Earlier this week, the LA Times reported that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg named Fellow Steven PinkerÔÇÖs The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined as his book clubÔÇÖs second pick of the year. Up to 270,000 members will use the group ÔÇ£A Year of BooksÔÇØ to read and discuss a new volume every two weeks in 2015.

PinkerÔÇÖs Better Angels poses the argument that, in terms of our human history, violence is currently on the decline around the world. As Zuckerberg explained: “Recent events might make it seem like violence and terrorism are more common than ever, so it’s worth understanding that all violenceÔÇöeven terrorismÔÇöis actually decreasing over time. If we understand how we are achieving this, we can continue our path towards peace.”

The Facebook CEO went on to comment that in spite of its hefty 800-page volume, he chose PinkerÔÇÖs book because several trusted sources told him it was the best they had ever read. Based on the stats of the clubÔÇÖs first pick, hundreds of Page comments are expected in the dialogue following the one-month read. Regardless, ZuckerbergÔÇÖs selection may yield additional purchases of PinkerÔÇÖs book in the tens of thousands, which means an ever-broader reach for a renowned proponent of secular values.

On Wednesday, Fellow Michael Shermer held the floor at the Cato Institute when he gave a talk on The Moral Arc of humanity, and signed copies of his latest book by the same name. On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, he embarked on a greater challenge: joining Edwina Rogers in direct meetings with members of the House to discuss how his findings relate to the current state of American politics.

Among the Representatives with which SPI made a connection were Congressman McCaul, Congressman Swalwell, Congresswoman Lofgren, Congressman Grayson, Congressman Rohrabacher, and Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson.  All are members of the Science Committee who were willing to brainstorm with Shermer on how to increase the influence of scientific knowledge on U.S. policy. Partnership with these offices means they will be able to act as conduits of reason-oriented legislation.

It is a widely held truism that more religious Americans tend to be more charitable. ┬áThe thesis that those who are closest to the creator are the oneÔÇÖs most┬áwilling to help out their fellow man, woman and child has become a primary┬ájustification for the continuation of religion as a societally positive force.

The thesis is even believed by many if not most atheists, to the extent that secularist  have attempted to mount charitable efforts to show that nonbelievers are charitable too.

SPI Fellows’ Corner

A new report from the International Humanist and Ethical Union shows that even as religious belief is in global decline, a number of governments are stepping up attempts to portray secularists and atheists in a negative and often dangerous light. The report cites 13 Muslim states where apostasy and blasphemy are capital offenses; in Russia, public expression of atheist views can be treated as a criminal blasphemous offense. The trend is even seen in some western countries, like Britain, whose government has recently dropped atheism and humanism from religious studies in state schools.

Learn more about the report at reuters.com

In the last fifty years, the Jewish population across America has changed drastically. With a third of millennial Jews identifying themselves as non-religious, and the growing numbers of inter-faith marriages – which often lead to a downplayed role of religion – the number of religious and practicing people of Jewish descent are in decline. While some Humanist Jewish groups have begun to spring up across the country, it remains to be seen what the effects of the secular Jewish culture on the population as a whole.

Read more at oregonlive.com

An atheist group recently sued Ocala, Florida in response to an officially sponsored community-wide prayer vigil. In this interview from Fox News, watch mayor Kent Guinn explain the case and the event that started it all, which he refers to as a “prayer rally for all religions.” The group bringing the legal challenge argues that the city is showing preference to one religion and violating constitutional rights in doing so.

See the interview at foxnews.com 

Patrik Lindenfors, 2014

This October a very odd dissertation took place at Malm├ University in Sweden. The doctoral thesis, titled Unity Pervades All Activity as Water Every Wave, spoke to the teachings and philosophy of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. You may recognize his name as the guru who became famous the 1960s. He toured in a Rolls Royce, claimed he could teach followers to levitate, and entranced the Beatles and other celebrities.

Research into the allure of New Age philosophies is legitimate and important. The strange feature of the dissertation was the panel chosen to review it. Every doctoral thesis must be presented to knowledgeable academics, who guide the research, serve as the audience for the final presentation when it is completed. If they accept the thesis, the student graduates. If they reject it, the student is sentenced to another year or two of labor, and they sometimes quit instead of facing it. In this case, the facultyÔÇÖs chosen opponent was Sue Brown, Associate Professor of Maharishi Vedic Science at the Maharishi University of Management (MUM), based in Iowa.

Teaching Students to Levitate Since 1973

Sorry, but assistant professor of what from where?

The MUM ÔÇ£UniversityÔÇØ has been the subject of continual criticism for fraudulent research, claims to teach New Age powers, and deifying its founder, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

This is the university from which, according to her biography, Dr. Brown earned a MasterÔÇÖs in Higher Education Administration, and then a PhD with the delightful title, “Unity and Diversity in Maharishi Vedic Science, Higher States of Consciousness, and an Evaluative Study of Undergraduate Student Development”. (Sadly, this thesis is not available on the Internet.)
Thus it seems that instead of inviting a nonpartisan expert to the final seat in the panel, the facultyÔÇÖs chose one of the MaharishiÔÇÖs devoted adherents. Asking Sue Brown to scientifically evaluate research on her Guru is the antithesis of how a thesis should be judged. When charlatans try to associate themselves with science, it is maddening , but at least it proves the strong foothold that science has gained in the world. Unfortunately, by offering this panel position to a New Age advocate, Malm├ University undercut science.

Is Sue Brown even a scientist? Her area of specialty, Maharishi Vedic Science, is not a scientific subject. It claims that “modern physics has concluded that underlying the diversity of matter is a non-material field whose self-interactions generate time, space and observable forces and particles. Both approaches identify a non-material field that underlies observable change.” With such poetic language, those who donÔÇÖt understand the complexities of physics (and who does?) can be massaged into the false belief that there is proof and wide scientific support for a spirit world.

Educational Progress: To Sit in Class, You Must be Conscious

According to the MUM website, their education is ÔÇ£Consciousness-BasedÔÇØ. Though this sounds superficially reassuring ÔÇô itÔÇÖs hard to envision unconscious education ÔÇô itÔÇÖs not quite what it sounds like. Here are some quotes from the description:

The advanced TM-Sidhi® program, including Yogic Flying®, accelerates the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation technique, especially when practiced in groups, as we do here.

Edwina Rogers, CEO of Secular Policy Institute, has recently returned from a conference in Muscat, Oman, where General David Petraeus was the keynote speaker. In addition to making connections and receiving advice from experts in various fields, three new fellows agreed to join forces with the Secular Policy Institute:

Professor Dr. Amaris Baram is a scholar of Middle Eastern History at the University of Haifa. A secular Jew living in Israel, he is an adviser to many governments.

Professor Dr. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is an expert on the Middle East, Islam and terrorism from Oxford University.  He is a leading world expert on the Islamic State.  He is a Secular Arab from the UK and Iraq and advises numerous governments.

Professor Dr. Sarbagh Salih┬áis a secular female┬áKurdish scientist living in the Kurdish Region of Iraq and was previously a scientist for the US Department of Agriculture┬áwith an expertise┬áin biodiversity and plant life. ┬áShe is┬áwith the American University of Iraq and also has her own foundation – the Kurdish Botanical Foundation. Her husband, Dr. Batham Ahmed Salih, is the former Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government and Deputy PM for Iraq as well as┬áthe founder of the American University of┬áIraq.

Lawsuits┬áfor and against using the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance are being heard in New Jersey as one family claims the practice discriminates against students with non-religious beliefs, and another student argues that she has the right to recognize that her rights as an American come from God.

Learn more in this video from foxnews.com