Dan Barker, Foundation co-president and public relations director (in suit, front row), participated in a debate at the University of Idaho in Moscow on October 18 against Calvinist theologian Douglas Wilson. The topic: “Should religion and government be strictly separated?” The lively event, sponsored by the Collegiate Reformed Fellowship, drew about 800 in the largest auditorium in the state. Pictured after the event are some of the many freethinkers who came to support secularism.
After describing John Calvin’s brutal treatment of dissenters, including the torture and execution of Servetus, Barker asked Wilson if he thought Calvin was a good man. “Yes, he was,” replied Wilson. When Barker asked Wilson to define his use of the word “morality,” Wilson replied simply: “God.”
“I have never met so many freethinkers and I was surprised at how many lived in our small community,” writes Christina Morris.
FFRF at Milwaukee Forum
Foundation co-president Dan Barker participated in a panel on “Religion and Public Policy” for the Milwaukee Forum on November 17. Pictured: right-wing Christian state Sen. Tom Reynolds, Dan Barker, Rev. Robert Fleishmann of Christian Life Resources and organizer Othman Atta, a Milwaukee-area attorney. At the end of the event, Sen. Reynolds asked the diverse audience of professionals whether they really believed life began through a process of random chance. More than half the room immediately raised their hands!
