By DEBORAH (SHOW HOST) - GOD DISCUSSION
Updated: Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:58:53 UTC

Note added 3rd Sept: This broadcast can be heard here.

This week on the God Discussion Show, we'll be talking about science, reason and superstition, as well as separation of church and state activism.

From Richard Dawkins' book, The Greatest Show on Earth – The Evidence for Evolution, we learn that "in 2008, a Gallup poll showed that 44% of Americans believed God had created man in his present form within the last 10,000 years. In a Pew Forum poll in the same year, 42% believed that all life on earth has existed in its present form since the beginning of time."

Joining us to discuss these and other topics is R. Elisabeth Cornwell, PhD, the Executive Director of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. The mission of the Foundation is "to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and human suffering."

The live show airs Thursday, September 2 at 7:00 p.m. Pacific time (access and archive details below). 7 pm Pacific Time, that's 8 pm US Mountain time, 9 pm US Central time, 10 pm US Eastern Time, 3 am British Summer Time

Dr. Liz Cornwell, PhD, is the first Executive Director of the US branch of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (RDFRS). According to the Foundation's site,

… she made many contributions to RDFRS behind the scenes, including inventing the OUT Campaign, proposing the idea of filmed ‘vignettes’, building up our excellent network of relationships with student secular organizations around the United States, devising and organizing the Science Symposium at AAI in Burbank, and setting up our system of accountancy, auditing and legal advice. She was equipped to do this during her years as a businesswoman, working in marketing and sales in the semiconductor industry in California. She decided, in her forties, to go back to university to do a PhD, in psychology, at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland. An evolutionary psychologist, her research has examined the underlying mechanisms of human mate selection, looking at such factors as hormones, pheromones, ageing, asymmetry, and facial features. More recently she has been doing research at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, exploring the relationship of various psychological traits to religious belief, across the spectrum from strong theism to strong non-theism. Dr Cornwell’s dual experience as a businesswoman and as a scientist studying the psychology of religion means that she brings an unusual combination of strengths to the tasks that face RDFRS in America.

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TAGGED: INTERVIEWS, POLITICS, RELIGION