Sunday November 1, 2020 Noon (PDT) / 3:00 PM (EDT)
A Secular Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos Secular event is a celebration of life. Nontheist Hispanics and others view the Secular Day of the Dead as a perfect way to remember the legacy of dead loved ones that does not require prayer, church, or religious dogma. To nontheists, our legacies are our afterlife.
The Secular Day of the Dead event will include many redesigned and religion-free Hispanic traditions and rituals that celebrate our one and only life, legacies and cultural heritage.
More and more people are abandoning their religious upbringing but still want to celebrate the beauty of the Hispanic culture. This is why a Secular Day of the Dead was created. The 2020 Secular Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos Secular will be presented as a Zoom event on Sunday, November 1, 2020 with special attention to Spanish speaking participants. The 2020 Secular Day of the Dead is co-sponsored by The Freethought Society, Hispanic American Freethinkers, American Atheists, Center for Inquiry, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Register at:
Entertainment and chatting opportunities with like-minded individuals will take place during this 15-minute time slot, featuring musical presentations by Gary Stockdale, Christina Jones, and Juan Carlos.
Noon (PST)/3:00 PM (EST) Welcome
Bilingual welcome by actor Jon Huertas, organizers, and co-sponsors Robyn Blumner, Victoria de la Torre, Margaret Downey, Nick Fish, Annie Laurie Gaylor, and David Tamayo. Co-sponsors and organizers will each light a candle to honor a “Secular Saint” of historic significance. A Spanish Speakers Zoom Room and an English Speakers Zoom Room will be offered to participants at this time. Music at this time will be provided by Gary Stockdale and Abraham Steve Mackey.
12:30 PM (PST)/3:30 PM (EST) Guest Speaker
Dan Barker: “Adios a Dios” (a journey story presentation)
1:00 PM (PST)/4:00 PM (EST) Honoring Ceremony
Reservations are being taken for speakers who want to celebrate the life of a dead loved one. Reserve a 3-5-minute time slot through the following email address: SecularDayoftheDead@FtSociety.org
The Honoring Ceremony will open with dedications from actor Jon Huertas, writer Sasha Sagan, sculptor Zenos Frudakis, author Fernando Alcántar, and John Davidson – a Hollywood legend and musical stage star.
After the reserved speaking spots conclude, the Zoom spotlighting function will be available for anyone who would like to participate. The screen share function will be enabled so that speakers can display photos of the person or pet being honored.
Zoom logon information is only available to those who pre-register. Register for the Zoom link here:
Prizes will be awarded and mailed to participants whom the co-sponsors determine to have the best Secular Day of the Dead themed clothing, Zoom setting, face painting, face mask, and hair adornment. See photos of the prizes and find additional information at:
The end time of this event is unknown. Anyone who would like to honor a dead loved one will have an opportunity before we conclude with a mini concert by John Davidson and closing song by Abraham Steve Mackey.
FS is pleased to host author and attorney Andrew L. Seidel on Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 3:00 PM (EDT)/Noon (PDT) for an online Zoom meeting. Seidel’s presentation, “The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American,” is based on his book by the same name.
Please note the information under the headline of this page to learn how you can obtain the Zoom link by registering as a member of the FS Meetup.
Seidel is the Director of Strategic Response at the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). When not fighting for the First Amendment with FFRF, Andrew writes for Slate, ThinkProgress, Religion News Service, Rewire News and many other publications.
Renowned constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky described The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American as “a beautifully written book” that “explodes a frequently expressed myth: that the United States was created as a Christian nation.”
Seidel’s book illustrates that not only is the United States not a Christian nation, but Judeo-Christian principles are fundamentally opposed to the values on which America was founded. Religion, law, and history will collide in this presentation. Seidel will discuss his book and field questions.
The Disestablishment of the Establishment Clause by Jon Meador
Heritage and Hate by Herb Silverman
My Journey Story by David Simms
“The hands that help are better far than lips that pray.” ~ Robert Green Ingersoll (A Freethought Society Helping Hands Committee Acknowledgement)
The Question of a Child by Mike Judge
The Freethought Society Black Lives Matter Statement
Politically Active? Most Atheists Are!
Freethought Society Three-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.
The Freethought Society (FS) is pleased to host award-winning author and USA Today columnist Tom Krattenmaker on Saturday, September 19, 2020 at Noon (PDT)/3:00 PM (EDT) for an online Zoom presentation entitled “A New Vision for Secular Transcendence.”
You can obtain the Zoom link by registering as a member of the FS Meetup.
Krattenmaker’s talk will address how religion has faded from importance in contemporary life along with a sense of transcendence, which is traditionally understood as the experience of “rising above” the mundane, ordinary aspects of our lives. Krattenmaker will present his alternative vision for a secular, or horizontal, transcendence that does not depend on belief in a deity or supernatural ideas but, rather, on people’s connections to one another and to life on our imperiled planet.
As a columnist, Krattenmaker specializes in beliefs and values in public life. He is also the author of three award-winning books: Onward Christian Athletes, The Evangelicals You Don’t Know, and, most recently, Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower, which was named one of the top two religion books of 2016 by the Religion News Association.
The Freethought Society (FS) is pleased to host Professor Christopher Cameron on Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 3:00 PM (EDT)/Noon (PDT) for an online Zoom presentation entitled “Black Freethought from Slavery to Civil Rights.” His talk is based on his book, Black Freethinkers: A History of African American Secularism.
Learn how you can obtain the Zoom link by registering as a member of the FS Meetup.
Cameron’s talk will explore the origins of black freethought among 19th century slaves, many of whom could not reconcile notions of a loving God with their condition on Earth. The talk will then examine freethought in the 20thcentury as well as cultural and political movements such as the Harlem Renaissance, radical leftist politics, and the Black Power movement. Cameron argues that religious skepticism was prevalent among some of the most prominent voices in African American history, including Frederick Douglass, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, Huey Newton, and Alice Walker.
Cameron is a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with research and teaching interests in African American and early American history, including slavery, the antislavery movement, religious and intellectual history. His first book, To Plead Our Own Cause: African Americans in Massachusetts and the Making of the Antislavery Movement, explored the relationship between Puritan theology and the rise of black abolitionism, arguing throughout the work that African Americans were central to the development of the antislavery movement in America.
The Freethought Society (FS) is pleased to host Professor Christopher Cameron on Saturday, August 1, 2020 at 3:00 PM (EDT)/Noon (PDT) for an online Zoom presentation entitled “Black Freethought from Slavery to Civil Rights.” His talk is based on his book, 