|
Activities Overview (Detailed Listings Below)
|
March 2010
|
|
April 2010
|
|
Sun Mar 14
|
11:00am
|
|
Board Meeting
|
|
Sun Mar 14
|
12:00pm
|
|
Social Hour
|
|
Sun Mar 14
|
1:00pm
|
|
Monthly Meeting
|
|
Fri Mar 19
|
7:00pm
|
|
Monthly Social
|
|
|
|
Sun Apr
11
|
11:00am
|
|
Board Meeting
|
|
Sun
Apr 11
|
12:00pm
|
|
Social Hour
|
|
Sun
Apr 11
|
1:00pm
|
|
Monthly Meeting
|
|
Fri Apr 16
|
7:00pm
|
|
Monthly Social
|
|
Monthly Meetings
Our
monthly meetings are held on the second Sunday each month at the Atlanta Freethought Hall in Smyrna
at 1:00 pm unless otherwise noted. Program topics are listed below. A
Social Hour begins before meetings at 12:00 noon. Visitors
are always welcome. See "Monthly Program Topics" below for a
description of upcoming programs and location.
The March AFS Meeting
The
March
AFS meeting will feature a presentation by Sean Faircloth, executive
director of the Secular Coalition for America, which lobbies for secular
policies in Washington, D.C. Mr. Faircloth will discuss how the values of
our nation's founders directly connect to the values of the secular
movement and how theocratically-based injustices in American law are not an
historical artifact -- but rather a stark, current reality that we all have
a moral obligation to address. The meeting at Atlanta Freethought Hall will
start at 1:00, but please feel free to arrive early for refreshments and
conversation with other freethinkers.
Atlanta Freethought
Hall
is located at 4745 N. Church
Lane SE, in Smyrna,
GA. To get there, take I-285
(the perimeter road around Atlanta)
to Exit 16 (Atlanta Road). Turn toward Atlanta. Go ˝ mile and then turn right onto N.
Church Lane.
Admire the new bridge, roadway and sidewalk! Atlanta Freethought Hall is on the left.
The AFS Social
The
next AFS Social will be at Las
Margaritas Restaurant, 1842
Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta,
on Friday, March 19, at 7:00 PM. To get there, take I-85 to the Cheshire
Bridge Road exit (Exit 88) in north Atlanta. Turn east at the light and go 1.5
miles. The restaurant will be on the
right.
Other
Meetings of Interest
The Humanists of Georgia will meet at
Freethought Hall on Sunday, March 21, at 1:00 PM.
The Fayette Freethinkers meet in
Peachtree City on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM at the Orthodontist's Office on
Peachtree Pkwy near Crosstown Road. The group also meets for lunch on the
first and third Saturday of the month at the Irish Bred Pub, 275 Hwy 74
N. For details, contact Shelby at freediscussion@hotmail.com.
The Fellowship of Reason meets on the
first Sunday of every month at 1:00 PM at the Northwest Unitarian
Universalist Congregation, 1025 Mount Vernon Hwy. in Atlanta. For
details, see http://www.fellowshipofreason.com.
GUST (Gwinnett: Understanding Secular Truths) will
meet at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Gwinnet (12 Bethesda Church
Road in Lawrenceville) on Wednesday, March 10, at 7:00 PM. (See http://gust.domek.org/.)
There will be a Meetup for Atlanta atheists on
Sunday, March 14, at 6:00 PM at Thinking Man Tavern, 537 W. Howard Ave, in
Decatur.
There's another Meetup for Atlanta atheists
scheduled for Sunday, March 28, at 4:00 PM at Five Seasons Brewery, 5600
Roswell Road, in Sandy Springs.
SOS, the Secular
Organizations for Sobriety, is not having regular meetings, but if you
would like to learn about the group, email Donna Gore at donnajgore@yahoo.com.
March 14, 2010
Sean
Faircloth, executive director of the Secular Coalition for America, will
speak.
