Baltimore Secular Humanists (BSH)
BSH is a discussion group for exploring issues about morality, science, and society for WASH members or other interested people in the greater Baltimore, MD, area. Most of our members consider themselves to be freethinkers, nontheists (uninterested in supernatural matters or life after this world),atheists (disbelieve in a supreme being), agnostic (not convinced that there is evidence to believe in God),or “not sure” (don’t want to commit themselves on an opinion poll). Baltimore Secular Humanists is a participant in the Baltimore Coalition of Reason (BaltimoreCOR), sponsored by the UnitedCOR. Contact us at info@bsh.wash.org.
To join WASH and become part of the Humanist community, go here.
Upcoming (or recent) Events
The WASH Annual Banquet
Saturday, May 25, 2013, 1 – 4 pm
at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia
Smith Banquet Hall
WASH will hold this year’s annual banquet in historic Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg is also the location of the ultra-conservative, evangelical Liberty University and Thomas Road Baptist Church which was the home institution and headquarters of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell and his “Moral Majority.” We are holding our event right in the “belly” of the fundamentalist beast! Join us!
The event will include a full meal and cash bar
Depending on interest, we might arrange a van to provide transportation from the DC area to Lynchburg. Join us!
Hors D’oeuvres Listings
Cheese and Cracker Display
Crisp Vegetable Display
Dinner Buffet Options
Tossed Salad
Vegetable Medley
Mashed Potato Bar
Mediterranean Chicken
Carved Top Round of Beef
Rolls and Butter
Open Bar
$3 per domestic beer and wine, $4.50 for liquor and imported beer.
1:00 PM: Open Bar and Hors D’oeuvres.
2:00 – 2:45 Dinner served.
2:45 – 4:00 Guest Speaker
4:00 Adjourn
Buy tickets on-line at http://banquet.wash.org
You are invited to attend the Washington Area Secular Humanists’ 2013 Annual Banquet in Lynchburg, Virginia on May 25, 2013. You don’t need to be a member of WASH to attend. All interested persons are welcome. Casual attire.
(Note: The announcement for this event in the April issue of the WASHline newsletter incorrectly stated that there will be an open bar. This is not the case. The bar will be a cash bar. We apologize for the error.)
In addition to a wonderful buffet meal and cash bar and opportunity to meet and socialize with fellow secularists, we are honored to host a guest speaker, psychiatrist and author
Dr. J. Anderson Thomson, Jr.
A synopsis of Dr. Thomson’s talk is given below.
There is also a massive, irreconcilable conflict between science and religion. Religion was humanity’s original cosmology, biology and anthropology. It provided explanations for the origin of the world, life and humans. Science now gives us increasingly complete explanations for those.
J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D. (Andy), will lay out the fundamentals of the cognitive science of religious belief and the supportive evidence. Dr. Thomson is a psychiatrist in private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is also a staff psychiatrist at Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Virginia Student Health Services and the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. He is a Trustee of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.
His current research interest is in the area of evolutionary psychology and using its principles to understand depression, suicide terrorism, and religious belief. Dr. Thomson has published papers on a variety of issues, including racism, narcissistic personality disorder, forensic psychiatry, depression, and PTSD, and has written psychobiographical essays on Lee Harvey Oswald and Robert E. Lee.
His latest book, with Clare Aukofer, Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith, was released in 2011.
Harford County Special Interest Group
Time: May 14, 2013 at 7 pm
Location: Abingdon Public Library, Abingdon, MD
Science Cafe Topic: Lyme Disease, presented by Janet Jensen, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
Harford County Special Interest Group
Time: May 16, 2013 at 7 pm
Location: Havre de Grace City Hall
ELLSWORTH B. SHANK LECTURE SERIES on “Historical APG” presented by Jeff Smart, RDECOM
Command Historian, held at HdG City Hall, 711 Pennington Ave.
Baltimore Meeting
Time: June 4, 2013 at 8 pm
Location: Space Telescope Institute
Speaker: Anand Sivaramakrishnan, on “How to Improve a Telescope by Throwing Away its Light:
Imaging Planets Around Nearby Stars”, at the Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin
Drive, Baltimore, MD
Harford County Special Interest Group
Time: June 11, 2013 at 7 pm
Location: Abingdon Public Library, Abingdon, MD
Topic for Science Cafe – “Dietary Nutrients In Cancer Prevention,” presented by Dr. Peko Tsuji,
Towson University, and former NIH researcher
Harford County Special Interest Group
Time: June 20, 2013, at 7 pm
Location: Havre de Grace City Hall
ELLSWORTH B. SHANK LECTURE SERIES on “Using archaeology to bring local history to life”
presented by Ann Persson. Held at HdG City Hall, 711 Pennington Ave.
Sign up on the BSH meetup site to get emails of special events during the summer.
To see previous events, go to 2013 Past Events
Other links to BSH information and publications:
BSH Meetup Site: Meetup site gives email reminders of BSH events
Harford County Atheists and Secular Humanists SIG Meetup: Events in Harford County, MD
Articles from WASHline publications
Reviews from WASHline publications
Movie Reviews that may be of interest to humanists