THE AFF NETWORK

America's Future Foundation Room 101

October 15, 2007

IN THIS ISSUE: ATHEISM ROUNDTABLE THIS MOTH | WHAT'S NEW IN THE PODCAST | COLLEGE BLOGGER CONTEST | JOBS AND MORE

Are atheists the new religious right?
On Wednesday, October 24, AFF will host a roundtable on atheism. Though historically disorganized and decreasingly popular on the national political scene, fundamentalist Christianity has retained enough force to attract a powerful new salvo of criticism. Some charge that what Andrew Sullivan calls 'Christianism' has collapsed the wall between faith and government, harming both. Others seek to do away with religion entirely. Figures arrayed across both science and the humanities, like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, have published a wave of bestsellers making the atheist pitch to the masses. But instead of surrender, this diligent barrage has prompted an equally diligent counterattack. With western civilization at yet another moment of apparent peril, internecine cultural conflict could needlessly provoke another paralyzing crisis. To the contrary, such conflict may prove precisely the west's enduring strength. Regardless, when cultural combatants go on offense, we judge them on the merits in those terms. How does what Peter Berkowitz calls the New New Atheism fare in that regard -- harshly dogmatic or valuably reasonable?

Joining us to discuss these issues are Ross Douthat of the Atlantic Monthly, Will Wilkinson of the Cato Institute, Michael Brendan Dougherty of The American Conservative, and Keith Pavlischek of Ethics and Public Policy Center. James Poulos will moderate. The event will take place at the Fund for American Studies, 1706 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, near Dupont Circle. Drinks at 6:30; Roundtable begins at 7:00. Roundtables are free for members, $5 for non-members. So join today! Please RSVP to Kathleen O'Hearn at kathleen@americasfuture.org.

Halloween happy hour this month...
This month, AFF will host its annual Halloween happy hour on Tuesday, October 30th. Make sure to wear your most ghoulishly garish costume and head on over to The Big Hunt in Dupont Circle. Check out pictures from our past Halloween Happy Hours here, here, and here.

Joining us for this event is special guest Clark Neily, Co-counsel to the local citizens in the D.C. Gun ban case currently being heard before the Supreme Court. Neily's work has the potential to bring a Supreme Court decision regarding the overall constitutionality of gun laws throughout the country. In addition, Clark is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice. He will provide a brief insight into this historic case and he'll be available for questions. In addition, a plaintiff in the case, Cato Institute’s own Tom Palmer, will also be on hand.

The event will take place in the basement of The Big Hunt, 1245 Connecticut Avenue on Tuesday October 30th, starting at 6 p.m. The nearest metro stop is Dupont Circle, on the red line. Drink specials include: $3 house drafts and rail drinks and 1$ off all other drinks.

AFF $10,000 college blogger contest...
If you're a college blogger (or know one) don't forget America's Future Foundation has announced a contest for the best college blog with a grand prize of $10,000.

The purpose of the contest is to encourage original liberty-minded blogger journalism on college campuses and to identify young conservative and libertarian talent who wish to pursue careers as journalists and writers. The contest is open to all graduate and undergraduate bloggers age 25 and younger.

The winning blog will be awarded a cash prize of $10,000, and be invited to be a panelist at an AFF Roundtable on higher education in Washington, D.C. The award will be announced on April 7, 2008.

A panel of renowned bloggers will judge the contest. Judges include:

To enter, and for the complete set of rules, college bloggers can visit www.americasfuture.org/collegeblogger. There bloggers can enter their site for consideration. The deadline for entries is December 31, 2007. From the entries, AFF will choose ten finalists. The panel of seven judges will then track the blogs between January and April and will then choose a winner.

Your dream job...
The Center for Competitive Politics’ is looking for a Director of Research is responsible conducting and arranging high quality research on CCP’s issues. The position requires strong research, writing, and analytical abilities, as well as familiarity with the political process. Key activities include conducting original research, collaborating with researchers at other organizations on joint projects, hiring and managing independent researchers, managing a peer-review process, and presenting research results to elected officials and staff, media, academics, and other key audiences. For more info, see http://www.americasfuture.org/jobboard/archives/022507.php.

Got something else in mind? You can find other great free-market-oriented jobs by clicking over to AFF's Job Board at http://www.americasfuture.org/jobboard/!

Cheers,

Jerry Brito
Director of Operations
http://www.americasfuture.org/
jerry@americasfuture.org

P.S. Be a sport and help AFF grow: forward this message to your friends. They can sign up for Room 101 themselves by visiting http://www.americasfuture.org/room101/room101-post.php.