Speaker’s Bureau
The Council for Secular Humanism’s Speaker’s Bureau
comprises members and friends of the Council who are experts on a variety
of topics, including:
- Humanistic and naturalistic ethics
- Separation of church and state
- Civil liberties of the non religious
- Biblical theology
- Philosophy of theism and atheism
- African American humanism
- Psychology of religious belief
- Student freethought movement
and many more .
WHO ARE THE SPEAKERS?
The speakers include lawyers, professors, journalists,
students, activists, and others who are dedicated to advancing the aims of
the Council for Secular Humanism and
stimulating public discussion of the issues that concern non theists,
humanists, and freethinkers.
HOW DOES THE SPEAKER’S BUREAU WORK?
When approached by an individual or organization who
wishes to host a presentation, the Council contacts the appropriate presenter(s)
to check on availability. Once this has been established, an agreement
between the Council and the host is developed. The Council makes travel and lodging
arrangements in cooperation with the presenter and the host. Payment of
fees is typically made at the event, in a check payable to the Council for
Secular Humanism.
HOW MUCH DOES A SPEAKER COST?
The Council's Speaker’s Bureau offers services for a modest
fee (includes expenses), depending on the presenter and the nature of the
program. This compensation helps to underwrite the Bureau and other Council
activities. The Council will gladly work with hosts to create a program that fits
their needs and budget.
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
Review the list of available presenters and email the Council at info@secularhumanism.org. Include the word SPEAKERS in your subject line. If you are interested in a particular speaker or subject area that you do not find listed, please do not hesitate to ask.
Available Speakers
Donald B. Ardell, Ph.D.
Don Ardell is a secular humanist infidel free-thinker who lectures, writes and prosyletizes in an entertaining and convincing way about strategies to increase physical well-being and quality of life. Published in Free Inquiry and by Prometheus Books (The Book of Wellness: A Secular Approach to Spirituality, Meaning and Purpose), Don directs the country's largest Wellness Center, produces a newsletter, a blog and a daily column on REAL wellness. He also is featured in numerous secular humanist publications, the Canadian Fitness Report and The Political Junkie.
Since 1984, Don has produced 74 quarterly Reports, 460 newsletters and 14 books, his latest being Aging Beyond Belief: 69 Tips For REAL Wellness. Don describes REAL wellness as a lifestyle, a mindset and a philosophy based upon reason, exuberance and liberty - for enhanced quality of life.
Don is a mellow, sensitive, kind and compassionate fellow, but he loves to stir up excitement and controversy among the devout and conventional. His blog illuminates the relevance of a life-enhancing mindset to the three topics everyone cares about but most hesitate to address in polite society, namely, politics, sex and religion. The blog is a forum for his skeptical, funny, godless view of lifestyle artistry — living well in a superstitious, irrational world.
Donran for mayor of Tampa as the oldest, fittest, fastest and prettiest of all the candidates on a well city platform based on four themes: make Tampa functional, free, fit and fun.
Don has addressed conventions all over the world for over 20 years, describing in entertaining ways the nature and applications of REAL wellness, DBRU equivalents, icantdoit realities and self-management for business and personal successes, especially for those like himself who have no use for gods, supernatural phenomena or other escapes from personal responsibility and critical thinking.
Don can be reached at donardell [at] knology.net or by phone at (727) 824-5645.
Joe Barnhart
Joe E. Barnhart, Ph.D., has been a Professor of Philosophy and Religion
Studies at the University of North Texas since 1974. His involvement with
various professional organizations couldn’t be more impressive, and
includes membership in the American Academy of Religion, the Association
for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Society for Biblical Literature,
the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, the Southwest
Commission on Religious Studies, and the Society for the Advancement of
American Philosophy, to name but a few.
President of the American Academy of Religion, Southwest division, Dr.
Barnhart holds Editorial Board positions for The Journal for the
Critical Study of Religion, The Humanist, and Free
Inquiry. More impressive still is Barnhart’s book publication
history, which includes The Billy Graham Religion (also published
in England and Germany), Religion and the Challenge of Philosophy, The
Study of Religion and Its Meaning: New Explorations in Light of Karl
Popper and Emile Durkheim, Jim and Tammy: Charismatic Intrigue Inside
PTL,
The New Birth: A Naturalistic View of Religious Conversion (with Mary
Ann Barnhart), The Southern Baptist Holy War, and Dostoevsky on
Evil and Atonement: The Ontology of Personalism in His Major Fiction (
with Linda Kraeger).
