New Jersey Humanist Network Schedule Archive

Calendar Archive - Recent Events

Special Notice: NJAAF Fundraiser

For the last several years, NJHN has participated in the annual bowl-a-thon fundraiser for the New Jersey Abortion Access Fund (NJAAF). which provides financial assistance to help women in New Jersey who need financial assistance for abortion care, emergency contraception, options counseling, child care, hotel and transportation costs, and lost wages. We believe that everyone deserves the right and resources to make the pregnancy decisions best for themselves, without economic coercion, shame, or stigma.

This year, NJHN's bowling team, Bowlers Beyond Belief, is on the disabled list, but we are still participating by asking our members and supporters to donate directly to NJAAF. NJAAF is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax deductible. Please visit their website this week during their fundraiser. Click Donate, add your amount, and then click Add special instructions to the seller to add NJHN donor so that we can determine how much our members donated to the fundraiser when it's over. Thank you for continuing to support NJAAF!

Saturday, May 5, 2017: Andrew Zwicker

Our speaker this month is Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, who represents the 16th Legislative District in the New Jersey State Legislature. In the State Assembly, he chairs the newly-created State Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee. Andrew is also a physicist and the Head of Science Education at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

He will discuss the importance of science literacy, the politicization of science, the current challenges faced by the scientific community, and his personal observations of being both a scientist and a politician.

You can find Andrew Zwicker on Facebook and Twitter.

Sunday, April 8, 2018 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Guest speaker Michael Weinstein is the Director of the New Jersey Immunization Network (NJIN).

NJIN's mission is to protect the health of all individuals through timely, age-appropriate immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases by educating the public, healthcare professionals, and policymakers about vaccine safety and benefits.

Michael will update us on the statistics of where we stand with meeting four lifespan vaccination priorities: Hepatitis B birth dose, the general schedule for children before age 3, adolescence, and adults. He'll explain the difference between the positions of vaccine hesitancy and the anti-vaccination movement, and the need for all of us, as parents and peers, and not just the medical community, to encourage following sound, scientific consensus on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

You can also find NJIN on Facebook and Twitter.

Sunday, March 4, 2018 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Guest speaker David Orenstein is co-author of Godless Grace: How Nonbelievers are Making the World Safer, Richer and Kinder.

It is still conventional wisdom, especially among fundamentalist Christians, that God is the source of all morality and it’s impossible for a nonbeliever to be a good person. That atheists and other nonbelievers are per se immoral. And it’s utterly false. Co-authors David Orenstein and Linda Ford Blaikie disprove the smear in the most persuasive possible way: by telling the stories of dozens of real-life nonbelievers who devote their lives to doing good for others. In addition, going beyond the individual profiles, Godless Grace presents a comprehensive picture of nonbelief around the world and predicts where the movement is heading.

Dr. David Orenstein is a full professor and department chairperson at CUNY Medgar Evers College. He is a national and international speaker on issues related to the freethought movement. His writings can be found in American Atheist Magazine, The Humanist Magazine and other print and online freethought publications. He also publishes in higher education and technology journals. He serves as the American Humanist Association’s representative to the United Nations through the DPI/NGO program.

Saturday, February 10, 2018 - 1:30 PM: Documentary Showing of I Am Not Your Negro

To recognize and celebrate Black History Month, please join NJHN for a showing of I Am Not Your Negro, the Oscar-nominated documentary based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript "Remember This House," his personal account of the lives and assassinations of Medgar Evars, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Directed by Raoul Peck and narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. The film is 1 hour, 34 minutes long. After the film, we'll have a roundtable discussion on some of the film's provided discussion questions, such as:

1) Throughout the film, there are moments where seemingly random visuals appear on screen. For instance, young co-eds running in the sun, beautiful pastorals and sunsets -- at one point there is footage of a rocket going into outer space. Why do you think the filmmaker made this artistic choice? What might these different images represent in the context of the film?

2) How did the film portray the struggle for school integration -- the importance of school and access to books and learning -- as well as the vitriol surrounding the effort to integrate?

3) In the film, Baldwin argues that any conversation about the "Negro in America" is really simply a conversation about America, and that attempting to silo [isolate] race not only hinders us from improving race relations, but also undermines growth for our society as a whole. How does this theory relate to the contemporary conversation about race in America?

4) Analyze the following quote: "I can't be pessimistic because I am alive. To be a pessimist means that you treat human life as an academic matter. So I am forced to be an optimist."

Because of the length of the film, we'll start promptly at 1:30pm, followed by discussion.

Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 1:30 PM: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Guest Speaker Reba Holley is the organizer for the Mercer County Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America-NJ, the nonpartisan grassroots movement that started after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.

Part of Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action is mobilizing activists to advocate for stronger laws and policies that will reduce gun violence and save lives, by demanding common-sense solutions from state and federal legislators, corporate leaders, educational institutions, and other influential voices to address the United States' dangerous culture of gun violence, which jeopardizes the safety of our children, families, and all Americans. It advocates for the following goals:

Close the deadly loopholes in our background check system that allow minors and dangerous people like felons and domestic abusers easy access to guns;
Promote gun safety so that America’s children will no longer be exposed to unacceptable levels of risk;
Support reasonable limits on where, when and how loaded guns are carried and used in public; and
Create enforceable laws that address gun trafficking and fraudulent purchasing to keep illegal guns off our streets.

Group Picture 2015

Saturday, December 10, 2017, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM: HumanLight Party

Stage House Tavern
The 76 Room
1719 Amwell Road
Somerset, NJ 08873

Our Unlimited Sunday Brunch Buffet will include:

Hot Table: Scrambled eggs, waffles, Chef's choice of beef, chicken, seafood and pasta dishes, with side dishes such as rice pilaf, bacon, sausage and home fries

House made soup of the day

Cold Table: Assorted danish, muffins, croissants, bagels, house smoked salmon, beet salad, garden salad, caesar salad, antipasto salad, fruit salad and assorted pastries

Omelette Station where omelettes are cooked to order with a variety of fillings to choose from: peppers, onions, tomatoes, ham, bacon, cheeses, and more (or just grilled veggies)

Carving Station featuring Steamship round roast beef and ham sliced at your request

Variety of fruit juices, coffee and tea

Assorted desserts

Cash bar for soda and alcohol

Please make plans now to join us for our last event of 2017 as we prepare for the challenges and opportunities for our Humanist community in 2018.

Cost:
$30 per Adult (NJHN paid members) (you can become a member at our Membership page at any time or at the event)
$35 per Adult (non-members)
$20 per College Student/Adult with Limited Income (Paid members only)
$15 Children age 6-17
Children age 5 and under are free

You can pay by cash, check or credit card at the event. RSVP no later than December 6, 2017 at njhn.org at gmail.com with the names of everyone in your party. Space is limited to 52 people, so RSVP soon.

PLEASE NOTE: The 76 Room is on the first floor of the restaurant so this event is stroller- and handicap-accessible.

If you have any questions about the event, contact Lisa Ridge at njhn.org at gmail.com or call 732-649-8984.

Sunday, November 12, 2017 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Guest speaker Amol Sinha is the new Executive Director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

He will speak about the ACLU's efforts to protect civil liberties now and in the years ahead, focusing on some of the challenges we're currently facing in New Jersey and around the country.

Amol became the ACLU-NJ's new Executive Director in September 2017. Before taking the helm, he led state advocacy campaigns to address wrongful convictions nationwide at the Innocence Project, and before that he directed the Suffolk County Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union. He earned his law degree from Cardozo Law School, Yeshiva University.

“In the first few months, my plan is to travel across the state, listen to the needs of people here, meet with as many organizations, community groups, and people as possible, and make the ACLU completely accessible. I want people across the state to know that we’re here as a partner, to collaborate together to make New Jersey better and more welcoming than it already is.”

You can find ACLU of New Jersey at their website, on Facebook and on Twitter.

Sunday, October 15, 2017 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Guest Speaker Jaclyn Rhoads, PhD, is the Assistant Executive Director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. She will talk about Environmental Issues and Challenges in the New Jersey Pinelands.

Pinelands Preservation Alliance
The Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey is the largest surviving open space on the eastern seaboard between the northern forests of Maine and the Everglades of Florida. The "Pinelands" is an area of over one million acres, stretching over seven counties, designated for special growth management. It is one of America’s foremost efforts to control growth so that people and the rest of nature can live compatibly, preserving vast stretches of forest, rare species of plants and wildlife, and vulnerable freshwater aquifers. With its main economy dependent on tourism and agriculture, the area produces the third-highest number of cranberries and blueberries in the country. At the same time, it is a highly-sought target for industry and suburbanization, including the South Jersey Gas Pipeline recently approved by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission.

The Pinelands Preservation Alliance is the only private non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the resources of the New Jersey Pinelands. You can connect with them on Facebook.

Sunday, September 17, 2017 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Guest Speaker: Fraidy Reiss, the Founder and Executive Director of Unchained at Last

Unchained At Last is the only nonprofit in the US dedicated to helping women escape or resist arranged/forced marriages and rebuild their lives. It is also is the only nonprofit dedicated to promoting social, policy and legal change to end forced and child marriage in America.

Fraidy Reiss was 19 when her family arranged for her to marry a man who turned out to be violent. But with no education or job, in an insular religious community where only men have the right to grant a divorce, she felt trapped. But Fraidy persevered, graduated from Rutgers University with a journalism degree at age 32, and founded Unchained At Last.

Sunday, August 20, 2017 - 1:00 to 6:00 PM: Annual Summer Picnic

One of our biggest events of the year, it's a great time to visit with old friends and make new ones, with plenty of good food and a chance to support our Humanist group!

Picnic Menu (provided):

Hamburgers, sausages, hot dogs, and buns (or bring your own grillables - different grill available for meatless options)
Garnishes and condiments
Beverages: Water (bring your own soda/tea)
All plates, cups, napkins, and utensils

Please bring a favorite side dish or dessert to share. If your last name starts with:

A-M: bring a dessert, e.g., cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, or your favorite
N-Z: bring a hot or cold side dish, e.g., bean, potato, pasta or veggie salad, fresh veggie tray, or your favorite

PLEASE NOTE: Somerset County parks do not allow alcohol.

RSVP to Lisa Ridge at [email protected] or call 732-649-8984 by Friday, August 18, so that we know how much food to prepare, and indicate whether you'll bring a side dish or dessert to share.

Adults $15 ($10 for NJHN members)
children 12-17 $5
children under 12 FREE.

You can pay at the picnic by cash, check or credit card. Checks should be made payable to: New Jersey Humanist Network.

We have a covered pavilion so we won't cancel due to rain.
Dogs permitted, only if friendly and on a leash.
Bring your favorite picnic party games and get to know your fellow Humanists.
Bring a friend who has expressed an interest in Humanism.
Wear your favorite freethought apparel.
Bring your walking shoes and your bikes.
Bring your musical instruments and a few songs to share.
Details about park activities can be found at the park's website (link below).

The Picnic is the best time to renew your annual NJHN membership dues or become a new dues-paying member. All of our programs and other activities are made possible by your financial support. Thank you!

Duke Island Park
Pavilion Grove Picnic Area (area 6 on park map)
Parking in area A on the park map

Sunday, June 18, 2017 - 1:30 PM: How Are You Doing?

Let's do a six-month checkup on each other since our democracy has taken a serious turn toward...something else. Have you been participating in protests, advocacy events, communicating with your elected officials? Have you turned off the TV, radio, news websites and explored new coping hobbies? What are your summer plans for vacation or home projects? Where's your favorite beach? Share your favorite grilling recipes.

This will be only a 2-hour meeting, just to connect with fellow Humanists before our summer break. We'll be discussing our slate of candidates for the NJHN Board of Directors, to be elected at the Summer Picnic. You can also renew your membership dues.

Sunday, March 12, 2017 - 1:30 PM: How we can embrace a more inclusive Humanism

Sincere Kirabo

Guest Speaker Sincere Kirabo will discuss how Humanists can evolve our capacity for accountability, compassion, and critical inquiry to more adequately critique and confront oppressive social hierarchies.

Sincere Kirabo is the Social Justice Coordinator at the American Humanist Association. Sincere is a longtime humanist activist and writer. He has been published in various online and print media including The Humanist, Huffington Post, Everyday Feminism, Salon, and Alternet. Sincere is also the recipient of the 2014 O’Hair Scholarship from American Atheists in recognition of his activism promoting the civil rights of atheists and separation of religion from government.

Sunday, February 19, 2017 - 1:30 PM: Denying to the Grave

Denying to the Grave

A great deal of attention has been paid recently to science denial promulgated at the highest levels of government and in the public forum. This politicization of science adds to the multiple reasons that people choose to ignore scientific evidence and make personal health decisions that are incompatible with the data.

Our speakers are daughter and faher, Sara E. Gorman, PhD, MPH, and Jack Gorman, MD,
authors of Denying To the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us, published in 2016.

The authors say: "We argue that the basis for science denial rests in the normal psychology and biology of the human mind. In addition, our reactions to scientific finding can be hijacked by demagogues and self-interest groups that manipulate the already imperfect way in which we see facts and evaluate risk. We will review several of the key factors behind science denial and show how both liberal and conservative political ideologies are prone to incorporate incorrect scientific ideas. As examples of these phenomena, we will discuss climate change, GMOs, vaccinations, and personal gun ownership. In addition to discussing the factors that contribute to science denial, we will share a number of practical ways to combat it in a wide variety of settings and introduce our new organization, Critica, a community devoted to critical thinking and the rational application of scientific evidence to healthcare decision-making."

Sunday, January 15, 2017 - 1:30 PM: End Injustice For All

NJ Coalition against Human Trafficking

Guest speaker Susan Panzica of the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking

Since January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, let's talk about it. Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. It is a rapidly growing criminal industry second only to drug dealing and equal in scope to arms dealing. Although it is a huge and growing problem, there are ways we each can make a difference locally and globally to rid the planet of this heinous crime. Community awareness of how to identify potential trafficking situations can be the difference between slavery and freedom. Learn about the issue and what you can do to make a impact.

Saturday, December 18, 2016, 11:00 - 3:00 PM: 16th Annual HumanLight Party

The Loft of the Stage House Tavern
1719 Amwell Road
Somerset, NJ 08873

Our unlimited Sunday Brunch Buffet will include:

Hot Table: Scrambled eggs, waffles, Chef's choice of beef, chicken, seafood and pasta dishes, with side dishes such as rice pilaf, bacon, sausage and home fries

House made soup of the day

Cold Table: Assorted danish, muffins, croissants, bagels, house Smoked salmon, beet salad, garden salad, caesar salad, antipasto salad, fruit salad and assorted pastries

Omelette Station where omelettes are cooked to order with a variety of fillings to choose from: peppers, onions, tomatoes, ham, bacon, cheeses, and more (or just grilled veggies)

Carving Station featuring Steamship round roast beef and ham sliced at your request

Variety of fruit juices, coffee and tea

Assorted desserts, including a chocolate station and crème brulee

Cash bar for soda and alcohol

Please make plans now to join us for our last event of 2016 as we prepare for the challenges and opportunities for our Humanist community in 2017. Musical performance by Erica Cohn.

Cost:
$30 per Adult (NJHN paid members) (you can become a member at our Membership page at any time or at the event)
$35 per Adult (non-members)
$20 per College Student/Adult with Limited Income (Paid members only)
$15 Children age 6-17
Children age 5 and under are FREE!

You can pay by cash, check or credit card at the event. RSVP no later than December 14, 2016 at njhn.org at gmail.com with the names of everyone in your party. Space is limited to 65 people, so RSVP soon.

PLEASE NOTE: This event is on the 2nd floor of the restaurant and is not stroller- or handicap-accessible. There are stairs, but no elevator. Please let Lisa know if you would like assistance with the stairs.

This year, NJHN is holding a Virtual Food Drive for the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. While we will continue making food donations at our monthly program meetings, the truth is that CFBNJ can obtain $10 worth of food for every $1 donation made. Please visit our Food Drive Page and make a donation if you can. Our goal is to raise $1,000 by the end of December 2016. Thanks!

If you have any questions about the event, contact Lisa Ridge at njhn.org at gmail.com or call 732-649-8984.

Our November meeting will be a trip to the movies to see Loving, the historical drama about Richard and Mildred Loving, the plaintiffs in the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia, which invalidated state laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The date, time and theater will be determined once the film is in full release after its limited opening on November 4th.

Saturday, October 22, 2016 - 9:45-12:00 PM: Beach Cleanup - Postponed to April 2017 due to inclement weather

We will again join with members of Red Bank Humanists and Madison Atheists to participate in Clean Ocean Action's annual Beach Sweep. Join us as we remove and record data about the garbage we find on Bradley Beach.

Let's gather at 9:45am. Our meeting place will be the Clean Ocean Action table at the Gazebo at 5th & Ocean Ave.

If you have trouble finding us, call Lisa Ridge (732-425-5233 cell). Parking is available on the street.

Please dress appropriately for the weather (including layers), wear hard-soled shoes, and bring gloves, a hat and sunscreen. If you've got your own trash picker device, bring it. You can bring your own water and snacks, but those are usually provided. Trash bags will also be provided. We're asked to stay off the dunes and always respect the wildlife.

Bradley Beach Gazebo
5th & Ocean Ave
Bradley Beach, NJ
(map and directions)

Sunday, September 11 - 1:30 to 4:00 PM: Anything for a Vote

Joseph Cummins - Anything for a Vote

About as timely as it gets...

Guest Speaker: Joseph Cummins, author of Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Campaigns (2007/updated 2015)

Joseph Cummins is the author of numerous works of popular history. He teaches English at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City. Follow him on Twitter:

According to Cummins, there were only two clean political campaigns in American history, and that's just because George Washington ran unopposed. After that, slurs, insults and dirty tricks were the norm.

You might think today’s politicians play rough—but history reveals that dirty tricks are as American as apple pie. This revised and updated edition of Anything for a Vote covers 225-plus years of smear campaigns and bad behavior in U.S. presidential elections, from George Washington to Barack Obama. This presentation will also cover the 2016 election season.

