2010 Meetings

January Meeting Topic: Is Genesis humanistic, sort of?
Sunday, January 10th at 12 noon
Location: The Orient Restaurant
Genesis is known as the first book of the three Abrahamic religions. Most of it says remarkably little about who or what God is. Instead, it focuses on the stories of human characters, who were very flawed and imperfect. Retribution for unethical actions, if any, often came from other humans, not from God. Does that mean that Genesis is really humanistic? We will revisit the audiotape of a lecture by Prof. Gary Rendsburg, professor of Jewish History at Rutgers University, on a Teaching Company lecture series “The Book of Genesis.”

WASH Winter Dinner: Saturday, January 16, 2010, Noon to Two PM

WASH will have its traditional Winter Dinner, featuring a deluxe buffet of Mexican specialties including steak, chicken, seafood and vegetarian options. Location: Guapo’s Mexican Restaurant, 8130 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda, MD. The restaurant is three blocks south of the Medical Center Metro station, and has convenient free parking in the Woodmont Avenue garage in back of the restaurant. The speaker will be Jennifer Bardi, Editor of The Humanist Magazine and former writer, editor, and program director at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Reservations: Send a check payable to WASH for $40 per person to WASH Treasurer at PO Box 198, Abingdon, MD 21009, or sign up on line using the convenient Click and Pledge link found at the lower right on our web site, www.wash.org. Reservations must be received no later than January 12.

February Meeting Topic: Special Darwin Day event: Prof. Thomas R. Holtz on "What did Charles Darwin REALLY Discover?"

Sunday, February 14, at 10:30 am--This meeting was CANCELLED due to weather.

Location: Joint meeting with Baltimore Ethical Society

Everyone knows that Charles Darwin was the pivotal figure in the science of Evolution, but fewer people are aware of what his particular contributions actually were. This talk will examine what was known about evolution prior to Darwin's work; Darwin's education and voyages; his co-discovery of Natural Selection; and some of his other contributions to the earth and life sciences. Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. is a dinosaur paleobiologist and Senior Lecturer in Vertebrate Paleontology at the Department of Geology, University of Maryland, College Park. His expertise is the evolution, anatomy, and adaptations of the carnivorous dinosaurs, with emphasis on the Tyrannosauroidea (tyrant dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex and its kin). In addition to paleontology, he teaches courses on evolution, historical geology, global change, and the nature of science. He is the Faculty Director and co-creator of two residential honors programs in the sciences. As well as technical publications, Dr. Holtz has authored several popular audience works on dinosaurs, including Dinosaurs: The Most Complete Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages (Random House, 2007). He is frequently a consultant for and appears in documentaries shown on Discovery, National Geographic, BBC, and the History Channel, most notably the original Walking with Dinosaurs. His website is http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/.

February BES Meeting: Greg Paul on "The End of Supernaturalistic Religion: The Socioeconomic Factor."

Sunday, February 28, at 10:30 am

Location: Baltimore Ethical Society

Greg Paul's (www.gspaulscienceofreligion.com) ground breaking technical paper (www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP07398441_c.pdf) showing that religion is a superficial opinion that is popular only when socioeconomic conditions are dysfunctional, and is collapsing in the western democracies, has been covered in Newsweek, USA Today and The Guardian. This platform will cover material that is being presented by Greg at a conference in Copenhagen in the summer of 2010. Gregory Paul has been labeled the church's public enemy number one by MSNBC, and denounced as unAmerican in the Wall Street Journal. His popular essays are found in Washington Post/On Faith (newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/11/defending_darwins_science_by_taming_social_darwinism.html; extended version at www.edge.org/#paul), Edge, Wall Street Journal Weekend Magazine (early January 2010), Free Inquiry, Dissident Voice, Daily Kos, OpEdNews.

