For those of you attending or thinking about attending the 1998 Skeptics Society Conference at Caltech the weekend of May 22-24, on GOD, RELIGION, AND MYTHS and JAMES RANDI'S SOLVED MYSTERIES WORKSHOP, featuring Donald Johanson as our keynote speaker and highly respected scholars of myth and religion, replacing Ron Siegel will be:
Dr. J. Gordon Melton, "WHY PEOPLE NEED RELIGION: The Psychology of the Spiritual Impulse." Dr. Melton is Director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and a Research Specialist with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of more than 25 books, including the "Encyclopedia of American Religion," the "Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America," and his most recent work, Finding Enlightenment: Ramtha's School of Ancient Wisdom. He is currently working on a Directory and Encyclopedia of the World's Religious Communities.
Gordon Melton is well-known to skeptics, humanists, and free thinkers as one of the world's leading authorities on the psychology of religion, particularly new age religions. He will be exploring why people join these groups, in the context of considering the question of why people need religion at all. I hosted Gordon along with Larry Mantle on KPCC radio and he was terrific, a real pro--very fair and objective. He is probably not as skeptical of some of these new age beliefs as skeptics would like, but I can assure you that he is considered way too skeptical of religion by some believers. I.e., he's perfect for a Skeptics Society conference!
If you have not already signed up for the conference, here is the complete information with the form at the end to submit. You can e-mail it back with the information, print it out and fax it to us (626/794-1301), phone in your sign up (626/794-3119) or even send it by stage coach through the U.S. Postal Service at P.O. Box 338, Altadena, Ca 91001.
We saw Penn and Teller again last night. They were terrific as always. Oh, and I have finally completely figured out the double bullet catch, but now that I'm a magic insider I'm afraid I must withhold the secret from you. Sorry, that's the code. (What? You're skeptical ... ?)
1998 SKEPTICS CALTECH CONFERENCE
GOD, RELIGION, & MYTHS
Examining the Human Need to Believe
Plus:
James "The Amazing" Randi's SOLVED MYSTERIES WORKSHOP
How to Examine Evidence, Detect Deception, & Test Extraordinary Claims
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, May 22, 23, & 24, 1998
A SIGN UP FORM IS AT END OF THIS DOCUMENT. E-MAIL, FAX, PHONE, OR MAIL YOUR ORDER IN ASAP.
MAY 22-FRIDAY NIGHT Pasadena Hilton Hotel, 7:00-9:00 pm SOCIAL EVENING OF COCKTAILS, HORS D'OEUVRES, & A MAGICIAN. Meet with our speakers, staff, and fellow skeptics in a casual setting at the Pasadena Hilton Hotel
MAY 23-SATURDAY SESSION:
Baxter Lecture Hall, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
GOD, RELIGION & MYTHS
8:00-9:00: Registration and coffee
9:00-10:15: WHO WROTE THE GOSPELS?: The Bible as Myth & Literature by Dr. Randel McCraw Helms, Biblical Studies and Literature Professor, Arizona State University, Author of Gospel Fictions and the new book, Who Wrote the Gospels?
10:30-11:45: GOD & THE GHOST DANCE: The Evolution of Myth & Religion by Dr. Michael Shermer, Publisher, Skeptic, Author, Why People Believe Weird Things and forthcoming, Why People Believe in God.
1:15-2:30: HEARING IS BELIEVING: Story Telling as Myth Making by Milbre Burch, Award-winning, internationally known story-teller, teaching and recording artist, author of The Many Stories, Associate Director of the Storytelling Project of the Cotsen Children's Library.
2:30-3:45: WHY PEOPLE NEED RELIGION: The Psychology of the Spiritual Impulse by Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion, and a Research Specialist with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 4:00-5:15: THE GOD QUESTION FROM A BELIEVER'S PERSPECTIVE by Richard Abanes, Evangelical Christian, Director of the Religious Information Center, and author of Prophets of the Apocalypse, American Militias, and his new End-Time Visions.
5:15-5:45: Panel Discussion with Speakers and Audience
7:00-7:45: Skeptics Society Awards Ceremony and the Dumbth Awards with Randy Cassingham, Dumbth News' columnist for Skeptic, author of This is True books and syndicated column.
KEYNOTE SPEECH: Donald Johanson: Human Evolution: Creation Myths and the Scientific Story of Our Origins
MAY 24-SUNDAY SESSION: JAMES RANDI'S SOLVED MYSTERIES WORKSHOP Baxter Lecture Hall, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
9:00-12:00 pm: Examining the Evidence: Seeing the Claims First Hand & Thinking Scientifically About Them
1:30-5:00 pm: Designing Protocols: How To Test Paranormal Claims
Spend a Day Learning to Test Psychic Claims From the Master Himself! This is a practical, multi-media workshop that allows participants to examine the best evidence for these claims and then develop methods to test them. On a nationally televised program with clenched fists and a forceful expression, a psychic appears to make a pencil spin with just his mind. Children seem to be able to see pictures, text, and even symbols with only their fingers. Throughout hospitals in the USA nurses claim to be able to not only detect but to manipulate powerful human energy fields with their hands. Are we entering a whole new paradigm where the laws of nature are subject to wishful thinking? Or is there something else at work?
The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) presents a seminar that will not only detect the underlying principles behind these and other claims but how to test for them and reasonably eliminate the potential for human error. By the end of the seminar, even participants with no formal scientific training will be capable of conducting proper examinations of psychic claims and arriving at decisions that are authoritative and valuable.
