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2022 September October Ezine

By Patti Butcheck, on August 21st, 2022%

Click here to see the September/October 2022 Freethought Society (FS) Ezine.
In the Ezine you will find the following:

  • The 2022 Thomas Paine Festival Activities Report
  • Photos from the 2022 Thomas Paine Festival
  • Congressman Jamie Raskin’s Greeting to Attendees of the 2022 Thomas Paine Festival
  • The 2022 Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center’s Online International Educational Seminar
  • More Photos from the June 2022 Thomas Paine Festival
  • Fables
    by Herb Silverman
  • Racism, Religion, and Irrationality in Buffalo and Beyond
    by Norm R. Allen, Jr.
  • Announcing a New Freethought Society Committee!
  • Several Freethought Board Members React to the Anti-Choice Supreme Court Decision
    Submissions by, Margaret Downey, Glen Loev, Alan Gold, Victoria De la Torre, and Sally Flynn
  • Freethought Society Two-Month Calendar
  • Donation and Information Page

 

We hope that you will remain or become an active supporter of the great work FS is doing. Please donate to the general fund or select a project you want to help sponsor. All donations to FS are tax-deductible (EIN: 23-2738574).

If the Ezine inspires you to become more actively involved with FS, please provide us with your contact information, including your phone number and mailing address.

Special events are being planned in your area so don’t miss an opportunity to participate further. All personal information is confidential and will not be shared with other organizations.

We want supporters to stay informed at all times.

Check for upcoming events at the FS Meet Up page

Like FS on Facebook!

Follow FS on Twitter

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Friggatriskaidekaphobia 2022

By Patti Butcheck, on May 5th, 2022%

May 13, 2022

The Freethought Society (FS) is pleased to present the very first Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center’s International Educational Seminar via Zoom on Friday, May 13, 2022. The event will be hosted by FS President Margaret Downey. 

The event will start at 3:45 PM PDT/6:45 PM EDT with the introduction of comedian Ian Harris. His 15-minute standup routine will take a humorous look at superstitions and irrational beliefs that permeate American culture. 

At 4:00 PM PDT/7:00 PM EDT social activist Babu Gogineni will tell us about superstitions that prevail in India. Be ready for shocking disclosures and unthinkable practices that are thought to have magical benefits strong enough to change the course of nature.

At 4:30 PM PDT/7:30 PM EDT FS board member Norm Allen will convey the many African superstitions he witnessed and dealt with throughout his 30-year career as the Founder and President of African Americans for Humanism. He will share with us the horror of witch hunts and the belief that using certain body parts of albinistic people can transmit magical powers.

The keynoted speaker is author Stuart Vyse. His presentation will start at 5:00 PM PDT/8:00 PM EDT. Vyse is an American psychologist, teacher, speaker and author who specializes in critical thinking and belief in superstitions. His book Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition won the William James Book Award of the American Psychological Association and was translated into Japanese, German, and Romanian. 

For more details see the Meetup page created for this event at the below link: https://bit.ly/Frigga13th

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November December 2021 Ezine

By Patti Butcheck, on October 19th, 2021%

Click here to see the November December 2021 Freethought Society (FS) Ezine.

In the Ezine you will find the following: 

  • Friday the Thirteenth on Zoom / The Very First Online Grand Opening of the Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center

  • Photos of the Friday the Thirteenth Zoom Event

  • France 2 Covers the Grand Opening of the 2021 Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center
    By Margaret Downey

  • A Walk Down the Thames Path and Memory Lane
    by Herb Silverman

  • Remembering Tom “Anti-Claus” Flynn
    by Margaret Downey

  • Freethought Society Two-Month Zoom Calendar

  • Donation and Information Page

We hope that you will remain or become an active supporter of the great work FS is doing. Please donate to the general fund or select a project you want to help sponsor. All donations to FS are tax-deductible!

If the Ezine inspires you to become more actively involved with FS, please provide us with your contact information, including your phone number and mailing address.

Special events are being planned in your area so don’t miss an opportunity to participate further. All personal information is confidential and will not be shared with other organizations.

We want supporters to stay informed at all times. 


Check for upcoming events at the FS Meet Up page

Like FS on Facebook!

Follow FS on Twitter

The Freethought Society News Editorial Staff

Leave a comment   Author, Events, Ezines, Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center, Herb Silverman   , , ,  

Press Release

By Patti Butcheck, on July 14th, 2021%

Announcing the Anti-Superstition/Friday, August the 13th Grand Opening of the Virtual 2021 Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center 

Only one thing can be predicted for this Friday the Thirteenth — it will be an anxiety-filled day for the superstitious and gullible. Friggatriskaidekaphobes (those afflicted souls who possess an overwhelming fear of Friday the Thirteenth) will surely step out the door in trepidation, wondering what the “dark” day will have in store.

Below are details about how the Freethought Society, Center for Inquiry, and the Friggatriskaidekaphobia* Treatment Center will teach critical thinking skills this year via Zoom!

*Frigga-tris-kai-deka-phobia is the fear of Friday the 13th

6:45 PM EDT, Friday, August 13, 2021

Pre-Event concert featuring Rich DeSimone portraying Frank Sinatra as he sings songs related to superstitions (Devil Moon, Witchcraft, and Luck be a Lady). 

