BALA CYNWYD, PENNSYLVANIA — The Freethought Society is hosting world-famous sculptor Zenos Frudakis on Thursday, May 23, 2019 as an honored speaker. The event will be held at the Bala Cynwyd Library, located at 131 Old Lancaster Road, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. The meeting starts at 7:00 PM in the 2nd floor community room. Elevators are available. The meeting is free and open to the public.
Frudakis created a 10-foot-high statue of attorney Clarence Darrow in 2016. Darrow defended teacher John T. Scopes in the Scopes “Monkey” Trial in1925. William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate, argued for the prosecution, contending that Scopes violated Tennessee’s Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.
Clarence Darrow
Today, evolution is a branch of science that is taught in most schools. There was a time, however, when even suggesting that there was such a thing as evolution was controversial and resulted in conflict between the Judeo-Christian religious communities and teachers.
The Clarence Darrow statue was placed on the lawn of Rhea County Courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee on July 14, 2017, the very location of the infamous trial!
The story behind the project has many compelling components, including death threats and a celebrity appearance for the unveiling ceremony.
Frudakis will not only tell the story behind the commission, his PowerPoint presentation will also show how the statue was made from clay to bronze.
For more information contact:
Margaret Downey Event Coordinator Cell: 610-357-9432 Office: 610-793-2737
The Freethought Society has registered four events on the Week of Action website. Please visit our Freethought Society Facebook link to see the upcoming events:
On this Facebook page you will notice the following participation dates and a brief description of the activity:
Nontheists Join in “The Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania”
Friday, April 26th Nontheists Join in “The Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania” 5 PM – 7 PM Ludington Library, Bryn Mawr, PA
Freethinker Table Scheduled for the International Spring Festival
Saturday, April 27th Freethinker Table Scheduled for the International Spring Festival 11 AM – 5 PM North Penn High School, Landsale, PA
Nontheists and Muslims Together Helping Those in Need
Sunday, April 28 Nontheists and Muslims Together Helping Those in Need 3 PM – 5 PM Hub of Hope at Thomas Paine Plaza / City Municipal Building 15th and John F. Kennedy Parkway
Senior Citizen BINGO
Thursday, May 2 Senior Citizen BINGO 2 PM – 4 PM Chester County Pocopson Home West Chester, PA
While the gay community is rejoicing and celebrating a change in the membership policies of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), I remain unimpressed and dissatisfied. Yes, the BSA’s national office, as of July 27, 2015, allows troops to accept gays to join, participate and be hired, but their position forbidding the inclusion of nontheists has not changed.
PHILADELPHIA — The Freethought Society (FS) is pleased to present Legislative Associate Sarah Levin with the Secular Coalition for America (SCA), the first national lobbying group advocating for nontheists, at its next gathering on Thursday, April 9, 7:00 PM at the Ludington Library (5 South Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr).
Levin’s presentation “Taking Action: How to be a Citizen Lobbyist” will take a look at the newest demographic of religiously-unaffiliated Americans, a group that comprises the largest “religious” demographic in the country, with its numbers continuing to grow each year. As a result, it’s now more important than ever to organize and train secular activists at the local level to impact public policy. Come and hear how can you make an impact as a secular activist, how even busy folks with families can incorporate secular activism into their hectic lives, and how one event in Washington, D.C. can inspire and prepare you to become engaged in the political process.
Her presentation is free and open to the public.
Levin’s activities this past year at the Secular Coalition for America include being the Project Manager of the #KnitABrick Campaign and the Video Coordinator for the Openly Secular campaign, preparing weekly updates on secular community activities for the SCA National Update Call, producing and editing media materials as needed including op-eds and videos, managing the SCA Internship program, and conducting outreach to secular and allied communities throughout the United States to build a grassroots base of support.
She also has a blog — Applied Sentience, A National Platform the Next Generation of Humanist Thinkers — at http://appliedsentience.com/author/sarahmarielevin. As the Parent &Community Coordinator for AmeriCorps/VISTA, Levin implemented 36 bilingual English/Spanish educational workshops tailored to low-income immigrant and refugee families in southern Arlington, Virginia; recruited local experts in the community to voluntarily lead workshops on a range of topics, including family literacy, financial literacy, and navigating the American school system; generated a 150 percent increase in average workshop attendance within seven months; liaised with parents enrolled in Greenbrier Learning Center’s after school program; provided crisis assistance in cases of homelessness and domestic violence; established and maintained relationships with nonprofit organizations in the community; interpreted presentations from both English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English as necessary; and designed and distributed bilingual promotional materials.
Levin graduated cum laude from American University with a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies with a regional focus on the Middle East. While there, she was a leader of the Rationalist and Atheist student group. She also serves as the Secular Student Alliance’s Volunteer Network Coordinator for secular student groups in the Washington, D.C. area.
Levin will be speaking on Thursday, April 9, 7:00 PM at the Ludington Library(5 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr). A SEPTA stop is located across the street from the library. For more information, contact:
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