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Contact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portlandContact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portland
CENTER FOR INQUIRYPortland
The mission of the Center for Inquiry is to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.
CFI has established centers throughout the world which provide a means of delivering educational programs and services on a local level and provide a venue for like-minded individuals to meet and share experiences.
In aiming to foster a secular society, we do not seek to abridge the rights of believers. We vigorously object to government support of religion and the use of religious dogma to justify public policy; we do not oppose the free exercise of religion. The secular society we are building is a community of reason and compassion in which the dignity and fundamental rights of all individuals are respected.
Three goals represent the focus of our activities: an end to the influence that religion and pseudoscience have on public policy, an end to the privileged position that religion and pseudoscience continue to enjoy in many societies, and an end to the stigma attached to being a nonbeliever.
January 2012
Cont’d on page 2
CENTER FOR INQUIRYPortland
The mission of the Center for Inquiry is to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.
CFI has established centers throughout the world which provide a means of delivering educational programs and services on a local level and provide a venue for like-minded individuals to meet and share experiences.
In aiming to foster a secular society, we do not seek to abridge the rights of believers. We vigorously object to government support of religion and the use of religious dogma to justify public policy; we do not oppose the free exercise of religion. The secular society we are building is a community of reason and compassion in which the dignity and fundamental rights of all individuals are respected.
Three goals represent the focus of our activities: an end to the influence that religion and pseudoscience have on public policy, an end to the privileged position that religion and pseudoscience continue to enjoy in many societies, and an end to the stigma attached to being a nonbeliever.
AUGUST 2012
I’ll start with the concise answer: 1. Become a member. 2. Send an e-mail to [email protected] and tell us you want to help out. Someone will then get back to you to answer your questions, point you
to resources, and find out what you are good at and what your particular interests are. 3. The rest will become clear in the process.
Cont’d on page 2
How Can I get involved With CFI–Portland? Membership, Volunteering, and Leadership
Now, I realize that most people want to know the lay of the land before they jump into something new. Unfortunately, com-munication in both directions, from the Advisory Board to the members and vice versa, has been a challenge for our branch, and despite our best efforts, we have not figured out a good way to manage the flow of information. Among our attempts to solve the problem were this newsletter, our Welcome Packet, various member-ship meetings, a Facebook group, the Food for Though Series, and others. You should know that, as a group, we’re not usually this dense, but so far, we haven’t figured out a system that works. Of course, that is no reason to stop trying, and I will introduce the latest iteration of a solution attempt below. It is designed to provide more structure, consistency, and a deliber-
ate flow of information that usually remains behind the scenes. But before I get ahead of myself, let me take this step by step.BE A MEMBERThis is a perfectly basic thing to say, of course, but the first thing you can do to help the cause is to become a member of Center for Inquiry–Portland. Most of our operating budget comes from membership contribu-tions, and without that financial support, we would accomplish very little. When you join, you are helping to promote science, reason, and secularism. Consider joining as a sustaining member. With this option, an amount of your choosing is deducted from your account every month until you cancel. Our donors/members are absolutely vital to our efforts! In addition, as our membership list grows, so does the number of people
by Sylvia Benner CFI–Portland Co-Coordinator
Contact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portlandContact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portland
CFI, cont’d from page 1
who are seen as our “constituency”, and the bigger that constituency, the more weight our organizational voice has in the public conversation. There are many of us. You can contribute to making us more visible!BE INFORMEDNext, you should know what is going on. To do this, you can download a Welcome Package [a] from one of our meetup sites. It contains an overview of our various meetup presences and program areas. Sec-ond, read this newsletter on a regular basis. Beginning with the May issue of 2012, it contains this series that is designed to answer basic questions about our branch’s programs, mission, governance and other things people usually want to know.Third, participate in our new program series specifically for those who want to get some insight into the decision making an organizing processes of our branch. In response to requests for more structured communication, we created a new pro-gram series called ”Nuts and Bolt and Beer”[b]. It’s currently scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on the 3rd Monday of every month. We’ll hold it in a casual environment and enjoy ourselves, but it will definitely be an information and business meeting. We plan to always have a couple of board members there. This way, people can find out about our latest musings and plans, ask questions, and share ideas. We hope that these meet-ings will give newcomers and those who have been looking for an entry point a