States, Epstein provides guidance to a growing movement of young Americans who live fun-filled and charitable lives without a belief in God or the supernatural. His book hits the shelves at a time when SSA’s operations are expanding, with affiliate groups increasing by 250% in three years. Over 170 student groups in ten countries, with the assistance of SSA, are engaging in open dialogue about the promotion of scientific rationality, secularism, democracy, and human-based ethics. Epstein’s humanist message reveals a greater sense of community among atheists, as they come together to address the challenges of our society. In recent years, the nonreligious have proven themselves to be as dedicated to community service as their religious counterparts.  The Foundation Beyond Belief was launched this year with a mission to “demonstrate humanism at its best by supporting efforts to improve this world and this life.” On Kiva.org, a grassroots micro-lending site to empower individuals to alleviate poverty, the non-religious group is the largest in both membership and loan amounts.
The first ever National Secular Service Day was held on Oct. 18, with atheists all across the country performing community service for the sake of humanity, and not for God. Many affiliates of the Secular Student Alliance, including student groups at Indiana University, Purdue, Ohio State, and many others, went out into their communities to pick up trash, participate at food drives, donate blood, send literature to prisoners, and deliver care packages to the troops. The increase in atheist community service is the marriage of two modern trends: an increase in volunteerism among all Americans, and an increase in the number of nonreligious citizens. According to the Corporation for National & Community Service, the number of young adults that volunteered in 2008 increased by 441,000 from 2007. According to the American Religious Identification Survey, the percentage of Americans that identified themselves as nonreligious was 15%, compared to 14.1 in 2001, and 8.2 in 1990. Secular Student Alliance has played a significant role in organizing this latest wave of young atheists, and Greg Epstein, and other humanists, is doing his part to apply secular values to community problem solving. Groups that are interested in performing community projects can find information at www.secularstudents.org/node/2704. Back to Top!
Members' antics have caught the attention of their local media. Their Pastafarian Preaching scored a mention in one article in their campus paper, and another article focused on them exclusively: A band of swashbuckling pirates occupied campus on Friday, but not to loot and pillage. The Society of Non-Theists at Purdue University gathered to voice their opinions on religion. Members chose to dress as pirates to satirize religious teachings that certain followers are better than everyone else by sarcastically saying that pirates are the chosen people. Read the full article at The Exponent. This story originally appeared in The Exponent (Purdue's Independent Daily Student Newspaper) on 9/12/2009, and is used by permission. Article by Bridget Johnston, Staff Reporter for The Exponent.Plus, the group's president Jennifer McCreight wrote a letter to the editor protesting the use of university funds for the "Porn and Popcorn" event at the start of the semester, due to the event providing inaccurate information about safe sex and promoting false conceptions of nontheists. The letter was published on Tuesday, September 22. We're excited to see what members of the Society of Non-Theists will do next! Could the group be in the running for the Secular Student Alliance's 2010 Best Media Coverage award? Check out the group and get in touch at the group's webpage or on Facebook! Occam's Razors is the Secular Student Alliance affiliate group at the University of Arkansas. On December 18th, they'll be launching a unique, live-video-blogging fundraiser to raise funds for St. Jude's cancer research. They'd love to have your help in a variety of ways: donations, items donated for auction, or volunteers to help support their blogging marathon. Learn more about the fundraiser and what you can do to help in this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU-Rl7T5hUM&feature=player_embedded.
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 The Secular Student Alliance is excited to announce our new Branded Affiliates program for our affiliate campus groups. Now, simply by changing or adding to your group's name, you can help support the entire secular student movement!
The idea behind the program is very simple: your group chooses to use the name "Secular Student Alliance at YOUR SCHOOL" as its name, or add "An affiliate of the Secular Student Alliance" to your official name. It is our belief that more groups using the same name will increase visibility and recognition of secular student groups across the country. It helps people recognize our organization locally and nationally, connects your group to an existing network including many other student groups, and creates momentum for the freethought movement at large.
The only thing we ask of your group is that you electronically agree to the terms of our Name Use Agreement. We don't ask for dues; we don't want to micromanage your group; we won't require that you do X, Y or Z. We just want to extend the visibility and recognition of a national name to your group. What Your Group Gets: * Association with a nationally-recognized name. (Hey, we're talking to the White House!) * Support from and to other groups who share the name. * Brochures, business cards, and other swag (as available) - branded for your group. * No exclusivity - you are welcome to maintain all ties with other organizations (in fact, we encourage it!). Why change your group’s name? * It helps the entire movement! * It helps your group through greater name recognition. * It helps other groups through building the name recognition. * Name recognition helps the Secular Student Alliance as a whole, which increases our ability to help your group in terms of grants, speakers, opportunities, and other support. Here's what you have to do to become a branded affiliate:
We have more information about the Branded Affiliates program on our website at www.secularstudents.org/brandedaffiliates where you can find more details, Frequently Asked Questions, the Name Use Agreement, and more.
