Margaret Downey (former president of Atheist Alliance International, now a “freethought free agent”) announces the formation of the Unity 2013 Event Committee. What is Unity 2013? Nobody knows just yet, but what we do know is that it’ll be big, it has the blessing of such notables as Daniel Dennett, and it’ll involve many (if not most) of the major freethought-friendly organizations. To keep abreast of the details as they unfold, check out the Unity 2013 Facebook page.
Also:
David swells in righteous indigation over the misguidedness of a local religious school whose “philosophy of education” includes a lot of blither-blather about fearing God, the inerrancy of the Bible, and man’s dominion over the planet–but nary a word about, oh, curriculum.
Black children are an endangered species! In other words, if you’re black, look out! The evil atheist liberal abortionists are gunning for your fetuseseses.
Upcoming events:
See Creation with American Freethought! We’re arranging an outing for the afternoon of Saturday, February 20th, to see the new Charles Darwin bio-pic starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly. We’ll convene for Thai food immediately after the movie. Details can be found here, or at this Facebook event page.
John and Allison will be attending a rare joint appearance by Christopher Hitchens and Salman Rushdie at Emory University, Friday, February 26th. If you’re there and you see us, be sure to say hello.
John and Allison will also be at the upcoming American Atheists convention in Newark, NJ, April 2-4. We’ll actually be in the greater NYC are March 31 – April 5, and we welcome suggestions for places to eat, things to do, or stuff to see.
Atlanta SkeptiCamp 2010 is tentatively scheduled for May. Keep an eye on the Atlanta Skeptics website for details as they unfold.
Hey, what’s that waaay over there, just over the horizon? Why, it’s Dragon*Con! Yep, it’s time to start thinking about the all-encompassing pop culture juggernaut held every year in Atlanta, featuring (among other things) the increasingly popular Skeptrack! Four-day memberships to the Con are only $80 through May 15th ($90 through July 15th). We’ll see you there!
Can you spell C-O-N-T-E-S-T? We have a minor trove of nifty things to give away, including a 2009 American Atheists convention program signed by Richard Dawkins, a handful of books by famous critical thinkers, and an American Freethought t-shirt and coffee mug. To win, simply challenge John C. Snider to a game of “Words With Friends” (the iPhone version of the classic Scrabble). You’ll need an iPhone, of course; and you’ll need to download Words With Friends (created by game developer Newtoy, Inc.). John’s user name is “johncsnider.” The person who beats him by the most points during the month of February wins the tchoch.
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Recorded February 18, 2010. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.
Thanks for the “scoop” on the formation of the 2013 committee! I am very excited that it is sounding more and more likely that there will be an event for atheists, secular humanists, and freethinkers of other stripes. My first thought when I read about it a few months ago was that it should happen much sooner than 2013. After listening to the podcast, though, I understand better why it will take a little longer to organize and get the necessary funding.
When I heard “2013 Unity Event”, one thing that I thought of right away, which I don’t know if Margaret Downey or others have considered, is the fact that “Unity” is actually a denomination of Christianity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_Church
I know this is not the official name of the event (yet), but it’s possible that if the event were to include the name “Unity” it might cause some confusion. I really like the idea of unity, though, and I don’t think any denomination should have a monopoly on the use of a name. It was just something that popped to mind immediately when I heard the name, so I thought I’d mention it to see what others thought about the coincidence.
he 2013 Unity Event Committee is now discussing which month such an event should take place. There are two months that are to be narrowed down to one.
Please tell me if you prefer April or October and why.
You can respond here or at: downey1@downey1.cnc.net