We will have books available for purchase and Joe will sign those at the end of the meeting. If you have your own copy, you can bring it for Joe to sign.

Sunday, August 7, 2015 - 1:00 to 6:00 PM: Annual Summer Picnic!

One of our biggest events of the year -- a great time to visit with old friends and make new ones, with plenty of good food and a chance to support our humanist group!

Picnic Menu (provided):

Grilled chicken, hamburgers, sausages, hot dogs, and buns (different grill available if you bring your own meatless grillables)

Garnishes and condiments

Beverages: Water (bring your own soda/tea)

All plates, cups and utensils

Please bring a favorite side dish or dessert to share. If your last name starts with:

A-M: bring a dessert, e.g., cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, or your favorite

N-Z: bring a hot or cold side dish, e.g., bean, potato, pasta or veggie salad, fresh veggie tray, or your favorite

PLEASE NOTE: Somerset County parks do not allow alcohol.

Cost:

Adults $15 ($10 for NJHN members)

Children 12-17 $5

Children under 12 FREE.

You can pay at the picnic by cash, check or credit card. Checks should be made payable to: New Jersey Humanist Network.

We have a covered pavilion so we won't cancel due to rain

Dogs permitted, only if friendly and on a leash

Bring your favorite picnic party games and get to know your fellow Humanists.

Bring a friend who has expressed an interest in Humanism.

Wear your favorite freethought apparel.

Bring your walking shoes and your bikes!

Details about park activities can be found at the park's website (link below).

RSVP to Lisa Ridge or call 732-649-8984 by Friday, August 5, so that we know how much food to prepare, and indicate whether you'll bring a side dish or dessert to share.

The Picnic is the best time to renew your annual NJHN membership dues or become a new dues-paying member. All of our programs and other activities are made possible by your financial support. Thank you!

You can also renew online.

Duke Island Park
Old York Road, Bridgewater , NJ
Pavilion Grove Picnic Area (area 6 on park map)

Saturday, June 25, 2016 - 6:00 PM: Program Meeting

Wine and Appetizers Reception and Screening of the documentary A Better Life: An Exploration of Joy & Meaning in a World Without God with director Chris Johnson.

The book A Better Life and DVDs of the documentary will be for sale at the event. More details forthcoming.

PeopleCare Center Auditorium
120 Finderne Avenue
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 1:30 PM: David Silverman, President of American Atheists

Guest speaker David Silverman is the author of a new book: Fighting God: An Atheist Manifesto for a Religious World.

This new book is a firebrand manifesto from one of the most recognizable faces of atheism. In his book, David Silverman - a walking, talking atheist billboard known for his appearances on Fox News - discusses the effectiveness, ethics and impact of the in-your-face-atheist who refuses to be silent.

Fighting God is a provocative, unapologetic book that takes religion to task and will give inspiration to non-believers and serve as the ultimate answer to apologists.

David will be available to sign books after the Q&A.

Sunday, April 17, 2016 - 1:30 PM: Citizens' Climate Lobby

Guest Speaker: Callie Hancock, Group Leader of the Princeton Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby

Join us for a talk about creating the political will to solve climate change. Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change.

Callie Hancock is an architect and mother of two from Princeton. In January 2013 she started the Citizens' Climate Lobby's Princeton chapter and gives talks on solving climate change around the area.

Callie will discuss CCL's Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal, a revenue-neutral carbon tax that would positively impact the climate and the economy.

Sunday, March 27, 2016 - 10:00 AM: Group Trip to American Museum of Natural History (New York City)

American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024-5192

Sunday, February 28, 2016 - 1:30 PM: Darwin's Dogs: Evolutionary Insights into the Domesticated Dog

Bridget vonHoldt

Guest Speaker for our Annual Darwin Day Program: Dr. Bridgett vonHoldt, Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University

Dr. vonHoldt will be sharing her research on the genetics of dog domestication and with the North American Canine Ancestry Project. Dr. vonHoldt says Darwin always had a soft spot in his heart/research/writing for dogs as an analogy of natural selection.

Emma Townshend, author of Darwin's Dogs: How Darwin's Pets Helped Form a World-Changing Theory of Evolution, wrote that if you have ever looked at a dog waiting to go for a walk and thought there was something age-old and almost human about his sad expression, you’re not alone; Charles Darwin did exactly the same. But Darwin didn’t just stop at feeling that there was some connection between humans and dogs. He used his much-loved dogs as evidence in his continuing argument that all animals including human beings, descended from one common ancestor.

Dr. vonHoldt and her lab team continue this research in the 21st century.

HumanLight attendees

Saturday, December 12, 2015, 11:30 - 3:30 PM: 15th Annual HumanLight Party

Madeline's on Vosseller
518 Vosseller Ave
Bound Brook, NJ 08805
(map and directions)

This year's party will be a brunch, featuring made to order scrambled eggs with choice of fixings, Belgian waffles, bacon, sausage, roasted potatoes, along with a beef carving station, chicken, pasta, and salad selections, fresh bagels, muffins, danish, coffee cakes, coffee, hot teas, and a chocolate fondue station.

We will also hold our annual Silent Auction and plan some fun surprises.

So please make plans now to join us for our last party of the year as we celebrate our success in 2015, and look forward to another great year for our Humanist community in 2016! RSVP at the link below.

Registration for this event is closed.

If you have any questions about the event, contact Lisa Ridge at njhn.org at gmail.com or call 732-649-8984.

Sunday, November 22, 2015 - 1:30 PM: David Niose, Attorney and Author

David Niose is the author of the bestselling books Fighting Back the Right: Reclaiming America from the Attack on Reason and Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans, as well as the popular Psychology Today blog Our Humanity Naturally.

Having served as president of two national advocacy organizations, the American Humanist Association and the Secular Coalition for America, David is also an attorney who has litigated constitutional cases all over the country. He is currently the Legal Director of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center in Washington, DC.

Sunday, October 18, 2015 - 1:30 PM: Janice Rael - Secular Activist

We welcome national, state, and local secular activist Janice Rael, former NJHN board member and the co-organizer of Gloucester County Humanists, who will talk to us about several national projects that will be of interest to our members. First, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Secular Coalition for New Jersey (SCNJ), Janice will tell us about the Secular Coalition for America's Put Kids First campaign, a nationwide effort to end nonmedical exemptions to vaccines. She will also update us on SCNJ's goal of working with Compassion and Choices New Jersey to pass New Jersey's death with dignity bill.

Then, in her capacity as the President of the Delaware Valley Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Janice will explain Americans United's new front in the fight against religiously-motivated discrimination, with AU's Protect They Neighbor campaign. Everyone will have an opportunity to pose with a Protect Thy Neighbor shield with OUR reasons why we want to protect our neighbors from religious bigotry. The photos will be used in a project on the Protect Thy Neighbor website.

Janice Rael is the Founder and President of the Delaware Valley Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (DVAU). Janice is a grassroots activist who has focused on various church-state separation issues throughout the years, including religious freedom, women’s rights, LGBT equality, supporting public education, and promoting science literacy. Janice is also a co-organizer of Gloucester County Humanists and Camden County Humanists in New Jersey, and recently completed a 3-year term on the Board of Directors of NJHN. She currently sits on the Executive Committees of the Secular Coalition for New Jersey and the Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania.

Janice also runs several popular Facebook Pages, and she is the creator of the science/space/humor page Tysonism, with over 70,000 fans, which promotes a secular religion that worships astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Sunday, September 13, 2015 - 1:30 PM: Dan Parker - Life Driven Purpose

Guest speaker Dan Barker will talk about his new book, Life Driven Purpose.

Because he is speaking at Red Bank in the morning, he will arrive later than our usual speakers. He should be on by 2:30 PM.

Sunday, August 2, 2015 - 1:00 to 6:00 PM: Annual Summer Picnic!

One of our biggest events of the year -- a great time to visit with old friends and make new ones, with plenty of good food and a chance to support our humanist group!

Picnic Menu (provided):
* Grilled chicken, hamburgers, sausages, hot dogs, and buns (different grill available if you bring your own meatless grillables)
* Garnishes and condiments
* Beverages: Water (bring your own soda/tea)
* All plates, cups and utensils
* Hot dish buffet setup will be available (for 11-3/4in x 9- 3/8in x 2-9/16in aluminum trays)

Please bring a favorite side dish or dessert to share. If your last name starts with:
* A-M: bring a hot or cold side dish, e.g., bean, potato, pasta or veggie salad, fresh veggie tray, or your favorite
* N-Z: bring a dessert, e.g., cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, or your favorite

PLEASE NOTE: Somerset County parks do not allow alcohol.

Cost:

Adults $15 ($10 for NJHN members)

Children 12-17 $5

Children under 12 FREE.

You can pay at the picnic by cash, check or credit card. Checks should be made payable to: New Jersey Humanist Network.

We have a covered pavilion so we won't cancel due to rain

Dogs permitted, only if friendly and on a leash

Bring your favorite picnic party games and get to know your fellow Humanists.

Bring a friend who has expressed an interest in Humanism.

Wear your favorite freethought apparel.

Bring your walking shoes and your bikes!

Details about park activities can be found at the park's website (link below).

RSVP to Lisa Ridge or call 732-649-8984 by Friday, July 31, so that we know how much food to prepare, and indicate whether you'll bring a side dish or dessert to share.

The Picnic is the best time to renew your annual NJHN membership dues or become a new dues-paying member. All of our programs and other activities are made possible by your financial support. Thank you!

You can also renew online.

At the picnic we will elect members of the NJHN Board of Directors. All dues-paying members are eligible to vote.
Slate of Candidates

Duke Island Park
Old York Road, Bridgewater , NJ
Pavilion Grove Picnic Area (area 6 on park map)

Sunday, June 14, 2015 - 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM: Vox Humana: A Concert Program on Themes of Humanism

The Westminster Conservatory Kaleidoscope Concert Series presents a unique program of concert music and readings, based on themes of Humanism.

The concert will feature Danielle Sinclair, Jennifer Winn, and Elizabeth Boyce-Jacino sopranos; Todd Reichart, singer and reader; Michael Jacobsen and Kathy Shanklin, pianists; along with Ruth Ochs and the Kaleidoscope orchestra, performing music by great freethinking composers including Barber, Copland, Ives, and others. Free of charge and open to the public.

Hillman Hall is in the new Marion Buckelew Cullen Center (#19 on this campus map) Parking is free for events in the campus lots.

Hillman Hall
Westminster Choir College
101 Walnut Ln
Princeton, NJ 08540
(map and directions)

Sunday, June 28, 2015 - 1:30 PM: American Freethought, part 3

We will continue with Part 2 of the 4-part DVD series American Freethought.

Produced by Roderick Bradford and The Council for Secular Humanism, this series examines our nation's freethought, atheist, and humanist heritage from the American Revolution to the 1930s. American freethinkers fought for free speech, women's rights, separation of church and state, and above all, liberty. Each part is about 55 minutes long.

Part 1 dealt with the founding of the nation, and Part 2 dealt with the abolition movement that seeded the women's rights and freethought movements.

Part 3 deals with the mainstream press and the alternative press. Victoria Woodhull, D.M. Bennett's The Truth Seeker and Thomas H. Huxley promote Darwinian evolution. Abraham Lincoln and his views on religion. Founding of the National Liberal League and the National Defense Association, forerunner of the ACLU. Anthony Comstock targets birth control advocate Edward B. Foote, free love activist Ezra Heywood, and D.M. Bennett. Bennett's historic obscenity trial, his conviction and imprisonment, hastening his death.

The video will start at 1:45 pm. Open discussion to follow.

After the meeting, everyone is welcome to join us for an early dinner at Ruby Tuesday.

**NOTE: We collect nonperishable, unexpired food items for donation to the Franklin Twp Food Bank at every meeting. There are collection bins at the library where we can add our items.

Franklin Township Library
485 DeMott Lane
Somerset, NJ 08873
(map and directions)

Ruby Tuesday
250 Davidson Avenue
Somerset, NJ
(map and directions)

Sunday, May 17, 2015 - 1:30 PM: The Soul Fallacy

Guest Speaker: Julien Musolino, Ph.D., author of the newly released book The Soul Fallacy: What Science Shows We Gain from Letting Go of Our Soul Beliefs, published by Prometheus Books

Dr. Julien Musolino says that the existence of the soul, as commonly understood, is open to scientific investigation. He concludes that modern science has a better way of explaining human identity, a way that adds to our appreciation of the wonders of being alive.

Dr. Musolino is a Franco-American cognitive scientist and an Associate Professor at Rutgers University where he directs the Psycholinguistics Laboratory and holds a dual appointment in the Department of Psychology and the internationally renowned Center for Cognitive Science. He is the author of over 30 scientific articles and his research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Unfortunately, we will not have books at the meeting, but signed books can be ordered for later delivery.

Sunday, April 18, 2015 - 7:00 PM: Bowlers Beyond Belief Fundraiser for NJAAF

Our bowling team, NJHN Bowlers Beyond Belief, will participate in the New Jersey Abortion Access Fund (NJAAF) 2015 Bowl-a-Thon. To join our bowling team, or to make a donation to our team, visit our team page.

NJAAF is part of the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF). You can find NJAAF on Facebook.

ALL DONATIONS TO NJAAF ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE (AS ARE DONATIONS DIRECTLY TO NJHN TO BE ALLOCATED TO THIS FUNDRAISER).

Please share our page with your family and friends and ask for their support of this important effort to help women pay for abortion care, emergency contraception, options counseling, child care during abortion procedures, and transportation costs to clinics.

Sunday, April 19, 2015 - 1:00 PM: The New Jersey Devil: You Have No Idea!

Brian Regal

Guest Speaker - Professor Brian Regal of Kean University (one of our most popular past speakers)

Forget the monster, the myth, the legend. The Jersey Devil involves Colonial era Quaker infighting, a family of Almanac makers and religious heretics, a cross-dressing Governor, and Benjamin Franklin.

The program will start at 1:30 pm. After the meeting, everyone is welcome to join us for an early dinner at Ruby Tuesday.

**NOTE: We collect nonperishable, unexpired food items for donation to the Franklin Twp Food Bank at every meeting. There are collection bins at the library where we can add our items.

Saturday, May 2, 2015 - 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM: Garage Sale

Bring out your...Stuff! This is a good fundraiser for us and we have a fun day. Member Holly Hotchkiss is hosting the sale at her home in Plainsboro.

We need your help in several ways:

Donate quality items for sale. Everything should be in working order with complete parts. This is a good time to clean out all the religious gifts you've received over the years, especially if you deconverted recently, that you no longer want to keep. Rosaries, saint necklaces, holy books, statuary, artwork, etc. Same with religious holiday decorations and unused cards. This stuff sells well and the proceeds go to a good cause.
Transport donated items to Holly's home during the week before the sale.
Lend us some folding tables for sale day.
Help with organizing and pricing items the night before -- Friday, May 1.
Assist with the sale for a few hours.
Assist with setup early in the morning or breakdown at the end of the day.
Stop by on sale day to find your next treasure!

Items can be dropped off at any of our upcoming meetings before May 1. Unless you tell us that you want any unsold items returned, we will donate them to another charity like Goodwill. High quality unsold items will be held for the next sale. Any questions about appropriate donations or other dropoff arrangements, please ask or send me a message.

Sunday, March 29, 2015 - 1:30 PM: American Freethought, part 2

We will continue with Part 2 of the 4-part DVD series American Freethought.

Produced by Roderick Bradford and The Council for Secular Humanism, this series examines our nation's freethought, atheist, and humanist heritage from the American Revolution to the 1930s. American freethinkers fought for free speech, women's rights, separation of church and state, and above all, liberty. Each part is about 55 minutes long.

We watched Part 1 in November, dealing with the founding of the nation.

Part 2 deals with the abolition movement that seeds the women's rights and freethought movements: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Seneca Falls women's rights conference; suffragist-freethinker Matilda Joslyn Gage; Darwin's Origin of Species; religious resistance: the American Tract Society, morals crusader Anthony Comstock, D.M. Bennett, editor of The Truth Seeker; rise of The Great Agnostic, Robert Green Ingersoll; dawn of America's first Culture Wars.

The video will start at 1:45 pm. Open discussion to follow.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 7:00 PM: HCRU Event - What Can Science Say About the Soul?

A Talk & Book Signing by Julien Musolino, Ph.D., author of the newly released book The Soul Fallacy: What Science Shows We Gain from Letting Go of Our Soul Beliefs, published by Prometheus Books

Dr. Julien Musolino says that the existence of the soul, as commonly understood, is open to scientific investigation. He concludes that modern science has a better way of explaining human identity, a way that adds to our appreciation of the wonders of being alive.

Dr. Musolino is a Franco-American cognitive scientist and an Associate Professor at Rutgers University where he directs the Psycholinguistics Laboratory and holds a dual appointment in the Department of Psychology and the internationally renowned Center for Cognitive Science. He is the author of over 30 scientific articles and his research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Rutgers University
College Ave Student Center
Room 411ABC
126 College Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ
(map and directions)

FREE PARKING for Visitors in Lots 26, 30 and Deck

Sunday, February 22, 2015 - 1:30 PM: Darwin Day Program - The History of Anti-Evolution Movements in the United States

Guest Speaker: Donald Lovett, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at The College of New Jersey

A Q&A session will follow the talk.

What is Darwin Day?

Sunday, January 18, 2015 - 1:30 PM: Aid-in-Dying and other End-of-Life Choices

Guest Speaker: Ethan Andersen of Compassion & Choices NJ

Ethan Andersen will discuss the Aid-in-Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, a piece of New Jersey legislation that would allow terminally ill, mentally competent adults the choice to self-administer a medication that would end their lives in a peaceful and dignified way. He will outline the various religious bodies and advocacy groups that actively fight against passage of the legislation, and the actions we can take to help the bill become law in New Jersey. We will also show excerpts from the documentary How to Die in Oregon which won the Sundance Film Festival's U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Award in 2011.

Current law in NJ relating to advance directives.

Free and open to the public. A Q&A session will follow the talk, and petitions will be available to sign.

Ethan Andersen is a Field Organizer for Compassion & Choices, the nation's leading End of Life Choice advocacy organization. He is also a Senior majoring in Finance at Rutgers University, and a lifelong humanist.

