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Activities Overview (Detailed Listings Below)
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October 2008
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November 2008
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Sun Oct 12
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11:00am
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Board Meeting
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Sun Oct 12
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12:00pm
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Social Hour
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Sun Oct 12
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1:00pm
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Monthly Meeting
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Sun Oct 12
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2:30pm
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Lunch
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Fri Oct 17
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7:00pm
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Monthly Social
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Sun Nov
9
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11:00am
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Board Meeting
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Sun Nov 9
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12:00pm
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Snacks & Discussions
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Sun Nov 9
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1:00pm
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Monthly Meeting
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Sun Nov 9
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2:30pm
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Lunch
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Fri Nov 21
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7:00pm
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Monthly Social
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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
Atlanta Freethought Hall is located at 4775 N Church Ln SE,
Smyrna GA 30080.
Monthly Sunday Social Luncheon: We have a Quarterly
Potluck Luncheon before the meeting 4 times a year. Other months the group
goes to a nearby restaurant after the meeting.
Friday Evening Social Dinner
The
Friday Evening Social Dinner is held each month at Panahar Bangladeshi
Restaurant on the Friday after the monthly program. Visitors are always
welcome!
Panahar
is located in the Northeast Plaza shopping center at 3375 Buford Hwy NE Ste
1060, Atlanta 30329. Come enjoy the good Bangladeshi food and the
great company. Directions: 404-633-6655 or Google Maps
- Yahoo! Maps
- MapQuest
Secular Organizations for Sobriety
 The Secular
Organizations for Sobriety (SOS) meets at the Atlanta Freethought Center every
Tuesday evening at 8:00pm. SOS is the secular alternative for AA
(Alcoholics Anonymous). Send an email
for more info. This SOS group is sponsored by AFS.
November 9, 2008
12:00 noon: Social Hour
1:00 pm:
Monthly Program: Blair Scott, National Affiliate
Outreach Director and Alabama State Director for American Atheists, will
speak on American Atheists and their affiliates program. American
Atheists is a nationwide organization which defends the civil rights of
nonbelievers, works for the separation of church and state, and addresses
issues of First Amendment public policy. The current AFS Treasurer,
Ed Buckner, is president of American Atheists.
Blair
is an atheist activist with a history of organizing freethought/atheist
groups. He started the North Alabama Freethought Association in Huntsville,
Al. He is also the Alabama State Director for American Atheists.
2:30 pm: Lunch
December 14, 2008
12:00 noon: Social Hour
1:00 pm: Monthly Program: Dr. Niall Shanks has
tentatively rescheduled to speak on his new book God, the Devil, and
Darwin: A Critique of Intelligent Design Theory. Shanks is
currently the Curtis D. Gridley professor in History of Philosophy and
Science at Wichita State University.
Spurred
by the progress that evolution's critics are making in sneaking creationism
into schools, Professor Shanks zealously prosecutes the case against the
authors of books that defend intelligent design. He takes to task
"irreducible complexity" and claims that thermodynamics refutes
evolution.
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Prior Program Topics & Special
Events
2007-08
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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.
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