bet-ter look at the inner workings of our branch and provide an on-ramp for involvement.VOLUNTEERWhether you prefer to attend a few meet-ings first or proceed directly to step 2 in my introductory paragraph, the next phase in the process is volunteering. Becoming a volunteer usually means creating totally new relationships with the people in our community, and feeling a new sense of ownership for the future of our branch and the movement as a whole. We have lots of program areas: Arts and culture, charitable work, social events, family programs, pro-grams to help each other live a rational and compassionate life, lectures and discus-sion groups, activism in anti-apologetics, evidence-based medicine, separation of church and state, promotion of science, reason, and critical thinking and others. And of course, as with any non-profit, there is a lot of support work to do in administra-tion, communications, publicity and media relations, fundraising and development, logistics, membership, content develop-
ment, et al. Plus, we have a long wishlist of things we haven’t gotten around to doing for lack of volunteers. Last but not least, there are all those ideas you bring to the table yourself. So whatever your interest, if you want to be part of this movement, we can likely find a spot for you.TAKE ON LEADERSHIPFinally, if you find yourself undaunted by the prospect of having large chunks of your personal life taken up by an unpaid second job, losing sleep over your latest brilliant idea, or feeling compelled to draft propos-als at 2.00 a.m., you may be a candidate for a leadership position in CFI–Portland. You’ve heard the expression “too many chiefs, not enough Indians”. We appear to be in the exceptional position of lack-ing chiefs. It’s not even that we have few leaders, quite the opposite. It’s just that our plans and dreams constantly stay ahead of our people resources, and what we lack most are people who want to “own” big program areas and our strategic vision. If that’s you, try your hand at a project and see if you’d like to invest more. We will make every attempt to make current leadership more accessible to everyone in meetings. Talk to us there, or e-mail us at [email protected] if I just want to tell you what I think?By all means, do! We like to hear from members, and your feedback is important for us to measure how we are doing. Your ideas are welcome. Please keep these two things in mind:Much of the feedback we get consists of requests to do things that we are already doing, that we’ve tried but didn’t work (at least not in the form we tried them) or that are on our wishlist but haven’t been accomplished because we don’t have anyone to implement them. We’d still like to hear from you, of course, but please don’t think we are “ignoring” your input if nothing ever gets done about it. We may have resource or legal constraints, oppos-ing feedback from other members, or any number of other considerations. But who knows, maybe your message arrives at just the right time, and we can do something about it.Please be kind. Our leaders and volunteers aren’t perfect, but everyone is doing their best, and without any compensation.
CFI Welcome Packet:tinyurl.com/3qjuk6v
Nuts & Bolts & Beer Meetup:tinyurl.com/cuuj769
Friday-Sunday, Oct. 26, 27, 28, 2012
Join us for the third annual Portland Humanist Film Fes-tival, which will present fea-ture, documentary, narrative and animated films that give expression to the humanist approach to life, based on reason, science, and ethics. A precise film and speaker schedule will be announced in the coming months:
HumanistFest.com
DON'T MISS NUTS, BOLTS & BEER Click on photo
Contact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portlandContact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portland
Science Has no Need of the Religious HypothesisBy Alan LitchfieldWhen French mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace presented Napoleon with a book of his work, circa 1800, Napoleon asked him why it didn’t mention God. Laplace purportedly replied, “I had no need of that hypothesis.”Physicist Victor Stenger marks this event as the start of the modern break between science and religion. Stenger talked about the chasm between the two during my podcast published on Monday, June 4. We discussed Stenger’s new book, God and the Folly of Faith: The Incom-patibility of Religion and Science, in which Stenger presents historical, philosophical and scientific reasons for the disharmony. Stenger is a retired elementary particle physicist and author of eleven books, includ-ing the 2007 New York Times best-seller, God: The Failed Hypothesis, How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist. Stenger believes the mod-ern separation starts here because,“Galileo and Copernicus and Newton were all religious. In fact, except for Galileo, those early leaders of the scientific revolution didn’t really make a distinc-tion between religion and science. Galileo was the only one who really did that. … It was really in the French enlightenment that you begin to have atheists like Laplace and Diderot, for the first time being able to speak up and profess non-belief.”While dissent became a little easier after the time of Laplace and Diderot, it was still dangerous. Work was published anony-mously. Keep in mind, the Dominican monk Giordano Bruno was ruthlessly burned at the stake by the Catholic church in 1600 because, in part, he believed the cosmos was eternal.The vicious execution of Bruno occurred prior to the so-called Galileo affair. In his book, Stenger cites historian Thomas Dixon who says that the Galileo affair,“. . . was not a clash between science and religion, as it is usually remembered, but rather a dispute about who was authorized to produce and disseminate knowledge. Galileo’s claim that a sole individual could arrive at knowledge by his own observa-tions and reasoning was considered
