Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[SkeptInq@aol.com]

 Skeptical Inquirer Electronic Digest 12-28-99

 Visit the CSICOP and Skeptical Inquirer Magazine website at
http://www.csicop.org. Receiving over 200,000 hits per year, the CSICOP site
was rated one of the top ten science sites by HOMEPC magazine.

 In this week's SI DIGEST:

 --Paul Kurtz Op-Ed: "Triumphalist trends of '90s a prelude to global 21st
century"
 --The SOS Campaign Web Page
 --TIME Magazine Names Albert Einstein "Person of the Century"
 --NY TIMES: China Sentences Four Falun Gong Members to Prison
 --LA TIMES on Magnet Therapy
 --SALON.COM on Templeton Foundation and Science&Faith

 PAUL KURTZ OP-ED: TRIUMPHALIST 90'S PRELUDE TO 21ST CENTURY

 The following op-ed by CSICOP chair Paul Kurtz appeared in the Sunday
Viewpoints section of the Dec. 26 edition of the Buffalo News.  It was the
last in a series of articles looking at the 20th century, decade by decade.

 Triumphalist trends of '90s a prelude to global 21st century

 By Paul Kurtz

 If the 1890s were called the Gay '90s, the 1990s should be heralded as the
Triumphalist Decade.

 For at the end of the 20th century, America reigns supreme - not only as the
major military-industrial power in the world, but also as the leading
infomedia society. Its undisputed scientific and technological superiority
have made it the unchallenged leader of the new global economy.

 The 20th century has experienced enormous scientific-technological progress.
New communication technologies - the telephone, radio, television, satellite
and computers - have transformed the world into a global community.

 The Green Revolution changed the United States from a rural society in which
most of the population worked on farms to an urban, suburban and exurban
society in which less than 2 percent are employed in agriculture. New modes
of transportation, especially the automobile, radically reshaped our
landscape. Scientific medicine has improved health, cut the death rate and
extended life spans. The airplane enables us to visit all parts of the
planet, and space-age rockets have opened our solar system and the universe
beyond to exploration.

 Technological breakthroughs have continued at a dizzying pace in the 1990s.
Most notably, it has been a decade in which the Information Revolution was
declared the successor to the Industrial Revolution. The microchip and the
Internet have transformed virtually every factory, office, home and hearth.
Knowledge has become the new commodity to be trafficked worldwide.

 This has led to an unprecedented stock market boom. The Dow Jones average on
Jan. 2, 1990, was 2,810; by the winter of 1999, it had exceeded 11,000. The
American economy, by 1998, showed its first surplus in decades and its
longest peacetime expansion.

 The 1990s have seen a frenzied increase in mergers and acquisitions, and
these rapidly accelerated in 1998 and 1999 in both the United States and
Europe, as companies large and small were gobbled up by larger conglomerates.
The century began with concerns about monopolies and trusts, and the Sherman
Anti-Trust law was enacted. At the end of the century, the free-market
"corporate mystique" rules virtually unchallenged.

 Mergers in the information and entertainment industry have made the United
States the major worldwide exporter of movies and TV programs. Many are
asking whether a steady diet of violence is corrupting the young. Others
deplore the fact that the mass media reveled in sensational stories (such as
the O.J. Simpson trial in 1994-95) and lurid scandals (the Anita
Hill-Clarence Thomas case in 1991, the Clinton impeachment hearings of
1997-98).

 • • •
 The Information Revolution contributed in no small measure to the demise of
the two separate economic systems that had existed since World War II, and it
ushered in a new post-communist era.

 It became apparent that Soviet-style communism could not compete in the
contemporary world. Entrepreneurial laissez-faire capitalism has spread
everywhere - most notably in the former Soviet Union (disbanded in 1992) and
Eastern Europe. Even China has opened its economy to the free-market system.

 Indeed, it has become clear in the 1990s that no national economy or
government can control its own destiny, for each depends on world markets.
The social-democratic governments in control in Europe learned that lesson.

 In this new global system, authoritarian governments find it increasingly
difficult to repress their populations: The fax machine and the Internet
facilitate instant communication, and any violation of human rights anywhere
could reverberate everywhere.

 It's clear that in the global information age, no nation can live in
isolation, and new ideas and values are bound to spread. This applies even to
Muslim countries, where the first stirrings for women's rights, freedom and
secularism can be heard.

 As the world is being radically transformed into a global society, there
have been significant pockets of opposition. There has been a surprising
resurgence of fundamentalist religions worldwide, calling for a return to the
verities of the premodern era.

 New demands for preserving "multicultural identity" and even virulent
"ethnic cleansing" also have re-emerged - tragically - in Yugoslavia (with
bloody conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo) and the former Soviet Union, and
in some cases this has led to brutal wars of genocide (as in Rwanda).

 • • •
 The Triumphalist Decade of the '90s provides a springboard for a leap into
the 21st century and the millennium beyond. Though no one can foretell with
certainty what will occur, several trends discernible at the end of the
century will continue.

 Technological innovations will most likely continue to develop at a rapid
rate, radically transforming our lives. Inasmuch as an estimated 90 percent
of the scientists who have ever lived are now alive, it's difficult to
predict what they will discover or invent.

 Barring a natural disaster, economic collapse or worldwide thermonuclear or
biochemical war, humankind will continue to progress. Cures for most major
illnesses are likely to be discovered, extending life spans even further.
This will make it possible for more people to have greater time for leisure
activities, including added years for retirement.

 It is probable that new forms of energy will be developed, thus reducing
pollution by carbon-based fuels. Nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and
robotics will contribute to greater productivity and prosperity.

 • • •
 In the world of the future, those societies that are open to new ideas and
are able to adapt will grow; those that are not will stagnate. Those that are
willing to pour money into scientific and technological research will have
the best chance of prospering. Education is vital, and we need to open
educational opportunities to all sectors of society, including the poor and
disadvantaged.

 In the world of tomorrow, advances in science will dramatically extend our
understanding of the universe. As we explore other planetary systems and
galaxies, the human species will be viewed in a different perspective. Carl
Sagan has characterized our planet Earth, as seen from space, as "a
blue-green dot." From this vantage point, it should become apparent that we
are all part of one planetary society.

 If we are to progress further, it is imperative that we develop new
transnational political institutions, a system of world law and a world court
to resolve conflicts, and some international regulation and taxation of
global conglomerates. As we leap into the new millennium, we will need to
learn to work together - especially to stabilize population growth, protect
our environment and reduce the disparities in wealth between the rich and
poor regions of the world.

 We also need to renew our confidence in the ability of human beings to
marshal the intelligence and goodwill necessary to solve our problems. The
centuries that lie ahead will be unlike any that we have experienced. There
will be new frontiers to conquer and new opportunities to tap. These are
bound to challenge our imagination and ingenuity.

 For our children's children and their offspring, the new millennium can be
one of high adventure and meaningful enrichment. What will be depends in
large measure on whether we are willing to plan ambitious goals and
aspirations, and whether we have the courage and fortitude to realize them.

 ----

 PAUL KURTZ, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University at Buffalo,
is the author of more than 30 books and 650 articles and reviews. He is
president of Prometheus Books and chairman of the Center for Inquiry
International in Amherst.

 THE SOS CAMPAIGN WEB PAGE

 The Campus Freethought Alliance as part of ther Save our Schools (SOS)
science education campaign, is sponsoring a webpage with valuable links,
press releases, and an on-line petition.

 The following is a description of the SOS campaign.  Visit the SOS campaign
page, and sign the on-line petition at:
 http://www.campusfreethought.org/sos/

 Science Education in Distress

 It's not just in Kansas anymore. In Kentucky, Colorado, Alabama, and many
other states around the country, religious fundamentalists are successfully
suppressing vital scientific knowledge about the origins of life and universe
from science curricula and attempting to replace it with religious doctrines
under the guise of science.

 Students are outraged at these efforts to censor their science education.
Throughout the country, religious and non-religious high school and college
students are organizing to oppose the new creationist attacks on science
education. The national scale of the creationist movement has prompted
students in the Campus Freethought Alliance and Young Freethinkers Alliance
to take action on the national level. They are sending out a SOS--a distress
signal from America's public schools.

 The primary goal of the SOS Campaign is to restore evolutionary theory and
scientific cosmology to their rightful places within science education and to
ban all forms of creationism from the classroom.

 TIME MAGAZINE NAMES ALBERT EINSTEIN "PERSON OF THE CENTURY"

 In its much anticipated and hyped end of the year issue, Time magazine chose
scientist Albert Einstein as its "Person of the Century."  Einstein edged
F.D.R and Ghandi.

 You can read the TIME articles on Einstein at:
 http://www.pathfinder.com/time/interstitials/inter.html

 Articles include:

 Person of the Century: Albert Einstein by Frederic Golden
 A Brief History of Relativity: by Stephen Hawking
 The Age of Einstein: by Roger Rosenblatt
 Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: by J. Madeleine Nash

 NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW: FITS, TRANCES, AND VISIONS

 For the full review go to:
 http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/12/26/reviews/991226.26everdet.html

 December 26, 1999

 Joyful Noises
 A historian of religion examines ecstasy in the presence of God.
 By William R. Everdell

 Fits, Trances, and Visions
 Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience From Wesley to James.
 By Ann Taves.
 Illustrated. 449 pp. Princeton, N.J.:
 Princeton University Press.
 Cloth, $65. Paper, $22.95.

 "Ann Taves's 'Fits, Trances, and Visions' is as much a treat as it is a
treatise, and not just for historians like herself. Taves, who teaches
history in a theological institution, the Claremont School of Theology, and
religion in a secular one, the Claremont Graduate University, has managed to
assemble the facts and clarify the course of one of the longest, strongest
threads in the American cultural quilt -- religious ecstasy.  Ecstasy? No
less, but since Taves bravely takes on the task of explaining systematically
why that old Greek word -- and just about all its equivalents -- are
tendentious, let us call it what she calls it: experience, religious
experience. The experience she means is what is conveyed by shouts and
groans, prophesying and sudden insensibility -- experience expressed
obviously and physically and reported or explained by many as encounters with
the divine."

 NY TIMES: CHINA SENTENCES FOUR FALUN GONG MEMBERS TO PRISON

 To read the full article go to:
 http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/122799china-falungong.html

 China Sentences 4 in Spiritual Group to Long Jail Time

 By Erik Eckholm

 BEIJING, Dec. 26 -- Three men and a woman accused of being top leaders of
the Falun Gong spiritual movement outlawed by the Chinese government last
summer were given prison sentences today ranging up to 18 years.

 The severe sentences, issued by a Beijing court after a one-day trial, and
their prominent announcement on national television tonight were clearly
intended to show the authorities' determination to crush Falun Gong. Two of
the sentences, for 18 years in one case and 16 years in another, were harsher
than any given to leaders of the banned China Democracy Party last year, or
of any other democracy advocate in the last several years....

 LA TIMES ON MAGNET THERAPY

 For the full article, go to:
 http://www.latimes.com/news/science/science/19991227/t000117920.html

 What's the Big Attraction?

 Millions of Americans are turning to an alternative therapy popularized by
anecdotal evidence, not solid science. Suddenly, everyone with a nagging pain
seems to be strapping on magnets.

 By Jane E. Allen, Times Health Writer


 "...Only a few small scientific studies have suggested magnets may ease
pain--the most recent one was released this month in a plastic surgery
journal. Yet testimonials from professional golfers who have regained their
swing, neighbors and friends whose joints hurt less and migraine sufferers
whose headaches have become more manageable have fueled a booming annual
business estimated at anywhere from $150 million to $500 million a year...."

 SALON.COM ON TEMPLETON FOUNDATION AND SCIENCE&FAITH

 For the full article, go to:
 http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/12/24/templeton/index.html

 Are you there, God?
 The Templeton Foundation invests millions so scientists might prove that
faith works. But their answers aren't what Sir John Templeton wants to hear.

 By Lawrence Osborne
 Dec. 24, 1999

 ...Since Galileo, religion and science have stubbornly refused to talk to
each other. Like two disgruntled and bad-tempered old relatives forced to sit
together at the same Christmas dinner table, they utter barely a word to each
other except for an occasional "Bah!" According to many scientists,
spirituality is largely an example of the Higher Twaddle, a gaseous domain of
high-minded but improvable verbiage. Science is an arrogant, ill-mannered
lout, say most religionists. The mood at table, alas, is grim. But now into
this awkward breach a larger-than-life gentleman has stepped. His name is Sir
John Templeton, a brilliant mutual funds manager and committed Christian, a
billionaire modestly domiciled in Barbados who established a charity known as
the Templeton Foundation with the exuberant aim of reconciling the rival
claims of religion and science. Recently, he has sponsored a number of
science-religion conferences and discussions such as the open debate between
Nobel Prize laureate Steven Weinberg and physicist-turned-priest John
Polkinghorne, held in April 1998 at Washington's National Museum of Natural
History. Despite his 18th century and seemingly very English name, the
86-year-old Templeton is actually a Tennessee native who relinquished his
American citizenship in favor of the British variety in 1968, and could thus
be knighted. Having created the lucrative Templeton Growth Fund in 1954
(average annual growth 14 percent), he has come to be associated with a
variety of odd-sounding bodies devoted to such missions as planetary wisdom,
world peace and global harmony. Now Templeton has earmarked $40 million for
the Foundation's pursuit of the ultimate intellectual Grail: scientific proof
that faith really does pay -- in both the literal and figurative senses --
and that religion has a statistical basis underpinning it much like winged
aircraft and off-shore investment. A vulgar conception of the Spirit,
perhaps, but if it worked, to paraphrase Charles Fillmore, "The Lord would be
my banker, for my credit is good." Two years ago, the Foundation announced
that it would fund experiments by professor Russell Stannard of the Open
University and Herbert Benson of the Harvard Medical School into the medical
effects of prayer. Stannard and Benson duplicated a similar experiment that
Randolph Byrd conducted of coronary-care patients in San Francisco in 1988.
Although Byrd's study initially seemed to show some positive results for
prayers, his methods were later criticized, arousing widespread skepticism
among scientists. In the Stannard and Benson trial, two groups of
hospitalized patients awaiting heart surgery were told that they were being
prayed for by special "praying groups." Both sets were told that they were
being assisted by concentrated prayer while in reality, only one group was
the object of appeal. Stannard, a practising Christian, told a British
newspaper that the Templeton Foundation had no vested interest in a positive
outcome. "We are genuinely interested," he said with saintly neutrality, "in
any experimentation that has a bearing on religion."...

 _________________________

 SI Electronic Digest is the biweekly e-mail news update of the Committee for
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