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 2009 SEASON

	Second Tuesday	Fourth Tuesday
January	13 ⁽¹⁾
February	10 ⁽²⁾	24 ⁽³⁾
March	10 ⁽⁴⁾
April	14 ⁽⁵⁾
May	12 ⁽⁶⁾
June	9 ⁽⁷⁾

⁽¹⁾ Tuesday, January 13, 2009: 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.

Have you heard of the lawsuit by the American Humanist Association that will be heard on that very day, January 13th, to prohibit religious involvement in the actual Presidential Inauguration. What's with the hand on the bible, anyway? Shouldn't it actually be a copy of the U.S. Constitution? What do you say? Please be sure to bring any friends who might be interested in participating. The meeting is open to all.

Hoping to see you there!

⁽²⁾ Tuesday, February 10, 2009: 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 ].

The meeting is open to all. We hope to see you there!

⁽³⁾ Tuesday, February 24, 2009: We will meet at 6:30 PM at Wild Ginger, a Thai restaurant located at 51 Grove Street between Bleecker Street and Seventh Avenue South [ click here for map ] in the West (Greenwich) Village, for dinner and conversation. Humanist literature and books will be available for distribution.

The meeting is open to all. We hope to see you there!

⁽⁴⁾ Tuesday, March 10, 2009: 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 ].

The meeting is open to all. We hope to see you there!

⁽⁵⁾ Tuesday, April 14, 2009: 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 ].

The meeting is open to all. We hope to see you there!

⁽⁶⁾ Tuesday, May 12, 2009: 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 ].

A Humanist Roundtable Discussion will take place, where Humanist literature and books are available. Please come and join in conversation with like-minded free thinkers. Please bring your own concerns for discussion.

One suggestion for discussion has been, in honor of Charles Darwin, the question of whether or not there is hope for further Evolution of Human Beings. Given the extent of self-knowledge that Science is exploring, may it eventually become possible for us Humans to develop more ethical responses to societal problems and to international relations? Or are we locked into what is claimed to be "Human behavior?" What say you? The Astronomer, Harlow Shapley mused that Earthlings might wake up and work together if Mars made war on us.

Another subject for discussion will be a new Program dedicated to promoting consensus-making techniques. Rick Ulfik, Founder and Chair of We, The World, has worked with various organizations and coalitions around the world to produce and promote collaborative initiatives and events for peace, sustainability and transformation. He will be presenting information about an important new Program called "Be The Change". This is a course in Heart-Centered Leadership that will be starting on May 13th, the evening after our own meeting. Rick is inviting others to join him for this series of ongoing studies. Here is contact information to learn more: phone 646-201-9226, or e-mail bethechange@wetheworld.org.

Hoping to see you at the Humanist Meeting; bring Friends. Meet congenial people, share ideas, make plans!

⁽⁷⁾ Tuesday, June 9, 2009: 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 ].

This meeting will be dedicated to celebrating the life and works and inspiration of hero Thomas Paine but, please note, if you wish to participate in all of the celebrations, some will be taking place before this meeting, so check the activities schedule below.

Our special speaker, and newest Chapter Member, at this month's HSMNY meeting, will be Dr. Joyce Chumbley, who is with a group called the Thomas Paine Friends, Inc. Dr. Chumbley will have copies of her book, Thomas Paine: In Search of the Common Good, about the Thomas Paine Colloquium that took place at the United Nations in 1987. Dr. Chumbley edited this book along with her colleague, Leo Zonneveld, who was an organizer of the original U.N. event.

Introducing Dr. Chumbley will be Professor Thomas Riggins, Chapter President, who suggests that attendees and participants had better do their homework by researching The Age Of Reason or by bringing their copy to the meeting, as he plans to test us while making his own Tom Paine presentation, before introducing our speaker.

Here are some activities scheduled for the Thomas Paine Bicentennial, hoping you'll wish to participate:

Saturday, June 6, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM - A lecture by New York University historian J. Ward Regan at the Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library, 425 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) at 10th Street, sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation. This event will be followed by a walking tour to 293 Bleecker Street, one of Paine's New York City residences, and then, on to the site where he died, now Marie's Crisis Cafe at 59 Grove Street between Seventh Avenue South and Bleecker Street. For additional information, see the GVSHP Upcoming Events Calendar.

Sunday, June 7, 1:00 PM - A commemoration at the Paine Monument in New Rochelle, on North Avenue, sponsored by the City of New Rochelle and the Huguenot and New Rochelle Historical Societies. For additional information, see the Thomas Paine Friends 2009 Celebration Events Calendar.

Monday, June 8, 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM - A re-dedication of Thomas Paine Park, at Foley Square in lower Manhattan (opposite the courts, a tree-shaded triangle bound by Worth, Centre, and Lafayette Streets) with speeches and music. The planting of a Liberty Tree, a traditional American Elm, in honor of Thomas Paine during the Monday, June 8th event is a hoped-for possibility. Details are being worked out. A good description of the significance of the Liberty Tree, along with Paine's own poem by this title and its relevance in the rallying of resistance to King George at the time of the American Revolution, can be found on the Web site of the Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution. For additional information, see the Thomas Paine Friends 2009 Celebration Events Calendar.

About the Tom Paine Park, how appropriate that it is a convergence place for protests and the site of many peace and justice demonstrations near the Courts in Manhattan. I have been calling it Foley Square, and not realizing that it is also the Thomas Paine Park. This fact is not well known, but sure enough, upon searching, I found a bust of his likeness near the corner of Centre and Worth Streets.

A plan in which you may wish to participate and help to promote, in this celebration of Tom Paine's contributions to the Freedoms in this country, which are still in serious jeopardy, we hope will be the planting of a Liberty Tree as part of a ceremony in the Park. By adding your request for such a tree, you may help to convince the Parks Department. The City encourages the planting of trees. See the New York City Web site MillionTreesNYC for information as to how we might be instrumental in making this happen.

Hoping to see you on June 9th or better yet, at one or more of the Tom Paine Celebrations!

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 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

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: May 30, 2009.