http://insidesu.syr.edu/2010/04/29/edwin-kagin-to-speak-on-atheism-blasphemy-and-the-american-religious-civil-war/

Edwin Kagin to speak on “Atheism, Blasphemy and the American Religious
Civil War”

By SU News Services • (315) 443-3784

Attorney Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists,
will speak on the topic, “Atheism, Blasphemy and the American Religious
Civil War” on Tuesday, May 4 at 7 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.

American Atheists is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for
Atheists, Freethinkers and other nonbelievers, works for the total
separation of church and state, and addresses issues of First Amendment
public policy.

Kagin is the originator and was, for its first decade, Director of Camp
Quest, the nation’s first residential secular summer camp for children
of Atheists and other freethinkers. Kagin was also a founder and board
member of Recover Resources Center, which provides an alternative
addiction recovery program to the religiously-oriented Alcoholics
Anonymous. He currently serves on the national advisory board of the
Secular Student Alliance, is Kentucky state director for
American Atheists, and on January 13, 2006, was named national legal
director for American Atheists, replacing the retiring Duane Buchholtz.

As an outspoken public critic of religious intrusions into government,
Kagin is a frequent speaker and debater at local and national events and
has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs, sparring on
more than one occasion with Michael Medved.

Kagin has also run prominently, albeit unsuccessfully, as “the candidate without a prayer”
for the Kentucky Supreme Court (1998) and the Kentucky State Senate
(2000). Moreover, some of his legal work has involved him in religious
issues and church-state separation controversies in addition to other
civil liberties and constitutional issues. He has been a member in good
standing of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1975.

Currently, Kagin is host for the Internet radio show “Answers in
Atheism. He is also the current National Legal Director, and Kentucky
State Director, for American Atheists. He is on its speaker’s bureau and
in 2008 was voted onto the Board of Directors of American Atheists, Inc.
Edwin and his late wife, Helen Kagin, were awarded the “Atheists of the
Year” award for 2005 by American Atheists, and Edwin was named “Atheist
of the Year” for 2008 “For Organizing The Very Successful Response To
The Creationism Museum In Kentucky.”

Copies of Edwin’s books, “Baubles of Blasphemy,” and his co-authored
book, “The Fundamentals of Extremism” will be offered for sale and
signing.

Contact: James Addoms, Atheists, Agnostics, Freethinkers Alliance at
SU / SUNY ESF, [email protected]