April 11, 2010
TBD
May 9, 2010
Scott
Lilienfeld will give a talk.
|
Prior Program Topics & Special
Events
2007-09
|
February 28, 2010
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly
Program: Dr. Jeffrey B. Perry gave a talk about Hubert
Harrison, an early 20th century black freethinker, writer,
orator, educator and political activist.
February 14, 2010
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly
Program: AFS
member Mark Banks gave a talk
about astronomy.
January 10, 2010
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly
Program: Dr. Darrel W. Ray gave a talk about
his new book The God Virus: How
Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture.
December 13, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Todd Stiefel, former
executive of Stiefel Labs, spoke on how he would like to bring his business
experience to the freethought movement.
November 14, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Massimo Pigliucci,
noted Evolutionary Biologist, spoke on “Reason: What is It? Who Needs It?”
October 11, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Jeffrey Selman,
President of the Georgia Chapter of Americans United for Separation of
Church and State, spoke about Americans United.
September 13, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: The September 13 AFS
meeting was again to have been a talk by Leonard Adams on his experiences
as a Christian pastor and the steps for him in deconverting to an atheist.
Unfortunately, he never showed.
August 9, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: The August 9 AFS
meeting was to feature a talk by Leonard Adams on his experiences as a
Christian pastor, but family matters detained him.
July 12, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: The July 12 AFS
meeting featured a talk by AFS board member Tony King, who spoke on
"Ancient Egyptian Religion: An Introduction."
June 14, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: The June 14 AFS
meeting featured a talk by Dr. A. Bowdoin Van Riper, a Southern Polytechnic
State University professor, on "Charles Darwin and Evolution."
May 10, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: The May AFS meeting featured
a talk by Doyle E. Duke, author of the book The Amazing Deception - A Critical Analysis of Christianity.
April 12, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: The April AFS
meeting featured a talk by Stuart Bechman, President of Atheist Alliance
International, titled "State of the Community: Atheist Alliance
International."
March 15, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: This
was a joint meeting of AFS and the Humanists of Georgoa. Jim Haught gave a talk
on “Holy Horrors,” about the many atrocities that religion has inspired.
February 8, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Lori
Lipoma, Ph.D, presented "I'm OK, You're Going to Hell: An Examination
of the Satirical Symbiosis Between Evangelical Christians and the People
Who Mock Them."
January 11, 2009
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: AFS
President Steve Yothment spoke on "Views on the
Historicity of Jesus."
December 14, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Bob Collins, a member of the Alabama Freethought Association, gave a
talk on “My Favorite Bible Contradictions.”
November 9, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Blair Scott, National Affiliate Outreach Director and Alabama State
Director for American Atheists, spoke on American Atheists and their
affiliates program.
October 12, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Because Dr. Niall Shanks had to cancel at the last minute, Ed
Buckner filled in to lead a discussion about the importance of
church-state separation.
September 10, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Chris
Wilson spoke on his new book Healing
The Unhappy Caveman: Why the Human Mind was Not Designed for Happiness and
What YOU can Do about It
August 10, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Dr.
Dennis Martin spoke on "What Does 'Free'
in 'Free-thinking' Mean?"
July 13, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Monthly Program: Lori Lipman Brown, a lobbyist for the
Secular Coalition of America.
June 8, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall,
Smyrna
Summer Potluck Luncheon (Cookout/Picnic on the Grounds)
Monthly Program: Tony King spoke about Sumerian
influence on religion and Western culture
May 11, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Center,
Roswell
Dr. Austin Dacey, author of the new book The Secular Conscience:
Why Belief Belongs in Public Life, spoke about Secular
Conscience
April 13, 2008
Location: Atlanta Freethought Hall, Smyrna
March 9, 2008
Monthly Program: Ed Buckner and Jack
McKinney spoke
on "Opinions."
February 10, 2008
Bruce
Herr spoke.
