UPCOMING and RECENT EVENTS
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By FS Editor, on May 10th, 2013% Please join us at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 for a presentation entitled “Affecting Public Policy and Protecting Our Secular Democracy: How it Works and How You Can Influence the Process” by Toni Van Pelt. She is the Public Policy Director for the Institute for Science and Human Values.
Scientific thinking is being challenged in the United States culture today as never before.
One of the major strengths of any lobbying effort lies in its grassroots participation. There are a variety of tactics that are useful, and each is employed at strategic times. How does our government work? Why is it important for you to participate? Please attend for an interactive discussion that is sure to be both enlightening and galvanizing.
Toni Van Pelt is the Public Policy Director of the Institute for Science and Human Values, founded by Paul Kurtz. As former vice president of the Center for Inquiry and as a congressional lobbyist, she organized and directed one of the first public policy offices of the secular humanist movement in Washington, DC focusing on the importance of science, separation of church and state, women’s and LGBT rights. She also serves on the board of the National Organization for Women as the Southeast Regional Director.
The ISHV mission statement, from their website, includes these statements: ”We are committed to the enhancement of human values and scientific inquiry. This combines both compassion and reason in realizing ethical wisdom. It focuses on the principles of personal integrity: individual freedom and responsibility. It includes a commitment to social justice, planetary ethics, and developing shared values for the human family.
It is apparent that everyone in the US. and other countries of the world face a moral crisis. In a rapidly changing global community there are conflicting religious, ideological and nationalist value systems. Neo-humanists affirm we need to discover values and principles, which can be shared by all sectors of humankind. These need to transcend the ancient dogmas and ideologies of the past.
We submit these principles as a basis for finding some common ground in the planetary civilization that is emerging. We offer these recommendations in the hope that they will inspire individuals to find meaning and integrity in their own lives. We aim to be inclusive of all, regardless of gender, ethnicity or background to work together to achieve a better life for themselves and all of humankind.”
You can read the full mission statement, and learn more about ISHV here: http://instituteforscienceandhumanvalues.com/articles/mission%20statement.htm
The presentation will take place at the Ludington Library in the large meeting room located on the main level. The library address is 5 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. A SEPTA stop is located across the street from the library.
RSVP via Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/Freethought-Society-Meetup/events/118753202/ or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/649342115081958/
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By FS Editor, on April 23rd, 2013% Direct link to the newsletter: May June 2013 Newsletter-web
In the newsletter you will find the following articles:
New FS Tabling Project Well Received by Margaret Downey
Photos of the Potpourri of Philosophy Table Project
Glitter Lessons by Patti Butcheck
Review of “Mea Maxima Culpa” by Dennis Middlebrooks
Won’t somebody help me? by Marilyn LaCourt
The Freethought Society’s 2013 Four-Month Calendar
Promotional Flier for the July 28, 2013 Unity Picnic
Promotional Flier for the September 13, 2013 Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center Event
Promotional Flier for the September 13, 14, and 15 Pennsylvania State Atheist/Humanist 2013 Conference
Donations page and St. Croix Cottage Bid Form
Continue reading: May-June 2013 Freethought Society Newsletter
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By FS Editor, on April 8th, 2013% The Freethought Society (FS) is pleased to announce Gary Berton as the speaker for their Tuesday, April 23rd free and open-to-the-public gathering. Berton will be delivering his unique presentation on Thomas Paine, America’s “Independence Instigator,” whose book Common Sense essentially started the American Revolution.
 The presentation will take place at 7:00 PM at the Ludington Library (5 South Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA). Berton will highlight Thomas Paine’s great wisdom and ideas that were ahead of his time.
An independent scholar on Thomas Paine for 45 years, Berton is the Coordinator of the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies and the Secretary of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association. As a lecturer at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, he teaches the first college course ever offered in the United States on the political philosophy of Thomas Paine.
“Thomas Paine, we regard, as many historians do now, as the father of the American Revolution,” Berton said. “He is the man, through Common Sense, the Crisis Papers and letters to newspapers, actually established the principles upon which the country was founded. In one sentence, Paine stated that ‘You cannot have liberty without linking it to equality.’ The democratic system of government that Thomas Paine outlined in Common Sense became the basis of our government. It inspired the people of the United States to fight the long war against Britain.”