Dr. Barnhart has also contributed articles to the following
publications: Philosophy Today, The Personalist, Religious Studies,
American Philosophical Quarterly, The Journal of Value Inquiry, Southern
Journal of Philosophy, Harvard Theological Review, Feminism and
Philosophy, and the Mercer Dictionary of the Bible.
EXPERTISE:
- Philosophy of Religion
- Philosophy of Social Science and Skinner’s Behaviorism
- Church-State Relations (First Amendment)
- Dostoevsky’s Ontology and Boston Personalism
- Karl Popper’s Evolutionary Epistemology and Process Metaphysics
Rob Boston
Robert Boston is the Assistant Director of Communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and
State
Rob Boston is assistant director of communications for
Americans United for Separation of Church and State and also serves as assistant
editor of AU's monthly magazine Church & State.
He frequently writes about the political goals of the
Religious Right and other church-state issues, such as religion in public
schools, tax aid to sectarian institutions and religious freedom. Boston also
covers the Supreme Court for Church & State.
Boston is the author of Close
Encounters with the Religious Right: Journeys into the Twilight Zone of Religion
and Politics (Prometheus Books, 2000), The
Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian
Coalition (Prometheus Books, 1996) and Why
the Religious Right Is Wrong: About Separation of Church & State
(Prometheus Books, 1993). His articles have appeared in numerous publications,
including Liberty, Insight, The Public Eye, The Freedom
Writer, Jewish Monthly and Free Inquiry.
EXPERTISE:
- church-state separation
- religion in politics
- religious freedom
- U.S. as a "Christian nation"
Margaret Downey
Affectionately referred to as the "Martha Stewart of
Freethought," Ms. Downey has been an atheist activist for fifteen
years, and is considered one of only a few national spokespersons for the
atheist community. Founder of the Freethought Society of Greater
Philadelphia (FSGP) in 1992 and the Anti-Discrimination Support Network (ADSN)
in 1993, Ms. Downey has been a featured guest on both local and national
television programs and radio broadcasts, including a National Public
Radio program entitled "Can an Atheist be Spiritual?"
An articulate, tireless advocate for equal rights for nonbelievers,
Downey has been instrumental in assisting with legal battles affecting
non-theists, most notably arguing on behalf of non-believers prohibited
from attaining membership in the Boy Scouts of America due to their
non-belief.
A board member of the American Humanist Association, the Atheist
Alliance, the Humanist Institute, and the Freedom From Religion
Foundation, Ms. Downey has been a featured presenter at the University of
Minnesota and Temple University, as well as a plethora of national
Humanist conferences and Unitarian Churches. Ms. Downey has spoken at the
United Nations in New York City as an invited member of the "Freedom
of Religion and Belief" forum, and was an atheist/freethought
community representative at the UN world conference, held in London.
EXPERTISE:
- Discrimination at the Hands of the Boy Scouts of America
- Rearing Freethought/Humanist Children
- Combating Superstitions
- The Life and Work of Thomas Paine
- Women’s Suffrage Movement
- Media Training
- Tree of Knowledge Project
- Unity Convention: Is it possible in the nontheist movement?
- What is atheism?
- The Importance of Keeping Religion and Government Separate
- Saving Ourselves from the TAR Pit of Society
- Celebrating a Secular Life
Dewey L. Duncan, Sr.
Dewey L. Duncan holds a Master of Divinity from Eastern
Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Theology from Trinity Theological
Seminary. A veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps who served in Korea, Duncan
worked in American Baptist Churches for nearly 15 years, including managing
programs in Africa and leading churches in New Jersey and North Carolina.
Retired from the ministry, Dr. Duncan remains active in humanist and civil
rights issues from his base in Jacksonville, Florida.
EXPERTISE:
- Is the Bible the Word of God?
Taner Edis
Taner Edis was born in Istanbul, 1967, to Turkish and American parents. After completing his undergraduate work at Boğaziçi University, he received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in 1994, in theoretical and computational condensed matter physics. Working in diverse areas, from atmospheric modeling with collaborators at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to the philosophy of machine intelligence, he is currently associate professor of physics at Truman State University, Kirksville, MO.
Fascinated by the plethora of supernatural and fringe science beliefs around him, and concerned about the rise of Islamist politics back in Turkey, Edis first got involved with skeptical inquiry into religious and paranormal claims during his graduate studies. He has since written and spoken extensively on such subjects, particularly on the topic of anti-evolutionary thought. His writing has characteristically combined scientific rigor with an ability to reach a broad audience.
