Sacramento Freethought Day

Film Screenings

We are excited to announce two film screenings, No Dinosaurs in Heaven and Nature of Existence, free with your admission to Freethought Day. Even better: we've arranged for Q&A periods to follow both films!

No Dinosaurs in Heaven

No Dinosaurs in Heaven is a film essay that examines the hijacking of science education by religious fundamentalists, threatening the separation of church and state and dangerously undermining scientific literacy.

The documentary weaves together two strands: an examination of the problem posed by creationists who earn science education degrees only to advocate anti-scientific beliefs in the classroom; and a visually stunning raft trip down the Grand Canyon, led by Dr. Eugenie Scott, that debunks creationist explanations for its formation.

These two strands expose the fallacies in the “debate,” manufactured by anti-science forces, that creationism is a valid scientific alternative to evolution. Learn more about the movie.

Q&A with Glenn Branch

Glenn Branch is Deputy Director of NCSE. Formerly a graduate student in philosophy at UCLA, where he won prizes both for scholarship and teaching, he is conversant with the philosophical debates surrounding creationism and "intelligent design"; he is also a long-time student of pseudo-science.

Nature of Existence

Why do we exist and what are we supposed to do about it? What started the Universe and was it a mistake? Does God exist and why does he seem so interested in our sex lives?

I wrote the toughest 85 questions I could think of, about our purpose and the nature of existence, and then asked hundreds of people all over the globe, such as: Indian holy man Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (The Art of Living), evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), 24th generation Chinese Taoist Master Zhang Chengda, Stanford physicist Leonard Susskind (co-discoverer of string theory), wrestler Rob Adonis (founder of Ultimate Christian Wrestling), confrontational evangelist Brother Jed Smock, novelist Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), director Irvin Kershner (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back), Stonehenge Druids Rollo Maughfling & King Arthur Pendragon and many more… How would YOU answer?

Q&A with Roger Nygard

While tackling feature interests like Trekkies 2, and sometimes lending support to a colleague’s project as an editor or producer, Nygard has directed or edited for an array of television series like: The Mind of the Married Man, The Bernie Mac Show, The Office, The League, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Zoey 101, Zeke and Luther, etc., as well as directing commercials for such companies as Kia, Boost Mobile, DisneyXD, CBS, TBS, and others. For Nygard it comes down to whether a project is intriguing, funny, or challenging. In the case of his latest film, The Nature of Existence it’s all the above.