WHAT WILL BE EXAMINED?
How you can establish proper, adequate controls without elaborate equipment or facilities. How you can judge whether people are being deceptive or whether they are really deceiving themselves. Dowsers say they can detect objects or substances by means of a forked stick, a pendulum, a pair of stiff wires, or some other magic wand that moves in response to a mysterious force. What is really moving the device, and how do we definitively test the claim? Some of the devious techniques people have attempted to use to win the Foundation's million-dollar prize. Psychics are able to duplicate drawings secretly made by another person. See this miracle close-up, and decide what could be done to solve and control this feat unless it is really a violation of Nature.... A psychic causes objects to roll about dramatically on a sheet of plastic. What's at work here, and can we control and duplicate the stunt?
Dr. Donald Johanson KEYNOTE SPEECH:
Human Evolution: Creation Myths and the Scientific Story of Our Origins In the tens of thousands of years that humans have been telling stories about themselves and their world, there is no more important myth than that of origins from whence we came tells us why we are here and possibly even where we are going. In the past hundred years science has cast a beam of light into the murky shadows of our long forgotten ancestors hundreds of thousands and even millions of years in the past. This scientific story has become the origin myth for our age, told by the story tellers known as paleoanthropologists. Arguably, then, one of the greatest origins story tellers of our time is paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, Founder of the Institute of Human Origins, host of the PBS-Nova series In Search of Human Origins, and the author of numerous books including: From Lucy to Language, Ancestors: In Search of Human Origins, Journey from the Dawn: Life with the World's First Family, Lucy's Child: The Discovery of a Human Ancestor, Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind, and Blueprints: Solving the Mystery of Evolution.
Milbre Burch, HEARING IS BELIEVING: Story Telling as Myth Making Before the internet, the printing press and the written word, there was the spoken word the oral tradition. Since the beginning of speech, people have told stories about their world, their gods, their ancestors, and themselves. What is the meaning of these stories? What purpose do they serve the individual and the community? And why do humans tell stories? Milbre Burch, internationally known storyteller, teaching and recording artist, author of The Mary Stories, and Associate Director of the Storytelling Project of the Cotsen Children's Library, will explore these questions with the audience. And knowing that to understand the power of the oral tradition, one must take the time to listen, she will tell stories from several cultures and genres.
Richard Abanes, The God Question From a Believer's Perspective Is it possible to be a skeptic & still be deeply religious? Can one maintain a rational perspective on the world, debunk spiritual nonsense, religious cults, & millennial beliefs & still be an evangelical Christian? Most definitely YES! says Abanes who is both a member of the Skeptic board of advisors & the Evangelical Press Association. He directs the Religious Information Center & is a nationally recognized cult expert who has appeared on Hard Copy & EXTRA! He has been quoted in the New York Times & Chicago Tribune & has written on the dangers of religious fanaticism for Christianity Today & the Christian Research Journal. Abanes has authored four books: Prophets of the Apocalypse, American Militias, Defending the Faith, & his new End-Time Visions.
Dr. Michael Shermer GOD & THE GHOST DANCE: The Evolution of Myth and Religion What do Jesus, Wovoka, and Farrakhan have in common? Why do oppressed peoples often create mythical messiahs? What do cargo cults tell us about the human need to believe in magic? Why did humans evolve religion and belief in God? Why do similar myths recycle through dissimilar cultures and distinct ages? Michael Shermer will address these and other questions as he explores the always controversial God Question from a rational, scientific perspective. Must people choose between theism and atheism? Is there a reasonable middle ground? The audience is encouraged to offer feedback as the Publisher of Skeptic magazine continues his research on the sequel to his bestselling book, Why People Believe Weird Things, to be called, Why People Believe in God.
Dr. Randel McCraw Helms Who Wrote the Gospels?: The Bible as Myth & Literature The gospels are not history as we know it transparent windows revealing the historical Jesus but highly colored arguments of powerful authors writing to convert or confirm their readers to Christianity. Even the names of the authors are only guesses by 2nd-century Christians who selected traditional figures. Adjusting our focus from the brilliant imaginative pictures in the gospels to the imaginations that produced them, & the situations out of which they arose, we can know the minds of the authors we call Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John. How was 1st-century Christianity more theologically diverse than it is today? Was Luke a woman? Which stories were drawn from pagan drama & myth? Helms, a professor at Arizona State University in Tempe, teaches courses in Bible as Literature, World Literature, and 19th-Century Romantic Literature. He is the author of Gospel Fictions, and Who Wrote the Gospels?
Randy Cassingham, The 1998 Dumbth Awards: The Top 10 Dumbest and most hilarious Events of 1998. In his newspaper column each week, Randy Cassingham tells many bizarre yet true stories from all over the world, punctuating each with his wild commentary. More than 500 of his stories (and equally strange and true headlines) have been collected in his first two books, This is True: Glow-in-Dark Plants Could Help Farmers and This is True: Deputy Kills Man with Hammer, and his Dumbth News column can be found in every issue of Skeptic. His Dumbth Awards recognize the top dumbth (a word coined by Steve Allen) blunders, bloopers, and bungled events of the year.
Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Why People Need Religion: The Psychology of the Spiritual Impulse. Dr. Melton is Director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, and a Research Specialist with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of more than 25 books, including the "Encyclopedia of American Religion," the "Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America," and his most recent work, Finding Enlightenment: Ramtha's School of Ancient Wisdom. He is currently working on a Directory and Encyclopedia of the World's Religious Communities.