presumptuous and a direct threat to the authority of the church.”Also, Galileo promoted a philosophical view called scientific realism, a view that Stenger does not adopt. Scientific realism is, at the most general level, the view that the world described by science is a true and accurate glimpse of reality, as it is, independent of what we believe it to be. In his book, Stenger contrasts this view with instrumentalism, which is the view that science is just a useful instrument to understand the world. An effective concept or theory explains observations, predicts phenomena, and fits the data, as opposed to accurately describing true reality. Accord-ing to Stenger,“It’s the question of whether these objects of science, like particles, like fields, and so on, are real, are really part of reality. That scientists, when they make observations are really uncovering reality. And that’s certainly a wide belief among scientists, especially physicists. They really do think that the stuff they’re looking at is real, is part of reality. And I claim that all we’re doing in science is making observations, and building models, and then we use those models to describe other observations and predict observations, and so on. And it’s
only those observations that we know anything about. There’s no way that we can really say that there isn’t some other reality out there that happens to give us this set of observations.”Religions claim to describe true reality through revelation, scripture and religious experi-ences. This claim is hollow, Stenger says. Stenger has even suggested methods of testing re-ligious claims. Many supposedly atheistic Buddhists, who claim knowledge of objective reality from using just their minds, could be tested. A Buddhist – or any religious person, for that matter – could provide data that could be later confirmed, or make a prediction that couldn’t pos-sibly be known in advance. This hasn’t happened, yet. There is no basis for this type of knowledge, Stenger said.In his book Stenger discusses the history of quantum mechanics,
and then offers reasons why woo-woo ped-dlers like Deepak Chopra and others misuse the science. Another theory widely distorted by religious apologists is the “fine-tuning” argument for the existence of God. This argument asserts that the physical constants of the universe are so precise that they had to be consciously pre-programmed by a divine knob-twiddler – ergo Jesus. Stenger refutes this argument in his book, as well.In the past, similar to Chopra, Creation-ists employed week arguments that only sounded like science. Now, proponents of intelligent design, such as Micheal Behe and Will Dembski, use science – bad sci-ence – to assert the existence of the super-natural. According to Stenger:“They understood this point about the god-of-the-gaps argument not being sufficient to argue the existence of God: Just because science doesn’t understand something, therefore God must exist to explain it. And that doesn’t work. Because you never know, maybe science, tomor-row will explain it, or 1,000 years from now will explain it. You never know this. So they recognized that, so they tried to come up with some ideas that they claimed science would never be able to answer. And Behe came up with this “Irreducible
Cont’d on page 4
© S. Harris, sciencecartoonsplus.com
Contact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portlandContact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portland
Leadership Team CFI–PortlandSylvia BennerCoordinator
Renee BarnettEducation
Kurt JohansenTreasurer
Jay KleinDevelopment
Ryan MarquezCampus Outreach
Jon PetersMember at Large
Barry RuffinMinority Outreach
Dani TofteCommunications
Brock WilsonCommunity Programs
Phone: 503-877-2347
E-Mail: [email protected]
Newsletter layout by Wes Mahan
Complexity” in life. That was a really bad idea, because he wasn’t even familiar with the literature on the subject. The examples he gave had already been gone over by evolutionary biologists, which he wasn’t one, he was a biochemist.”Dembski, a theologian, claimed that the more complex a system, the greater the information it contains, and that no natural process can result in an increase in informa-tion. He called this the “Law of Conserva-tion of Information.” According to Stenger,“That was just totally wrong, in fact, I disproved that in a book that I wrote called Has Science Found God. . . . The proof is really simple. Because information is asso-ciated with entropy. And the way informa-tion is defined in information theory is as a kind of negative entropy. And it’s very mathematical. It’s been completely worked out mathematically. And entropy is not
conserved. The second law allows entropy to change. So, it’s just provably wrong to say that information has to be conserved, that you can’t have a system go from less information to more information – it hap-pens all the time…”Even though Behe and Dembski’s asser-tions are bad science, Stenger disputes the notion that science has nothing to say about the supernatural. In a column for The Huffington Post on May 15, 2012, titled, Scientists and Religion, he wrote,“ However, while supernatural entities may not be directly observable, any effects these entities might have on the material world should manifest themselves as observable phenomena. Anything observable is subject to scientific inquiry. On the other hand, if the supernatural has no observable effects on the natural world, then why even worry about it?”Stenger’s column received more than 1,000
comments and his controversial view is different from many scientists, who believe that science has nothing to say about reli-gion. According to Stenger,
“I just totally disagree with that, it’s not even a fact, because people are doing research on questions like prayer and near death experiences, and so on, which could come back with information that would proved evidence for the supernatural. And if they did then the scientists would have to accept it.”
