Fall '10 Meeting #1 - Behind Belief

Gator Freethought's first official meeting of the Fall 2010 semester will be held on Thursday, September 16th, at 7:30 pm in Matherly Hall 119

The topic for discussion is "Behind Belief - What causes and guides the things we believe in?'

We will be discussing what constitutes a belief, how beliefs compare to knowledge or opinions, and examining in depth where some commonly and not-so-commonly held beliefs originate.  The meeting topic is not limited to religion, but spans political, philosophical, material, and anything else one could reasonably hold a belief in.

We will also be taking suggestions for future meeting topics. Freethought isn't anything without its members, and we want to hear what possible discussions you find intriguing.  Old member or new, come out and have your say in the direction of Gator Freethought this year.

Officer Election Results

Congratulations to the newly elected 2010-2011 Gator Freethought officers!

President - Brandon Tabman
Vice President - David Zucker
Treasurer - Taalan Liebermann
Secretary/Historian - Ben Sarbey
Webmaster - Cassie Crosby
PR Chair - Paula Bezark

This was our last meeting for the '09-10 year, but be sure to come out and support Gator Freethought at the UF Interfaith Forum (Link goes to facebook event) next Wednesday, April 21st, at 7:00pm in the Reitz Union Ballroom.  This event, sponsored by the UF Religion department, will feature presentations from and question--and-answers sessions with 7 different religious groups on campus, including current president Blake Tanase on behalf of Gator Freethought.

Regular Gator Freethought meetings will resume with the Fall 2010 semester. Have a great summer!

Spring '10 Meeting #7 - What Did You Change Your Mind About This Year?

Gator Freethought's seventh and last meeting of the Spring 2010 semester will be held on Wednesday, April 14th, at 7:30 pm in Anderson Hall 101.

The topic for discussion is "What did you change your mind about this year?" Hear a really impressive argument? Discover some critical new information? Political, philosophical, religious, or whatever else, we're going to discuss the things that made you stop and think twice about an issue.

In addition, officer elections will be held for the '10-11 school year.  The positions to be filled are:

President

Vice-President

Treasurer

Secretary

Historian

Webmaster

Propagandist

The majority of nominations for these positions were made last meeting, but anyone who was unable to attend then and wants to run still may.  The elections will start with the President and move downward, so a person nominated for President who does not win is then eligible to run for Vice-President, and so on moving down the list.

Spring '10 Meeting #6 - Officer Nominations and -Isms

This meeting will not be in our usual room. It will be in Griffin-Floyd 100.

     Gator Freethought's sixth meeting of the Spring 2010 semester will be held on Thursday, April 1st, at 7:30 pm in Griffin-Floyd 100

This will be the second-to-last meeting of the year for Gator Freethought. First, we will be taking nominations for officer positions next year.  Once we know who is being nominated, officer elections will be held at our final meeting of the year, on April 14th.

The topic of discussion for this meeting will be either Eugenics, or the history and application of various -Ism biases (classism, racism, sexism), depending on what people prefer to discuss.

Dr. Witmer's notes - How not to attack religious beliefs

For anyone who wasn't able to attend the meeting, or wants a copy of Dr. Witmer's notes from his March 17th presentation on How NOT to Attack Religious Beliefs, his notes are available here.

Spring '10 Meeting #5 - Dr. Witmer on How NOT to Argue About God

Gator Freethought's fifth meeting of the Spring 2010 semester will be held Wednesday, March 17th at 7:30 PM, in Anderson Hall 101.

Our guest speaker will be Dr. Witmer, from UF's philosophy department. He will be discussing how not to approach the topic of God and religion. IE, what sort of arguments are unappealing, rude, illogical, or likely to be perceived as such, and thus should be avoided.

In addition, Gator Freethought t-shirts are still available for purchase.  If you're interested, please contact an officer either in person, by sending an email to GatorFreethought@gmail.com, or through our facebook group.

A closeup of the design on the shirts can be seen below:

Spring '10 Meeting #3 - Movie Night: Inherit the Wind

Gator Freethought's second meeting of the Spring 2010 semester will be held Thursday, February 11th at 7:30 PM, in Griffin-Floyd 100.

Please note that this is a different room than where the rest of our meetings have been held this year.

We will be showing Inherit the Wind, a film originally produced in 1960, which depicts a fictionalized version of the Scopes monkey trials. Come out and discuss the historical and future implications of both the movie and the trial with us.

He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

Proverbs 11:29, King James Bible

Spring '10 Meeting #2 - Quantum Physics

Gator Freethought's second meeting of the Spring 2010 semester will be held Wednesday, January 27th at 7:30 PM, in Anderson Hall 101.

The subject of this meeting is quantum mechanics.  We'll be introducing the subject (no prior knowledge required), and then discussing some of the common misconceptions about and applications of its principles.

Gator Freethought T-Shirts are still available, and can be purchased at the meeting for $10.

Spring '10 Meeting #1 - Logical Fallacies

It's that time again. Gator Freethought's first meeting of the Spring 2010 semester will be held Thursday, January 14th, at 7:30 PM, in Anderson Hall 101.*

The topic will be common (and not-so-common) logical fallacies used in informal discussion.  If you have one that you find particularly interesting (or irritating), please share it!  To start with, our officers will be presenting some of the more common ones, so that everyone can see what we're talking about and participate in the discussion

"Rating" the logical fallacies:



*Our meeting is scheduled to be held in Anderson 101, but that room may not be available. If that's the case, there will be a note posted outside of Anderson 101 to redirect people to where the meeting is actually being held.  If we know in advance, we'll post the new location on the website as well.

Also: Gator Freethought t-shirts are still being sold for $10, and are already printed, so you can walk in with cash and walk out with a t-shirt!  See the shirts haphazardly modeled at our last meeting: