• INFORMAL DISCUSSION - For the first 30 minutes of the Thursday night forums we will have informal discussion. This will allow for late arrivals, food & drink ordering, and new attendees to become acclimated.
• 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.

TOPICS for Thursday (7/22/04):

1. Robert Greenwald's new documentary, "Outfoxed" was shown at over 3 thousand "house parties" nationwide this past Sunday. The documentary details the Conservative bias of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox News Channel (FNC), which promotes itself as "Fair and Balanced". If you saw the film, what did you think? Are ever-enlarging corporations taking control of and filtering the public's access to news? If so, what can be done? Are the other news networks following the Fox News example? Common Cause and MoveOn filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission challenging Fox News' advertising slogan "Fair and Balanced." Is Fox News' use of the slogan "Fair and Balanced" deceptive advertising? Is this a matter of consumer fraud or free speech?
2. Is Secular Humanism a Religion? Is Science a religion? How about Atheism, Skepticism, or Objectivism? How broad or narrow should the term "religion" be used? How about the term "cult"? When should a belief system be considered a "cult"?
3. With an AIDS time-bomb ticking, at least one Chinese province has decided that sex education needs to be taught from kindergarten onwards. Should sex education be taught at this young of an age? What age is appropriate for children to learn about sex? Does sexual knowledge at an early age mean there is a greater chance of become sexually active earlier as well? Are they more likely to use precautions if they are sexually educated?
4. Was Iran directly involved with al-Qaeda in the September 11 attacks? If so, what should be done? What will this administration do if there is evidence of a link? Would anyone trust intelligence used to justify a preemptive war by the U.S. ever again?
5. Former national security adviser Samuel Berger, under investigation for removing classified documents from the National Archives, stepped aside on Tuesday as an informal adviser to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Should Berger have stepped down? Was Berger trying to hide embarrassing materials from the public or was something else going on?

Quote of the week: "For something to be a religion means that its adherents are bound to it, that they have a faith in some unseen power, creator, or cause, and that they have some notion of prayer, devotion, and ritual toward this power, creator, or cause. Secular humanists deny the existence of such a creator and surely are not interested in prayer or devotion to such a being. To say that secular humanism is a religion is to use the term religion so broadly that it means anything." [Excerpt of a presentation by Dr. Paul Kurtz: "Great Religions in a Pluralistic Society," 30 October 1997 - Source]

TOPIC ARCHIVES

Subscribe to the Free Inquiry Forum mailing list to receive a weekly e-mail of discussion topics for each week. To subscribe to this list, send a plain text e-mail message to list@freeinquiryforum.com, which contains the following text in the first line of the message body:
SUBSCRIBE fif

Send your topic suggestions for an upcoming FiF to:

Please show your appreciation and support for the effort made to bring you Free Inquiry Forum by simply clicking on the tip cup below and entering an amount you would like to donate. THANKS!