January 13, 2008
Dr. Hos Lotfi, a neurologist
originally from Iran, gave a talk entitled "Living
Under Theocracy."
December 9, 2007
Dr. John Henderson spoke on his new book, Judging
God.
November 15, 2007
Peaceful Protest of Governors Illegal State Sponsored Prayer
Service at State Capital
November 11, 2007
Camille Ann Brewer spoke on “Taking a Look at
Contemporary Art produced by Freethinkers.”
October 14, 2007
Ice Cream Social
AFS Plans for the Future. This program featured
presentations by AFS Officers and informative, interactive discussions with
members on the direction of AFS, our programs, activities, the Atlanta
Freethought Center, and other aspects of our future.
September 9, 2007
Doug Hattersley, a retired geologist,
spoke on "A Geological Perspective of Current Events."
August 30, 2007
Special Program featuring world-renowned skeptical author
and editor, Benjamin Radford
August 12, 2007
Ed Buckner, who holds a doctorate
in Educational Foundations, discussed "Secular
Schooling,"
the topic addressed in his chapter in the recently-published book, Parenting Beyond
Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion (Dale McGowan, editor,
2007). The purpose of the book is as a handbook for raising ethical, caring
kids without religion. Among Buckner's long list of co-authors are such
impressive writers as Julia Sweeney, Dan Barker, Penn Jillette, David
Koepsell, Mark Twain (yes that Twain), and Richard Dawkins.
July 8, 2007
Bob Collins, an ex-fundamentalist, spoke on “More
Bible Contradictions.”
June 30 - July 2, 2007
Lake Hypatia July 4th Celebration. AFS members
celebrated Freethought and Independence Day with the Alabama Freethought Association
at its annual "Glorious Fourth" weekend at Lake Hypatia, near
Taladega, AL. The June 30 - July 2 event included these speakers:
Annie
Laurie Gaylor, on "FFRF vs. Faith-based Initiative"
Dan Barker, Concert and Talk
Ed Buckner, on "Atheists, We Hardly Know Ye"
John Henderson, on "Fear, Faith, Fact, Fantasy."
Michael Chandler, State/church litigant
Also Eric Pepke, Bob Collins, Pat and Alice Cleveland
Speeches
took place in the spacious, air-conditioned Lake Hypatia Freethought Hall. Swimming,
paddling, boating, hiking, poetry-reading, relaxing and socializing were on
the agenda also. See details at www.ffrf.org/lakehypatia.
June 10, 2007
Dr. Steve Burnett spoke on the topic, "Evolution:
What it Really Is." Burnett is an Associate Professor of Biology
at Clayton State University and holds a doctorate in Evolution,
Ecology, & Organismal Biology, and a masters in Zoology.
May 13, 2007
Dr. David E. Giannasi, Associate Professor, emeritus, Department
of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, presented "Comments
on Religion and the Bible."
April 8, 2007
Bruce Herr presented a talk on "Beyond
the Myth of God."
March 11, 2007
Keith Nalumango, former head of
programming for the Zambia National Broadcasting Corp (ZNBC) presented a
talk entitled: "A Bone in the Throat: Threats to a Free Press, in
Africa and America."
February 12, 2007
Darwin Day Celebration at the Georgia Capitol Building: The Atlanta
Freethought Society had a table at the Georgia Capitol Building on Monday,
February 12, to celebrate Charles Darwin's birthday. We handed out birthday
cupcakes and coffee, as well as a flyer on Darwin and his contribution to
modern science.
February 11, 2007
Jeff Sellman, President of the Georgia Chapter of
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, talked about AU's
First Freedoms First project.
January 14, 2007
Thomas Nisley, Ph.D., presented a talk
entitled: “God has a Foreign Policy? Israel and U.S. Foreign
Policy.”
Dr.
Nisley is an Assistant Professor of International Studies at Southern
Polytechnic State University. His doctorate dissertation, given in 2002,
was on Democracy Promotion and U.S. Foreign Policy.
|
