The Weekly SPI Fellows Update
by Julie Esris
Many fundamentalist Christians lobby to limit teens’ access to contraception, education, and medicine that prevents STDs. They are determined to outlaw pornography and strip clubs for adults. All of this is in the name of morality, and in the minds of these people, sex is immoral except in the context of marriage.┬áIt is America’s war on sex and an important public health issue, argues sex therapist, author, and SPI Fellow┬áMarty Klein. Check out Klein’s sobering presentation on this important topic.
Marty Klein
Just how did cognitive psychologist and SPI Fellow Elizabeth Loftus get interested in learning about memory? At a recent talk she gave at The University of California- Irvine, she explains just that. She also explains how easy it is to plant false memories into unwitting subjects. Scary? Yes, but also fascinating! Her lecture is now available on YouTube.
Elizabeth Loftus
Moral philosopher Peter Singer was invited to speak at the Cologne Philosophy Festival, only to be subsequently disinvited due to his controversial utilitarian viewpoints on bioethics. Is there ever justification for barring people– even those who espouse fringe viewpoints– from speaking at an important intellectual event? Philosopher and SPI Fellow┬áRussell Blackford┬áanswers this important question.
Recently, Dylann Roof opened fire on a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people and wounding one. Many┬ápeople have questioned why we call acts like this “hate crimes” but reserve the term “terrorism” for similar acts committed by Muslims. Should the Charleston church shooting be classified as an act of terrorism? The answer is more nebulous than one would think, argues┬álinguist, political commentator, and SPI Fellow┬áJohn McWhorter.
And speaking of this debate, writer and SPI Fellow┬áMark Juergensmeyer has his own opinion on this issue, which is somewhat different than McWhorter’s.┬áHe also┬áasks the important question as to why we aren’t as quick to look into the political/religious affiliations of a white man as we would be if an ethnic minority had committed the same crime.