Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 414/832-6590
For Immediate Release						May 12, 1997

William Sloane Coffin Challenges "Fundamentalism" in Lawrence Lecture


	APPLETON, WIS.- Renowned human rights advocate and peace activist Rev.
William Sloane Coffin will discuss the importance of discovering truth outside
scientific methodology and harnessing knowledge in the name of love Tuesday,
May 20 in a Lawrence University Main Hall Forum.  

	Coffin's address, "Cogito Ergo Sum" or Amo Ergo Sum" Ñ I Think
Therefore I Am" or I Love Therefore I Am" ÑÊwill be held in Lawrence's
Youngchild Hall, Room 161 at 4:15 p.m.  The event is free and open to the
public.

	Challenging the practice of applying scientific methodology outside the
natural sciences, Coffin advocates a rejection of the two forms of
fundamentalism that have developed since the Middle Ages ÑÊreligious
fundamentalism and fact or  "enlightment" fundamentalism ÑÊas the only ways of
knowing truth and reality.    

	 "A little education is dangerous, but a lot is lethal.  It takes a
Ph.D. to make a nuclear weapon," says Coffin, who is spending the spring term
at Lawrence as the Stephen Edward Scarff distinguished visiting professor of
religious studies.  "The acquisition of knowledge is secondary to its use."

	 The chaplain at Yale University from 1958-75 and an ordained United
Church of Christ minister, Coffin rose to national prominence during the 1960s
and '70s as a leader in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements.   	

	He was one of seven "Freedom Riders" arrested and convicted in 1961 for
protesting local segregation laws in Montgomery, Ala.  He was one of four
clergymen invited by Iran's ruling Revolutionary Council to celebrate Christmas
services with the American hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran.  From
1987-90, he served as president of SANE/FREEZE:  Campaign for Global Security,
the largest peace and justice organization in the U.S.