7:00 PM EDT

The 2021 Virtual Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center Opens

Receptionist and Zoom Technician Melissa Myers introduces Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center Nurse Practitioner Margaret Downey and Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center Doctor, Glen Loev. 

A “Miss Fortune Teller” will deliver fake and over-the-top predictions (portrayed by Christina Magallanes-Jones) using her “Taro-Bull” deck of cards. 

The continuing education section of the program will be conducted by “Anti-Superstition Professor of Rational Thinking” Benjamin Radford. His presentation is entitled “The Curse of Magical Thinking.”

Free, but RSVP is required. Register at:

https://www.meetup.com/Freethought-Society-Meetup/events/277278972/

Why conduct this event?

One need only look at the billion-dollar-a-year economic impact that plane and train reservation cancellations, absenteeism, and reduced commerce have on the world economy to see that the influence of superstition is far from harmless. Indeed, merely the personal anxiety and inconvenience of these ancient superstitions can ruin this day for millions of Americans.

It’s a fact that many people actually consult daily, monthly, and/or yearly horoscope predictions in an attempt to gain some control of their lives. People who regularly consult horoscopes usually have trouble making decisions and seek easy answers for difficult questions.

Natural circumstances and situations we find ourselves in cannot be predicted through alignments of the stars. We can, however, use probability factors and our common sense to determine our best options.

People remember the few times that they have had “bad luck” on Friday the 13th but they do not remember all the regular things that happen. Even a slight difficulty that “happens” to fall on Friday the 13th is personified in the mind of a superstition person – even though little difficulties occur every single day.

Superstitions cause fears and misunderstandings (black cats, albino children, the gypsy culture, nontheists, etc.). These fear mongering superstitions must be stopped. 

While we are having fun making a joke of simple superstitions, villages in Africa are blaming innocent children for any “bad luck” that befalls them. There is maiming and killing done when a superstitious village THINKS they have found a witch. This is the worst case of superstitions gone amok, but the humor we use now will hopefully stop superstitions from growing worse.

And we see superstitious behaviors in the United States. Just look at what comes out of the mouths of evangelical preachers after a natural or human made disaster. They quickly blame gays, feminists, liberals, atheists, and anybody they don’t agree with as they irrationally seek to understand and deal with reality.

Get rid of superstitions at the 2021 Virtual Friggatriskaidekaphobie Treatment Center on Friday, August 13, 2021! The Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center team will cure you of secret fears and unreasonable superstitions.

 
Contact Person and Event Organizer:

Margaret Downey, Founder and President 
Freethought Society 
P.O. Box 242 
Pocopson, PA 19366 

Phone: 
610-357-9432 Cell 

Email: 
Margaret@FtSociety.org 

Websites: 
www.FtSociety.org 
www.Friggatriskaidekaphobia.com 
www.Secular-Celebrations.com

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Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center

By Patti Butcheck, on June 28th, 2021%

Nowhere in the entire world has there been a Friday the Thirteenth online anti-superstition bash until now! Please join the Freethought Society and the Center for Inquiry (CFI) as we cure people of their superstitions during the virtual opening of the famous Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center on Friday, August 13, 2021 at 3:45 PM PDT/6:45 PM EDT. During the Pre-Event Social, singer Rich DeSimone will perform a mini-concert of Frank Sinatra songs, including “Luck be a Lady” and “Witchcraft.”

Friggatriskaidekaphobia doctors and nurses will provide long-distance treatments that will involve humorous and fun-loving interaction as superstitions are dispelled and cured. A “Clean Bill of Mental Health” will be awarded to participants who participate and follow the “doctor’s orders.” Don’t miss your chance to take an anti-horoscope consulting pledge and participate in trashing your Zodiac sign. Join us by sitting under a ladder or umbrella. Prizes for the best Zoom box will be awarded.

The 2021 Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center will be offering a continuing education session with famous Skeptic and “Anti-Superstition Professor of Rational Thinking” Benjamin Radford. His presentation is entitled “The Curse of Magical Thinking.”


Though magical thinking can seem wonderful, imbuing the world with meaning and magic, there is a darker side to it. From lucky rabbit’s feet (not so lucky for the rabbit!) to gambler’s fallacies, Radford will examine psychological, cultural, and folkloric aspects of superstition, curses, luck, and much more. Though some magical beliefs are harmless, others can have unexpectedly harmful and even deadly consequences. Learn about the history of these beliefs as well as how to replace magical beliefs with science and reason.

Radford has degrees in psychology and education, and is a Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is the author of a dozen books on critical thinking, science education, and media literacy. Radford is Deputy Editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and co-host of the podcast “Squaring the Strange.”

To poke fun at fortunetelling, Christina Magallanes-Jones will be attending as the Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center’s Miss Fortune Teller. She will be using her special deck of “Tarot-Bull” cards to predict your future.

We will also have a mirror breaking ceremony so have goggles, a hammer, a mirror and a trash can close by.

To see past party photos visit:

http://www.friggatriskaidekaphobia.com

RSVP at: https://bit.ly/3y1OjNz

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