This Thursday, at the Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, lecturer D.J. Grothe will be asking people to examine their religious and ethical beliefs.

Grothe is the vice president and director for outreach programs at the Center for Inquiry. His lecture is titled “Darwin Made Me Do It!”

It is an investigative look into secular versus religious ethics, and whether it is possible for non-believers to be ethically and morally good.

“There is nothing wrong with a religious morality, if it’s moral,” Grothe said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of religious moralities that are simply immoral.”

Grothe is also the associate editor at Free Inquiry Magazine, as well as host of the nationwide radio and podcast show, “Point of Inquiry.”

“When you do something that you think is right because God says, how do you know it is right?” Grothe said. “As an atheist, I believe the best way to see right from wrong is to look at your conscience and the consequences.”

The audience will hear Grothe’s ideas on secular ethics. Lecture topics will include how it is possible to be a good person without belief in a higher power, and how he thinks religious ethics could be to blame for many of the world’s problems.

“Being good for the sake of God is not being good at all,” said Grothe.

Mary Taylor, atheist and employee of the Center for Inquiry, hopes the program will not only enlighten members of the secular community, but will also benefit those with religious beliefs.

“So many people, when confronting the nonreligious community, claim that if you don’t have religion, you can’t possibly be ethical,” said Taylor. “What I am hoping is that students and other people will come away with the realization that indeed secular ethics are quite possible, that you can find your ethics based in care and love of your fellow men.”

Grothe agrees, and feels that there is no better time than the college years, for people to examine religious and ethical beliefs.

“Universities have as a goal to ask big questions where nothing is off limits, nothing is taboo. The idea is free unfettered criticism and inquiry,” Grothe said. “You shouldn’t conform education to your preconceived ideas. Ideas should follow education where it leads.”

The Center for Inquiry has student organizations on six different college and university campuses across Michigan, including Michigan State University and Ferris State University.

Admission charges will be waived for members of “Friends of the Center.” People of all religious and secular views are welcome to attend.

The Center for Inquiry is a nonprofit education organization that promotes the scientific study of religion and ethics.

The lecture will be at 7 p.m. and admission is $6.

For information on “Darwin Made Me Do It!,” as well as the Center for Inquiry, visit www.cfimichigan.org.