Thomas Paine is one of the most important political philosophers in human history. His radical ideas changed how people look at government, human rights, equality and justice by empowering the people to free themselves and form their own political goals. Most of his achievements in political philosophy are accepted conventional wisdom today. The rest are still too radical.
Berton’s presentation “How Thomas Paine Changed the World” will entertain, enlighten and inspire.
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By FS Editor, on March 15th, 2013%
 - Roy Zimmerman
The Freethought Society and the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia are pleased to announce the return of Roy Zimmerman to the Philadelphia area. Roy’s “Wake Up Call” performance of original and funny songs about ignorance, war, greed, hope, struggle, change and more greed takes place on Monday, April 1, 2013. The charge is $18 (pay at the door) with discount available to students and seniors. Anyone would be a “fool” to miss this April 1st concert!
Roy’s one-of-a-kind performance begins at 7:30 PM at the Ethical Society’s Building located at 1906 South Rittenhouse Square, Pennsylvania. Zimmerman sings satirical songs – all original songs about class warfare, creationism, same-sex marriage, guns, marijuana, abstinence, Republicans (a lot of songs about Republicans), ignorance, war and greed. There’s a decidedly “Lefty” slant to his lyrics.
In 2012, Roy and his co-writer wife Melanie Harby traveled 47,000 miles
to complete a 50-state tour of all 49 states. Hawaii was “Omission
Accomplished,” he says.
“Wake Up Call” is a funny, tuneful and unabashedly progressive look at what they saw and heard across America in the
Obama Era. The show is ninety minutes of original, rhyme-intensive songs, with funny titles such as Abstain With Me and I Want a Marriage Like They Had In the Bible. Roy also sings heartfelt songs like Hope, Struggle and Change and I Approve This Message. The audience always enjoys Roy’s impassioned comic commentary.
With thirteen albums over twenty years, Roy has brought the sting of satire to the struggle for peace and social justice. His songs have been heard on HBO and Showtime. Roy has recorded for Warner/Reprise Records, and he has been profiled on NPR’s All Things Considered. Roy’s YouTube videos have amassed over seven million views, and he is a featured blogger for the Huffington Post.
Sing Out! Magazine writes, “Zimmerman is a guy on the left skewering folks on the right with rapier-sharp lyrics … underneath the caustic satire is a man who is surprisingly optimistic.” See for yourself: Creation Science 101, To Be a Liberal, and Defenders of Marriage.
Don’t miss Roy Zimmerman’s Monday, April 1, 2013 one-man show on April Fools Day!
PLEASE RSVP VIA OUR MEETUP PAGE:
http://www.meetup.com/Freethought-Society-Meetup/events/109400402/
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By FS Editor, on February 20th, 2013%  Dr. Robert Porter
Please join us at 7:00 PM at the Ludington Library on Tuesday, February 26, 2013. Dr. Robert Porter’s presentation,“Invisible Minds and the Magical Universe” will take place in the large meeting room located on the main level of the Ludington Library. The library address is 5 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. A SEPTA stop is located across the street from the library.
Dr. Porter, is the author of The Answer is Never Magic, a Socratic dialog on faith and religion between a skeptic and a believer. A discussion about belief in God, angels, the Devil, worship, prayer, sin and redemption will be presented and Dr. Porter will examine why there seem to be so many believers.
Dr. Porter is a physician, earned his MD from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, PA and completed an Emergency Medicine residency at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Cleveland, OH. Rob is board certified in Emergency Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Since 1983, he has held a variety of clinical and teaching appointments in the Philadelphia area, most recently at Albert Einstein Medical Center and Thomas Jefferson University.He currently works for Merck, where he is editor-in-chief of The Merck Manuals.
He lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife, elder son and four cats. In addition to indulging his inner philosopher with the publication of The Answer is Never Magic, Dr. Porter is active in progressive politics in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
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