The Official Newsletter of Dr. Peter Boghossian JUNE 2012 [email protected]
@peterboghossian
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It’s been a busy few months. I’m looking forward to taking the summer off and writing my book, Against Faith. Against Faith will, among other things, detail practical, conversational strategies you can use to help liberate people of the faith virus. I’ll examine actual recorded conversations in which the Socratic method was used as a cognitive intervention—removing the faith virus and replacing it with reason and rationality. To my knowledge, this is the first discussion of using the Socratic method to create, as opposed to rip down, beliefs.
Next term I’ll be teaching the course I designed: Atheism. I’m looking forward to teaching this class, and especially to the guest lectures—I have a great lineup of Christian and Muslim apologists.
Here’s what occupied my time these past two months:
Center for Inquiry: CFI added me to their Speaker’s Bureau: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/speakers/boghossian_peter I’m honored to be officially associated with the national Center for Inquiry. Thank you.
Lion’s Den: I participated in an invited online chat with George Fox Doctoral Candidates in Ministry. This was a conversation and not a debate. I was impressed with the thoughtful comments and the spirited discussion. My only regret is that I could not type quickly enough to answer everyone’s questions. The transcripts are not being released. (Spawned some interesting blogs from students, here’s just one: http://www.thecrookedmouth.com/130996342 )
Recent Videos: Faith: Pretending to Know Things You Don’t Know: http://richarddawkins.net/videos/645979-faith-pretending-to-know- things-you-don-t-know
New Trailer for the Easter Bunny Talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZ6st0JDuA
Award: 2012 Civic Engagement Award, Portland State University. ($500) http://pdx.edu/uasc/news/exemplary-community-engagement-recognized I received this for my internship program that I started and currently manage with Columbia River Correctional Intuition. I could never have done this without support from the Community Partner and support from PSU.
Unofficial “Award”: “Peter Boghossian: Latest threat to our youth” by Reverend M Rodimer of the Landover Baptist Church http://www.landoverbaptist.net/showthread.php?t=77270
Comments: Best Internet Comment: This "thinking about things and demanding evidence for belief" thing is just a fad like Nintendos or skateboards. It's not really worth worrying about. http://www.landoverbaptist.net/showthread.php?t=77270
Best text: Holy shit. I really get “There are no facts without values”. Just got it. It’s totally nuts but then when you see it it makes the way we treat science feel like self-deception.
Best email: I challenge you to pray to our Lord Jesus Christ once a day every day for one month. You say that your openminded then why don’t you do this? Let Jesus Christ into your heart and even now with all you’ve done HE will forgive you. Its not too late even for you.
Best Twitter:
The One True Wolger (@DeusExBestia): 6/8/12 2:35 AM @peterboghossian Heard you on the Good Atheist podcast. Just wanted to say you inspired me to return to school. http://twitter.com/DeusExBestia/status/211028585987850240
Podcasts: NEPA Freethought Society. Practical Strategies to Combat Faith: http://nepafreethought.org/podcast/episode?p=12 I’m somewhat surprised this podcast wasn’t picked up by any of the big names. I’m delighted to say that the host and I became friends. Thanks Justin Vacula!
The Good Atheist podcast: http://www.thegoodatheist.net/2012/06/05/the-good-atheist-podcast- episode-169/
The Angry Atheist podcast: http://angryatheist.info/?p=789
Interview: My interview with the Bent Spoon (with Matt Thornton): http://thebentspoonmag.com/2012/05/18/losin-faith-an-interview-with- peter-boghossian-and-matt-thornton/
Coverage: My work has been receiving quite a bit of coverage. Here’s a little piece by a gifted writer who has a great blog: http://www.malcontentsgambit.com/2012/05/27/how-to-eliminate-faith-a- lesson/ Subscribing to their monthly newsletter is free.
John W. Loftus wrote a nice blog post about a critical problem--faith and the academy: http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2012/06/open- challenge-to-dr-keith-parsons-and.html Here’s a recent response to John’s post: http://secularoutpost.infidels.org/2012/06/how-to-think-or- what-to-think.html?m=1
Published: Book review for The Skeptic Magazine. Guy P. Harrison’s 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think are True. http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/12- 06-20/ This is an outstanding book. It gets my highest recommendation.
A little peer-reviewed piece that was just co-published about prisons and internship programs: http://www.uscourts.gov/viewer.aspx?doc=/uscourts/FederalCourts/PPS/F edprob/2012-06/index.html
Other: The Skeptic published my curricula:
Knowledge, Rationality and Values: http://www.skeptic.com/skepticism- 101/knowledge-value-and-rationality/
Critical Thinking: http://www.skeptic.com/skepticism-101/critical-thinking-reason-evidence/
Atheism: http://www.skeptic.com/skepticism-101/atheism-understanding-secular- arguments/
Science & Pseudoscience: http://www.skeptic.com/skepticism-101/science-vs-pseudoscience/
Highly Recommended: The Malcontent’s Gambit: http://www.malcontentsgambit.com/ The tagline is absolutely correct: “Extolling the Finest in Secular Thought”
Matt Thornton on Skepticism, Faith, the Martial Arts, and hints at our debate plans: https://strangefrequenciesradio.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/episode-196- we-talk-haunted-survivors-bible-crap-facebook-meltdowns-mma-and- skepticism-with-matt-thornton-and-a-universe-from-nothing-with-dr- lawrence-krauss/
Something Surprising: Surprised me too. Thanks for your votes. http://somethingsurprising.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/boghossian-leads-by- mile.html?m=1
Days Away: I’m the Keynote speaker for graduating surgeons from Legacy/Kaiser. Limited seating, but let’s congratulate them on a tremendous accomplishment. June 30, 7:00pm, here: http://www.portlandcitygrill.com/