Sunday, December 21, 2014, 12:00 - 4:00 PM: 14th Annual HumanLight Party

Created by NJHN members, HumanLight is a secular December holiday, celebrated around the country since 2001.
The holiday celebrates and expresses humanist ideals and values, and a positive vision of a peaceful, ethical,
and happy world - a better future which humanity can build by working together.
Please visit humanlight.org for more info.
Morris County Cultural Center

300 Mendham Road (CR 510/24)
Morristown, NJ 07960
(map & directions)

Keynote Speaker

Nikki Stern
Journalist and Author of Hope in Small Doses

Lisa Ridge, President
NJHN at 20: Reflections on Our Past, Present & Future

Buffet Menu
Appetizers: Assorted Cheeses, Hummus & Dips with Fresh Veggies, Crackers & Pita Bread
Pasta: Penne with Roasted Peppers & Garlic (vegan)

Entrees: Chicken Marsala, Italian Meatballs & Eggplant Parmesan (vegetarian)

Cold Cut Platter with Roast Beef, Turkey Breast, Ham, Genoa Salami, Swiss & American Cheese,
Relish Tray with Pickles, Olives, Lettuce, Tomatoes & Cherry Peppers, Rye Bread & Rolls

Salad Bar with Tossed Greens, Romaine Lettuce, Tomatoes,
Cucumbers, Olives, Red Onions, Broccoli, Carrots, Potato Salad,
Cole Slaw, Macaroni Salad, Croutons & Assorted Dressings

Dessert
Dessert: Apple Crisp, Brownie Bites, Cookies, Cinnamon Roll Bites & Fresh Fruit

Beverages
Beverages: Hot Coffee & Tea, Iced tea & Water, BYOB for Alcohol & Soda

Be sure to tell us if you have any special dietary needs or restrictions.

Music
TBA

Entertainment
TBA
Reservations are required to attend. Please RSVP no later than December 17th.
Pay Online
Pay by Check or At the Door

Each year NJHN makes a donation to the Franklin Township Food Bank.
FTFB asks for these food items (unexpired and no glass jars):
peanut butter, jelly, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, beans, canned fruit,
canned vegetables, cereal, and canned tuna fish.

Alternatively you can make a cash donation.

Saturday, December 13, 2014 - 1:00 PM: Community Action Day and Art Contest

NJHN is hosting its first Community Action Day with the NJHN Families Group. All NJHN members and supporters, including parents and their children of all ages, are encouraged to help make this day happen by coming by the library between 1-4pm with donations for four charitable causes (described at the link below). We will have four tables where donated items and financial contributions will be collected. Children will manage each table (with adult assistance) and there will be age-appropriate tasks for everyone age 3 and up.

We will also hold an Art Contest for children up to age 17 around the theme of HumanLight: Celebrating Reason, Compassion, and Hope. Art supplies will be provided, or you can bring your own. Prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd best in age categories 3-6, 7-11, and 12-17 will be announced at our HumanLight party on Sunday, December 21, at the Morris County Cultural Center.

Free pizza and beverages will be provided.

Four charitable causes have been selected for our support in 2014. We are asking for donated items and/or financial contributions that we will collect and distribute according to donors' wishes. Two are nonprofit organizations that provide food and support services to those in need, and one is a nonprofit animal rescue organization. Our fourth cause is to provide financial support to those in need within our own Humanist community.

All donations to NJHN are tax-deductible. Receipts will be provided at the event. Donation deadline is December 13.

Click here for information about the charities and links to donate.

Saturday, November 22, 2014 - 1:30 PM: American Freethought, parts 1 and 2

We will start watching the 4-part DVD series American Freethought.

Each part is about 55 minutes long. We'll start with Part 1, and after a short intermission and discussion, decide if we want to watch Part 2 right away or at our January 2015 meeting.

Part 1 deals with the founding of the nation, rich in religious contradictions: Ethan Allen, America's first freethought author; Thomas Jefferson; Thomas Paine's life, career, and his seminal book The Age of Reason; rise of the abolition movement; some radical abolitionists break from the churches: Elizur Wright and Lucretia Mott.

Sunday, November 9, 2014 - 4:00 to 7:00 PM: Carl Sagan Day Celebration

Carl Sagan quote

New Jersey Humanist Network and American Atheists invite you to our Carl Sagan Day Celebration of the life and scientific contributions of Carl Sagan (Nov. 9, 1934-Dec. 20, 1996) at the American Atheists Center in Cranford, NJ.

Carl Sagan's many books, television appearances (most notably Cosmos), and NASA projects influenced a generation of thinkers and space enthusiasts.

This has been a big year for Carl's legacy, with the remake of his incredible series COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey earlier this year, with the help of Carl's wife and remake creator Ann Druyan, and host Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Speakers will cover the influence that Carl had on their own passion for science, space exploration, and critical thinking. We will also show some of the best Sagan videos.

Prizes will be awarded in three contest categories:

Best Apple Pie from Scratch
Best Carl Sagan Look-a-Like (dig out those turtlenecks and corduroy blazers)
Coolest Carl Sagan-themed T-shirt.

Please bring a favorite potluck appetizer or dessert to share. This event is BYOB. Donations at the door will be most appreciated.

If you plan to come, send email to rsvp at njhn.org with the number attending and names. Space is limited to 50 people, so RSVP as soon as possible.

American Atheists Center
225 Cristiani St
Cranford, NJ 07016
(map and directions)

Saturday, October 25, 2014 - 5:00 to 9:00 PM: Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

NJHN will be participating in the 2014 Light the Night Walk fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We'll be one of many teams raising funds under the Foundation Beyond Belief banner.

We need walkers and donors. Please visit our Team Page and sign up as a walker or make a donation of any amount you can. Help us raise awareness and money for the treatment of blood cancers.

The Foundation Beyond Belief teams have raised nearly $1 million for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society since 2012.

Princeton Forrestal Village
206 Rockingham Row
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
(map and directions)

Saturday, October 18, 2014 - 8:00 PM: Trip to Camp Evans Base of Terror

CEBOT Let's experience the 100-year-old experimental research grounds and Army Base on a most terrifying and disturbing 1/2 mile-long journey. The true and weird New Jersey history of this National Historic Landmark includes a century of top-secret and experimental research in radar, radio, satellites, radioactive materials and much more that has yet to be declassified.

ADMISSION
$15.00 General Admission
$10.00 Reduced Group Rate for 10 or more
$10.00 Reduced Rate for Police/EMT/Fire/Military

Younger than 18 must be accompanied by guardian. Recommended for ages 12 and up.

We'll meet at 8:00 pm in the parking lot near the gate entrance and go in together. Rain will cancel, and our rain date will be Friday, October 24, 8pm.

Camp Evans Base of Terror (CEBOT) is an all-volunteer effort to raise money for the operation of The InfoAge Science History Learning Center and Museum and preserve the grounds of a National Historic Landmark.

Camp Evans Base of Terror
InfoAge Science History Museum
2201 Marconi Road
Wall Township, NJ 07719
(map and directions)

Saturday, October 11, 2014 - 1:30 PM: The Bigot: Why Prejudice Persists

the bigot Guest Speaker: Professor Stephen Eric Bronner

Stephen Eric Bronner is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University. He is also Director of Global Relations for its Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights and on the Executive Committee of UNESCO Chair for Genocide Prevention. He is a prolific author, activist, and one of America’s leading political thinkers.

His new book The Bigot: Why Prejudice Persists presents bigotry as a systematic, all-encompassing mindset that has a special affinity for right-wing movements. Exploring its appeal, the self-image it justifies, the interests it serves, and its complex connection with modernity, he reveals how prejudice shapes the conspiratorial and paranoid worldview of the true believer, the elitist, and the chauvinist. In the process, it becomes apparent how the bigot hides behind mainstream conservative labels in order to support policies designed to disadvantage the targets of his contempt. Examining bigotry in its various dimensions—anthropological, historical, psychological, sociological, and political—Professor Bronner illustrates how the bigot’s intense hatred of “the other” is a direct reaction to social progress, liberal values, secularism, and an increasingly complex and diverse world. A sobering look at the bigot in the 21st century, this volume is essential for making sense of the dangers facing democracy now and in the future.

Sunday, September 14, 2014 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Kathryn Joyce

Speaker: Kathryn Joyce, journalist and author of The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking and the New Gospel of Adoption, and Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement.

The Child Catchers exposes the way conservative evangelicals help orchestrate a boom-and-bust adoption market in countries where people are poor, regulations are weak, and families are vulnerable to these agencies that are sending representatives abroad to recruit "orphans." It is not uncommon for these orphans to come from caring families who have a different understanding of adoption than Americans do: They agree to send their children away, thinking it's temporary — for a better education and opportunities — and that the child will eventually return. The fallout is tragic for all involved. Especially the children caught in the middle

Sunday, August 17, 2014 - 1:30 PM: The Garden State: Where Ideas Grow

Speaker: Linda Barth, author of A History of Inventing in New Jersey: From Thomas Edison to the Ice Cream Cone

Commemorating the 350th anniversary of the founding of New Jersey, join us for a talk by New Jersey history author Linda Barth as she explores groundbreaking, useful, fun, and even silly inventions and their New Jersey roots.

Many people are familiar with Edison’s “invention factory” in Menlo Park, where he patented the phonograph, the light bulb and many more innovations. Yet many other ideas have grown in the Garden State, too. New Jerseyans brought sound and music to movies and built the very first drive-in theater. In addition to the first cultivated blueberry, tasty treats like ice cream cones and M&M’s® are also Jersey natives. Iconic aspects of American life, like Bubble Wrap®, the boardwalk, the Band-Aid®, and even professional baseball itself started in New Jersey. Life would be a lot harder without the vacuum cleaner, plastic, and air-conditioning, and many other important advances in medicine and surgery were developed here. New Jersey inventors and innovators have changed the lives of people around the world.

Linda will have copies of her book for sale after the meeting.

Saturday, July 26, 2014 - 12:30 to 6:00 PM: Annual NJHN Picnic

One of our biggest events of the year - a great time to visit with old friends and make new ones, with plenty of good food and a chance to support our Humanist group!

Rain or shine!

Picnic Menu (provided by NJHN):

Grilled chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, veggie burgers and buns

Garnishes and condiments

Beverages: Iced tea and water (bring your own soda)

All plates, cups and utensils

Hot dish buffet setup

We have an alcohol permit, so feel free to BYOB.

You also can bring your own food for grilling.

Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. If your last name begins with:
A - M: a hot or cold side dish (e.g., bean, potato, pasta or veggie salad, fresh veggie platter, etc.)
N - Z: a dessert (e.g., cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, etc.)

Cost:

Adults - $15 ($10 for NJHN members)
Children age 12-17 - $5
Children age 11 and under - FREE

You can pay at the picnic. Cash or checks made payable to New Jersey Humanist Network are preferred; credit cards also accepted.

RSVP to Lisa Ridge or call 732-425-5233 by Wednesday, July 23, so that we know how much food to prepare, and indicate whether you'll bring a side dish or dessert to share.

Bring your favorite picnic party games and get to know your fellow Humanists.

Bring your musical instrument and we'll play some music.

Bring a friend who has expressed an interest in Humanism.

Wear your favorite freethought apparel.

The park offers many activities, including lake fishing, biking and hiking trails, athletic fields and a playground. See details at the park's website. Bring your walking shoes and your bikes!

Pets allowed, but must be restrained by a leash.

The group shelter and restrooms are handicap accessible via a side access road. Contact Lisa in advance if you will need directions to the access road.

Schooleys Mountain Park
91 East Springtown Road
Long Valley, NJ 07853
Group Shelters A & B

Sunday, April 27, 2014 - 12:45 - 5:00 PM: Trip to InfoAge Science Learning Center

Something different for this month's meeting. We'll travel to Wall, NJ (in Monmouth County) to visit the InfoAge Science Learning Center and National Historic Landmark located on the old Camp Evans base. We'll meet at the main entrance at 12:45 pm; the Center opens at 1:00 pm. Afterwards, we will have dinner at a restaurant in the area.

This site is being developed into a Science Museum, preserving the heritage of various U.S. scientific and technological advances since the early 20th Century.

Exhibits/collections include:

Computer Deconstruction Lab and Vintage Computers

Radio Technology Museum

New Jersey Shipwreck Museum

National Broadcasters Hall of Fame

Marconi Hotel

WWII Living Memorial

Fallout Shelter

and more

Admission is a suggested $5 donation per person.

NOTE: Currently the Museum is appropriate for ages 6 to Adult.

Please visit their website for more details on the various museums and exhibits.

InfoAge
2201 Marconi Road
Wall, New Jersey 07719
(Map and Directions)
(Museum Directions)

Sunday, March 16, 2004 - 1:30 PM: Carl Sagan - A Humanist Candle in the Dark

Tim Ridge will present a mini-biography of Carl Sagan, touching on his early life, his career as an astronomer and professor at Cornell University, his passion for making science accessible to the public: through his many books, TV guest appearances, the movie Contact and the original TV series Cosmos, and closing with a discussion of Sagan's humanist view of ethics.. He will also briefly discuss Sagan's heir apparent, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and the new Cosmos series.

Tim has updated this talk, originally presented to NJHN in 2003, and to other humanist groups in the area in recent years. It's even more timely now with the widening and renewed interest in the scientific origins of the universe.

Tim Ridge is a member of the NJHN Board of Directors, currently serving as Treasurer and Webmaster. He has an M.S. in Physics from Carnegie-Mellon University. He has been a Carl Sagan fan since the 1960s and credits Sagan as his primary role model for embracing a humanist worldview.

Please Note: We collect nonperishable, unexpired food items for donation to the Franklin Twp Food Bank at every meeting. There are collection bins at the library where we can add our items. Please bring something to help out the less fortunate among us.

Come at 1:30 pm for snacks and to socialize. After announcements, the program will start promptly at 1:45 pm. After the meeting, everyone is welcome to join us for an early dinner at the Somerset Diner, 1045 Easton Ave, Somerset.

Sunday, February 16, 2014 - 1:30 PM: Darwin Day Program: Darwin and the Voyages of the Beagle

Guest speaker: Dr. Brian Regal, Assistant Professor, History of Science, Kean University

Got all your shoveling done and a case of cabin fever? Join us at our Darwin Day program with Brian Regal.

From 1831-1836 Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary biology, sailed on the British warship HMS Beagle on a five year surveying mission around the world. Commonly referred to as The Voyage of the Beagle it was not the first such mission to bear that name—indeed, Darwin’s was the second voyage of the Beagle. One of our most popular guest speakers, in this lecture Dr. Brian Regal will recount this great adventure and how it led to Darwin writing On the Origin of Species. He will also discuss what happened to the captains of these voyages and what ultimately happened to the plucky little ship Darwin sailed upon.

Starting this month, we are asking our members to bring a nonperishable food item for donation to the Franklin Township Food Bank to every meeting. There are collection bins at the library where we can add our items.

Sunday, January 19, 2014 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

At our first meeting of the new year, we welcome all to join us for some get to know our members social time.

We'll do introductions, provide an interests survey to help us plan our activities for the year, talk about current news, announce 2014 conferences, watch some short videos, and then continue the conversation at an early dinner at the Somerset Diner.

Saturday, December 14, 2013, 12:00 - 4:00 PM: NJHN's 13th Annual HumanLight Party

Created by NJHN members, HumanLight is a secular December holiday, celebrated around the country since 2001.
The holiday celebrates and expresses humanist ideals and values, and a positive vision of a peaceful, ethical,
and happy world - a better future which humanity can build by working together.
Please visit humanlight.org for more info.
Madeline's on Vosseller
518 Vosseller Ave
Bound Brook, NJ 08805
(map and directions)

Buffet Menu
Mixed Greens Salad
Assorted Dinner Rolls
Italiano Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast
Deli Sandwich Tray w/Roast Beef, Turkey, Ham, & Cheese
Penne ala Vodka w/tomato cream & peas (vegetarian)
Steamed Vegetables (broccoli, zucchini, squash & carrots)
Roasted herb potatoes

Dessert
Viennese Pastries (small servings of various cakes and cheesecakes)

Beverages
Hot coffee and tea
Iced tea
Water
Cash bar for alcohol & soda
Be sure to tell us if you have any special dietary needs or restrictions.
Madeline's can make individual dishes for us that are vegetarian, vegan, peanut-free, gluten-free, etc.

Music
Fran DePalma-Iozzi and Lou Iozzi will play a variety
of instrumental selections on piano and saxophone

Entertainment
Performers from Juggling Life

Reservations for this event are now CLOSED

Each year NJHN makes a donation to the Franklin Township Food Bank.
This year, we ask that you bring:
peanut butter, jelly or jam (in plastic jars only)
Canned soup or beans.
Canned fruit

Please help us fill this need with these items.
Please check the expiration date on any items, as the Food Bank does not accept food with expired dates!

Saturday, November 30, 2013 - Spamalot! at Kelsey Theater, Mercer County Community College
(NJHN - Mercer County)

Come meet other area secular humanists, atheists and freethinkers for witty and intelligent conversation. If you don't drink, you won't be the only one! Join the fun!

Dinner at 5:00 pm
Charlie Brown's
2110 Whitehorse Mercerville Rd
Hamilton 08619

Show (gather at 7:45 pm)
Monty Python's Spamalot
Kelsey Theatre at MCCC
1200 Old Trenton Rd
West Windsor 08550

If you would like to join the group for the show, please call the Kelsey Theater Box Office at 609-570-3333.

Sunday, November 17, 2013 - 1:30 PM: What Is Fracking and Why Should It Be Banned?

Guest Speaker Lauren Petrie, Central Jersey Organizer for Food & Water Watch, will explain hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the controversial method of extracting natural gas from the earth, FWW's work to ban fracking in our New Jersey communities, and how you can help.

Come at 1:30 pm for snacks and to socialize. After announcements, the program will start promptly at 1:45 pm. After the meeting, everyone is welcome to join us for an early dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Ban Fracking Now Campaign

Saturday, October 19, 2013 - 5:00 PM: Light the Night Walk for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

NJHN will be participating in the Light the Night Walk fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We'll be one of many teams raising funds under the Foundation Beyond Belief banner.

