Category: Forums

Category for all Forum posts.

Dinner & Musical Evening with Dan Barker, FFRF Co-President

Dan Barker

6:30 p.m., September 9, 2022

Dan Barker is the co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), the nation’s largest freethought association with over 30,000 members. Dan will play the piano and sing many of his fine freethought songs to us and with us. He will also speak briefly on the topic “Losing Faith in Faith,” followed by Q&A, and will give us a quick update on FFRF’s important work.

After about 19 years as a minister and evangelist, Dan became a nontheist by 1984. He now leads FFRF with his equally legendary wife, freethought leader Annie Laurie Gaylor. FFRF is known as a prominent champion of the separation of church and state in the United States.
Dan has written numerous books and an astonishing array of nonreligious songs (see “Dan Barker music” on YouTube). He and Annie Laurie host Freethought Radio and Freethought Matters on TV.

This exciting event is free and will begin the evening with a simple dinner in the meeting room. ACSJ will provide lasagna, salad, vegetables, fruits, and snacks, plus a variety of drinks including beer and wine. Please let us know if you can help bring any of the above items or want to add something different to the potluck. Please arrive by 6:30 so that there is time to mingle and eat before the presentation begins at about 7:00-7:15.

Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to engage with Dan Barker in person. This joyous event is appropriate for people of all ages, including children of course.

Please be COVID-careful. If you are experiencing any symptoms that might be COVID, kindly skip this event for the sake of your fellow nonbelievers. We will have space to spread out in this large room. Wearing a mask is encouraged, when you are not eating, drinking, or singing.

The Atheist Community of San Jose invites members of other nonreligious groups to join us for this special event.

LOCATION: Sunnyvale Community Center, 550 E Remington Dr, Sunnyvale, CA 94087
BUILDING: Recreation Center
ROOM: Community Room
PARKING: There is plenty of free parking in the Community Center lots

If you want to see more of Dan Barker, he will also be presenting in the North Bay on Saturday Sept 10 and in Sacramento on Sunday Sept 11 (Come Meet Dan Barker!, Sun, Sep 11, 2022, 1:30 PM | https://www.meetup.com/sacfan/events/287745212/)

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RSVP on Meetup here.
Like the Atheist Community of San Jose on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

SkepTalk: Who’s Making All Those Scam Calls?

Video of a talk by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

11 a.m., September 4, 2022

Join us at this Sunday’s meeting to watch and discuss a video.

Everyone has experienced the call. “This is Alex from the credit card company. We have a refund we want to give you that has to be deposited directly into your bank account. What is your bank account number?” or words to that effect. Or maybe “Alex” (or “Vicki”, or “Josh”) has bad news: your credit rating will plummet if you don’t send his/her company $200 immediately. What’s your credit card number? Calls like this bilk tens of thousands of people – many of them elderly – out of billions of dollars every year. What happens when a reporter traces one of these calls back to its source – in this case, to an Indian boiler room – with the assistance of a Brit hacker. Who is making all those scam calls, anyway, and what’s their story?

About the Speaker: Yudhijit Bhattacharjee is a prize-winning reporter who worked for Science magazine until 2014. A contributing writer to the New York Times, the New Yorker, National Geographic, The Guardian, and other publications. A one-time crime reporter, he has long been interested in scams and frauds. His best-selling spy thriller, The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell, was described as “telling a story that would make a kickass movie”. It has, in fact, been optioned by Hollywood.

If you wish, you can preview his 67-minute presentation at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCtrNhzvd4M
Come join us for a lively discussion.

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Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Meeting Future Energy Needs for the USA

Videos of talks by Kirk Sorensen and others

11 a.m., August 28, 2022

Join us at this Sunday’s meeting to watch two videos and discuss them.

“America, In The Dark” describes the general problem of the need to meet our energy needs now, and especially in the future.
If you wish, you can watch this 7-minute video at:
https://www.kiteandkeymedia.com/videos/renewable-energy-electricity-blackouts-and-solar-wind-mandates/

In “Path Forward Enabled by Thorium”, Kirk Sorensen explores the possibility of meeting future energy needs by the use of thorium nuclear reactor power generation. This approach can provide significant energy without producing nuclear waste, and can be designed to be very safe.
If you wish, you can preview his 25-minute presentation at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkZ0ZBAVDu4
Come join us for a lively discussion about this critical subject.

———-

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

2022 Religious Liberty Summit: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito

Video of a talk by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito

11 a.m., August 21, 2022

This Sunday we we will watch and discuss a video on the topic “2022 Religious Liberty Summit: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito”. Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative held the second annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Rome, Italy, from July 20-22, 2022, and Alito delivered the keynote address at the Gala Dinner.
The video is 42 minutes long.

———-

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Two videos on “God Does NOT Exist”

Michael Shermer and Peter Millican

11 a.m., August 14, 2022

This Sunday we we will watch and discuss two videos on the topic “God Does NOT Exist”, debated at the Oxford Union Society.

Dr Michael Shermer begins by saying that 84% of the world’s population believe in some kind of organised religion. How do those who believe in a particular religion know that they have chosen the right one and everyone else has got it wrong?
Dr. Shermer is an author and founder of the Skeptics Society.
You can see his 16-minute talk at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pOI2YvVuuE.

Professor Peter Millican says that every religion has a moral code, but this is not surprising as humans are universally moral beings. We are moral because we are a weak species, and the only way we can survive is by cooperation in society. We need a morality to be able to do that.
Professor Millican is the Gilbert Ryle Fellow & Tutor in Philosophy at Hertford College, and a Reader in Early Modern Philosophy at Oxford.
You can see his 23-minute talk at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcHRRjsttOc.

———-

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.