On Sept. 16, Jews for a Secular Democracy hosted a virtual program, “Confronting Religious Extremism in Medicine and Science: The First Amendment and the Fight for Facts!” The discussion, co-sponsored by the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center’s Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project and Or Adam Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in Scottsdale, featured vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez and biotech entrepreneur Dr. D.J. Kleinbaum and was moderated by educator and activist Alliyson Feldmann.
The conversation ranged from the persistence of vaccine misinformation to the corrosive effects of religious extremism on public health and democracy. Both speakers underscored that the defense of science is not simply about data, but about protecting truth, democracy and vulnerable communities.
Feldmann opened the program by framing the urgency of the discussion…