Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York

	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 is one of many local chapters of the American Humanist Association. 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, is an active member of the current chapter.

The current Chapter President is Dr. Thomas Riggins. There is a four-member Executive Board consisting of Dave Buehrens, Dorothy Klein, Beth Lamont, and Lila Smith. The previous Chapter President was Dr. Julius Manson.

The group meets approximately twice per month — generally on the evening of the second and fourth Tuesdays, usually with a speaker followed by a discussion.

We presently maintain a contact list of approximately 300 individuals and if you provide us with your postal mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number we will occasionally notify you, usually via telephone, regarding upcoming special events. This list is used for no other purpose, but is provided to AHA headquarters. 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). Additionally, all of our past newsletters/meeting notices are available on this Web site for viewing (see link to our Newsletters page below).

The Chapter office is located near the U.N. at 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017-3521 USA. 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 ($10 annually) and/or of the American Humanist Association (AHA), which can be contacted toll-free at (866) 486-2647 (866-HUMANISM). The AHA enjoys a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status with the United Nations and members of the Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York, acting as representatives of the AHA, attend sessions weekly at the U.N. and present humanist viewpoints and concerns as they relate to matters of world interest. The AHA maintains a Web page about the United Nations NGO Office here.

MEETING SCHEDULE FOR THE 2010 SEASON

	Second Tuesday	Fourth Tuesday
January	12 ⁽¹⁾
February	9 ⁽²⁾

⁽¹⁾ Tuesday, January 12, 2010: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the Elliott Library, Room 507, at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, located at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West [ click here for map ].

Bring your ideas and issues that are of great interest to you for discussion. The meeting is open to all.

Hoping to see you there!

Special Note:

Announcement of Tom Paine Meeting!
On Friday, January 29, 2010, the Greater New York City Chapter of the Bertrand Russell Society will join the Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York in a celebration of Tom Paine's birthday at the Jane Street Tavern, 31 Eighth Avenue, at 7 PM. Several people will speak briefly about the significance of Tom Paine during his life and the relevance of his thought today — if you would like to speak, please let us add you to our list — and a video may be shown. The organizing committee consists of Beth Lamont for HSMNY and the two of us for BRS; if you have suggestions for the program, please share them with us.

Eric Walther, ericwalther1@juno.com
Tom Riggins, jtr2@nyu.edu

We hope that many of you can join us! If you know you can make it, please let us know; but also feel free to drop in on the spur of the moment.

Eric and Tom

⁽²⁾ Tuesday, February 9, 2010: We will meet from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the Elliott Library, Room 507, at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, located at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West [ click here for map ].

Welcome all, to a compatible group of Freethinkers who will be discussing current events, foreign policy, political affairs, and philosophy. Please bring your concerns and ideas. Light snacks are available. Hope to see you there!

Call Beth at 914-588-5284, if you wish, for details.

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 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

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 Lamont.

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

The Other Humanists, a report on the Siloists, by Beth 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 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 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 monthly meetings in Bridgewater.

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.

The Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York is pleased to be a charter member of the Council of Ethics-Based Organizations (CEBO).

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: February 6, 2010.