We need walkers and donors, with just over one week until the walk! Please visit our Team Page and sign up as a walker or make a donation of any amount you can. Help us raise awareness and money for the treatment of blood cancers. Thank you!

Foundation Beyond Belief is a Special Friend team partner with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Look for our NJHN signs!

Princeton Forrestal Village
206 Rockingham Row
Plainsboro Township, NJ 08540
(map and directions)

Sunday, October 13, 2013 - 1:30 PM: Cults and Coercion: How Ordinary People Are Turned Into Extraordinary Fanatics

Guest Speaker Paul Grosswald was recruited into the Church of Scientology during his sophomore year at Hofstra University. During six months of intense indoctrination he became increasingly drawn to the group, until he ultimately dropped out of school, moved into the cult's Manhattan compound, and signed a one-billion year employment contract with Scientology's elite Sea Organization. He finally broke free from the cult's influence after his parents engaged him in a dramatic, heart-wrenching intervention.

Paul is now an attorney and frequently counsels cult victims and their families. He will discuss the manipulative techniques of mind control common in all destructive cults, effective strategies for dealing with such cults, and the continuing legal issues faced by those who have escaped and exposed cults.

*This is an updated talk from the one Paul gave to NJHN in May 2010, and will be well worth attending!

Sunday, September 8, 2013 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting and Annual Board of Directors Election

Become a Citizen Lobbyist: Making Your Voice Heard in Government

Guest Speaker Amanda Knief, Managing Director and In-House Counsel for American Atheists, will discuss her new book, The Citizen Lobbyist: A How-to Manual for Making Your Voice Heard in Government.

Before Amanda speaks we will conduct our annual Board of Directors election.
The slate of the NJHN Board of Directors for the coming year include:

1. Those members who are in mid-term:
Gary Brill, Patrick Colucci, Michael Jacobsen, Tim Ridge, Bill Schlegel

2. Those current members with expiring terms who would like to retain their board positions (requiring confirmation vote):
Tamar Kieval Brill, Linda Mastellone, Nick Mellis, Janice Rael, Lisa Ridge

3. New board members (requiring confirmation vote):
Marilyn Francis, Jennifer M. Vriens

Full biographies of the candidates standing for election are available here (PDF).

Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 2:00 to 8:00 PM - Annual Summer Picnic

One of our biggest events of the year -- a great time to visit with old friends and make new ones, with plenty of good food and a chance to support our humanist group!

Picnic Menu (provided by NJHN):

Grilled chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, veggie burgers and buns

Garnishes and condiments

Beverages: Iced tea and water (bring your own soda)

All plates, cups and utensils

Hot dish buffet setup

You also can bring your own food for grilling, there are extra grills.

Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. If your last name begins with:

A - M: a hot or cold side dish (e.g., bean, potato, pasta or veggie salad, fresh veggie platter, etc.)
N - Z: a dessert (e.g., cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, etc.)

PLEASE NOTE: Somerset County parks do not allow alcohol. Park in areas B or C on the park map.

Adults $15 ($10 for NJHN members), children 12-17 $5, and children under 12 FREE. Rain or shine! You can pay at the picnic by cash, check or credit card. Checks should be made payable to: New Jersey Humanist Network

RSVP to Lisa Ridge at [email protected] or call 609-403-8238 by Thursday, August 22, so that we know how much food to prepare, and indicate whether you'll bring a side dish or dessert to share.

* Bring your favorite picnic party games and get to know your fellow Humanists.
* Bring your musical instrument and we'll play some music.
* Bring a friend who has expressed an interest in Humanism.
* Wear your favorite freethought apparel.
* Details about park activities can be found at the park's website. Bring your walking shoes and your bikes!

Duke Island Park
Oak Grove Picnic Area
Old York Road
Bridgewater , NJ
(map and directions)

Sunday, July 21, 2013 - 1:30 PM: Global Warming: What is causing it? What will the impacts of future warming be?

Speaker:
Tom Knutson, Climate Scientist, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory/NOAA, Princeton, NJ

In this talk, Tom Knutson will review the evidence for global warming since the late 1800s and its causes. He will then address several outstanding questions around climate science:

Has global warming stopped in recent years?

What has caused the historical low-levels of Arctic sea ice in 2012?

How will further warming affect hurricanes, heat stress, or rainfall patterns?

Tom Knutson is a climate scientist at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) in Princeton, NJ. GFDL is one of the world's leading climate modeling centers. Knutson's research interests include hurricanes and climate change, and detection and attribution of climate change. He is Co-chair of the World Meteorological Expert Team on Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change.

Sunday, April 21, 2013 - 1:30 PM: The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children

Guest Speaker: Katherine Stewart

In 2009, the Good News Club came to the public elementary school where journalist Katherine Stewart sent her children. The Club, which is sponsored by the Child Evangelism Fellowship, bills itself as an after-school program of “Bible study.” But Stewart soon discovered that the Club’s real mission is to convert children to fundamentalist Christianity and encourage them to proselytize to their “unchurched” peers, all the while promoting the natural but false impression among the children that its activities are endorsed by the school.

Astonished to discover that the U.S. Supreme Court has deemed this—and other forms of religious activity in public schools—legal, Stewart set off on an investigative journey to dozens of cities and towns across the nation to document the impact. In this book she demonstrates that there is more religion in America’s public schools today than there has been for the past 100 years. The movement driving this agenda is stealthy. It is aggressive. It has our children in its sights. And its ultimate aim is to destroy the system of public education as we know it.

Read more at http://thegoodnewsclub.com/

We will have Katherine's book available for sale and signing after the meeting.

Come at 1:30 pm for snacks and to socialize. The program will start at 1:45 pm. After the meeting, everyone is welcome to join us for an early dinner at the Stage House Tavern (right around the corner from the library). All are welcome to join us.

Franklin Township Library
Community Room
485 DeMott Lane
Somerset, NJ 08873
(map and directions)

Saturday, April 6, 2013 - 9:00 AM: NJHN Team for NJCASA SAAM 5K Walk/Run

NJHN has a Team participating in the NJCASA SAAM 5K Walk/Run 2013!

NJCASA = NJ Coalition Against Sexual Assault
SAAM = Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April of each year)

Rain or shine!

See the Event flyer for more details.

We need walkers (or runners) and donors! To join our team, or to make a donation to our team, visit our team page.

ALL DONATIONS TO NJCASA ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.

Please share our team page with your family and friends and ask them to donate to this important effort to raise awareness of sexual assault services and prevention efforts throughout New Jersey. Thanks!

Veterans Park Pavilion
2206 Kuser Road
Hamilton, NJ 08690
(map and directions)

Saturday, April 6, 2013 - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM: NJHN Bowlers Beyond Belief fundraiser for NJAAF

Our new bowling team, NJHN Bowlers Beyond Belief, will participate in the New Jersey Abortion Access Fund (NJAAF) 2013 Bowl-a-Thon.

To join our bowling team, or to make a donation to our team, visit our team page.

If teams want to form for the Hackensack and Cherry Hill locations, we'll amend the event to add those locations. If you are interested in forming a team for Hackensack or Cherry Hill, please contact Lisa Ridge.

ALL DONATIONS TO NJAAF ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.

Brunswick Zone
790 U.S. Route 1 North
North Brunswick, NJ 08902
(map and directions)

Sunday, March 17, 2013 - 1:30 PM: More to Do: The Road to Equality for Women in the United States

A woman born in the United States 40 years ago inhabits a very different world than her mother or grandmother did. What kind of world can a girl born in 2013 expect to see 40 years from now? We have three speakers who will address this question from different perspectives:

Deborah Jacobs, Vice President, Advocacy and Policy for the Ms. Foundation for Women

Debbie Johnson, M.D., women's health care provider

Jennifer Vriens, M.C., CFRE, Director of Development & Marketing, YWCA of Eastern Union County

Deborah Jacobs will discuss this 2013 report which focuses on the areas of economic justice, reproductive justice and safety, and suggest policy recommendations that address the root causes of inequality.

Dr. Debbie Johnson will discuss reproductive choice challenges women face today, with an emphasis on religiously-based obstacles.

Jennifer Vriens will discuss varying state regulations and the role of abortion funds in reproductive justice.

Sunday, February 17, 2013 - 1:45 PM: Darwin Day Program: Chasing Monsters

Guest speaker: Dr. Brian Regal, Assistant Professor, History of Science, Kean University

Monster hunting, or Cryptozoology, is often consigned to the realm of pseudoscience, and pursued by amateurs such as those on the television series Finding Bigfoot. There is, however, a long history of mainstream scientists and naturalists who engaged with monsters as a way to understand human heredity, biological diversity and evolution.

Back by popular demand, in this lecture, Dr. Brian Regal will look at the history of academic monster hunting and how it became marginalized. Based on his book Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads and Cryptozoology (2011).

Saturday, January 26, 2013 - 1:30 PM: Discussion Meeting: Are You a Silent Atheist or Movement Atheist?

Daniel Fincke, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and atheist blogger at Camels With Hammers, has written two posts discussing silent atheists and four types of vocal (or movement) atheists. Please read these two links in advance of the meeting and join us to discuss your views. If you prefer the term "secular humanist" over "atheist," feel free to substitute it for purposes of our discussion.

Silent Atheists        4 Kinds of Movement Atheist

For the second half of the meeting, we'll talk about our group's future plans. We need your input and help!

We want our humanist group to grow -- in size, in visibility, in activism. We're often asked why we're not doing X or Y, or if we get involved in Z. Whether we can do those things depends on the willingness of our members to get involved. Here's an incomplete list of suggestions we've received through the years. Which of these do you think are important? Is your interest missing? It's that resolution time of the year! Are you willing to become more involved -- volunteer a few hours a month with other humanists to help NJHN reach out to the growing "nones?"

A. More NJHN activities
   1) Book discussion group
   2) Movie night
   3) Family activities
   4) Outdoor activities
   5) ? B. Communications
   1) Press releases for NJHN events
   2) Letters to Editor, Op-Eds
   3) NJ Faces of Humanism campaign
   4) ? C. Community Outreach
   1) LGBT
   2) Local charitable groups
   3) Secular students
   4) Military
   5) Correctional facilities
   6) ?

D. Church-State Separation
   1) Legislative actions
   2) Public school threats
   3) Holiday displays
   4) Government prayer
   5) ? E. Political activism
   1) Promote secular inclusion
   2) Reject religious exclusion
   3) Oppose religious exemptions
   4) Positions on other issues (medical marijuana, etc.)
   5) Darwin Day/World Humanist Day proclamations
   6) ?

Friday, December 21, 2012 - 7:00 PM - End of the World (Again!) NJ Bash, Mayan Style!

As you probably know, some crazy people have predicted that the world will end on December 21, 2012, and they've blamed it on the Mayans. And while we're certainly hopeful we'll all wake up on the 22nd with some kind of shopping or bill-paying still to do, it is true that we are, in fact, all going to die - so let's eat first and have some fun!

Menu

$33 Prix Fixe Plus 20% Tip. NJHN has a Sales Tax Exemption, so everyone will pay NJHN directly at the restaurant (by cash or check only, no credit please).

We're planning some fun activities and a review of failed (as far as we know) end-of-the-world prophesies.

RSVP to Lisa Ridge by December 17. Email [email protected] or call 609-403-8238. Space is limited for this event, so get in now because The End Is Near!

Sunday, December 16, 2012
12:00 - 4:00 PM

Morris County Cultural Center

300 Mendham Road (CR 510/24)
Morristown, NJ 07960
(map & directions)

Created by NJHN members, HumanLight is our secular winter celebration of our Humanist
ideals and sentiments: the positive vision of a peaceful, ethical, enlightened and happy world that we,
as humans, can bring about without reliance on concepts of supernatural entities.

Buffet Lunch and Dessert. This is a *BYOB* event.
Menu

Featured Speaker: Margaret Downey, Secular Celebrant and
Founder of The Freethought Society

Entertainment
Ferris Mahadeen, Jazz saxophone & clarinet

Mad Science presents Frosty Meets the Mad Scientist! Frosty the Snowman needs to get to the North Pole before he melts, and only the Mad Scientist can help him get there! They'll need lots of science on their adventure, and help from the audience!

We'll hold a non-perishable food drive for the Franklin Twp Food Bank. This year, they have a particular need for cereal (hot and cold) and dry pasta, so please help us fill this need with these items. Please check the expiration date on any items, as the Food Bank does not accept food with expired dates!

Don't miss it! RSVP Here!

Sunday, November 18, 2012 - 1:30 PM: Shift Happens

Guest speaker Teresa MacBain will share the story of her journey from Baptist preacher's daughter to Methodist minister to Atheist activist. She was the first female graduate of the Clergy Project and now lives in New Jersey and works as Public Relations Director for American Atheists. She came out to the world as an atheist at the 2012 American Atheists Convention and has appeared on most major news programs including CNN, NPR's All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, The Alan Colmes Show, and many more. She has also
been featured in USA Today, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, and CNN's Belief Blog. Join us in welcoming Teresa to the secular community in the Garden State!

Clergy Project
American Atheists

Come at 1:30 pm to socialize. The program will begin at 1:45 pm. After the meeting, everyone is welcome to join us for an early dinner at Stage House Tavern, 1719 Amwell Road, Somerset (this is just around the corner from the library).

Sunday, October 7, 2012 - 3:00 PM: French Caberet Concert

NJHN member Danielle Sinclair (soprano) and her Troupe du Jour will present Voyage a Paris, a program of French caberet music, both popular and classical. Free of charge (free will donations accepted), and free parking.

Williamson Hall, Westminster Choir College, Princeton Campus
101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, NJ
(directions and campus map)

Sunday, September 30, 2012 - 1:00 PM: Program Meeting

The Joy of a Secular Life presented by guest speaker Dr. David Orenstein

To many believers, nontheists come off as angry. At our January 2012 meeting, we watched a video of atheist blogger Greta Christina assure us that we have good reason for our anger in response to arrogance and legal abuse by theists. However, secular humanism is a liberating worldview that can provide daily joy in how we see the world.

Dr. David Orenstein will share some of his joys of being a humanist/atheist and how freedom from dogma and religious subjectivity has brought forth a life of personal and social peace and justice, and why we must not back away from our positive message of a secular ethical life.

Dr. Orenstein is a professor of anthropology at Warren County Community College. His popular science and atheist-themed blog can be found at Paleolibrarian. He spoke at the first annual Philippine Atheist and Agnostic Society conference held in Manila in April 2012. He is writing a book about how humanists and atheists can and are making a positive difference in the world.

Sunday, August 26, 2012 - 1:00 PM: NJHN's Annual Picnic

One of our biggest events of the year -- a great time to visit with old friends and make new ones, with plenty of good food and a chance to support our humanist group!

Adults $15 ($10 for NJHN members), children 12-17 $5, and children under 12 FREE. Rain or shine! You can pay at the picnic by cash, check or credit card. Checks should be made payable to: New Jersey Humanist Network

Picnic Menu:

hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, veggie burgers and buns
garnishes and condiments
Beverages: Iced tea and water (bring your own soda)
All plates, cups and utensils will be provided
Hot dish buffet setup will be provided

Please bring a favorite side dish or dessert to share. Starting this year, we ask that people with last names starting with

A-M: bring a hot or cold side dish, e.g.: bean, potato, pasta or veggie salad, fresh veggie platter, etc.
N-Z: bring a dessert, e.g.: cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, etc.

PLEASE NOTE: Somerset County parks do not allow alcohol. Park in area A on the park map.

RSVP to Lisa Ridge at [email protected] or call 609-403-8238 by Friday, August 24, so that we know how much food to prepare, and indicate whether you'll bring a side dish or dessert to share.

Bring your favorite picnic party games and get to know your fellow Humanists.
Bring a friend who has expressed an interest in Humanism.
Wear your favorite freethought apparel.
Details about park activities can be found at the park's website. Bring your walking shoes and your bikes!
After the picnic, please join us for the park's free summer concert, Standing in the Shadows: A Four Tops Tribute, from 7:00-8:30pm. Details at the Summer Concert Series page.

Duke Island Park
Old York Road, Bridgewater , NJ
Pavilion Grove Picnic Area (area 6 on park map)

Sunday, July 15, 2012 - 1:00 PM: History of New Jersey State Parks

Join us for a talk by Kevin Woyce, a New Jersey author, photographer, and lecturer who specializes in New Jersey and New York regional history.

Some of New Jersey's most exciting history can be found in our more than two dozen state parks. Names such as Wawayanda and Hopatcong remind us of the Lenape or "Original People." Historic battlefields recall New Jersey's perilous years as "the Crossroads of the American Revolution." Abandoned forges still speak of our first great industry, and we can trace the beginnings of our transportation network in the paths of the Morris and the Delaware & Raritan Canals.

From the top of New Jersey's highest mountain, to our last undeveloped beaches, discover the stories of our parks: who called them home in the past, what happened in and around them, and how and why they were preserved for generations of visitors.

Please come at 1:00 pm for snacks and to socialize. The program will start at 1:30 pm. Afterward we usually dine at the Stage House Tavern right around the corner from the library. All are welcome to join us.

Kevin's books will be available for sale after the meeting.

Saturday, June 23, 2012 - 4:00 PM: Equality Walk 2012

Join Our Equality Walk Team - NJ Humanists & Atheists for Equality!

Garden State Equality's 2012 Equality Walk will start in Erie Park in Montclair and will end at Egan & Son’s Pub near the starting point.

NJHN has organized a team, NJ Humanists & Atheists for Equality, to participate in the 2.5 mile Walk. We need real walkers and virtual walkers (donors) to support us! We've set a fundraising goal of $500 (but more would be fine!), and we hope to have at least six walkers. If you want to walk with us, please sign up on our team page. We’re asking all interested walkers and donors to please make a donation of any amount to let GSE know that humanists and atheists in New Jersey support marriage equality! We hope all groups from around the state will join with us! Join our team or make a general team donation here. Thank you!

