Archive by Author

June 19: Confessions of a Christian Feminist: Women and the Church in the Post-Enlightenment

9 Jun

 

Sunday, June 19, 2011, 11:30 AM

Venice House, 906 Central Avenue Saskatoon, SK 

Women’s roles in organized religion have always evoked lively debate. As a feminist scholar within Christianity, Sandra Beardsall will note the diverse reactions to “Enlightenment,” which positioned women in diverse and conflicting ways in church life and leadership, and suggest avenues for conversation for secularists and religionists in post-modernity.

Sandra is the first religious speaker we have invited to one of our meetings.  Hopefully members will appreciate this opportunity to speak with someone of faith.

Here are links to a few things written by Sandra or quoting her:

Article in Canadian Women Studies “I Love to Tell the Story”

The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan entry for the “United Church of Canada”

National Post Article “United they fall”

Biography

Sandra Beardsall is Professor of Church History and Ecumenics at St. Andrew’s College, Saskatoon. Originally from Ontario, she served as an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada with congregations in Labrador and eastern Ontario , before moving to Saskatoon to teach. She participates in research and writing related to Christian history and to interchurch/interfaith dialogue.

May 22: Post-Rapture Party!

11 May
Sunday, May 22, 2011, 5:00 PM

Winston’s English Pub & Grill

243 21st Street East Saskatoon, SK

As I am sure you all know, the world is coming to an end, starting with the Rapture and great earthquake on May 21, 2011. Thus, a party for all the unsaved who are left behind is in order… come on out and have some fun!

May 15: Moderate Believers / Militant Atheists: Accommodation vs. Confrontation

4 May

Sunday, May 15, 2011, 11:30 AM, Venice House

906 Central Avenue Saskatoon, SK

“Vocal atheists are accused of driving away moderate believers. But what exactly is a militant atheist? What is a moderate believer and what could be gained by not ‘driving them away’? The debate over accommodation vs. confrontation rages on.”

Here are some links to thought-provoking discussions of this theme (and related):

May 5: International Day of Reason

1 May

Canadian Blood Services

325 20TH STREET EAST Saskatoon, SK

May 5, 5:30 PM

“Donating blood has a tangible effect – it can save lives. This is in contrast to prayer, which has no effect beyond placebo.”

The International Day of Reason is used to inject reason and rational thought into actions and behaviours. It was started as a National Day of Reason in response to the US National Day of Prayer. Rather than praying (which has been shown to have no effect in all properly designed studies i.e. double blind placebo studies), we will do something that has a measurably positive effect: saving lives. To do our part, we will be having a group blood donation through Canadian Blood Services. We will meet at the downtown blood clinic starting at 5:30pm (and appointments continuing for about an hour). For those who can’t make it at that time, please book an appointment that will work for your schedule any time that day or within a week of it and let us know to count it in this blood drive. We encourage everyone eligible to donate every 56 days.

The Saskatoon Freethinkers is a Partner for Life (partner ID number: SASK010719), which means we’ve committed to donating a minimum number of units of blood. Most of the donations will occur separately, but we’re doing this one as a group donation, which will hopefully prompt some of our members to become regular donors. You will only be counted as a member of our group if you register online or at the clinic with our partner ID (SASK010719). If you are already a member with another partner you can have just this one donation count toward our group by providing the number at the clinic. To preregister as part of our freethinkers partner group online, go to the Partners for Life section of the website.

Need another reason to donate? 

To watch a Canadian Blood Services video ad, click here. Approximately every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood. The good news is that one blood donation – in just one hour – can save up to three lives.

New donors can sign up at the clinic before their first donation. The website is very informative and you can also call 1-888-236-6283 (24 hours) to speak with a nurse if you have any questions you would like answered before May 6th. If you have not donated before or for a while, you should read the information about eligibility on the website. Some of the rules have changed, so please don’t assume you are ineligible. For example, visits to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico do not automatically reduce eligibility. At the clinic, you will be asked to privately answer a number of personal and health related questions to ensure your blood is safe (risk-based) – all of this remains confidential. For those who are certain that you cannot donate blood, you can ask a friend or family member to donate in your name.

Be sure to eat regular meals that day and at least a snack before you donate. After you donate, there will be pizza at the clinic (for all donors) and then those interested can find a place for coffee. Important: alcohol and intense physical activity are not advisable on the day of your donation. We need accurate numbers, so please RSVP as soon as possible and let us know if something changes.

Please join us in saving lives!

April 17th: Religion, Politics & the Election

10 Apr

Should atheists vote strategically in their own interests?  How would we do that?  Are there common issues for which atheists should seek out politicians’ stances?

The federal election is coming and we’re going to discuss what freethinker-related issues are important to us.  We’ll try to come up with a list of questions for candidates and decide whether we want to submit them for responses.

Here are a few resources to stir up your thinking:

Interview Your Political Candidates

Is Your Politician a Bigot?

