International Blasphemy Rights Day is Sept. 30! What are YOU doing for #blasphemyrights?
Each year, students around the world promote a crucial component of freethought—the right of individuals to challenge reigning religious beliefs without fear of murder, litigation, or reprisal—by celebrating International Blasphemy Rights Day (IBRD) on September 30. CFI administers IBRD as part of its broader Campaign for Free Expression.
Student groups have planned a wide range of activities—from educational presentations to in-your-face blasphemy events—to challenge complacency and raise awareness about impediments to free expression on campus, at the local and regional level, and worldwide. You can read more on the CFI On Campus Campaign for Free Expression resource page.
It's not too late to join the campaign! Here are some things you can do:
IBRD Google Hangout on Monday
CFI is hosting a special Google Hangout broadcast on Monday at 4:00 pm EDT with Michael De Dora, director of CFI's Office of Public Policy, interviewing activists Alber Saber and Kacem El-Ghazzali, two atheists forced to flee their home countries (Egypt & Morocco) for criticizing religious dogma and actively promoting secular government. You can watch it live on CFI's Free Thinking blog:
IBRD 2013 Twitter Contest
As part of IBRD 2013, CFI announced a Twitter contest challenging users to express in 140 characters or less why the right to criticize religion is important.
To enter this contest, contestants simply need to create a phrase of 140 characters or less and Tweet it from their account with the hashtag #IBRDcontest.
The contest runs from Sept. 29–Oct. 4. First prize is $280 USD and a one-year subscription to Free Inquiry magazine. Second prize is $140 USD and a one-year subscription to Free Inquiry. For details, go to the Twitter contest webpage.
Connect with the Campaign for Free Expression and IBRD Online
Let Us Know What Your Group Is Doing
This year, the Atheists, Humanists, & Agnostics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison hosted a "Stone a Heathen" event with Dan Barker from the Freedom From Religion Foundation to mark IBRD and raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. TheBlaze, a conservative website founded by Glenn Beck, took note: "The Reason Atheist Activists Are Inviting People to 'Stone' Them."
What are YOU doing for IBRD? Let us know at oncampus@centerforinquiry.net, and we'll help get the word out to other groups. And don't forget to take pictures—we can post them on the CFI On Campus and the IBRD Facebook pages to let everyone know about your event!
About CFI On Campus
Mission
Center for Inquiry On Campus promotes and defends science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values in high schools and on college campuses throughout North America and around the world.
Students are doing amazing things to advance science, reason, and secular values. If you have the means to help us support them, please contact Debbie Goddard by email or at (716) 636-4869 ext. 421.