Not only would they accept it, they would welcome it. It would be new territory for them to explore and gain knowledge – and grant money, according to Stenger. nAlan Litchfield is the coordinator for the Beaverton Atheists Meetup. You can listen to his podcast or read his blog at malcon-tentsgambit.com. Follow him on Twitter at malcontentsgamb.
The staff of DARKTOLIGHT, Port-land’s one-of-a-kind CFI funded secular performance event, has fulfilled its goal of filling its cast with a diverse group of singing actors. Our second round of audi-tions brought to us a wide range of performers including 10-year-old powerhouse Maeve O’Connor who brought down the house with her renditions of several pop and Broadway tunes. We also added soulful singer and Hip Hop artist Tommy Daniels, classically trained vocalist/actress Nicole Payne, Portland newcomer Edward Zahn-le and a familiar face - and voice - in the local Humanist community, singer/songwriter Keith Cantrell. Also recently added is Keyboardist
and band leader Rob Meadows. The first full cast rehearsals will begin in August.Tickets are available and selling fast at darktolight.org for the three December performances, so don‘t wait…reserve yours now!DARKTOLIGHT 2012 still needs volunteers of all interests and skills including a savvy individual who would like to become our general manager so please sing up now on the VOLUNTEER page of the DTL website.To read about our exciting cast and musicians please go to the TAL-ENT page of darktolight.org. Fred Strong
DARKTOLIGHT Achieves Great Roster of Talent
Science, cont’d from page 3
Contact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portlandContact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portland
CFI - Portland Summer Fun Sampler
What better way for kids to learn about Earth Day and what it means to take care of our planet than to get outside and do something that matters? Our Secular Family Network's Secular Sunday School participated in Earth Day by volunteering for the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation Department. They pulled invasive English Ivy at Kaiser Woods Park in Beaverton. Photos by Michael D. Barton
We were treated to per-fect weather last month at Laurelhurst Park in Portland for the first annual Secular Summer Picnic. CFI-Portland and the Humanists of Greater Portland teamed up to promote the event to many different secular com-munities. The turn-out was incredible with many, many new faces. There was more than one request to do a potluck like this every month.
A special thank you to Tally and Steve Cass for volun-teering to lend their talent as professional musicians and providing a great performance for all to enjoy. Photos by Jack Huttig.
Contact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portlandContact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portland
Thursday through Sunday, August 9 - 12
The Skeptics ToolboxU. of Oregon, Living Learning Center, 1475 E. 15th Ave, Eugene, OREach summer, people from all over the country gather in Eugene for an intense weekend of skeptical investigation. Unlike many of the conferences held by Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, the Skeptic’s Toolbox is a much more intimate and informal affair during which participants get an opportunity to put the tools of science and skepticism directly to work on many paranormal or pseudoscientific claims and ideas. PLEASE RSVP DIRECTLY TO THE SKEPTICS TOOLBOX, Skepticstoolbox.org
CFI August Events For more information about any of these events, late additions, or to RSVP, go to the CFI calendar at www.meetup.com/cfi-portland/#calendar and click on that event
Saturday, August 4, 2pm
Skeptics in the PubEvergreen Pieway3020 Evergreen Way, Washougal, WA“Socializing with like-minded folks is fun. Plus, who knows what future projects may spin off from such meetings.”Meet local skeptics, atheists, secular humanists, scientific naturalists and other friends of reason for conversation and friendship! We have met in the past on Haydn Island and in Vancouver near the mall, but since many seem to live on the east side, are going to try Washougal. We will continue to welcome people from anywhere. Please vote for your favorite location(s).