Godless Atheists & Godless Politics

Atheists Should Vote Strategically and With Specific Goals

Atheism and Politics: an Atheist Ideology?

Politics and Atheist Organizations

“Religious beliefs affect policy—so the leaders should talk about them“.

Demographics of atheism

The first several of these are from an American site, but the last few are from Canadian site — generally the issues are philosophical anyway.

Feel free to post links to other opinion pieces.FYI: There is a diveristy of political preferences in our group and this is not intended to be a partisan discussion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism

March 20: The Word and the word, the sacred and secular history of oaths

11 Mar

Sunday, March 20, 2011 11:30 AM

Venice House
906 Central Avenue
Saskatoon, SK S7N 2G8

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Margaret Visser gave a talk at the Whelen Lectures last year, called “I SWEAR: Oaths, Curses and Modernity,” where she discussed those things in relationship with trust and community.

Oaths have a long and remarkable history. They were used to declare one’s citizenship status in Ancient Greece. They were used by knights to swear loyalty to kings. They’ve also been used across religions to keep followers honest and devoted. Today, oaths are still used in our societies (military oaths, oaths of office, etc.)  but do they still have the same level of power over those who speak and witness them?

Should they?

Saskatoon Freethinkers is now part of CFI Canada!

3 Feb

After a lot of discussion, debate and email, Saskatoon Freethinkers has now become CFI Saskatoon, an integral part of the Centre for Inquiry (CFI) Canada network! If you are interested in donating to our group, you can now do so directly via the Support CFI link on their website. There is also a link on our sidebar. CFI is a not-for-profit charity, so any donations (other than membership) qualify for a tax rebate!

Also be sure to check out CFI Canada’s new Extraordinary Claims Canada-wide campaign, which we proudly support.

February 12th: 2011 Darwin Day Celebration!

28 Jan

February 12th is the birthday of Charles Darwin, and “Darwin Day” is a global celebration of science and reason. The Minister of Education has designated February 12, 2011 as Darwin Day in Saskatchewan!

The Saskatoon Skeptics and Saskatoon Freethinkers aka Centre for Inquiry Saskatchewan are proud to host the third annual Darwin Day celebration in Saskatoon on February 12 from 1:00-5:30 pm. Come and help us celebrate Darwin’s 202nd birthday with a film and 2 presentations followed by discussions. Birthday cake and coffee will be available outside the theatre.

We are hosting this event in conjunction with The Saskatoon Secular Family Network which will put on Family Activities from 1:30-4:00 pm. Children of all ages are welcome; all minors require a guardian. There will be fun science experiments and activities for the entire family (RSVP here). This will take place in the “band room” of the school – look for the signs!

Schedule of Events:
1:00-2:30 pm Introduction & Film (part)
What Darwin Never Knew
2:30-3:00 pm Birthday Cake & Coffee; Displays and Activities
3:00-4:00 pm 1st Presentation
Prof. Larry Stewart,Department of History
4:00-4:15 pm Break
4:15-5:30 pm 2nd Presentation
Prof. Angela Lieverse, Department of Archaeology & Anthropology
5:30 pm Pub Discussion (anyone interested can join us for further discussion & cheer – location TBD)
1:30-4:00 pm Family Activities

You are welcome to attend all or any part of the event.

Donations are welcome and appreciated. Suggested minimum donation: $10 (not required). Charitable donations are eligible for a tax receipt if relevant information is provided.

Come out for an afternoon celebrating science!

Jan 30: Annual General Meeting

22 Dec
Location: Venice House, 906 Central Avenue Saskatoon, SK
The Saskatoon Freethinkers second Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on January 30, 2011. We will review our progress so far and get feedback from members on future plans.

We’ll also be welcoming the new council members who will be elected by poll prior to the meeting. See Dale’s message board post for more details.

We still have a few T-shirts (small and medium for $25 each or $20 for CFI Friends of the Centre) and black, smoke, and navy fleece jackets (variety of sizes for $40 each).

Note that we are at Venice House over lunch, so you are welcome to eat, but you are not obliged to buy anything. If you do, we encourage to be very patient with the servers and to remember to tip them – Venice House has been very accommodating and we are using the room for free.

December 19: Festivus and Anniversary Celebration

7 Dec
Dec 19 Sun 11:30 AM

906 Central Avenue
Saskatoon, SK S7N 2G8
306-373-6666

This December, we are celebrating our second anniversary with another Festivus party. We plan to have a casual, social event where we will watch some fun video clips and play games. Feel free to bring friends or family.

There will hopefully be a festivus pole – no distracting tinsel please. We will be on the lookout for Festivus Miracles!

Note that we are at Venice House over lunch for those who would like to eat. Purchase of food or drink is not required.

If you want to borrow any specific materials from the library, let Selene know in advance.

We still have some fleece jackets for sale for $40 each.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.