Edis's first book, The Ghost in the
Universe: God in
Light of Modern
Science, an accessible defense of a naturalistic view of the world, was published by Prometheus Books, and received the Morris D. Forkosch award for "best humanist book of 2002." With Matt Young, he co-edited Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientific Critique of the New Creationism (Rutgers University Press, 2004). In 2006, his Science and Nonbelief (Greenwood Press) appeared. Most recently, he wrote An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam (Prometheus Books, 2007), which is a unique examination of science, religion and pseudoscience in a Muslim context.
While working on his writing, Edis also finds devious ways to get his students to understand physics, serves as a slave to some very self-satisfied cats, and grumbles about his wife being away at conferences too often. He is also a great fan of science fiction, where playing fast and loose with the laws of physics is not only acceptable, but positively fun.
Taner Edis can be reached through his web site,
www2.truman.edu/~edis
Tom Flynn
Tom Flynn is Editor of Free
Inquiry magazine, Special Projects Director of the Center
for Inquiry, International, director of Inquiry
Media Productions, and Director of the Robert
Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum.
Mr. Flynn graduated Xavier University in 1977 with a
B.S. in Communications. As a communications specialist, Flynn has worked
as an advertising copywriter, a corporate and industrial video-maker, and
a director of photo illustration shoots. He has produced several video
programs, including the Committee for the
Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal public education
film Beyond Belief and a 13-part public affairs radio series
distributed via the National Public Radio satellite system. Flynn now
produces the national cable access television program, The Humanist
Perspective.
A journalist, novelist, entertainer, and self-taught
folklorist, Flynn is the author of numerous articles for Free Inquiry
magazine, many addressing church-state issues, as well as The Trouble
With Christmas (Prometheus 1993), a secularist critique of the
holiday, and has made hundreds of radio and TV appearances in his role as
the curmudgeonly "anti-Claus." His anti-religious black comedy
science fiction novel, Galactic
Rapture, was published by Prometheus
Books in January 2000. A sequel, titled Nothing
Sacred, will be published in 2003.
EXPERTISE:
- Current church-state issues
- Critiques of religion in science fiction
- History and politics of Christmas
D.J. Grothe is Vice President and Director of Outreach Programs for the
Center for Inquiry and associate editor of Free Inquiry magazine. He hosts
the weekly radio show and podcast Point of
Inquiry, exploring the implications of the scientific outlook with leading
thinkers. He lectures and debates widely throughout North America on topics
surrounding science and central beliefs. A "mind-reader" and magician,
Grothe studies the processes of deception and self-deception, and is
interested in the challenge that legerdemain may bring to paranormal and
supernatural claims.
EXPERTISE:
- Secular ethics
- The history of the idea of the good life
- History and philosophy of humanism and skepticism
- Pseudoscience and the paranormal
- Religious threats to academic freedom
- American religious-political extremism
- Campus Freethought Alliance as an organization
- Center for Inquiry as an organization
DEBATE TOPICS:
- Do Ideas Have Consequences?
- Does Organized Religion Offer Solutions To The Problems Of The 21st
Century?
- Does God Exist?
- Is Secular Humanism a Religion?
- Can One Be Good Without Belief In God?
- Does Christian Morality Conflict With Civic Morality?
Douglas M. Jesseph
Douglas M. Jesseph holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from
Princeton University and is an associate professor of philosophy at North
Carolina State University. His research and publication are concerned with
issues in the history and philosophy of mathematics, but he also has a
keen interest in the philosophy of religion. He has defended atheism in
public debates with William Lane Craig and other prominent theists.
EXPERTISE:
Ronald Lindsay
Ronald A. Lindsay, J.D., Ph.D. is by training and experience both a lawyer and a philosopher. An honors graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, he practiced for twenty-six years with the national law firm of Seyfarth Shaw LLP prior to joining the Center for Inquiry, where he is now Vice President & General Counsel and a Senior Research Fellow.
Dr. Lindsay has authored numerous appellate briefs, including amicus briefs in several prominent Supreme Court cases. He holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating that can be awarded to an attorney.
With respect to philosophy, Dr. Lindsay received his Ph.D. from Georgetown University, specializing in bioethics. He has had articles published in peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, and The American Journal of Bioethics. His book Future Bioethics: Overcoming Taboos, Myths, and Dogmas is being published by Prometheus Books in June 2008.
