Panel on Secular Morality (part 7/7)

The Secular Student Alliance hosted a panel follow-up discussion immediately after the Source of Human Morality Debate on 11/16/2010. The panel was largely an open forum for questions and conversation with the audience.

[THE END OF THE PANEL IS CUT OFF. We're missing approximately the last 20 minutes from video, because the camera died and we didn't have a backup. Sorry about that-- if you were there, you got to see the excellent concluding remarks live!]

The panelists are as follows, from left to right:

Gregory S. Paul: Labeled religion's "public enemy #1" by MSNBC, Greg Paul is a freelance author and researcher about the effect of religion on society, and vice versa. His work has been featured in Newsweek, Science magazine, Evolutionary Psychology, Philosophy and Theology, and numerous other journals and publications. Paul's theory centers around the thesis that there is no "God gene" that gives people an inherent propensity for religion, and that "prosperous modernity is proving to be the nemesis of religion." Greg is a Baltimore native and active in the Baltimore Ethical Society. Find out more about his "science of religion" writings at www.gspaulscienceofreligion.com.

John Shook, Ph.D. [debate moderator]: Dr. Shook is a scholar and professor living in Washington, D.C. He is Director of Education and Senior Research Fellow of the Center for Inquiry, and also is Visiting Assistant Professor of Science Education at the University at Buffalo, teaching for its online program in Science and the Public. From 2000 to 2006 he was a professor of philosophy at Oklahoma State University. Shook publishes on philosophical topics about science, the mind, humanist ethics, democracy, secularism, and religion, and he has debated the existence of God with leading theologians including William Lane Craig. He has authored and edited more than a dozen books, including the new The God Debates: A 21st Century Guide for Atheists and Believers (and Everyone in Between).

Matt Dillahunty [debater]: Matt is the president of the Atheist Community of Austin, and host of the popular public access television and internet show "The Atheist Experience." He was raised as a fundamentalist Baptist, and was on track to become a minister until he started asking questions about the reasons for his belief. He rejected religion, and now serves as a public voice for rationality and secular morality.

Robert Anderson, Ph.D: Dr Anderson is a UMBC psychology professor and student advisor. He teaches a number of courses, including aggression and antisocial behavior, abnormal psychology, personality study, human sexuality and clinical psychology.

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[jameshanley40]

HAVE MORE THAN ONE PERSON FILMING THEN YOU WON'T HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM IF A CAMERA GOES WRONG.. LEARN ALREADY, GOODNESS ME.

[secularUMBC]

@jameshanley40 We were lucky to have ONE person filming. It was arranged at the last minute, and the person filming was someone who volunteered his camera and time. We didn't put on the event for the purpose of getting it up to YouTube, so this is just what we've got.

[harfharfful]

Likely story. Most likely, gawd was revealed in the last 20 minutes, and the tape has been destroyed to suppress the throoth.

[secularUMBC]

@harfharfful Dammit, how did you know?

[ThePariahGame]

I wish they would've spent less time commending the Muslim girl for her "courage", and more time commenting on her stupidity. She said absolutely nothing of value. Her only input to the discussion was a waste of time.

Thanks for putting this up. Other than the Muslim girl, it was pretty interesting.

[MegaZeusThor]

Thanks for taking the time to film and post this. Fly on the wall is much better than never seeing it.

[FIGHTFANNERD3]

@manaeldar indeed

[SonOfNye]

@ThePariahGame I agree, one "You've got balls kid and I respect that." was more than enough.

[Nucl3arTeacup]

@ThePariahGame I couldnt agree more. Her inability to formulate a coherent thought irritated me to the point that I couldnt even finish watching some of these videos. If being called on your stupid ideas and simply not throwing a tantrum is courage, than Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron should be national heroes.

[MishaVargas]

I think this Muslim girl was kind of awesome, except when she got too nervous and started reflexively going all "WE'RE ALL AMERICANS AND GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT."

I think the room hit the perfect tense balance between dogpiling and . . . what, accommodation? Anyways, it was incredible to hear.

[thach1ef]

The muslim girl is just like the priest in the debate. She talks and talks, but says absolutely nothing useful.

[thach1ef]

@jameshanley40 you're a fucktard.

[jameshanley40]

@secularUMBC

Don't be a twat. Lots of people have a digital video camera, put a request out beforehand. You shouldn't have just waited for a volunteer. ASK PEOPLE. And i'm sure other people would've been willing to hold a camera So don't make such a big deal about somebody volunteering their time.. Everybody volunteered their time to come and listen. It's something they really wanted to do. And if you'd have asked they'd have been only too happy.

[besidemymind]

@jameshanley40 - How about microphones for each speaker to make the audio better? How about better seating for the panel and audience? How about an actual sound stage for better acoustics?

Jimmy... you're a douche.