Full Equality Walk details

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 - 7:00 PM: Special Event
(NJHN-Gloucester County)

Guest Speaker Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, will talk about Humanism and community activism. He will explain what Humanism is, what the AHA does to educate people about Humanism and to unite Humanists, and the importance of building Humanist communities at the local level.

Sunday, May 6, 2012 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting
(NJHN - Gloucester County)

Special meeting of New Jersey Humanist Network - Gloucester County with Fairton Federal Prison Warden John Shartle who has requested our involvement in a Humanist inmate program.

Topics vary monthly but this month we are fortunate to have a guest who is concerned with a group of Humanist and Freethought prisoners who have requested our visits. Come and be part of this important discussion.

Saturday, April 21, 2012 - 4:00-6:00 PM: Rutgers Humanist Chaplaincy Fundraiser

New Jersey Humanist Network cordially invites you to a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception for the Humanist Chaplaincy at Rutgers University. To be held at the home of Gary and Tamar Kieval Brill.

With special guests:
Barry Klassel, Rutgers Humanist Chaplain
David Silverman, President of American Atheists

$30.00 per person suggested minimum donation to support the work of the Chaplaincy

RSVP by April 18, 2012 to: Lisa Ridge (732) 425-5233 or [email protected]

If you are unable to attend, but wish to donate to HCRU, click the Donate Now button at the top of this page.

Home of Gary and Tamar Kieval Brill
17 Winston Drive
Franklin Township
Somerset, NJ 08873
(map and directions)

March 31, 2012, 1:00 PM: Program Meeting

Guest Speaker: Tom Flynn, Executive Director, Council for Secular Humanism

Topic: The Trouble with Easter

Where did our most cherished Easter traditions come from—and is it too late to send them back? The author of the hilarious, controversial The Trouble with Christmas branches out, turning over every egg (and not a few rocks) to reveal the weird history behind Christianity’s holiest holiday. Packed with rollicking humor and little-known facts, this fast-paced, illustrated presentation concludes with a side-by-side comparison of the resurrection accounts in the four gospels. Spoiler alert: the New Testament comes nowhere near telling a single coherent story concerning what Christians consider history’s most significant event!

Tom Flynn is executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism and editor of Free Inquiry magazine. His books include the Trouble with Christmas, the sci-fi novels Galactic Rapture and Nothing Sacred, and The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief.

March 24, 2012, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM: The Reason Rally

What is the Reason Rally?
The Reason Rally is a movement-wide event sponsored by the country’s major secular organizations. The intent is to unify, energize, and embolden secular people nationwide, while dispelling the negative opinions held by so much of American society… and having a damn good time doing it!

It will be the largest secular event in world history. There will be music, comedy, great speakers, and lots of fun… and it’s free!

Speakers:
Richard Dawkins
PZ Myers
Taslima Raslin
James Randi
Jamila Bey
Greta Christina
R. Elizabeth Cornwall
Fred Edwords
Sean Faircloth
Dr. Greg Graffin (lead vocalist of the band Bad Religion)
Lawrence Krauss
Ron Lindsay
Hemant Mehta
David Silverman
Roy Speckhardt
Todd Stiefel
Tim Minchin
Comedian Jamie Kilstein

The National Mall
Washington, DC

Sunday, February 12, 2012 - 12:30 PM: Humanist Families Group Outing: Newark Museum/Circus Science

Clowns, balloon art, face painting, treasure hunt, paint with centrifugal force, try tightrope & trapeze equipment, learn juggling, plate spinning.

Visit the Newark Museum website at http://www.newarkmuseum.org/circusscience.html for more details.

Adults $10, children under 12 and seniors $6. Tickets entitle you to one clown or magic show. Date coincides with Darwin Day weekend.

If you love science and don't have kids, come anyway! The more the merrier.

The Newark Museum
49 Washington Street, Newark, NJ

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 7:00 PM: Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow humanists and atheists in your area! Always an interesting conversation and new hungry people are always welcome.

This month we'll dine at Bensi Ristorante Italiano in the Shoppes at North Brunswick. You can find their menu here. The restaurant serves beer and is not BYOB.

Bensi - Ristorante Italiano
787 Shoppes Boulevard
(The Shoppes at North Brunswick, Route 1 & 130)
North Brunswick, NJ

February 25, 2012 - 1:00 PM: Darwin Day Program

Guest speaker Dr. Brian Regal of Kean University

Topic: How Charles Darwin's name has been appropriated and bastardized by creationists.

The term 'Darwinist' originally meant someone adhering to the British naturalist's explanation for how living things evolve. Because advances in the knowledge of genetics, the fossil record, and other fields have advanced beyond Darwin's original ideas, evolutionary biologists and other scientists have stopped using the appellation. Creationists, however, have adopted using the term, not out of respect for someone who made a major contribution to knowledge, but as an insult and coded term for religious and cultural enemy of conservative Christianity.

Please come at 1:00 pm for snacks and to socialize. The program will start at approximately 1:30 pm. Afterward we usually dine at the Stage House Tavern right around the corner from the library. All are welcome to join us.

January 15, 2012 - 1:00 PM: Program Meeting

We will watch the Youtube video Why Are Atheists So Angry? This is a presentation given by atheist blogger and activist Greta Christina at both the 2011 American Atheists conference and at Skepticon 4. In the talk she answers the questions:

Why are atheists angry?
Why is our anger valid, valuable and necessary?
Why is it wrong to try to take our anger away from us?

Saturday, December 17, 2011
12:00 - 4:00 PM

Morris County Cultural Center

This year's tenth anniversary event features a Buffet Lunch and Dessert. This is a *BYOB* event.

Featured Speaker: Fred Edwords of UnitedCOR

Entertainment: David Darwin, the One Man Sideshow!

Don't miss it! RSVP Here!

Sunday, November 13, 2011, 1:00-4:00 pm: Program Meeting

Lee Vizer, Final Exit Network: "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" . . . Why Not?

The Final Exit Network (formerly the Hemlock Society and End-of-Life Choices) focuses on providing compassionate support to the dying as opposed to promoting right-to-die legislative changes. The right to die with dignity has been called "the Ultimate Civil Right of the 21st Century." Is that title applicable? If so, what can we do as individuals to aid in the forward momentum of this deeply personal movement?

Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 7:30 pm: HCRU Program Meeting

Humanism Around the World

Debbie Goddard
Director, African Americans for Humanism
Campus Outreach Coordinator, Center for Inquiry Transnational

Debbie recently met with over 500 humanist leaders from 50 countries and 6 continents at the eighteenth World Congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, which was held in Oslo, Norway, August 12-14. They met under the cloud of the right-wing terrorist attacks in Norway that left over 70 people dead just three weeks before. The theme of the gathering was, most appropriately, "Humanism and Peace." Some of the events were held in the hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.

Please join us so we can continue to be a strong, visible, growing and international secular community.

Douglass Campus Center
Meeting Room E
100 George Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 1:00pm - School Vouchers

John Bartram, President of the Monmouth County Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, will discuss school voucher programs, the myth of their success, and the status of New Jersey's Opportunity Scholarship Act (S1872), a tuition tax credit proposal for corporations to provide privately subsidized scholarships (vouchers) to private and religious schools. All New Jersey taxpayers should know how voucher programs affect public school funding (and our taxes) and the constitutional concerns these programs create. Bring your point of view to the Q&A discussion following John's presentation!

PLEASE NOTE that this meeting is on Saturday, not Sunday!

Monday, October 17, 2011 at 7:30pm - HCRU Program Meeting: Poetic Humanism and the Secular Sublime

Guest speaker Jennifer Michael Hecht is the author of the best-selling Doubt, A History and two books of poetry: The Next Ancient World and Funny.

Jennifer Michael Hecht will speak this coming Monday at the SAC Lounge about the weirdness of life, death, and everything, and how art and poetry does most of what religion does, but with a “secular sublime.”

Contrary to the popular impression that atheism is negative and nihilistic, Hecht believes that “Throughout history, atheism and humanism provide all the thrills, wit, and wisdom you could ask for, if you know where (and when) to look.” She maintains that “Lots of the great poets of the English language were atheists or serious doubters in God and doctrine, and they wrote poetry that has been so long beloved because it creates transcendent moments.”

Hecht earned her Ph.D. in the History of Science from Columbia University in 1995 and now teaches in the MFA program of Columbia University and The Graduate Writing Program of The New School University. Her works have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post.

Rutgers Student Activities Center (College Avenue Campus)
613 George Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

September 26, 2011 - 7:00-9:00 pm: Program Meeting for Mercer County Atheists and Humanists

Hope Needs Only Hands & Hearts

Guest speaker Marc Adams is a Humanist minister, author, activist and founder of HeartStrong, a nonprofit group that supports GLBT students attending religious colleges and universities.

Marc's visit is part of HeartStrong's 49th Outreach and Education Trip.

After a lengthy journey to self-acceptance, Adams founded a nonprofit social justice organization appropriately named HeartStrong to make every possible effort to reach GLBT students from religious educational institutions. Adams is an award winning author of nine books including, Do's and Don'ts of Dealing with the Religious Right, It's Not About You: Understanding Coming Out & Self-Acceptance and The Preacher's Son. In 2011, HeartStrong launched its Youth Empowerment Project which provides humanist-based educator's guides to every public, private & religious school counselor.

"Hope is everything" Adams continues. "I will spend the rest of my life offering that hope to GLBT persons so maybe one day we won't have to hear stories about GLBT youth ending their lives. I have set the pattern of my life to inspire others to offer hope. I believe hope and human kindness can change everything."

HeartStrong has been chosen by Foundation Beyond Belief as their designated children's charity for the fourth quarter of 2011.

Mercer County Public Library, Lawrence Branch
2751 Brunswick Pike
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
(map and directions)

September 18, 2011 - 1:00-4:00 pm: Program Meeting

LGBT & Humanism: Come Out, Stand Together

Guest speaker Jason Frye is the LGBT Humanist Council Coordinator for the American Humanist Association.

With LGBT issues of marriage equality, employment non-discrimination (DADT), youth suicide, and discrimination in the news today, what is the Humanist perspective, and what is the American Humanist Association doing to promote the cause of equality? Jason Frye has an entertaining talk about the Humanist connection and commitment to LGBT equality, the AHA's new LGBT outreach efforts, how we can get involved, and why we should.

Jason has been a Humanist activist since 2003, and an LGBT activist since 1996. He is embarking on a 25-state speaking tour and documentary film project traveling across the country to examine the coming out experience for Freethought and LGBT people.

Sunday, August 21, 2011 - 1:00pm - Program Meeting: The Nature of Existence

Join us for a viewing of this ocumentary by Roger Nygard.

From Amazon.com editorial review:

"What if you asked the religious experts, gurus, scientists, and everyday people of the world why we exist? Why are we here, and what are we supposed to do about it? What started the Universe, and was it a mistake? Does God exist, and why does he seem so interested in our sex lives?

After exploring the phenomenon of Trekkies, filmmaker Roger Nygard took on The Nature of Existence. Nygard roamed the globe to the source of each of the world's philosophies, religions, and belief systems, and interviewed people who have influenced, inspired, or freaked out humanity. Combining an investigative approach with a spiritual quest, the award-winning film is a humorous yet uplifting search for enlightenment, presenting some of the most challenging ideas and extraordinary people you'll ever see, such as: Indian holy man Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (The Art of Living), evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), 24th generation Chinese Taoist Master Zhang Chengda, Stanford physicist Leonard Susskind (co-discoverer of string theory), wrestler Rob Adonis (founder of Ultimate Christian Wrestling), confrontational evangelist Brother Jed Smock, novelist Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game), director Irvin Kershner (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back), Stonehenge Druids Rollo Maughfling & King Arthur Pendragon and many more."

Before the film, we'll select a few of these 85 questions posed by Nygard in the film and then discuss our own ideas following the film.

Running time: 94 mins. (we'll show some of the 32 mins. of bonus features if time allows)

Saturday, July 23, 2011 - 12pm-6pm - Annual Summer Picnic

One of our biggest events of the year -- a great time to visit with old friends and make new ones, with plenty of good food and a chance to support our humanist group!

Adults $15 ($10 for NJHN members)
Children 12-17 $5
Children under 12 FREE

Rain or shine!

You can pay at the picnic.
Checks should be made payable to: New Jersey Humanist Network

Picnic Menu:
hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, veggie burgers and buns
garnishes and condiments
assorted hot dishes
Beverages: a variety of soda, diet soda, fruit juice, iced tea, water

Please bring a favorite cold side dish or dessert to share...e.g., potato salad, pasta salad, veggie salad or cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, etc.

All utensils will be provided.
We have an alcohol permit, so feel free to bring your own.

Please RSVP to Lisa Ridge at [email protected] or call 609-403-8238 by Wednesday, July 20, so that we know how much food to prepare. Please indicate whether you will bring a side dish or dessert to share.

*Bring your favorite picnic party games and get to know your fellow Humanists.
*Bring a friend who has expressed an interest in Humanism.
*Wear your favorite freethought apparel.
*The park offers many activities, including lake fishing, biking and hiking trails, athletic fields and a playground. Details about those activities can be found at the park's website.
*Pets allowed, but must be restrained by a leash.

The group shelter, located at the end of a road off East Springtown Road, and restrooms are handicap accessible via a side access road. Contact Lisa in advance if you will need directions to the access road.

Schooley's Mountain Park
Camp Washington Road
Long Valley, NJ 07853
Group Shelters A&B

Sunday, June 26, 2011- 1pm - NJHN Annual Meeting

Discussion of NJHN's future plans
Suggestions welcome
Board of Directors election - all NJHN members are eligible to vote

Saturday, May 21, 3:00 PM - 12:01 AM: Rapture Survivor Party!

As we begin the Time of Tribulation (look it up!), a party seems like a good start!

Come have fun with fellow heathens, heretics and the unsaved!

Read about the 2011 End Times prediction

Six Feet Under "Rapture" opening

BBQ potluck & BYOB

Get de-baptized in our Lake of Fire! (bring swimsuits & towels)
Games:
Blasphemy
Playing Gods
On your way to the party, gather clothing & shoes left behind by the raptured to be donated to the Trenton Rescue Mission.
Bring pet food, toys or old blankets/towels to be donated to the Ewing Animal Shelter for the earth-bound creatures abandoned by their raptured owners.

Home of Tim and Lisa Ridge

Sunday, May 15, 2011 - 1:00 PM: Program Meeting

Guest Speaker: Tom Flynn, Executive Director, Council for Secular Humanism

Topic: Take a Trip on the Freethought Trail

West-Central New York State plays a special role in America's history of radical reform. In the nineteenth century, this region gave rise to bold new intellectual and social movements, several new religions, numerous utopian communities, and countless industrial and technical innovations. It was a hotbed of social, political, and religious innovation. The Freethought Trail is a collection of locations in the area that are important to the history of freethought. Tom Flynn will take us on a virtual tour of the well-known and unknown spots on the Trail.

NOTE: NJHN is planning a weekend trip on the Freethought Trail this summer, including visits to these sites:

Matilda Joslyn Gage Home (Fayetteville)
National Women's Hall of Fame (Seneca Falls)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton House (Seneca Falls)
Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum (Village of Dresden)
Watkins Glen Waterfront & State Park (Watkins Glen)
Mark Twain Study & Exhibit at Elmira College (Elmira)

Other area humanist/freethought groups may join us. We haven't confirmed a date yet, as we're trying to find suitable overnight lodging for a group. We'll announce the weekend date soon!

Come at 1:00 p.m. to socialize. The program will start at 1:30 p.m. After the meeting, everyone is welcome to join us for an early dinner at Stage House Tavern, 1719 Amwell Road, Somerset (this is just around the corner from the library).

Franklin Twp Community/Senior Center
505 DeMott Lane
Somerset, NJ 08873

Saturday, April 23, 2011 1:00 PM

April Program Meeting: Book discussion of The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris

This was such a successful program at the Rutgers Humanist Chaplaincy, we're going to do it again, so that more people have a chance to participate! Join the discussion, even if you haven't read (or finished) the book.

How big a role can science play in morality? Harris’ TED Talk gives a good summary of his thesis. See the entire clip.

EXCERPT from the Introduction:
“I will argue…that questions about values – about meaning, morality, and life’s larger purpose – are really questions about the well-being of conscious creatures. Values, therefore, translate into facts that can be scientifically understood…The most important of these facts are bound to transcend culture – just as facts about physical and mental health do…The more we understand ourselves at the level of the brain, the more we will see that there right and wrong answers to questions of human values….The goal of this book is to begin a conversation about how moral truth can be understood in the context of science.”
Longer excerpt and brief clip

Further Reading and Reviews:
New York Times

Wall Street Journal

Common Sense Atheism

Barnes and Noble

Harmonist

godandscience.org

whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com

Please join us for what will certainly be a lively discussion! Come at 1:00 pm to socialize. The program will begin at 1:30 pm. After the meeting, everyone is welcome to join us for an early dinner at Stage House Tavern, 1719 Amwell Road, Somerset (this is just around the corner from the library).

Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 7:30-9:30pm
HCRU Program Meeting and first meeting of the Rutgers Humanist Alumni Group

Humanism: A Life of Activism and Meaning

Speaker: Margaret Downey

To be followed by socializing and an organizational meeting for the Alumni.

Student Activity Center Lounge
College Avenue Campus
613 George Street
New Brunswick, NJ

Free PARKING for visitors to campus in lots 20, 30 and College Ave Parking Deck (access from George St.) For directions go to http://rumaps.rutgers.edu and search for the lots.

Everyone who attends is invited to bring donations of canned tuna, chicken, salmon and sardines to support the Rutgers Against Hunger Campaign.

Margaret Downey is an international leader in the nontheist movement. Her first major public involvement as an activist was in bringing the case Margaret Downey v. Boy Scouts of America to federal court, but she was frustrated when the Supreme Court ruled, in a parallel case, that it was legal for the Boy Scouts, as a private organization, to refuse to renew her son’s membership because he was raised in an atheist household. Downey is former President of Atheist Alliance International and the founder and former president of The Freethought Society. She founded the Anti-Discrimination Support Network, which reports and helps deal with discrimination against atheists. She serves on the board of Freedom From Religion Foundation and is a former board member of the American Humanist Association. She has represented the interest of the nontheist community (since 1995) at several United Nations conferences and spoke at the United Nations Freedom of Religion and Belief meeting in New York City.