Dr. Lindsay has spoken before numerous audiences and has appeared on radio and television to discuss both issues in bioethics and constitutional law controversies. He can be reached at rlindsay@centerforinquiry.net
EXPERTISE:
- Church-State litigation
- Interpretation of the Establishment Clause
- The incoherence of immortality
- Embryonic stem cell research
- Assistance in dying
- Regulation of genetically engineered plants and food
- Conscientious objection by healthcare professionals
- Enhancements, cloning, and other forms of bioengineering
SAMPLE DEBATE TOPICS:
- Should Assistance in Dying be Legalized?
- Would the Existence of God Be a Good Thing for Humans?
- Is Secular Humanism a Religion?
- Does Petitionary Prayer Make Any Sense?
Jeffery Jay Lowder
Jeffery Jay Lowder is the founder and president of
Internet Infidels, Inc. and the Colorado/Utah Regional Director, Council
for Secular Humanism. He has published numerous articles on the
WorldwideWeb, as well as in Philo: the
Journal of the Society of Humanist Philosophers, and has appeared
on T.J. Walker’s radio talk show.
An experienced debater of theists, Mr. Lowder graduated
from Seattle Pacific University, where he did his honors thesis on
"The Historicity of the Resurrection: The Debate Between Christians
and Skeptics."
EXPERTISE:
- Theism vs. non theism
- Historicity of the Resurrection
Keith Parsons
Keith Parsons is Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Houston at Clear Lake and the former editor of Philo:
The Journal of the Society of Humanist Philosophers. He is the
author of God and the Burden of Proof (1989), and he has
contributed a chapter to Does God Exist?
Dr. Parsons is currently
writing a book on philosophical issues in dinosaur paleontology. In June,
1998 Dr. Parsons debated William Lane Craig.
Dr. Parsons holds a Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy
of Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in Philosophy
from Queens University.
SAMPLE DEBATE TOPICS:
- Science and religion
- Theism vs. non theism
Gregory S. Paul
A respected expert on Dinosaur anatomy, paleontology, and geology, Gregory Paul is an excellent candidate to counter young-earth creationists. His
book, Beyond Humanity, discusses the impact of intelligent cybertechnology on religion, further equipping him to speak on the role of religion in society. Because of his scientific background, Paul is also able to speak on broad debate issues, such as evolution v. creationism and the like.
Paul has written two articles for Free Inquiry: "The Secular Revolutionof
the West" (Summer 2002) and "The
Great Scandal: Christianity in the Rise of the Nazis" (Oct-Nov 2003,
Dec 03-Jan 04).
Massimo Pigliucci
Dr. Massimo Pigliucci is Associate Professor in the
Departments of Botany and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the
University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He has a Doctorate in genetics from
the University of Ferrara (Italy), and a Ph.D. in botany from the
University of Connecticut. He has been a post-doctoral associate at Brown
University.
Dr. Pigliucci’s academic research focuses on the
ecology and evolution of genotype-environment interactions; that is, on
the old nature vs. nurture problem. He has published 49 technical papers
in evolutionary biology. He has written two popular science books in
Italian. Sinauer published in 1998 his technical book Phenotypic
Evolution: a Reaction Norm Perspective (co-authored with Carl
Schlichting), and he has just finished preparing Phenotypic Plasticity:
Beyond Nature vs. Nurture for Johns Hopkins University Press. He has
been awarded the prestigious "Dobzhansky Prize" by the Society
for the Study of Evolution and has been selected as teacher of the year by
the University of Tennessee Mortar Board Faculty Appreciation committee.
As a skeptic, he has debated creationist Duane Gish and
Christian theologian William Lane Craig, has given talks to various
skeptic and humanist groups throughout the US, and has published in Skeptic
and Skeptical Inquirer. His
newest book is Denying Evolution: Creationism, Scientism and the Nature of
Science, he is one of Free Inquiry's
celebrity op-ed columnists, and his monthly e-column Rationally
Speaking is published here on the Council for Secular Humanism web
site.
EXPERTISE:
- Evolutionary science and creationism
- Science and religion
- Theism vs. non theism
Anthony B. Pinn, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Macalester
College, Dr. Pinn’s career couldn’t be more impressive. Earning his
B.A. at Columbia University and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Harvard Divinity
School and Harvard University, Pinn’s publications include the co-edited
volume Studies in African-American religious Thought and Life (with
Victor Anderson), WHY, LORD?: Suffering and Evil in Black Theology, and
Varieties of African American Religious Experience.