March Meeting Topic: Baltimore COR on the radio
Sunday, March 14th at 12 noon
Location: The Orient Restaurant

On Dec. 15, three representatives of the Baltimore COR were interviewed on the WYPR radio program, Midday with Dan Rodericks. The representatives were Fred Edwords, United COR, Karen Elliott, BES, and Catherine Blackwell, UMBC SSA. They gave direct and clear answers to some common questions that are often directed toward atheists. We will listen to a recording of the interview.

Sunday, March 21st at 10:30 am: Paul Fidalgo, the new communications director of the Secular Coalition of America, at Baltimore Ethical Society

Harford County Area Special Interest Group

Thursday, March 25th at 7 p.m.

Location: Hunan Chef, The Festival, Bel Air, MD

There has been some interest in having WASH meetings in Harford County. This is the first meeting. Bear in mind that if no one shows up for the meeting, there may not be another one, so please try to make it if you'd like to have meetings, or at least contact me to let me know you are interested.

April Meeting Topic: Tyson Koska speaking on "The Sinister Work of Labels"
Sunday, April 11th at 1:30 p.m.
NEW LOCATION: Howard County Library, East Columbia Branch

Religious labels at once divide and belie―even non-religious ones. They divide merely through usage; if you are a Christian, you are not a Muslim; if you are a Muslim, you are not an Atheist. And though we assume we understand what labels represent, they often (always?) belie beliefs. The dimensions of a person's "faith": their theology, tradition, certainty, interpretation―they all mix in unexpected and unusual ways. Behind the façade of labels may lie a potential for greater unity, but first their sinister work must be undone. Tyson is an adjunct professor of philosophy at Towson Univ.

Harford County Area Special Interest Group

Thursday, April 22nd at 7 p.m.

We will play a recording of a discussion between Krista Tippett & Andrew Solomon about Einstein's God: Conversations about Science, instigated by Paul Holdengräber at the New York Public Library. Tippett and Solomon discuss comments about Einstein about his opinions about ethics and religion, and they also discuss their personal experiences with depression and other topics.

May Meeting Topic: Is Congress broken?
Sunday, May 9th at 12 noon
Location: The Orient Restaurant

It seems routine for commentators to say that Congress is broken because it can't seem to make any decisions. It is worth looking at the words of the Founders to find that the system is actually working the way it's supposed to. In particular, James Madison anticipated factions and special interest groups in the government. The way that he thought that the government should be organized to deal with this problem sounds almost cynical, yet the system has worked for over 200 years. We will play a recording of a lecture by Prof. Thomas Pangle on "The Madisonian Republic."

Special Event with Baltimore COR: ROY ZIMMERMAN SINGS “REAL AMERICAN” SONGS

Thursday, May 27 at 7 p.m.

Location: Baltimore Ethical Society
How do you fight recession, war, ignorance, greed and the scourge of Right Wing punditry? Why, with satire, of course. Satirical songwriter Roy Zimmerman brings his one-man show "Roy Zimmerman: Real American" to Baltimore. Admission is $12 regular/$10 for students with ID. “Real American” is 90 minutes of Zimmerman’s funny songs and comic commentary, a tuneful examination of the American political landscape in the era of Hope and Change. Health care, the economy, same-sex marriage, climate change, Creationism, guns, taxes, abstinence and, yes, Obama all come under satirical scrutiny. There’s a limba-like song about Rush Limbaugh. “How low can you go?” Zimmerman sings. There's a decidedly Lefty slant to Roy's lyrics. The HBO documentary “The Trials of Ted Haggard,” directed by Alexandra Pelosi features Roy’s song, “Ted Haggard is Completely Heterosexual.” And his tune “Buddy, Can You Spare a Trillion Dollars?” landed him a mention on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, an unaccustomed honor for a folkie. The Los Angeles Times says, “Zimmerman displays a lacerating wit and keen awareness of society’s foibles that bring to mind a latter-day Tom Lehrer.”
His web site is http://www.royzimmerman.com/

