Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York (HSMNY)

	Welcome to the Home Page of the Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York The Corliss Lamont Chapter of the American Humanist Association HUMANISTS ARE CONCERNED WITH HERE AND NOW, NOT HEREAFTER.

The Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York (HSMNY) is one of many local chapters of the American Humanist Association (AHA). The chapter, as it presently exists, was founded in 1974 by Jesse Gordon and Corliss Lamont. Warren Allen Smith organized a previous Humanist group in Manhattan in the 1950s. Warren, author of the book Who's Who in Hell: A Handbook and International Directory for Humanists, Freethinkers, Naturalists, Rationalists, and Non-Theists and founder of philosopedia.org, has been an active member of the current chapter.

The current Chapter President is Robert Cameron Heihn. The prior Chapter President was Dr. Thomas Riggins. Dave Buehrens, Beth K. Lamont, and Lila Smith have served as members of the Executive Board. The previous Chapter President was Dr. Julius Manson.

The group normally meets one or more times per month — generally on the evening of the second Tuesday, usually with a speaker followed by a discussion. All chapter meetings are announced in advance on this Web site.

If you provide us with your e-mail address and telephone number, we will notify you, usually via telephone, regarding upcoming special events. However, if you're viewing this Web page then you probably have Internet access and we would request that you also sign up for the free ChangeDetection e-mail notification service (see link to our ChangeDetection sign up below) or our RSS 2.0 / XML 1.0 syndication feed (see link to our RSS feed below). You can also follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook (see our Twitter and Facebook links below). Additionally, all of our past newsletters/meeting notices are available on this Web site for viewing (see link to our Newsletters page below).

Please call us at (914) 588-5284 with all Chapter-related questions, or e-mail us at info.hsmny@corliss-lamont.org.

We welcome your participation. You may wish to become a member of the local group ($25 annually) and/or of the American Humanist Association, which can be contacted toll-free at (800) 837-3792.

MEETING SCHEDULE FOR THE 2012 SEASON

	Second Tuesday	Fourth Tuesday	Fifth Tuesday
January	10 ⁽¹⁾	24 ⁽²⁾	31 ⁽³⁾

⁽¹⁾ Tuesday, January 10, 2012: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM on the Fifth Floor (please check sign in Lobby for precise room number) at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, located at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West [ click here for map ].

Join with other concerned Humanists and Freethinkers. Please bring your ideas about how we might turn our talk into real action; perhaps raise our voices to be heard, and make a plan to try to affect at least one small area of screaming need, as Humanists, in this scary in-humane world. What are your ideas?

It's a New Year and the need to embrace new directions is in order! We know the old adage about doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result...well, we talk, talk, talk, sharing our thoughts, voicing our concerns...oftentimes without much agreement about the worrisome world situations that may grieve us. Much less, agree on how to respond.

Here is a brand New Year, as yet "un-used," with a new opportunity to do something worthwhile...something different...something that might result in making beneficial change. What are we going to DO ABOUT OUR CONCERNS?

Toward enlisting like-minded young Folks, I would like for our group to have an active Humanist presence on every college campus in the city! How about distributing magazines and books at least once a week? Do you have any connections already? Can you envision coordinating with any present Student Groups? Any volunteers? If you like this idea,....let's make plans!

⁽²⁾ Tuesday, January 24, 2012: On our usual 4th Tuesday, January 24th, our adopted meeting place, the building of the New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC) is closed. Rather than meeting in a restaurant, etc. here's a suggestion for an alternative plan:

You are invited to attend a play about a timely issue, considering all the publicity about the influence of the evangelical religious right in the Republican primary campaign. The play to which you are invited is entitled:

How The World Began. It's about a teacher who becomes embroiled in a small town's hysterical reaction to a mention of (omygod!).....Evolution.

The Women's Project sent us this specific invitation: "How The World Began is an extraordinary opportunity for Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York members."

This takes place at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, between 9th Avenue and Dyer Avenue. Here follows the promo on their Web site:

"Women's Project, in association with South Coast Repertory, presents How The World Began, by Catherine Trieschmann, directed by Daniella Topol, designed by Clint Ramos, Brian H Scott and Darron L West, with Justin Kruger, Adam LeFevre and Heidi Schreck."

"Strictly limited run thru January 29, 2012, Tuesdays-Saturdays at 7:30p, Sundays at 3:00p & 7:30p."

"Following the stellar success of her play 'CROOKED' at WP in 2008, Catherine Trieschmann returns with a new play about Susan, a high school biology teacher who leaves Manhattan for a job in Plainview, Kansas. Susan is ready for more than a little culture shock, but she's not prepared for the firestorm that engulfs the town when she makes an off-handed comment about the origins of the universe."

This sounds like my cup-of-tea! How about yours? The special Group Rates are $25 each for the performance. It would be so nice to have a Humanist get-together before and after for company, and to share our thoughts and ideas.

Please respond ASAP to make a PLEDGE OF $25 if you wish to attend, so that we can qualify for the group rates. Call Beth (914-588-5284) so she can purchase the tickets ahead of time. A total of nine persons will give us the group rate, but even better, here's a pitch for HSMNY Membership:

How about, if you are able to, pay $35 for the evening's performance, the extra $10 will constitute your new Membership in the Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York! It's a New Year! Ordinarily, I'm so delighted to see Folks show up for a meeting that I never mention a yearly membership fee.