More information about Margaret Downey

Sunday, March 20, 2011 - 1:00 PM - Program Meeting

Guest Speaker Brian Switek - Written in Stone

Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection was dogged by a major problem: the fossils that would confirm his predictions were seemingly nowhere to be found. During the past 30 years, new discoveries and reinvestigations of long-forgotten specimens have coalesced into a flood of transitional fossils. Paleontologists have unearthed walking whales from Pakistan, feathered dinosaurs from China, fish with feet from the Arctic Circle, ape-like humans from Africa, and others that fill in crucial gaps in our understanding of evolution.

Based on his book Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature, Brian Switek will speak about the remarkable discovery of these fossils and how they have changed our perspective of the tree of life. Scientists are finally beginning to understand how whales walked into the sea, how horses stood up on their tip-toes, how feathered dinosaurs took to the air and how our own ancestors came down from the trees. He will also tell the story of the scientists who made the discoveries. By combining the latest discoveries with the history of science, he explores our changing ideas about nature and our place in it as well as celebrating the variety of life on Earth.

Brian Switek is a freelance science writer specializing in evolution, paleontology, natural history, and the history of science. He blogs regularly at WIRED Science's Laelaps and Smithsonian magazine's Dinosaur Tracking.

Come at 1:00 pm to socialize. The talk will begin at 1:30 pm. Everyone is welcome to join us and Brian for something to eat at a nearby restaurant after the meeting.

Sunday, February 20, 2011 - 1:00 PM - Darwin Day Event

Dr. Alan Mann, Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University, will give a presentation entitled The Scars of Human Evolution. When our four-legged ancestors came down from the trees and began to walk upright, hominids developed a curve in the lower back and this curve lets us balance our trunk and head over our hip joints and walk on two legs. Dr. Mann will describe some common human ailments resulting from our species' evolution from four-legged ancestors.

From his University website: "Alan Mann is a physical anthropologist whose interests include paleoanthropology and human evolution. He is the author of Some Paleodemographic Aspects of the South African Australopithecines and is the co-author (with Mark L. Weiss) of Human Biology and Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective. Professor Mann is also affiliated with Evolution at Princeton. Professor Mann teaches courses on human adaptation and evolution and a summer field course on modern human origins in France."

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 7:30 PM - HCRU Program Meeting

Welcome to Controversy

Since his election as President of American Atheists in Sept. last year, Dave Silverman has maintained a high profile. His series of billboards denouncing religion has become a national story (see below) and sparked a counter series by outraged religious groups. In his career with American Atheists, Dave is known for his contentious appearances on such shows as The O'Reilly Factor, Scarborough Country, The Situation with Wolf Blitzer, Paula Zahn Now, Nick News, and NPR's All Things Considered.

Silverman will speak about the war of the billboards and about the history of his storied organization, which, since its founding in 1963 by the legendary Madalyn Murray O'Hair, has been an outspoken defender of church/state separation, including removing compulsory prayer from schools and making sure evolution and science are taught properly. He may also reveal to us what his next billboard will say and where it will be placed!

All are welcome – the religious and non-religious - to come support or challenge Silverman in friendly debate.

Billboard near Lincoln Tunnel

Billboard in Huntsville Alabama

Sunday, January 16, 2011 - 1:00 PM - Documentary: Constantine's Sword

We hoped to have Chris Rodda as our speaker for this month’s program. Chris is the Senior Research Director at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and author of the book Liars for Jesus. However, Chris is recovering from an unfortunate encounter with a snow bank and won’t be able to join us.

As a last-minute program alternative, Chris enthusiastically suggested that we show the 2008 documentary Constantine’s Sword, in which former Catholic priest James Carroll explores the roots of religiously inspired violence and war. His search also reveals a growing scandal involving religious infiltration of the U.S. military and the terrible consequences of religion’s influence on America’s foreign policy. This film inspired Mikey Weinstein to found the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

The film is 96 minutes long. We will have a discussion of current events on this topic afterward. Movie snacks and water will be provided. Bring your own (non-alcoholic) beverages.

Saturday, December 11, 2010, 5:00 - 8:00 PM: HumanLight!

HumanLight is our secular winter celebration of our Humanist ideals and sentiments: the positive vision of a peaceful, ethical, enlightened and happy world that we, as humans, can bring about without reliance on concepts of supernatural entities.

In Western societies, late December is a season of good cheer and a time for gatherings of friends and families. During the winter holiday season, where the word "holiday" has taken on a more secular meaning, many events are observed. This tradition of celebrations, however, is grounded in supernatural religious beliefs that many people in modern society cannot accept.

HumanLight presents an alternative reason to celebrate: a Humanist's vision of a good future. It is a future in which all people can identify with each other, behave with the highest moral standards, and work together toward a happy, just and peaceful world. Learn more about HumanLight at www.humanlight.org.

HumanLight was founded by NJHN members in 2001, so this will be our 10th annual event.

Entertainment provided by Dr. Think, Man of Imagination

Buffet Dinner and Dessert Menu

We will hold a silent auction fundraiser which will help support the Families Network and the Humanist Chaplaincy at Rutgers University.

We also will be collecting items for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), which is profiled as this quarter’s poverty charity by the Foundation Beyond Belief, a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation created to focus, encourage and demonstrate the generosity and compassion of atheists and humanists. A list of food and hygiene items currently needed by TASK is here and we ask that you donate items from this list.

This year's event is at:
Franklin Township Community Senior Center
505 Demott Lane
Somerset, NJ 08873

Happy HumanLight!

Saturday, November 27, 2010 - 1:00 PM - Program Meeting

Group Discussion - What do you do for the winter holidays?

Franklin Township Public Library
485 DeMott Lane
Somerset, NJ 08873
(map and directions)

Come at 1:00 pm to socialize. The talk will begin at 1:30 pm. Everyone is welcome to join us and the speaker for something to eat at a nearby restaurant after the meeting.

For more information, please email Tim Ridge

Monday, November 8, 2010 - 7:30 PM - Humanist Chaplaincy at Rutgers (HCRU) Program Meeting

The Anatomy of Soul Beliefs

Daniel Ogilvie, Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University

What is this entity, the soul, that the vast majority of people throughout the world believe exists? Science cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. Nor can it prove or disprove the existence of a soul that is unbuckled from the body at the point of death. But science can be useful in providing insights into the causes and consequences of these sorts of beliefs.

October 31, 1:00-3:30pm - October Program Meeting

Is Religion Good or Bad for Society?
Guest Speaker Tim Zebo

Some say, “Of course, religion’s good for society – it fosters a strong sense of community, feeds the hungry, houses the homeless and promotes the moral education of our children.” Others say, “Are you kidding? Religion deceives people about the true nature of reality, inspires sectarian violence, teaches dangerous and misleading sex education, and causes endless cultural disputes over abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research - of course, it's bad for society.” Drawing on recent social science research by the paleontologist, Gregory Paul, and the “Plan B” Initiative by Lester Brown, this multi-media talk will suggest a surprising new way to answer this question.

Tim Zebo received his PhD degree in Electronic Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and was a long-time Bell Laboratories Member of Technical Staff before becoming an independent consultant. An avid Humanist, he also works to promote social justice and critical thinking. He was a founding member of Red Bank Humanists, and served as Vice President in 2004.

October 4, 2010 - Rutgers Humanist Chaplaincy Meeting - 7:00pm

Press Release - In the shadow of a student's suicide, gay author/activist Marc Adams visits Rutgers University

Hope Needs Only Hands and Hearts:
An Evening with Marc Adams

Co-sponsored by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Rutgers University and Rutgers Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities

Growing up the son of a fundamentalist Baptist minister is tough enough. Growing up gay in an environment where your parents, teachers and peers deem evangelical Christians as left wing liberals is an entirely different experience.

In an effort to save his own life, Marc Adams rebelled against his parents and attended Jerry Falwell's Liberty University to change his behavior from homosexual to heterosexual. His experience there jumpstarted his journey to self-acceptance and personal freedom.

Marc Adams is the author of nine books including The Preacher’s Son and Do's and Don'ts of Dealing with the Religious Right. His newest book is titled It's Not About You: Understanding Coming Out & Self Acceptance.

A Unitarian-Universalist for over a decade, his groundbreaking work includes HeartStrong, a nonprofit social justice organization providing hope and help to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students persecuted in religious educational institutions.

Marc's presentation covers an often dark side of life. He bridges the serious discussion with humor and all-encompassing human compassion. People from all walks of life who have heard Marc speak find themselves enlightened, uplifted, and inspired.

Find out more about Marc Adams at: meetmarcadams.com and heartstrong.org.

Saturday, December 19, 2009, 12:00 - 4:00 PM: HumanLight!

This year's event is at:
Madeline’s on Vosseller
518 Vosseller Ave.
Bound Brook, New Jersey 08805

Catered Buffet Dinner and Dessert
Cash Bar / Soda
Menu

Entertainment: Dave Smith, the One Man Sideshow. Dave is a juggler, musician and magician who has performed in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, on television and at many other venues around the country.

RSVP by December 10 to guarantee seating

Write an Essay for HumanLight on Reason, Compassion, or Hope.
Selected essays to be read at our2009 HumanLight celebration.
All essays will be published. (deadline for submissions: Dec. 7)

HumanLight Essay Flyer

Winter Solstice Weekend!
This year we are coordinating with American Atheists to create a full weekend of fun! After our HumanLight event, NJHN and AA are co-sponsoring a free BYOB party for adults at the Hampton Inn in South Plainfield. Discount available for an overnight stay. On Sunday, December 20, AA invites you to their Winter Solstice event at the American Atheists Center in Cranford, NJ. Details at the American Atheists website.

Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 2:00 PM: Arbor Glen Conference Center

	Guest speaker Fred Edwords will discuss the United Coalition of Reason (UnitedCoR), the New Jersey Coalition of Reason (NJCoR) and the response to the billboard/advertising campaign around the country. Following his talk, Fred will lead a training session for all interested in media and community outreach efforts.
	Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 2:00 PM Arbor Glen Conference Center 100 Monroe Street Bridgewater, NJ 08807

	Directions to Arbor Glen

Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 7:30 PM: Greg Epstein discusses his new book

Hickman Hall, Room 101
89 George Street
Douglas Campus
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ
Map and Directions
Parking in lots 74A, 79, 79A and Douglas Parking Deck

The Rutgers Humanist Chaplaincy is hosting a talk by Greg Epstein as part of his national book tour for the release of Good Without God: What a Billion Non-Religious People Do Believe.

Greg is the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University. The book describes his personal journey to embrace the lifestance of Humanism and how those who do not believe in gods or the supernatural can live fulfilling, ethical, hope-filled lives while contributing to the betterment of humankind and the health of our planet. It is also a unifying call to good people of every faith and belief system to work together toward these common goals.

We're asking everyone who wishes to bring a can of food to donate to the Rutgers Against Hunger campaign.

Watch a promotional video for Good Without God on YouTube

Watch an interview with Greg Epstein on YouTube

For more information, contact Barry Klassel, Humanist Chaplain at rutgershumanist @gmail.com or visit the Rutgers Humanist Chaplaincy website

Sunday, May 17, 2009, 2 PM - 4 PM: Annual Meeting
- Board of Directors Election
- Guest Speaker Martha Knox - Topic: PhillyCOR and the Future of Freethought in America

Arbor Glen Retirement Center
100 Monroe Street
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

July 26, 2009: Annual Picnic! 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Schooley's Mountain County Park in Long Valley, NJ. Rain or shine.

Adults $10.00, children age 12-17 $5.00, and children under 12 are FREE.

RSVP by Wednesday, July 22, 2009 to NJHN at Comcast.net or call Lisa at 609-403-8238.

Please include whether you will bring a side dish or dessert to share.

Checks can be made payable to: New Jersey Humanist Network.

Map of the area Directions

This year's picnic will again be catered by NJHN volunteers, and the menu items to be provided will include:

hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, veggie burgers with buns
garnishes and condiments
baked beans and assorted hot dishes
fruit juice, iced tea, a variety of soda and diet soda, coffee and hot tea, with milk, sugar, & sweetener
All utensils

We are asking for picnickers to bring a cold side dish (potato, pasta, veggie salad, or your favorite) OR a dessert (pie, cake, cookies, fruit, or your favorite) to share with everyone. We do have an alcohol permit, so feel free to bring your own.

Bring your favorite picnic party games and get to know your fellow Humanists. Wear your favorite freethought apparel and win a prize! Games for the kids would be appreciated, especially in case of rain. The park offers many activities - details at the park's webpage. Pets must be restrained by a leash. The shelter is handicap accessible via a side access road.

(Sun) April 19, 2009, 11:00 AM: NJHN Families program - We will have a friendly spring gathering with a fun children's activity and lots

of adult chatting.

Visit our NJHN Families page for location and contact info.

(Sun) March 15, 2009, 11:00 AM: Flemington area NJHN brunch at Panera Bread (325 Route 202 South). Meet at the back near the rest rooms. The discussion will be decided by the group. All are welcome, no matter where you live. Future meetings may include post-brunch nature walks on the various trails in the Flemington area.

(Sun) March 15, 2009, 1:30 PM: NJHN Board of Directors meeting. All dues-paying members are welcome to attend and participate in the business of the organization. Please contact Harley Brown at njhn at rcn dot com for agenda/location info.

(Sun) March 15, 2009, 11:00 AM: NJHN Families program - Trip to the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West @ 79th Street, NYC. This will be a group activity, so when we see who wants to come along, we might arrange a carpool or have a meal before or after. There's a great IMAX film called Wild Ocean, but please be sure your young ones are ready for the IMAX experience.

Visit our NJHN Families page for RSVP contact info.

(Tues) March 17, 2009, 7:00 PM: Monthly Dinner - North Brunswick

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow humanists, atheists and freethinkers in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

(Sun) February 8, 2009, 11:00 AM: Flemington area NJHN brunch at Panera Bread (325 Route 202 South). Meet at the back near the rest rooms. The discussion will be decided by the group. All are welcome, no matter where you live.

(Sun) February 15, 2009, 1:00 PM: Darwin Day & Evolution Teach In at U Penn Museum of Archeology & Anthropology

NJHN will again join other local freethinkers to attend the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthrology's Darwin Day celebration. This is a FREE family-friendly event which includes talk, films, exhibit tours, a birthday cake, and "Darwin" himself! It's a lot of fun for young and old.

As 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking work "On the Origins of Species," the U Penn Museum is celebrating a Year of Evolution, with public programs and events through May 2009, including a special exhibit to mark this occasion: "Surviving: The Body of Evidence", an interactive, multimedia exhibition about the process of evolution and its impact on people today.

Attend the Teach In with other humanists, freethinkers, and atheists by simply meeting up with us in the lobby at 1:00 PM.

(Tues) February 17, 2009, 7:00 PM: Monthly Dinner - North Brunswick

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow humanists, atheists and freethinkers in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

(Sat) February 21, 2009, 4:00 PM: DARWIN DAY 2009 - "Evolving a Genius: The Extraordinary Life and Creativity of Charles Darwin." Speaker: Professor Doug Schwartz, former President of the School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM, and current SAR Senior Scholar at the University of Cincinnati.

This event will be held in the auditorium at the PeopleCare Center, Bridgewater NJ (see top of this page for a map and directions). All parking is behind the building. Refreshments will be served.

(Sun) February 22, 2009, 11:00 AM: NJHN Families program - Darwin Day activities for the kids - including playing with this cool timeline!

Visit our NJHN Families page for location and contact info.

(Sun) January 11, 2009, 11:00 AM: Flemington area NJHN meet and greet at Paneras (325 Route 202 South). Meet at the back near the rest rooms.

(Sun) January 18, 2009, 11:00 AM: Phillipsburg/Easton area NJHN meet and greet at the Red Robin (intersection of Rte 248 and 33) in Pennsylvania. Meet in the party area in the front.

(Tues) January 20, 2009, 7:00 PM: Monthly Dinner - North Brunswick

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow humanists, atheists and freethinkers in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

(Sun) January 25, 2009, 11:00 AM: NJHN Families program - Resolutions: Think Globally, Act Locally

Like-minded families will gather to have an activity and discuss how to make the world a better place by starting very locally. Perhaps we will have a pot-luck food sharing, as that was SO successful for our Harvest Feast!!

Visit our NJHN Families page for location and contact info.

HumanLight

Saturday, December 20, 2008
4:00 - 8:00 PM

Morris County Cultural Center

This year's event features a Buffet Dinner and Dessert. This is a *BYOB* event.

NJHN member Patrick Colucci will be our emcee and

member and Humanist Celebrant Barry Klassel will be our featured speaker.

Musical entertainment will be provided by jazz saxophonist Michael Mahadeen.

Geology and paleontology fun for everyone provided by Professor Daniel O'Saurus.

November 19, 2008: Program Meeting (in the Cafeteria Area)

"The Science of Happiness" with speaker Gary Brill

September 24, 2008: Program Meeting

NJHN member Peter Schweinsberg will discuss The Ethics of Food.

He will cover the environmental impact of various foods, why secular humanists should care about animal welfare, and the advantages and disadvantages of vegetarian and vegan diets that some may propose to help reduce these environmental and cruelty-related problems. The goal of the talk is to help provide relevant information so that people will know how to make more ethical food choices based upon their available food options.

NOTE: NJHN will participate in the townwide garage sale in Belvidere, NJ on Saturday, October 4th. If you have garage sale items you'd like to donate, please bring them to the meeting on Wednesday night. Thanks!

October 22, 2008: Program Meeting

Group Discussion: What political issues relate to us as humanists?

With only two weeks left until Election Day, we'll discuss the issues of this campaign season and the impact of political rhetoric on our ability to reach consensus with those of differing viewpoints. Please join us for what will surely be a lively discussion!

October 26, 2008, 12:00 Noon: NJHN Families Group meeting

This meeting will be an activity and hike at Watchung Reservation. We loved using this site for our September meeting, so we will be doing that again! RSVPs to families at njhn.org appreciated!