Express yourself in the Campaign for Free Expression Essay Contest!
The Campaign for Free Expression is a Center for Inquiry initiative to focus efforts and attention on one of the most crucial components of freethought: the right of individuals to express their viewpoints, opinions, and beliefs about all subjects—especially religion. To encourage free expression and to emphasize the importance of this fundamental right, CFI and its sister organization, The Council for Secular Humanism, are sponsoring this contest. Free Expression Essay Contest: Students enrolled in an accredited college or university are invited to submit an essay about "The Importance of Free Expression and Its Limits (If Any)." Each entry must address the question of what limits national governments or recognized international bodies, such as the United Nations, may justifiably place on free expression. First prize is $2,000 (USD).
"Preserving the right to uncensored expression is important not only because it is indispensable for an objective examination of truth claims—it is no accident that dictatorships uniformly suppress speech—but also because it has intrinsic value. Human dignity requires the freedom to express oneself as an individual." — Ronald A. Lindsay, CFI President and CEOFor more information about the Campaign for Free Expression, please e-mail info@centerforinquiry.net.  The purpose of the Freethought Film Festival Foundation is to promote critical thinking, reason, and freedom of inquiry through the medium of film. FFFF encourages student filmmakers who consider themselves champions of reason and freedom of inquiry to take on freethought subject matters and present them to the world through their art. In November 2010, the Freethought Film Festival Foundation will screen selected film submissions that best reflect this purpose at an annual Freethought Film Festival. From philosophy class and Critical Thinking 101 to the History of World Religions and physics courses, as you entered college, you were introduced to concepts that may have eluded you prior to your commitment to higher education. As a result of the exposure to new ideas, your views of the world around you may have undergone a transformation. Such a shift in thinking is typically the rule upon entering college—not the exception. New interests and previous ideals may have collided--with confusion a frequent side effect. Questions are raised as to how to reconcile new information with what may now seem like blatant misinformation. A conclusion may have ultimately been reached that some ideas simply cannot be reconciled. In this deduction a freethinker emerges. The word freethinker always shows up as a misspelled word in any spell check. When first introduced to the word “freethought”, many people hear it as two separate words rather than fused. If they hear “freethinker”, most people usually conclude that any one thought must be considered as equally valid in comparison to any other thought. From this understanding “free thinking” encompasses all who agree that people are free to believe anything they want. Of course people have the freedom to think and believe whatever they want! “Freethought” merged, is a term that encompasses a broad range of ideas that generally reflect the notion that everything is subject to scrutiny. The critical examination of truth-claims is a theme that freethinkers embrace. From examining the benefit claims of acupuncture to questioning the existence of Zeus, a freethinker demands evidentiary proof before she or he accepts a claim as valid. Facts are held above anecdotes and science over superstition. If evidence is presented that dispels a previously accepted claim, a freethinker is malleable enough to accept that new information and change her or his perspective accordingly. With 16 percent of the population describing themselves as “nonreligious”, a trend is taking place among freethinkers, who previously felt inhibited to speak their minds, to become more vocal. Amidst scientific illiteracy and superstitious imposition on public policies, freethinkers are beginning to stand up for reason. This portion of the population, now more than ever, is receptive to challenging cinema. The success of movies such as “Religulous” reflects this well. It is time for freethinking filmmakers to propel freethought as a new niche. The Freethought Film Festival Foundation encourages this propulsion. Whether you are a writer, a director, producer, or actor, you can make an impact on the future of reason through your talent in filmmaking. Consider reflecting freethought concepts through your art, and make a film submission to the Freethought Film Festival Foundation. FFFF challenges you to create challenging cinema by championing reason.
Andrea Steele is the Chairperson/Executive Director for the Freethought Film Festival Foundation. She can be reached at andrea.steele@freethoughtfilmfest.org. The Freethought Film Festival Foundation's web address is http://www.freethoughtfilmfest.org.<!-- em-->
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November 4, 2009
We've all heard about the Secular Student Alliance 
The 