Sunday, Aug. 5 & 19, 12:30pm
Rogue Valley Freethinkers (Grants Pass)Union Drop-In Center,225 NW Hillcrest Dr, Grants Pass, ORWe will meet to discuss a topic of interest to freethinkers and humanists, presented by one of our members. The April 1 meeting will feature ex-Mormon Courtney and continued discussion of controversial Mormon topics.
Thursday, Aug. 2,9, 16, 23, 30, 10amPreschool PlaydateBeaverton, ORFor preschool children aged 3 & 4 (and other ages). Please RSVP at CFI-Secular Family Network website.
Sunday, Aug. 5 & 19, 3:00pm
Rogue Valley Humanists (Ashland)Rogue Valley U U Center, 87 4th Street, Ashland, OR
The Humanism Group studies current topics of interest to Humanists, often from a recent book or article. We meet every first and third Sunday under the balcony of the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Center Ashland from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.
Wednesday, August 1, 7:00pm
Book Group: Predictably IrrationalTV F&R Station 67, 13810 SW Farmington Rd, Beaverton (Community Room)For August 1st, 2012, we will cover the first 126 pages of Dan Ariely's book, "Predictably Irrational". This is a fast read compared to our last book, so this can easily be covered in the three-week time frame (six pages per day!). Dan Ariely's book covers the intersection of human behavior with economics. It focuses on the ways our brains often fail to make the best decisions when faced with com-peting choices and imperfect informa-tion about those alternatives.
Thursday, August 5 & 19, 11amSouth Coast Skeptics MeetupDenny's, 98 E. 1st St, Coquille, OROrganizer: Greg CollverPizza and skeptical discussion at Denny's!
Fri-Sunday, August 3 - 5
Freethinkers CampoutJesse M Honeyman Memorial State Park, Florence, ORSee CFI website If you feel like making a last-minute booking for this fun family-oriented campout on the Oregon Coast.
Monday, August 6, 6:30pm
Save Our Selves (SOS) Secular Support Group in Rogue Valley1505 NW Washington Blvd, Grants Pass, OROur SOS Group offers secular alternative support to individuals struggling to overcome a personal addiction, such as alcoholism. This approach differs from typical 12-step programs.
Wednesday, Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 , 11am
Skeptics of Eugene Coffee KlatchTheo's Coffee House199 W 8th Ave, Eugene , ORCasual conversation about whatever we feel like. Drop in or out as your schedule allows.
Contact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portlandContact the Center for Inquiry Portland at [email protected], or visit us online at www.centerforinquiry.net/portland
CFI July Events CONT'D
More details and RSVP: www.meetup.com/cfi-portland/#calendar
Monday, August 13, 7pm
Discussion: What Changes Minds?Java Vivace 2287 NW Pettygrove St Portland
What sort of things can, do, or will change minds? As we've all experienced, it can be extraordinarily difficult to persuade someone to change their mind, even with overwhelming evidence. But it can happen, sometimes spontaneously, sometimes not. What factors are in play, and how can this help in debates or confrontations?
Thursday, August 16, 6:30pm Secular Humanists of East PortlandSHEP Movie NightTED PresentationsJon's home, 14686 SE Megan Way, Clackamas, ORWe'll try something different this night. Two to three TED 20-min presenta-tions will be shown via the Internet with discussions to follow. If you have a favorite, or would like to submit pos-sibilities please email Jon with your suggestions. Here's the main page: www.ted.comTED talks: www.ted.com/talks
Monday, August 20 6:30pm
Nuts & Bolts & BeerKells Brew Pub, 210 NW 21st Avenue, PortlandWe’ve had requests for a program series specifically for those who want to get some insight into the decision-making and organizing processes of our branch, give input, and maybe find an entry point to volunteering. We’re doing this monthly so people can find their way into participating at their own pace. Join us to get a better look at the workings of our branch and consider getting involved in organizing CFI–Portland.Please RSVP early. If we get more than 10 people, we may need to move to a different location, and that is much easier if we know in advance.
