Can the communities of faith and humanist inquiry make common cause?
These centuries-old questions will be reexamined in depth at a weekend public forum on “Religion and Humanism” hosted by Humboldt State University. Debate and dialogue are scheduled Friday evening, February 29, at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday morning, March 1, at 10:00 a.m. Both discussions will be held in building Science B, Room 135. Both are free and open to the public.
Friday evening’s forum will debate the proposition “Faith and humanism are irreconcilable.” Participants will include members of Humboldt State’s debate team, HSU religious studies professor Dr. William Herbrechtsmeier and Dr. Patrick Frank of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
Saturday’s discussions will comprise roundtables on common cause and dissent between faith and science. Participants will include Karen Harris, minister at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship; Tom Jones, HSU geography professor; David Kilmer, pastor of the Arcata First Baptist Church; Richard Paselk, HSU chemistry professor; Ben Shaeffer, HSU philosophy professor; and Maxwell Schnurer, HSU communication professor.
Ken Ayoob, Interim Dean of HSU’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, said “Religion and Humanism” is a one credit class for HSU students and a venue for freewheeling community exchanges on the subject.
“The goal of the forum is to inspire discussion about the common cause between communities of faith and humanist inquiry,” he said.
For details, contact Professor Schnurer at 826-3282 or freedom@humboldt.edu.