Location: Watchung Reservation Nature Center

452 New Providence Rd
Mountainside, NJ 07092

flyer

Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 7:30 PM: Monthly Program Meeting

Guest speaker Matt LaClair shares his "Raising Hell in High School" story about his efforts to preserve church-state separation and educational integrity in the classroom at Kearny High School.

Also: NJHN members will elect a slate of candidates to the Board of Directors for 2008-2010.

flyer

logo May 28, 2008: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

Ron Steelman, President of Red Bank Humanists will speak about the
Red Bank Humanists Video Project and will show three videos:

What is Humanism?
Journeys to Humanism
About Red Bank Humanists

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logo April 23, 2008: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

Group Discussion--What should Humanists do to promote the general welfare?

We will talk about the fairness of various proposed tax systems after a general introduction given by Tim Ridge.

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logo March 26, 2008: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

We'll show Pledge of Allegiance Blues, a film by Lisa Seidenberg, which follows the story of Michael Newdow, the blues-playing atheist physician and lawyer who brought the landmark lawsuit to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Supreme Court. The film uses The Pledge of Allegiance as a starting point to examine ideas of religiosity and patriotism in America - using the activist edge and sense of humor of both the filmmaker and her subject. Newdow, who grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, performs some of his original church-state separation ballads throughout the 72-minute documentary. We'll also discuss Newdow's current lawsuits to Restore the Pledge (challenge to "under God") and Restore the Motto (challenge to "In God We Trust").

flyer

logo February 27, 2008: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

Guest Speaker Howard Young discusses the YD Cometary Impact Event. In October 2007, a ground breaking paper by Richard Firestone and others was published in the Periodical of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), hypothesizing that 12,900 years ago a comet (or possibly meteorite) entered the earth’s atmosphere and either smashed into North America or exploded above it, causing massive fires and floods. This impact has been named the YD Event, and is believed to have destabilized the Laurentide Ice Sheet, wreaked devastation over a vast area, and caused severe climatic disruption across the entire planet. How did this cataclysm affect the thinking of the survivors? How might established and cultured peoples have reacted to cataclysm? How might their reaction have left a religious legacy, still in existence today?

January 23, 2007: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

Guest speaker David Silverman will provide an overview of current Church-State Separation issues.

January 13, 2008: Happy Humanists Variety Club

Snow tubing at Camelback Ski Area / Dinner at Pangea Restaurant (Poconos)
Tannersville, PA 18372
Info/Map

Join us for a fun day of snow tubing at Camelback in the Poconos, followed by a wonderful dinner together at Pangea Restaurant! Snow tubing is fun and easy - no skills are required. You get to ride down various slopes on individual innertubes and then ride back up on a lift to play some more! More information about snow tubing and height requirements for children at Camelback, and also the Pangea Restaurant's large number of menu selections and pricing can be found at these two links:

http://www.skicamelback.com/snowtubing.php

http://www.poconospangea.com/cuisine.html

You can either meet us directly at Camelback at about 1:45 pm, or you can carpool in with us -- and we do enjoy laughing and joking around a lot during the carpool! We will be meeting at 12:15 in Hopatcong and carpooling from there to Camelback. It is about an hour's drive from Hopatcong. If you are driving there directly, please note we are getting the 3-hour tubing sessions from 2pm to 5pm. There are also plenty of places indoors at Camelback to rest, relax, and grab a snack anytime you like. The cost for all ages for the 3-hr session is $22 (or $19 if we qualify for the group rate which so far looks like we will). Please note that Camelback requires a release form to be signed before snow tubing. It can be downloaded on-line at the above address and brought with you, or you can sign one after arriving.

**Important**: Apparently the afternoon snowtubing time slots fill up quickly on the weekends, so a group reservation of 25 spots has been made to ensure that all can get in. Everyone will be paying Beverly Lloyd directly for their tickets (note: checks are fine). Bev will need to call Camelback (and Pangea restaurant) sometime closer to the date to firm up the number of people, so please RSVP in advance to reserve a spot.

When you sign up for this event, please let Bev know whether you will be meeting us there or carpooling in with us, and we'll forward you the directions to the carpool meetup location on Northwood Road in Hopatcong. So come, laugh, be among friends, .......and have fun!!!!

RSVP to Beverly at 973-663-3555 or happyhumanists at verizon.net and include your phone number (for any last minute changes).

Join the HHVC Meetup Group to get event reminders!

Saturday, December 22, 2007
4:00 - 8:00 PM

Morris County Cultural Center

300 Mendham Road (CR 510/24)
Morristown, NJ 07960
(map & directions)

Created by NJHN members, HumanLight is our secular winter celebration of our Humanist
ideals and sentiments: the positive vision of a peaceful, ethical, enlightened and happy world that we,
as humans, can bring about without reliance on concepts of supernatural entities.

This year's event will include a buffet dinner & dessert, and NJHN member and HumanLight co-founder Gary Brill
will be our Master of Ceremonies. Classical string quintet String Theory returns by popular demand and
juggler Jen Slaw will entertain (and teach) young and old alike. This will be a *BYOB* event.

December 18, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

November 28, 2007: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

Group Discussion: The holidays are coming! What will you celebrate?

November 20, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

October 24, 2007: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

Group Discussion: Latest News and Secular Views

It’s all the rage these days - debating atheism v. theism – and the results are encouraging! More young people than ever before are rejecting organized religion, the “religious left” is fighting back against the “religious right,” the Secular Coalition for America is gaining strength and allies, and philosopher/author Sam Harris (The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation) has a provocative new view on how we “label” ourselves. Get the latest and share your views on these and other issues in the news.

October 21, 2007: 1:00 PM - Happy Humanists Variety Club

Pumpkin Carving and Wine Tasting with Pot Luck Fun!Hopatcong, NJ

Join us for a day of being a kid again and relax with some nostalgic October fun!

We'll start out the afternoon with a quick trip to a nearby farm where we'll each pick a pumpkin (or pumpkins!). Then we head back to Hopatcong where we'll carve pumpkins and roast and eat the pumpkin seeds, and taste some seasonal wines - all followed by a late afternoon pot luck meal! So bring your imagination and your favorite dish - be among friends, laugh, and have fun!

RSVP to Beverly at hhvcnj at verizon.net with your phone number (for any last minute changes), the area you are driving from (so to forward to you the directions) and your pot luck dish (note: this is a private residence, so dishes can be reheated but refrigerator and stove space is limited so dishes that are ok left unrefrigerated or not warming on the stove for a few hours - like salads, snacks, desserts, appetizers, or side dishes - are most helpful.)

Join the HHVC Meetup Group to get event reminders!

October 16, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

October 16, 2007: 11:00 AM - Family Humanist Group

If you are looking for Humanist activities or a Humanist family community for your family with children ages 2-15 (or so), please consider joining our group of Humanist families meeting monthly in the Fanwood/Scotch Plains area.

The meetings will generally be on the third Sunday of the month from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (or so). Meetings will include children's activities, an outdoor activity (weather permitting), some organized adult discussion (with children playing supervised nearby), and lots of informal chatting opportunities with like-minded families. We are developing a group lending library of books for children and parents raising children in a Humanist family.

Topics for children's activities will include:
- Equality - everyone deserves to be treated well
- Superstition
- Science - critical thinking
- Solstices/Equinoxes - the science behind seasons and celebrations
- Enthusiasm for life - celebrating your uniqueness
- Evolution
- Nature - our connection to it and the importance of taking care if it

As our group grows and evolves, we might have more different types of activities to add.

We want our group to become a real community to give a sense of belonging to our children. We want it to grow to include educational topics for 8-13 year old children that would include: comparative religions, in depth study of Humanist values/principles, etc. Maybe even involve some sort of coming of age ceremony.

Our group is still in the formative stages and we welcome any and all input and contributions. Come plant and water what you want to see grow!

For more information about our meeting location, upcoming events or to get involved, please contact: Tamara Mount at
908-904-4901 or tamaramount at earthink.net or Mindy Quirk at 908-322-3461 or mindyquirk at yahoo.com.

Program Meeting

Topic: Preserving Freedom of Choice and Reproductive Health Care

Selina Winchester & Leslie Zucker of Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey will discuss the latest issues facing advocates of protecting reproductive health and rights, including U.S. policy on international family planning, efforts in Congress to restrict federal funding for Planned Parenthood health centers, and the upcoming “40 Days for Life” protests by anti-choice reactionaries (targeting Planned Parenthood health centers around the country – including 2 NJ clinics).

September 22, 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Glasser, NJ (Hopatcong Area)

A Brief History of Disbelief, Part 3

The subject of atheism has sparked a major cultural and religious discussion in America. Best selling books, press reports and magazine articles are fueling the debate. The first ever television exploration of the idea that God does not exist was broadcast in England in 2005. This 3-part series is a personal essay by Jonathan Miller, author, lecturer, producer and director. Now at a time of growing debate over faith versus reason, it is being offered for the first time to viewers in America. Followed by a short film: Mr. Deity.

Join the discussion, bring your opinions! Bring your friends! As always, our showings are free of charge. We will have refreshments and lots of discussion. Please, it is not necessary to bring any food or house gifts. We plan to start the movies at around 8:00 pm, but feel free to arrive any time after 7:00 pm.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646. They can also provide directions if needed.

September 18, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

September 7, 2007: Freethought Book Club - 7:30 PM

It's fiction this month. We will discuss Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut.

From the publisher: Galapagos takes the reader back one million years, to A.D. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Galapagos Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave new, and totally different human race. Here, America's master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry -- and all that is worth saving.

New Location!!

Barnes & Noble Booksellers (map & directions)
869 US Highway 1
North Brunswick, NJ 08902

August 21, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

August 12, 2007: Happy Humanists Variety Club event: The Bronx Zoo!

Time: 9:45 am at the Bronx Zoo -- or -- 8:00 am in Hopatcong where we'll carpool to the zoo.

Join us for a totally fun day at the Bronx Zoo! Once inside the zoo we'll be headed for some of the most popular exhibits like the Skyfari (skytram) to the Wild Asia Monorail (like a drive-thru safari but on a monorail), Jungle World (a lush indoor rain forest), Congo Gorilla Forest (where the gorillas can come right up to the glass so you can see them up close and personal!), and feeding time at the World of Birds (where the birds swoop down to catch live crickets!).

Some of us will be bringing our own lunches (there are picnic tables) and some of us will be buying our lunches at the zoo. Either way we'll be at the Dancing Crane Cafe where there is a beautiful view of ponds/marshlands with lots of pink flamingos and other water fowl.

You can either meet us in the Southern Boulevard Gate C parking lot at 9:45 am (we'll be holding a purple helium balloon near the entrance gate) or you can meet us at 8 am in Hopatcong where we'll be carpooling from there to the zoo.

Costs for the zoo entrance is $25 per person, children 3-12 $19, seniors (65+) $21. This is for their P.O.P. ("pay one price") ticket which will cover entrance to all of their exhibits, monorail, shuttle, skytram, etc. Parking fee is $10.

Things recommended to bring: water bottle, comfortable shoes

If you are planning on attending, please RSVP to hhvcnj at verizon.net as soon as you can, and please also include a phone number (especially a cell phone number) to reach you at in case of any last minute changes. Let us know whether you will be meeting us at the Bronx Zoo or Hopatcong (we'll forward the Hopatcong meet-up address and directions). I can be reached at home in the evenings at 973-663-3555 (Beverly Lloyd) if you have any questions.

Note: More information including maps and directions for the Bronx Zoo can be found by going to their website.

P.S. There are also lots of photos now up on meetup.com of the mule rides which can be seen by clicking here.

August 11 , 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ (Glasser Area)

"The U.S. vs. John Lennon"

In retrospect, it seems absurd that the United States government felt so threatened by the presence of John Lennon that they tried to have him deported. But that's what happened, as chronicled in directors David Leaf and John Scheinfeld's The U.S. vs. John Lennon.

The film starts with a familiar look at the former Beatle's troubled childhood, his outspokenness as one of the Fabs ("We're more popular now than Jesus Christ," etc.), and his eventual hookup with Yoko Ono, paralleled by the growth of political protest in '60s America, particularly against the Vietnam War. John and Yoko went on to stage their own peaceful demonstrations, like the Canadian "bed-ins," but these were largely harmless media stunts. It was when the Lennons moved to New York in the early '70s and took a more active role in the anti-war movement, making friends with radicals like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale, that the government got interested--and paranoid--and men like President Nixon, FBI director Hoover, and right-wing Sen. Strom Thurmond began actively looking for ways to silence him.

An array of talking heads weighs in, ranging from Ono and others sympathetic to Lennon's plight (Walter Cronkite, Sen. George McGovern, even Geraldo Rivera) to those on the other side, including Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy. Though The U.S. vs. John Lennon is hardly impartial, it's safe to say that although Lennon was more an idealist than an activist, he was an influential celebrity whom Nixon viewed as a potential nuisance in an election year. And even once Nixon had won the '72 presidential race, the Immigration and Naturalization Service refused to drop its case. Why? "Anybody who sings about love, and harmony, and life, is dangerous to somebody who sings about death," says author Gore Vidal.

Join the discussion, bring your opinions! Bring your friends! As always, our showings are free of charge. We will have refreshments and lots of discussion. Please, it is not necessary to bring any food or house gifts. We plan to start the movies at around 8:00 pm, but feel free to arrive any time after 7:00 pm.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646. They can also provide directions if needed.

August 5 , 2007: Annual Picnic! 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Schooley's Mountain County Park in Long Valley, NJ. Rain or shine.

Adults $10.00, children age 12-17 $5.00, and children under 12 are FREE.

RSVP by August 1, 2007 to NJHN at Optonline.net or call 732-658-6440.

Please include whether you will bring a side dish or dessert to share.

Checks can be made payable to: New Jersey Humanist Network.

Map of the area Directions

This year's picnic will again be catered by NJHN volunteers, and the menu items to be provided will include:

hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, veggie burgers with buns
garnishes and condiments
baked beans and assorted hot dishes
fruit juice, iced tea, a variety of soda and diet soda, coffee and hot tea, with milk, sugar, & sweetener
All utensils

July 28, 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ (Glasser Area)

Fidel

To some he is a champion of the poor and the powerless;
to others he is a ruthless dictator. He is often dismissed as a relic,
yet many revere him as a saviour. He is Cuban President, Fidel Castro.

Director, Estela Bravo allows the story to unfold through the words of Alice Walker, Sydney Pollack, Ted Turner, Muhammed Ali, Harry Belafonte, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Congressman Charles Rangel, Ramsey Clark, Wayne Smith, and others. Family and close friends, such as the Nobel Prize winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, also offer a window into the largely unknown private life of Fidel Castro.

Juxtaposing the personal and the anecdotal with the history of the Cuban Revolution and Castro's fight to survive the post-Soviet period and the continued U.S. embargo, this 91-minute documentary tells a story that has yet to be told on film. Without resorting to polemics, Bravo is able to surprise her audience as she reveals another side to the compelling figure of Fidel.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646. They can also provide directions if needed.

July 17, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

July 15, 2007, 11:00 am: Happy Humanists Variety Club of North Jersey hosts its inaugural event!

Looking for a couple of hours where you can just sit around on your ass?!

Then let your ass do all the work and join us for a fun day of mule rides in the Poconos!

Meet at:
Katy & Russ Fischer's
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ

Cost: $32 per person

Destination:
Pocono Adventures Riding Stable
Meadowside Road
Pocono, PA 18344
570-839-6333
www.pocono.org/ride.html

Important items to bring:

- water bottle
- long pants
- closed-toe shoes
- snack (a dry finger food like trail mix, chips, etc.)
- credit card (this is required by Pocono Adventures Riding Stable)

We will not be stopping to eat on the drive there, so you may want to plan on eating beforehand or bringing a snack to eat on the way. There are probably a few small-town-type shops on the main street in town that we may try to visit on the way back. Car pool for those interested. If it rains, we may be going to the Bronx Zoo instead.

To RSVP or for any questions, please email Beverly and Tommy Lloyd or call them at 973-663-3555.

If you are planning on attending, please let us know as soon as you can, and please also include a phone number where we can reach you in case of any last minute changes.

July 14 , 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ (Glasser Area)

The Road to Guantanamo

Part drama, part documentary, The Road to Guantánamo focuses on the Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslims who were held in Guantanamo Bay for two years until they were released without charge. In 2001, four Pakistani Britons, Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul and another friend, Monir, travel to Pakistan for a wedding and in a urge of idealism, decide to see the situation of war torn Afganistan which is being bombed by the American forces in retaliation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Once there, with the loss of Monir in the wartime chaos, they are captured by Northern Alliance fighters. They are then handed them over the American forces who transport them to the prison camps at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba. What follows is three years of relentless imprisonment, interrogations and torture to make them submit to blatantly wrong confessions to being terrorists. In the midst of this abuse, the three struggle to keep their spirits up in that face of this grave injustice.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646. They can also provide directions if needed.

June 30 , 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ (Glasser Area)

TerrorStorm: A History of Government Sponsored Terrorism

Throughout history, criminal elements inside governments have carried out terror attacks against their own populations as a pretext to enslave them. TerrorStorm reveals how, in the last hundred years, Western leaders have repeatedly murdered their own citizens while posing as their saviors.

TerrorStorm dissects false flag terrorism, a tactic having served our rulers well over the centuries, now polished to high art. The film describes several incidents of classic false flag terrorism--Hitler's torching of the Reichstag, the CIA overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iran, Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin, the Israeli attack on the U.S.S. Liberty, the July 7 London bombings, and more, all instrumental---thus revealing the murderous mendacity of government,
no matter the stripe.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646. They can also provide directions if needed.

June 27, 2007: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

Board of Directors election. We request all members of NJHN who can make this meeting to please attend and vote.

Discussion regarding organizational plans for the next fiscal year.

June 16 , 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ (Glasser Area)

America: Freedom to Fascism

Determined to find the law that requires American citizens to pay income tax, producer Aaron Russo (The Rose, Trading Places), set out on a journey to find the evidence. This film which is neither left, nor right-wing is a startling examination of government. It exposes the systematic erosion of civil liberties in America since 1913 when the Federal Reserve system was fraudulently created.