The NYSEC has been most gracious in adopting us and allowing us to meet there WITHOUT CHARGE when other meetings take place in the building. This means when the Security Staff needs to be there anyway, but only then.

We started out attending the Socrates Cafe there, on 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, hosted by Ken Gans. The discussion of philosophy and current events are quite similar and in harmony with our HSMNY Members, so we asked if we could meet there on alternative Tuesdays, and they have kindly allowed us to do so.

Our Webmaster is a volunteer who receives no compensation for his work. He is still devoted to Corliss Lamont and does everything possible to promote this Humanist Chapter named in his honor, and to promote the lifetime good work of Corliss Lamont. Please visit the web site: Corliss Lamont Website. If we indeed had a Membership bank account, we might surprise our Webmaster with some wages to thank him for his devotion. Well, maybe get him a Pizza?

Please invite others, bring friends! Please call Beth Lamont at any time regarding any of these matters: 914-588-5284. Hoping to see you'all soon!

⁽³⁾ Tuesday, January 31, 2012: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM on the Fifth Floor (please check sign in Lobby for precise room number) at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, located at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West [ click here for map ].

Well, what do you know! There's a 5th Tuesday in January...an extra day for meeting this month, and how nice, since we had missed the 4th Tuesday at the NYSEC we are invited back there! So, come get-together on Tuesday evening January 31st and bring your important issues for discussion. And action!

Come after work, whenever you can, please; and join with other Humanistic thinkers who are operating "outside the box!"

We Americans are in deep doodoo and it's going to take a real revolution of values to work our way out of this mess. Let's talk about what we can do to make real changes. What are your ideas? What are your plans?

Humanist Hugs to all from Beth, 914-588-5284; Call for info, any time OK.

Programs for all other dates will be announced. Always consult this Web page or our RSS feed for the latest and most up-to-date meeting schedule information. All programs are subject to change. All meetings are open to the general public, as well as members of the press — Chapter membership is not a requirement to attend. If you would like to attend a meeting, then just drop in — no prior arrangements are necessary.

Our 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, and 1998 Meeting Schedules have been archived.

What is Humanism?

If you're new to the subject of Humanism and would like to see a definition of it, please visit our What is Humanism? page.

Articles and Reports

Michael Moore Videos, clips of three interviews conducted in March 2010 with Michael Moore discussing the issues surrounding health care reform legislation, plus the trailer for his 2009 movie, Capitalism: A Love Story.

Thomas Paine Bicentennial, photos and other materials related to the celebrations held at Thomas Paine Park at Foley Square in New York on June 8, 2009.

Evolution and Ethics, Comments on the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election Debates, an essay by Beth K. Lamont.

The New Mandate For United Nations Peacekeeping, a review of the Brahimi Report by Beth K. Lamont.

Why Humanists Should Reject The "Social Contract", an article by Thomas Riggins.

A Report and A Suggestion on the meeting of August 22, 1998, Sex, Lies, and Leadership, concerning the Clinton Presidential scandal, by Beth K. Lamont.

The Other Humanists, a report on the Siloists, by Beth K. Lamont. Includes comments submitted to us by visitors to this Web site.

Comments on the ICC, an article about the United Nations Diplomatic Conference on the Establishment of a Permanent International Criminal Court, held at Rome, Italy, during June and July 1998, by Beth K. Lamont. Originally published in 1998.

Comments on the ICC - Part II, a follow-up article about the current status of the International Criminal Court, by Beth K. Lamont. Originally published in 2003.


	A brochure comparing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Humanist Manifesto and describing efforts of humanists to support the United Nations is available for on-screen viewing. A second version, designed especially for printing, can be downloaded for use by Humanist Chapters to promote Humanism and the U.N.

Newsletters and Meeting Notices

Copies of old HSMNY Chapter Newsletters in the form of Adobe^® Acrobat^® PDF (Portable Document Format) files are available for downloading/viewing/printing on our Newsletters page.

Equal Time for Freethought Radio Show

Half-Moon Foundation, Inc., sponsor of the Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York Web site, is pleased to host a streaming audio archive of older Equal Time for Freethought radio shows on our Archive page. Hosted by local humanists and atheists, the show includes news, interviews, and commentary, and airs live on WBAI Pacifica Radio in New York City each Sunday.

Additional Information

Although as our name implies, we welcome visitors and members from the entire New York metropolitan area, if you're in Northern New Jersey and cannot travel into the city to attend our meetings, you may wish to visit the Humanists of North Jersey, which holds monthly meetings in Fair Lawn. Additionally, the New Jersey Humanist Network holds frequent meetings and social events.

If you would like to see a list of Humanist, Freethought, Skeptical, Atheist and other similar organizations from around the world, take a look at the Freethought Directory, maintained by the Atheist Alliance International.

The Rant & Reason blog, sponsored by The Humanist magazine, is recommended reading.

The Human Values Weblog (blog), sponsored by Half-Moon Foundation, Inc., is also recommended reading. RSS 0.92, RSS 2.0, and Atom 0.3 syndication feeds are available.

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This page last revised: January 30, 2012.