Dr. Pinn has also contributed to Free
Inquiry, Religion and Popular Culture in America, Journal of Feminist
Studies in Religion, Reviews in Religion and Theology, The Western Journal
of Black Studies
EXPERTISE:
- Humanism within African American Communities
- Liberation Theology
- African American religious history
- African American intellectual history
Robert M. Price
Dr. Price is Professor of Biblical Criticism at the Center
for Inquiry Institute and edits The Journal of Higher Criticism.
His books include Beyond Born Again (1993), The Widow-Traditions
in Luke-Acts: A Feminist-Critical Scrutiny (1997) and Deconstructing
Jesus (2000), and The
Incredible Shrinking Son of Man (2003). He has written some seventy articles on religion,
theology and the Bible for The Christian Century, The
Evangelical Quarterly, Christian Scholars Review, The
Journal for the Study of The NY, The Journal of Psychology and
Theology, Religious Studies, The Reformed Journal, Religious
Humanism, Playboy, American Rationalist and others. He
occasionally appears on A&E Bible documentaries.
Dr. Price holds a Ph.D. in Theology (Drew, 1981) as
well as a Ph.D. in New Testament (Drew 1993). As an undergraduate at
Montclair State College he served as chapter president for Inter-Varsity
Christian Fellowship and later became both a campus chaplain for the
United Ministries in Higher Education and a Baptist pastor. He was
Professor of Religion at Mount Olive College and Affiliate Professor of
New Testament and Biblical Interpretation at Drew University before coming
to work for the Council for Secular Humanism.
EXPERTISE:
- Biblical theology
- Biblical interpretation
- Historicity of Jesus and the Resurrection
Harris Sussman
Harris Sussman, Ph.D., is a consultant on social, cultural, and
organizational issues. He has been guest instructor at 30 colleges,
universities, and professional institutes and has given 300 professional
development/staff in-service presentations, workshops, forums, and retreats
throughout the USA and in Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Russia, Samoa, and Europe.
He has been writing the most widely-read national monthly column on cultural
diversity in the US since 1991 and wrote a handbook, How Diversity Works. He was
the first president of the Humanist Student Union of North America.
He has conducted court-ordered Sexual Harassment training, designed the first
FEMA course on "Leading Diverse Communities Beyond Conflict," offered
to all Fire & Rescue Departments in the United States, and has been Martin
Luther King Day and world affairs speaker to many groups. He was on the National
Board of Experts on the Workplace of the Dallas Morning News and presented at
the International Conference on Conflict Resolution in St. Petersburg, Russia,
World Future Society, and National Diversity Conferences. He has been quoted in
numerous newspaper and magazine articles and has been featured on the NBC
"Evening News," NBC "Today" show, and the PBS "NewsHour,"
and in a "Business Week" cover story on his work in corporate
diversity programs.
He went to a one-room school in Vermont, taught on Hopi, Navajo, and Apache
reservations, and as a teenager met Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. His
website is http://www.sussman.org.
EXPERTISE:
- Understanding religious and cultural differences
- The World After September 11, 2001
- The future of diversity
- How can things change if your mind can't?
- Social justice near and far
- Cultural creativity
Edward Tabash
Civil rights attorney Edward Tabash is the Chair of the
National Legal Committee for Americans United for Separation of Church and
State, as well as the Honorary Chair of the Center
for Inquiry West, and Chair of the First Amendment Task Force of the Council
for Secular Humanism. Since 1980 Mr. Tabash has been California's most
active debater advocating women's reproductive rights. He has published
numerous articles on civil rights and religious liberty in Beverly
Hills Bar Journal, Daily Breeze, Los Angeles Times, and Los
Angeles Daily Journal.
Mr. Tabash graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. from
UCLA in 1973 and earned his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School of Los
Angeles in 1976.
Mr. Tabash has participated in debates with many
prominent religious spokesmen, including a successful 1999 debate with
William Lane Craig before an audience of 1300 at Pepperdine University,
and a debate with philosopher Peter Van Inwaagen, on the issue of
"Does God Exist?" A compelling orator, Tabash prepares himself
for debates with the thoroughness of a lawyer preparing a legal brief. The
son of an Auschwitz survivor and an Orthodox Rabbi, Tabash is able to use
his family background to powerful effect in debate.