Saturday, August 18, 9:30am
Salem Humanists Monthly BrunchMcGrath's Fish House, 350 Chemeketa St NE, SalemPlease RSVP via the CFI Salem Hu-manists Meetup site. Rides available if requested.Dedicated to the pursuit of Reason, Peace, Justice, and Democracy.
Sunday, August 12, 11am
Eastside Sunday BrunchOld Wives Tales, 1300 E Burnside St, Portland, OR 97214Organizer: Sylvia Benner
Please RSVP so we can reserve the correct number of seats.
A chance to meet and get to know others in the community over good food in a relaxed atmosphere! The restaurant has a children's menu and a separate play room for the little ones. Vegetarian dishes available.
Friday, August 10, 4pm
Skeptics of Eugene:Pub Gathering at Sixth St GrillSixth Street Grill, 55 W. 6th Avenue, Eugene
In our quest to find the perfect evening spot to get together, talk, laugh and relax, shall we try the Sixth Street Grill? The atmosphere is nice, the food/drink good and parking is readily available. The time is set early just so we can hold some tables, but come whenever you can. See you there!
Friday, August 24, 7pm
Skeptics of Eugene Monthly Meetup33733 Seavey Loop Rd, Eugene, ORHost: Lowell ThomasThis is Open Topic so everyone is welcome to bring up a specific subject of interest, and if there are copies of news items or articles you can share, please do. We are all interested in learning about our world with open minds and healthy skepticism.
Tuesday, August 28, 6:30pm
Rogue Valley Freethinkers' Social (Grants Pass)Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co, 595 Northeast E Street, Grants Pass, OROpen agenda socializing and fun with freethinking friends
Wednesday, August 29, 7pm
Beaverton Atheists MeetupMoonstruck Chocolate Cafe - Beaverton Town Sq., 11705 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton
Organizer: Alan LitchfieldEngaging, relaxing and interesting conversation at our monthly meeting.
Friday, August 31, 3:00pm
Parent and Baby/Toddler MeetupLocation and other details available upon RSVP at the CFI-Secular Family Network website.
Membership Information
Want to promote science, reason, and secular values in the Pacific Northwest?
Basic member benefits include:• CFI Membership card,
good at any CFI worldwide • Free entry into all CFI-
Portland regular events• Preferred seating at major
CFI-Portland events• Two Guest Passes• CFI Window Decal
• Discounts on conferences and other special events
• Reduced tuition for CFI Institute online courses
• 15% off Prometheus Books purchased through the CFI-Portland
More benefits are available with other options. See CFI membership levels and benefits here.
MONTHLY DONATION: Click the green button to make an automatically renewing monthly donation. Sustain your membership while sustaining CFI! We'll keep your CFI membership active as long as your regular donations continue, but if your budget chang-es, you may change or suspend your pay-ment at any time. Starting at $5 per month.
ONE-TIME DONATION: Click the blue button to join or renew your mem-bership with a single donation to CFI. Regular membership is $60. Reduced rates for students and unemployed.
For more information, click on the above buttons, call CFI-Portland at 503-877-2347 or email portland@centerforinquiry,.net
Basic member benefits include:• CFI Membership card,
good at any CFI worldwide • Free entry into all CFI-
Portland regular events• Preferred seating at major
CFI-Portland events• Two Guest Passes• CFI Window Decal
• Discounts on conferences and other special events
• Reduced tuition for CFI Institute online courses
• 15% off Prometheus Books purchased through the CFI-Portland
More benefits are available with other options. See CFI membership levels and benefits here.
MONTHLY DONATION: Click the green button to make an automatically renewing monthly donation. Sustain your membership while sustaining CFI! We'll keep your CFI membership active as long as your regular donations continue, but if your budget chang-es, you may change or suspend your pay-ment at any time. Starting at $5 per month.
ONE-TIME DONATION: Click the blue button to join or renew your mem-bership with a single donation to CFI. Regular membership is $60. Reduced rates for students and unemployed.
For more information, click on the above buttons, call CFI-Portland at 503-877-2347 or email portland@centerforinquiry,.net
Support CFI-Portland, keep informed about our activities, participate in our programs,
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