Back in January, at a general BASS meeting, Steven gave a presentation on the separation of church and state.  Enjoy!

Presentation: Separation of Church and State

UCLA Anthropology Professor Joe Manson will speak on how humans are and aren’t unique amongst animals. Prof. Manson’s studies focus on the social behavior of non-human primates and humans.This talk is being held in celebration of Darwin Day!

When: Friday, February 12 from 5:00 to 6:15pm
Where: Royce 156
RSVP on Facebook

]]> http://bruinskeptics.org/2010/02/09/bass-event-are-humans-unique-insights-from-the-social-and-biological-sciences/feed/ 0 http://bruinskeptics.org/2010/02/02/bass-goes-to-the-hammer-museum/ http://bruinskeptics.org/2010/02/02/bass-goes-to-the-hammer-museum/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:22:22 +0000 Jordan Goldman http://bruinskeptics.org/?p=783 BASS goes to the Hammer Museum
Tomorrow!
Wednesday, February 3rd, 4:00 pm to ??

The Hammer Museum is holding a temporary exhibit on Robert Crumb’s Illustrated Genesis. See more details<http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/detail/exhibition_id/167>

We are meeting at 4:00 pm at Ackerman Terminal, and will walk over to the
Hammer Museum as a group. You may also meet us at the museum.

Contact number: Tristan Miller (310) 210-3579

Please RSVP via Facebook if you intend to go: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=279569704606&ref=mf

RSVP by Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=274313694479

This meeting will include a presentation by Steven:
-Separation of Church & State: Its Philosophical, Constitutional, and Political Bases
-How has it been successfully implemented, and what remains to be done? What is the future of the separation, given the current makeup of federal courts?

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Other events that may interest BASS members:

BASS will be organizing a trip to the Hammer Museum to see Robert Crumb’s exhibit on the illustrated Genesis. Please check the day/time that works best for you via the following Doodle link: http://doodle.com/x4q9svff65bgnv6a

***PLEASE ONLY VOTE IF YOU ACTUALLY INTEND TO COME***

Multi-Faith Council, a panel between a rabbi, pastor, and imam, sponsored by the Muslim Students Association.
When: Thursday, 7:30-10:00 pm, January 28th
Where: Humanities 135
Further details: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=254331173470

From this point, all meetings will be in Kerckhoff 135 unless otherwise noted.

RSVP via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=434161430541

Meeting topics:

-Westboro Baptist Church: a report (see http://bruinskeptics.org/2010/01/17/bass-protests-the-westboro-baptist-church/)

-Abiogenesis: presentation by Paul Zimmerle

See our full meeting schedule: http://bruinskeptics.org/2010/01/06/winter-2010-quarter-meeting-schedule/

Shirley Phelps-Roper in Beverly Hills

But it may not be entirely accurate to say that we were “counter-protesting” the Phelps family. I feel like that’s almost taking them too seriously, because they are a tiny fringe group that receives a disproportionate amount of attention. One could argue that we ought to ignore them, but I think that they’re quite harmless, more likely to hurt their own cause than help it. So we might as well have our fun, seeing these celebrities of hate.

The Westboro Baptist Church appeared at two locations, first at a Jewish University fund raiser, and second at the Golden Globes.

Yes, they are singing

Yeah, so they hate the Jews, because they killed Jesus. But before you label them as haters, I should explain that their hatred is a “perfect hatred”, as opposed to the “human hatred” of the KKK. That is to say, they hate what God hates. And God hates nearly everything. Jews, fags, and America are just the beginning!

The saddest part is that even the kids are indoctrinated into hating Lady Gaga, or “Lady Gaygay” as they called her

So a group of five or six Phelps family members set up at the corner of an intersection. A surprisingly high percentage of the passing cars would slow down to honk, shout, or flip them off. But the Phelps family just happily sings and laughs the whole time. For them, this is a worshipful experience, which just goes to show that one person’s religious experience can be another person’s hate speech. They may be creepy, but at least they’re entirely peaceful, and you can just go up and talk to them.

We were the largest group there, but there were a few other individual counter-protesters. You could always tell the counter-protesters by their cameras. However, most passing cars would have difficulty distinguishing us from the Phelps family, since a small rainbow flag was the main indication (we neglected to bring signs). Later, when some cops told us to go to the other side of the intersection,* we were more clearly opposed to the Phelps family, and we got a lot more support from passing cars.

*I think the cops were worried about possible violence. We’re entirely peaceful, and more amused than angry, but I perhaps that’s what they all say.

Later in the day, the Westboro Baptist Church appeared at the Golden Globes. But our trip to the Golden Globes was relatively disappointing. For one thing, it was raining, in Beverly Hills of all places. For another, I don’t have good pictures yet.

There were many people there to counter-protest the Westboro Baptist Church, but an even larger number of people to watch for real celebrities in passing limos. Speaking of real celebrities, we saw Sarah Silverman, who came to mock the church. I now like Sarah Silverman just that much more. But she might have been a bit disappointed, because only two people from the Westboro Baptist Church showed up, and they had regular black and white signs rather than the distinctive colored ones. We can find better than that at UCLA!

I will leave the final word to the Westboro Baptist Church:

God HATES DOOMED america. We have been telling you about this for almost twenty years, and the entire time you have been mocking us. LITERALLY! God is mocking you right back, stupids. [sic]

(This was cross-posted on my blog.  More photos will be forthcoming from other members.)

They are appearing at 9641 Sunset Blvd from 11:45 AM to 1:30 PM, and 9876 Wilshire Blvd from 3:00 to 5:00 PM

We are sending two groups over to see them. The first group will meet at Ackerman Terminal at 11:15 AM to carpool (Facebook: Part 1), and the second group will meet at 2:30 AM at the same location (Facebook: Part 2).  You may attend either one, or both.

If you can provide a ride there, please e-mail jachranit@gmail.com, and CC tristanmiller@bruinskeptics.org