Through interviews with U.S. Congressmen, a former IRS Commissioner, former IRS and FBI agents and tax attorneys and authors, Russo connects the dots between money creation, federal income tax, and the national identity card which becomes law in May 2008. This ID card will use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips which are essentially homing devices used to track people. This film shows in great detail and undeniable facts that America is moving headlong into a fascist police state.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646. They can also provide directions if needed.

June 19, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Omega Diner (map & directions)
1337 US Highway 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ

June 7-10, 2007: American Humanist Association 66th Annual Conference, Portland, OR

Details here.

June 3 , 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ

Giuliani Time

Ever since the events of 9/11, Rudy Giuliani has become a name recognized the world over. His role as mayor during that catastrophe elevated him to the status of an international hero. He went on to be Time magazine's "Person of the Year," receive a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth and become a key fund raiser and energetic campaigner for the Bush/Cheney administration.

Over the last year his name has been rumored as a popular choice for not only senator and governor but as America's envoy to the United Nations, the new director of the CIA and a number of other high-profile positions. He is also talked about as a favored candidate for the 2008 GOP Presidential nomination.

But what defined "America's Mayor" before he was catapulted to a kind of secular sainthood? During the only years Giuliani held office as an elected official, what was his record like? What was behind a Republican "New Urban Paradigm" in an overwhelmingly Democratic city?

With participants that range from the former police commissioner and schools chancellor under Giuliani, former New York mayors and conservative policy-makers to journalists, policemen, homeless people, artists and even Donald Trump. Giuliani Time presents a diverse, original and poignant perspective on this historical period in New York City and how the most famous event of all elevated a "lame duck" mayor to an international name--a name that is not going away anytime soon.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646. They can also provide directions if needed.

June 1, 2007: Freethought Book Club - 7:30 PM

We will discuss the biography American Infidel: Robert G. Ingersoll by Orvin Larson.

Rediscover Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)

From the publisher: Freethought flowered in the United States in the latter half of the 19th century, and its best known advocate was Robert Green Ingersoll, a lawyer and Civil War officer, who travelled the continent for 30 years, speaking to capacity audiences. Although his repertoire included lectures on Shakespeare, Voltaire and Burns, the largest crowds turned out to hear him denounce the bible, and religion.

Meet in the cafe.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers (map & directions)
319 Route 202/206
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

May 23, 2007: PeopleCare Center, 7:30 PM

Program Meeting: Group Discussion

Who is your Humanist Role Model?

May 15, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Chili's Grill & Bar (map & directions)
911 US Hwy 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ 08902

May 4, 2007: Freethought Book Club - 7:30 PM

We will discuss Natural Atheism by David Eller.

From the book: Dr. David Eller leads readers through "a short course on reason" into an intelligible discussion of the nature of proof, unreason, religion, and relativism. An account of how discoveries in anthropology resulted in a loss of certainty concerning human nature and destiny leads to an analysis of the concepts and issues of importance to Atheists: knowing vs. believing; Agnosticism vs. what has been called positive or negative Atheism; science vs. religion; toleration and truth. Reasons for separating religion from government are provided and the dangers of fundamentalisms of all kinds are exposed. Eller explains why Atheists should band together to spread their 'good news,' defend their common interests - interests which prove to be those of civilization itself - and help their fellow citizens adjust to living in a disenchanted world.

Meet in the cafe.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers (map & directions)
319 Route 202/206
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

April 25, 2007: Location TBA, 7:30 PM

Program Meeting: TBA

April 20-21, 2007: Harvard University Humanist Chaplaincy 30th Anniversary Gala/Symposium, Cambridge, MA

Details here.

April 17, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Chili's Grill & Bar (map & directions)
911 US Hwy 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ 08902

April 6, 2007: Freethought Book Club - 7:30 PM

We will discuss The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan.

Carl Sagan muses on the current state of scientific thought, which offers him marvelous opportunities to entertain us with his own childhood experiences, the newspaper morgues, UFO stories, and the assorted flotsam and jetsam of pseudoscience. Along the way he debunks alien abduction, faith-healing, and channeling; refutes the arguments that science destroys spirituality, and provides a "baloney detection kit" for thinking through political, social, religious, and other issues.

Meet in the cafe.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers (map & directions)
319 Route 202/206
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

March 28, 2007: Bridgewater Library, 7:30 PM

Program Meeting: TBA

March 20, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Chili's Grill & Bar (map & directions)
911 US Hwy 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ 08902

March 2, 2007: Freethought Book Club - 7:30 PM

We will continue to discuss The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

From Scientific American:

Richard Dawkins, in The God Delusion, tells of his exasperation with colleagues who try to play both sides of the street: looking to science for justification of their religious convictions while evading the most difficult implications—the existence of a prime mover sophisticated enough to create and run the universe, "to say nothing of mind reading millions of humans simultaneously." Such an entity, he argues, would have to be extremely complex, raising the question of how it came into existence, how it communicates —through spiritons!—and where it resides. Dawkins is frequently dismissed as a bully, but he is only putting theological doctrines to the same kind of scrutiny that any scientific theory must withstand. No one who has witnessed the merciless dissection of a new paper in physics would describe the atmosphere as overly polite.

Meet in the cafe.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers (map & directions)
319 Route 202/206
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

February 28, 2007: PeopleCare Center Auditorium, 7:30 PM

$5.00 suggested donation at the door

Book available for sale at the event for $24.00 (20% discount)

Guest speaker George Levine, Professor Emeritus of English at Rutgers University, will discuss the theme of his new book: Darwin Loves You - Natural Selection and the Re-enchantment of the World.

Charles Darwin saw a world from which his theory had banished transcendence as still lovable and enchanted, and Professor Levine shows that we can see it like that too--if we look at his writings and life in a new way. Levine shows that Darwin's ideas and the language of his books offer an alternative form of enchantment, a world rich with meaning and value, and more wonderful and beautiful than ever before. Without minimizing or sentimentalizing the harsh qualities of life governed by natural selection, and without deifying Darwin, Levine makes a moving case for an enchanted secularism--a commitment to the value of the natural world and the human striving to understand it.

Read Chapter 1 here (pdf).

February 24, 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ
(map & directions)

In My Country

Langston Whitfield (Samuel L. Jackson) is a Washington Post journalist. His editor provocatively sends him to South Africa to cover the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, in which the perpetrators of murder and torture on both sides during Apartheid are invited to come forward and confront their victims. By telling the unvarnished truth and expressing contrition, they may be granted amnesty. Can the deep wounds of Apartheid be healed through reconciliation? Langston is deeply skeptical. He tracks down Col. De Jager, the most notorious torturer in the SA Police and tries to penetrate the mind of a monster, an experience that obliges him to confront his own demons.

Anna Malan (Juliette Binoche), is an Afrikaans poet who is covering the hearings for radio. As a white South African she is shattered by the accounts of the cruelty and depravity committed by her fellow countrymen. Anna and Langston must both question their sense of identity. Where do they each belong? How responsible are they for what is done in the name of their respective countries? The moving testimony of the victims affects them deeply. In different ways they are both estranged from their families, and their shared experience draws them ever closer to each other. It is a story charting the unfathomable depths of human cruelty and the redeeming power of forgiveness and love...

This film is the Winner of (the) Diamond Cinema for Peace Award 2004.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646.

February 20, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Chili's Grill & Bar (map & directions)
911 US Hwy 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ 08902

February 2, 2007: Freethought Book Club - 7:30 PM

February 11, 2007: 1:00 - 5:00 PM

Darwin Day Family Field Trip!

Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, England. Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity as exemplified in the life, work and influence of this great scientist. It is celebrated by people around the world who value the adventurous spirit and natural curiosity that scientists and explorers of all kinds share.

We will visit the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for its Darwin Day and Evolution Teach-In.

The day will feature short teach-in talks, a Science Cafe discussion forum and a physical anthropologist's corner with plaster casts of hominid skulls and other bones. "Darwin" will be on hand, reading excerpts from his writings. There will be a film, an ongoing children's workshop, a birthday cake and badminton, reputedly a favorite game of Darwin's.

More information, including directions. This is a free event at the museum.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP via email or by calling 732-658-6440. We will try to arrange carpools.

Bring the kids and join us!

We will discuss The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

From Scientific American:

Meet at the front of the bookstore, near the Cafe.

Barnes & Noble Booksellers (map & directions)
319 Route 202/206
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

January 31, 2007**: Bridgewater Library, 7:30 PM

Program Meeting: Group Discussion

Group Discussion: Have you "come out" as a humanist or atheist? Why or why not? When did you deconvert, what prompted you to do this, how did you go about it, and what reaction did you get? Share your story with us.

With recent books by authors Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins so much in the news these days, have we reached critical mass for the open expression of "atheist pride" in America today?

**Please note this is a meeting date change from Jan. 24th because of the unavailability of meeting rooms due to the Library's annual book sale. Refreshments provided.

January 27, 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ
(map & directions)

War i$ $ell

"War i$ $ell" dissects the strategies of war propagandists -- soldiers armed not with guns, but with words, pictures and commercial advertising techniques in their battle to win hearts and minds.

How do you sell a war? How do the techniques of government propagandists, public relations consultants and commercial advertisers work, and why are they so effective? How did the United States become a master of domestic war propaganda over the course of the twentieth century?

If, as many claim, human beings are biologically "hard-wired" to wage war, why should propaganda be necessary at all? Is it possible to train people to critically evaluate, and ultimately resist, deceptive propaganda messages?

War i$ $ell uses archival films, television news coverage, propaganda images from WWI and the Iraq War and interviews with a diverse set of researchers to answer these and other questions in a lively, absorbing manner. Official selection: Big Muddy Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, & Martha's Vineyard Independent Film Festival.

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646.

January 16, 2007: 7:00 PM - Middlesex County Atheists Monthly Dinner

Come out for dinner and camaraderie with fellow atheists in your area.

Chili's Grill & Bar (map & directions)
911 US Hwy 1 South
North Brunswick, NJ 08902

January 13, 2007: 8:00 PM

Movie/Exchange of Ideas Night
Fischer's Dance Studio
341 Lakeside Avenue
Hopatcong, NJ
(map & directions)

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers

This is the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war. Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed and Uncovered), takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so. - iraqforsale.org

Regardless of the war, the administration, or the various sophistries for expending human lives as a matter of government policy, profiteering from it universally offends all citizens, whether they are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, other parties or no shows. - Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity

RSVP Katy and Russ Fischer or call 973-663-4646.

January 5, 2007: Freethought Book Club - 7:30 PM

We will discuss The End of Faith by Sam Harris.

From Natalie Angier's NY Times review:

Sam Harris presents major religious systems like Judaism, Christianity and Islam as forms of socially sanctioned lunacy, their fundamental tenets and rituals irrational, archaic and, important when it comes to matters of humanity's long-term survival, mutually incompatible.

Harris writes what a sizable number of us think, but few are willing to say in contemporary America: "We have names for people who have many beliefs for which there is no rational justification. When their beliefs are extremely common, we call them 'religious'; otherwise, they are likely to be called 'mad,' 'psychotic' or 'delusional.'"

Barnes & Noble Booksellers (map & directions)
319 Route 202/206
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

A. More NJHN activities 1) Book discussion group 2) Movie night 3) Family activities 4) Outdoor activities 5) ?	B. Communications 1) Press releases for NJHN events 2) Letters to Editor, Op-Eds 3) NJ Faces of Humanism campaign 4) ?	C. Community Outreach 1) LGBT 2) Local charitable groups 3) Secular students 4) Military 5) Correctional facilities 6) ?
D. Church-State Separation 1) Legislative actions 2) Public school threats 3) Holiday displays 4) Government prayer 5) ?	E. Political activism 1) Promote secular inclusion 2) Reject religious exclusion 3) Oppose religious exemptions 4) Positions on other issues (medical marijuana, etc.) 5) Darwin Day/World Humanist Day proclamations 6) ?

Calendar Archive - Recent Events

Special Notice: NJAAF Fundraiser

Saturday, May 5, 2017: Andrew Zwicker

Sunday, April 8, 2018 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Sunday, March 4, 2018 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Saturday, February 10, 2018 - 1:30 PM: Documentary Showing of I Am Not Your Negro

Sunday, January 21, 2018 - 1:30 PM: Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Sunday, November 12, 2017 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Sunday, October 15, 2017 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Sunday, September 17, 2017 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Sunday, August 20, 2017 - 1:00 to 6:00 PM: Annual Summer Picnic

Duke Island Park Pavilion Grove Picnic Area (area 6 on park map) Parking in area A on the park map

Sunday, June 18, 2017 - 1:30 PM: How Are You Doing?

Sunday, March 12, 2017 - 1:30 PM: How we can embrace a more inclusive Humanism

Sunday, February 19, 2017 - 1:30 PM: Denying to the Grave

Sunday, January 15, 2017 - 1:30 PM: End Injustice For All

Saturday, October 22, 2016 - 9:45-12:00 PM: Beach Cleanup - Postponed to April 2017 due to inclement weather

Sunday, September 11 - 1:30 to 4:00 PM: Anything for a Vote

Sunday, August 7, 2015 - 1:00 to 6:00 PM: Annual Summer Picnic!

Saturday, June 25, 2016 - 6:00 PM: Program Meeting

Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 1:30 PM: David Silverman, President of American Atheists

Sunday, April 17, 2016 - 1:30 PM: Citizens' Climate Lobby

Sunday, March 27, 2016 - 10:00 AM: Group Trip to American Museum of Natural History (New York City)

Sunday, February 28, 2016 - 1:30 PM: Darwin's Dogs: Evolutionary Insights into the Domesticated Dog

Sunday, November 22, 2015 - 1:30 PM: David Niose, Attorney and Author

Sunday, October 18, 2015 - 1:30 PM: Janice Rael - Secular Activist

Sunday, September 13, 2015 - 1:30 PM: Dan Parker - Life Driven Purpose

Sunday, August 2, 2015 - 1:00 to 6:00 PM: Annual Summer Picnic!

Sunday, June 14, 2015 - 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM: Vox Humana: A Concert Program on Themes of Humanism

Sunday, June 28, 2015 - 1:30 PM: American Freethought, part 3

Sunday, May 17, 2015 - 1:30 PM: The Soul Fallacy

Sunday, April 18, 2015 - 7:00 PM: Bowlers Beyond Belief Fundraiser for NJAAF

Sunday, April 19, 2015 - 1:00 PM: The New Jersey Devil: You Have No Idea!

Sunday, March 29, 2015 - 1:30 PM: American Freethought, part 2

Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 7:00 PM: HCRU Event - What Can Science Say About the Soul?

Sunday, February 22, 2015 - 1:30 PM: Darwin Day Program - The History of Anti-Evolution Movements in the United States

Sunday, January 18, 2015 - 1:30 PM: Aid-in-Dying and other End-of-Life Choices

Saturday, December 13, 2014 - 1:00 PM: Community Action Day and Art Contest

Saturday, November 22, 2014 - 1:30 PM: American Freethought, parts 1 and 2

Sunday, November 9, 2014 - 4:00 to 7:00 PM: Carl Sagan Day Celebration

Saturday, October 25, 2014 - 5:00 to 9:00 PM: Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Saturday, October 18, 2014 - 8:00 PM: Trip to Camp Evans Base of Terror

Saturday, October 11, 2014 - 1:30 PM: The Bigot: Why Prejudice Persists

Sunday, September 14, 2014 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Sunday, August 17, 2014 - 1:30 PM: The Garden State: Where Ideas Grow

Saturday, July 26, 2014 - 12:30 to 6:00 PM: Annual NJHN Picnic

Picnic Menu (provided by NJHN):

Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. If your last name begins with: A - M: a hot or cold side dish (e.g., bean, potato, pasta or veggie salad, fresh veggie platter, etc.) N - Z: a dessert (e.g., cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, etc.)

Cost:

Adults - $15 ($10 for NJHN members) Children age 12-17 - $5 Children age 11 and under - FREE

Sunday, April 27, 2014 - 12:45 - 5:00 PM: Trip to InfoAge Science Learning Center

Sunday, March 16, 2004 - 1:30 PM: Carl Sagan - A Humanist Candle in the Dark

Sunday, February 16, 2014 - 1:30 PM: Darwin Day Program: Darwin and the Voyages of the Beagle

Guest speaker: Dr. Brian Regal, Assistant Professor, History of Science, Kean University

Sunday, January 19, 2014 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting

Saturday, November 30, 2013 - Spamalot! at Kelsey Theater, Mercer County Community College (NJHN - Mercer County)

Sunday, November 17, 2013 - 1:30 PM: What Is Fracking and Why Should It Be Banned?

Saturday, October 19, 2013 - 5:00 PM: Light the Night Walk for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Sunday, October 13, 2013 - 1:30 PM: Cults and Coercion: How Ordinary People Are Turned Into Extraordinary Fanatics

Sunday, September 8, 2013 - 1:30 PM: Program Meeting and Annual Board of Directors Election

Become a Citizen Lobbyist: Making Your Voice Heard in Government

Saturday, August 24, 2013 - 2:00 to 8:00 PM - Annual Summer Picnic

The Anatomy of Soul Beliefs

Is Religion Good or Bad for Society? Guest Speaker Tim Zebo

Hope Needs Only Hands and Hearts: An Evening with Marc Adams

Duke Island Park
Pavilion Grove Picnic Area (area 6 on park map)
Parking in area A on the park map

Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. If your last name begins with:
A - M: a hot or cold side dish (e.g., bean, potato, pasta or veggie salad, fresh veggie platter, etc.)
N - Z: a dessert (e.g., cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, pie, cake, etc.)

Adults - $15 ($10 for NJHN members)
Children age 12-17 - $5
Children age 11 and under - FREE

Saturday, November 30, 2013 - Spamalot! at Kelsey Theater, Mercer County Community College
(NJHN - Mercer County)

Is Religion Good or Bad for Society?
Guest Speaker Tim Zebo

Hope Needs Only Hands and Hearts:
An Evening with Marc Adams