Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, “Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!” Photo by Connor Bennett
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Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, “Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!” Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, “Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!” Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, “Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!” Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, “Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!” Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, âJesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!â Photo by Connor Bennett
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, spoke in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. About 120 people attended the free lecture, “Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!” Photo by Connor Bennett
Members of the Philosophy Club listen to Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. Photo by Connor Bennett
Members of the Philosophy Club listen to Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. Photo by Connor Bennett
Members of the Philosophy Club listen to Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, in Dillard auditorium May 1 at 7 p.m. Photo by Connor Bennett
Boghossian spoke about delusions in belief systems that he deemed toxic.
“I’m interested in addressing the delusions of the vast majority of the human race,” Boghossian said.
Boghossian spoke about processes for arriving at the truth, that there are good and bad processes.
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“Just because you use a reliable process doesn’t mean you’ll get the right answer,” Boghossian said, adding, “And it’s always possible to arrive at a good answer through a bad process. It’s always possible to be lucky. Faith is an unreliable process. It will not point one in the direction of truth.”
Philosophy Club president Jonathan Henderson said inviting Boghossian to speak came at the recommendation of Nathan Jun, assistant professor of philosophy, and the speaker’s fee was only $500.
“We brought it up to the group. I was behind it, and really, I don’t know of anybody that wasn’t behind it. Even the Christians,” Henderson said. “We hope and sort of expect, knowing Wichita Falls, we hope for the question and answer period to be the liveliest period, which it should be.”
Peter Boghossian, philosophy instructor at Portland State University, speaks to a full house in Dillard 101. “It doesn’t take faith to say ‘I don’t know.’ It takes humility,” Boghossian said in his lecture.
Boghossian said students and citizens of Wichita Falls demanding that he not be allowed to speak is a “huge problem.”
“We have moved away from what universities should be. They should be places where people challenge and grow and question ideas,” Boghossian said. “I can’t speak to the particular context here, but you see how people are incredibly civil and incredibly polite, but the idea that we ought to censor someone’s speech because they have a conclusion that disagrees with our own is un-American.”
Boghossian said he liked the question and answer session, but would have liked to hear more opposition to his views.
“I thought there were some good smart people. I really would have wished that the seasoned apologists and theologians had come out,” Boghossian said. “I go all over the country and I speak and theologians are conspicuously absent from that and I would like to know why. When I talked at SMU, I had to physically go to the theology department and invite people and go to the secretary, and they still didn’t come.”