See Roy Zimmerman perform at his YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/royzimmerman
Download the Concert Poster here:     http://baltimoreethicalsociety.org/Documents/real_american_poster_zimmerman_baltimore_20100527.jpg
Location:  The Baltimore Ethical Society, the Old Congress Hotel at 306 W. Franklin St., Baltimore,  between Howard and Eutaw Streets.  Take I-95 north, merge onto I-395 north via exit #53 toward Downtown, Inner Harbor. Take Martin Luther King Blvd. exit. Turn right onto W. Mulberry St. (US 40 East). Turn left onto Park Avenue. Turn left onto West Franklin Street (Rt. 40 West), and proceed one block.  

June Meeting Topic: A Short, Sarcastic History of Terrorism in America, by Al Franken
Sunday, June 13th at 12 noon
Location: The Orient Restaurant

Before Al Franken became a U.S. Senator, he was author of such books as Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. A chapter is concerned with the history of counterterrorism by the Federal government, with well-documented credit to the efforts of the Clinton Administration and jeers to the Reagen and Bush I and II administrations. The opposite has been repeated so often by the Right Wing media, that it is worth reviewing the actual record. We will play the chapter from the audio book and discuss it. Location: The Orient Restaurant, Towson.

Harford County Area Special Interest Group topic: Bill Maher's "Religulous"

Saturday, June 26nd at 1 p.m.

Location: Bel Air Library, Bel Air, MD

Bill Maher's big budget documentary "Religulous" asks pointed questions about religion to some rather strange characters. We will play the DVD, and discuss it with local humanists. Directions: From Rt. 95, take exit 77 toward Bel Air. Turn right on Rt. 924 and go to Bel Air. From 924, keep going straight onto Main Street, to Pennsylvania Ave/.Kimmie Way. Turn right two blocks, and park in the parking garage or in the lot. The library is on the right, at 100 E. Pennsylvania Ave. Please look at the BSH website, http://bsh.wash.org or email info@bsh.wash.org for more details.

July Meeting Topic: "Point of Inquiry" featuring Carol Tavris
Sunday, July 11th at 12 noon
Location: The Orient Restaurant

CFI made many episodes of a podcast "Point of Inquiry" with interviews by DJ Grothe. This interview features Carol Tavris, author of Mistakes were Made, but Not By Me. She discusses the issue of dissonance, and the reason that people can hold ideas that are contradictory. This idea is often used to explain the problem of "smart believers," or intelligent religious people who know that supernaturalism doesn't make rational sense. Location: The Orient Restaurant, Towson.

Harford County Area Special Interest Group topic: "Point of Inquiry" with James Randi

Time: Thursday, July 22 at 7 pm

Location: Buontempo Bros. restaurant, 1 S. Main St., Bel Air

CFI made many episodes of a podcast "Point of Inquiry" with interviews by DJ Grothe. This interview features James "The Amazing" Randi. He discusses the topic of "Science, Magic, and the Future of Skepticism." Randi is a well-known professional magician, skeptic, and atheist, and organizer of the TAM Conferences. We will listen to the podcast (if the restaurant is quiet enough).

August Meeting Topic: The Most Evil Corporation in America?

Sunday, August 8th at 12 noon

Location: The Orient Restaurant

A recent episode of the radio show This American Life described the actions of an American corporation that intentionally made the 2008 financial crisis worse by encouraging the creation of bad mortgage securities. I won't say the name of the corporation in case they sue us, but it seems like the corporation's actions qualify it for the title of most evil corporation. They caused more people be foreclosed on their mortgage and profited from their misfortune. We will play the episode and discuss it. Is this corporation really evil, and is there such a thing? Are there any other candidates?

Harford County Area Special Interest Group

Time: TBA (see bsh.wash.org)

Location: TBA

We are having regular meetings in Bel Air, MD, for interested secular humanists in Harford County. We are still looking for a permanent meeting site. Until we find one, please look on the BSH website or meetup site for meeting information.

For previous meetings, click here.