HAPPY DARWIN DAY!

Darwin Day is February 12th, the date of birth of Charles Darwin in the year 1809, at Shrewsbury, England

2/12/04 - Suggested topics:

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS - Any events, news, or other items that you feel are of interest to the group can be announced at the start of Free Inquiry Forum.
2. How do you think George W. Bush did on Meet The Press? Which parts of Bush's interview, if any, do you feel were the most disturbing and/or dishonest? (Full Transcript)
3. Special Darwin Day discussion - Please share with us your favorite quote or fact about evolution. Would you like to see Darwin Day as a national holiday? Will the creation vs. evolution debate decrease or increase in the future? Should more scientists engage in debates with Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents? What do you think are some of the more spectacular and interesting things that evolutionary biology has shown us?
4. A German cannibal was convicted of manslaughter a couple of weeks ago for killing and eating a man he met through the Internet, avoiding a murder verdict because the victim had asked to die. He was only sentenced to eight and a half years in jail. Was this the right verdict?
5. Discuss last week's Wednesday night talk by Melinda Masters on Religion and Mental Health. Is religion more harmful or helpful for those with a mental illness? Is religious fundamentalism a mental illness?
6. Since such a small percentage of eligible voters actually vote in elections (even presidential ones) in this country, should the citizens be forced to vote by law, as they are in Australia? (Submitted by Ingrid)

Quote of the week: "This century will be called Darwin's century. He was one of the greatest men who ever touched this globe. He has explained more of the phenomena of life than all of the religious teachers. Write the name of Charles Darwin on the one hand and the name of every theologian who ever lived on the other, and from that name has come more light to the world than from all of those. His doctrine of evolution, his doctrine of the survival of the fittest, his doctrine of the origin of species, has removed in every thinking mind the last vestige of orthodox Christianity. He has not only stated, but he has demonstrated, that the inspired writer knew nothing of this world, nothing of the origin of man, nothing of geology, nothing of astronomy, nothing of nature; that the Bible is a book written by ignorance -- at the instigation of fear." [Robert G. Ingersoll, "Orthodoxy", 1884]

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