Tag Archives: Meetup

September 19: Theo-Conservativism and the Canadian Religious Right

12 Sep
Location: Venice House

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

Earlier this summer, Random House Canada published Marci MacDonald’s The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada, which documents the role of Conservative Christianity in Canadian politics, with special attention to PM Stephen Harper’s government. One of our members, Tim Thibault, was important as a research source for Marci MacDonald in putting this book together. At this meet up, we have invited Tim to give us the lowdown on the book and some of the back story to the research of the book.

It would be ideal if we could all read the book for this meet up, but if that is not possible, MacDonald has also published a similarly-themed article in the Walrus: “Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons”.

Also, Marci MacDonald was interviewed on CBC’s The Current, which you can hear here. Also check out the responses to this interview here.

At this meetup, we will also allow anyone who wants to participate to Stand Up Against Poverty. It is a worldwide call to make poverty history and to meet the Millennium Development Goals. We will read a statement, have eveyone who is willing stand up, take a picture, and report the numbers.

Separate Schools and Public Funding: August 22nd

11 Aug

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

As you know, Canada has a separate school system run in the name of the Catholic religion. At this meet-up, we will be examining questions concerning religious-based education and public funding for religion.

Mainly, we will be taking a look at part of a CFI Ontario Panel Discussion on the subject. Here is the video on CFI’s You-tube channel (for those who just can’t wait!).

Cafe Inquiry Public Funding of Religious Groups

Another video with Justin Trottier on this issue:

Justin Trottier-end public funds to religious schools

Here also is an article on the subject from the Canadian Encyclopedia:

Separate Schools — The Canadian Encyclopedia

And several websites mainly focused on the Ontario dispute over separate schools from a few years ago, but with resources worth checking out:

One School System Network

Education Equality in Ontario

Civil Rights in Public Education

Please check back for further information, or RSVP for the event if you would like to attend!

Open Thread Meetup

29 Jun

July 18th, 11:30AM to 2:30 PM

Venice House

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

For July, we will have an informal type of Meetup. This will allow people to socialize more in a casual atmosphere.

We’ll suggest a few questions (e.g. What is a freethinker?) and just let people discuss those or other ideas in small groups. We’ll check in at the end to see how members like this format and what interesting things everyone discussed.

Visit our Facebook page or the Meetup site to RSVP!

What is Secular Humanism?

7 Jun

Sunday, June 20, 2010 11:30 AM

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

When atheists talk about what they believe (instead of what they don’t believe), they frequently mention “Secular Humanism”. Secular humanism most closely parallels religion, in being a worldview that makes factual and value claims about the world.

So, what does being a secular humanist commit one to?

  • What values and beliefs are distinctive of secular humanism? What justifies these values?
  • How does secular humanism differ from a religion?
  • Should politics be exclusively secular or is it unfair to exclude religion?

There are many other issues and questions that could be explored. For this Meetup, we would like to use the Open Space discussion technology to facilitate a broad discussion of some of these ideas.

Resources:

HUMANISM AND ITS ASPIRATIONS

Secular Humanism

The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles

There are two CBC Ideas programs on secularism that may still be available on-line — here’s the links (should open up a download dialogue):

Talking Philosophy: Secularism

Talking Philosophy: Secularism- Part Two

Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/Saskatoon-Freethinkers/calendar/13392100/

Contra-dictions

4 May

Date / Time: Sunday May 16th, 11:30 AM

Location: Venice House

Address: 906 Central Avenue, Saskatoon SK

It is no surprise to an atheist, or even some believers of religious doctrine that the texts on which religions base their authority are full of contradictions and confusing accounts that may lead even the most avid reader astray.

What may be even more difficult to reconcile for those same readers is the claim that these texts, fraught with inconsistency and hypocrisy, are divinely inspired – yet many maintain this view. For the Bible and the Qur’an, even the simplest introduction to these two holy books suggests that the sources of these discrepancies are the result of human error in the translation, compilation, publishing and politics that contributed to the creation of these books.

We will briefly discuss how these two books were assembled (or claimed to be assembled) and learn one simple method to argue the inconsistencies of religious texts. To whet your appetite, have a look at this website that describes some of the internal differences between the four major gospels of the Bible on the topic of Jesus’ resurrection.

Also, just for fun, have a look at one believer’s opposition to editorial decisions made by the creators of the New King James Bible.

Note: This meetup will be led by Jonathan Sherman

Atheism and Altruism

17 Apr
When:  Sun, April 18, 11:30am – 2:00pm
Where:  Venice House on Central Ave (side room) (map)

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

When it comes to helping others, are we atheists more motivated by The Selfish Gene or the Golden Rule? Too often believers have accused atheists of being selfish and uncharitable:

Let’s see, we have scores of Baptist Hospitals, Methodist Hospitals, Jewish Hospitals, Catholic Hospitals, etc., etc.. Each of these have ‘outreach’ programs both here and in the most dismal places on earth, staffed with dedicated medical doctors and nurses. Where oh where are the Atheist’s hospitals, or soup kitchens? [link]

Is this accusation fair? This month we’ll talk about what it means to be godless and support charities/humanitarian causes.

On May 6th, our group will be participating in the National Day of Reason by donating blood. The National Day of Reason began in the US, as a response to Congressionally-mandated National Day of Prayer. Even though this may have originally been a US-sponsored event, here in Saskatoon we have recently witnessed the Mayor’s office affiliating itself with a prayer breakfast.

The National Day of Prayer states that its purpose is “mobilizing the Christian community to intercede” on behalf of the country — but how much is accomplished through prayer? The National Day of Reason recognizes that there are PRODUCTIVE ways to help fellow human beings, so on May 6th, secular humanists and atheists across North America will be donating blood in order to realistically help people, rather than just talking to themselves.

For April’s Meetup, we’re having a speaker from the Canadian Blood Services come talk to us on how much it means to be a recipient of donated blood. We’ll also talk about other ways our group can make a difference in our community.

Some links to check out:

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