EXPERTISE:
- Church-state separation
- Civil liberties of the non religious
- Reproductive freedom
- Ethics without God
James Underdown
James Underdown is the Executive Director of the Center for
Inquiry-West in Los Angeles. He has appeared all over the United States as
a spokesman for both science and secular humanism, and has written for
both Free Inquiry and Skeptical Inquirer magazines. James
has appeared in the various media, and his television credits include
Hannity and Colmes on Fox News, Penn and Teller's Bullshit on
Showtime, History's Mysteries on the History Channel, the
Morning News on the WGN Superstation, Proof Positive on the
Sci-Fi Channel, and others.
James founded and chairs the Independent Investigations Group (IIG), an
eclectic group of investigators who look into paranormal and extraordinary
claims in the southwestern U.S.. IIG investigations have led to articles
and exposés in Skeptical Inquirer Magazine.
James Underdown's current talks include:
- An Unusual Look at the Ten Commandments
This is a brief history of the 10 Commandments themselves, a look at the
20th Century U.S. history of the commandments, an examination of whether
these laws are relevant and applicable today, and a set of alternative
suggestions that apply to modern citizens. On PowerPoint 45 minutes + Q
&A
- They See Dead People : Or Do They?
At one point there were 2 nationally televised TV shows that featured
self-described mediums who claims to communicate with the dead. To this
day, John Edward and James Van Praagh make handsome livings in the
medium business. Can they do what they say they do? This presentation
looks at the results of an undercover investigation where investigators
attended TV tapings and found out the truth about how these and other
mediums operate. On PowerPoint 45 minutes + Q & A
- 10 Famous Hoaxes
Over the last 150 years, hoaxers have fooled millions into believing in
psychics, ghosts, UFOs, and other scams. This talk looks at 10 of these
fabrications and reveals the truth about what really happened, or in
some cases, is happening. On slides 45 minutes + Q & A
- The Secrets of Critical Thinking
While people tend to see their own beliefs as true, they recognize the
beliefs of others as silly or misguided. In The Secrets of Critical
Thinking, we look at the fallibility of perception and consider how
culture, biology, and other factors affect what we believe. Lecture with
illusions 40 minutes + Q & A
For more information of about these or any other topics concerning
religion or the paranormal, call James at the Center for Inquiry-West at
(323) 666-9797 ext 101 or e-mail him at
JimU@cfiwest.org.
Toni Van Pelt
Toni Van Pelt is the director of the Center for Inquiry-Office of Public Policy centered in Washington DC and the Center for Inquiry Travel Club. Her work as a lobbyist centers on promoting and advancing science and secularism. She asks Congressional Members to base law and policy on empirical evidence were possible, and the scientific method as opposed to faith. She also champions separation of church and state and social justice issues including women's equality and lesbian and gay rights. She interacts closely with her colleagues assigned to the United Nations on international issues of concern including The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Prior to her reassignment to Washington, Toni was the first executive director for the Center for Inquiry-Florida where she fostered new CFI Communities and campus groups. In her prior role as the president of Florida National Organization for Women, she lobbied the Federal and Florida Legislature, helping to write and establish new law in the state. She is a veteran of Congressional and state political campaigns working for candidates as well as on issues. She has appeared on television, and has been interviewed by national and international media both press and broadcast.
Her prior career as the owner of a travel agency specializing in international travel has afforded her the opportunity to travel to many areas of the globe, informing her worldview. A never-ending quest for learning and a commitment to living life well are hallmarks of the Center for Inquiry's Travel Club. With the development of the travel program she has successfully married her past career in travel with her commitment to skepticism and secular
Toni Van Pelt can be reached at tvanpelt@centerforinquiry.net.
SAMPLE TOPICS:
- Understanding the Intelligent Design Creationism Movement: Its True Nature and Goals
- The True Meaning of the Establishment Clause
- The Importance of Appropriate Sexuality Education
- Public Health and Contraception
- Same Sex Marriage—and Marriage
- Promise Keepers-What their promises mean to women
- Who wants to be a porn star? Sex and Violence in today's pornography industry.
- Olympia Brown (UU minister and feminist -The Battle for Equality)—“Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?”
- Herstory of Women’s Right to Vote
- Why Women Should Vote and Take Political Action!
- Can Women Have It All?
- What Women Want!
- The First International Feminist and Humanist Women’s Movement
- Non-violence Civil Disobedience-History—Is it right for you?
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