Our current service project is to host a free movie and pizza for kids at the West Toledo Branch Library each month. We have had good turn out each time, averaging about 20 kids and some caregivers. We would like to continue this project into 2025. If you can help fund the project please do.
Here is message from our President Douglas Berger:
The first place I lived when I moved to Toledo 8 years ago was on Lewis Avenue in the Five Points neighborhood. The nearest library branch was West Toledo in Library Village. This is a classic Tudor style building and is busy much of the time.
Our co-founder Shawn grew up in the Library Village area and wanted to do a service project that was focused on the kids in the area. This area is moderate to low income area and with that people have money at the beginning of the month and by the end of the month not so much. Shawn hatched the idea of showing a movie and offering free pizza and other snacks for the kids at the end of the month.
We show movies from the Disney library and provide Marco’s Pizza and other snacks like baby carrots and bananas. We don’t talk about Humanism or our group since that is what churches tend to do when having free kid activities — proselytize. We just want the kids to come to the basement auditorium, sit back, and have fun for a couple of hours.
Shawn and several of us have funded the project through September but now we need your help. It can cost up to $100 for each event and we would like to continue the project for a year. We would need at least $300 to finish 2024 and $1200 to cover the whole of 2025. We will be looking for additional sources of funding but we hope you can help now.
It is that time of year for membership renewals. All memberships purchased a year ago expire on 09/30/2024. We hope that those who memberships need to be renewed will do so.
You can start the process on ourMembers page on the website. Login and on the Account overview page click on the renew box. Not sure how to login to our website? We made a handy dandy tutorial linked below:
You can renew or upgrade your membership from the Account Overview page. We also ask that if you can, check the Auto Renew box so it will automatically renew your membership next year giving you the peace of mind that it will be renewed without missing a beat.
Here is a list of members who need to renew. If you feel you shouldn’t be on the list, login and check your status and if you are still concerned reach out to President Doug and he will verify your expiration date.
Michaelene G.RENEWED
David L.
Tim R. RENEWED
Bruce G.RENEWED
Brian T.
Michael K.
jules r.
Rob W.
Debbie P.RENEWED
Peggy C.RENEWED
Margarette W.
Mallori T.RENEWED
Derrick S.
Jerry PRENEWED
Derek W.RENEWED
Louis F
David S.RENEWED
Robyn P.
TK B.RENEWED
You can also update your contact information and preferences on the Edit your profile page.
Public schools all over the country and especially in Ohio are being invaded by a Christian Nationalist group called LifeWise. They claim to be teaching character values using Bible stories but in reviewing some of these Bible stories, we have to ask, Do we want to be teaching young kids about Human sacrifice for example?
LifeWise sets up in a local school district and with parental permission take kids off-campus for some Bible learning disguised as Character and value education. They refuse to let the public review their curriculum and is in fact suing someone who legally obtained a copy and posted it online.
Maybe this is why LifeWise refuses to let people outside of LifeWise see their curriculum:
In the Elementary curriculum, that is noted for Kindergarten through 3rd grade, Lesson 8 is about the character trait “sacrifice”. One segment of the lesson talks about God testing Abraham. For those who don’t know the story, God tells Abraham to take his son up into the mountain and sacrifice him to show his loyalty to God.
God wants Abraham to murder his own son to show much he “loves” God.
Abraham does what God says and takes his son up the mountain, builds an alter, and is just about ready to do the deed and an Angel stops him and lets him know that since he was ready to murder Isaac he knew he feared God (ie. would do what God Wanted).
Side note: Isaac had no clue his father was prepared to murder him.
So, not only is LifeWise teaching little kids that human sacrifice can be a good thing as long as it is for God, here is this tidbit
Example of a LifeWise Lesson about Human Sacrifice
The lesson is to have 2nd and 3rd graders act out the Abraham story and for the other kids to provide sound effects. Have the kids act out human sacrifice for God? Some kids have issues with what is real and what is not so should we be teaching this particular story? We don’t think so.
That isn’t the only problematic story. Here is a lesson about the trait submission:
Submission means learning to be a good follower. Instead of doing our own thing, we can do what we are asked. We don’t talk back or demand our way. We choose to “follow the leader,” whether that is God, our parents, our teachers or other good authorities God puts in our lives.
LifeWise Lesson Example
In an ironic twist, the title of the lesson is “Jacob’s New Name” and some of the activities are kids choosing a new name as a game. Yet, Joel Penton, the founder of LifeWise is against kids choosing their own name to socially transition at school. Also LifeWise training documents make clear that the order of authority for children is God then their Parents.
If this was a secular lesson about submission (it wouldn’t be called that in the first place), the teacher would also talk about caveats like are you being hurt or ‘has an adult asked you to keep a secret.’ Unlike this Bible story we don’t teach kids to never question why an adult or parent is asking them to do something. There will be things a kid must do that they don’t want to do — like their homework or mowing the yard, but typically they need to “submit” as long as it won’t hurt them in some way that typically is illegal if uncovered.
And what if a child actually murders their classmate and they say they did it because God told them to do it?
When we do presentations to other groups about SHoWLE, we talk about three well known Toledo natives who are or were humanists. Until today we didn’t promote them on our website. That oversight is fixed.
Starting today you can find short bios about the three humanists from the Toledo area we talk about: Gloria Steinem, Edward Lamb, and Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
Each page gives a short biography, their connection to Humanism and we tried to add a quote that fits the Humanist philosophy.
We hope this is just a start of a bigger project so if you know of Toledo humanists who should be added, let us know through our contact form.
One of the big events I’ve wanted to have for the members and friends of SHoWLE was a winter solstice gathering. Many Humanist groups around the country have one and my former group in Columbus had a catered banquet each year in December. I would like to announce we will be having a Winter Solstice Potluck on Saturday December 21, 2024.
I initially had plans for a Winter Solstice Potluck to happen in 2020 and we know why we didn’t have one. Then after the pandemic subsided SHoWLE did struggle to get its feet back under it. I am confident that in 2024 we are at least at the place we were at the start of 2020.
The catered banquet was used as a fundraiser for my Columbus group but through the years the costs of the banquet wiped out any “profit” from selling tickets to the event and people had a certain expectation when the event is catered. You buy a ticket to a dinner and you expect table service and beverages etc….
I like a potluck setup better especially for a Humanist group who gather as a community to observe the solstice.
We also don’t have to sell you tickets to attend and that way we can have something else to fundraise off of like door prizes or a raffle. And I can assure you there will be plenty of opportunities.
A potluck also keeps the event open and inclusive to the community at large. That way you don’t need to spend $30 a plate for dinner. It also helps us “cater” to people with special diets either they have a medical issue or they choose to be vegan for example, a potluck is a better way to have food for every type of diet.
The Winter Solstice Potluck is tentatively scheduled for December 21 at the Yager Center at Swan Creek Metropark. In the fall we will have more details and dish sign-up list to try to avoid too much duplication. Other details will follow soon after.
I am excited to have this event even I was sweat in the heat and humidity of June.
Mark this on your calendar. You can keep up on details as we add them on the event page on our website
*UPDATE*
Humanist and feminist Gloria Steinem will be our keynote speaker. She will appear via Zoom to say a few words. SHoWLE is thrilled she agreed to speak
SHoWLE enjoyed another Old West End Festival on June 1st and 2nd this year. We had several people join our email list and we talked to many more who stopped by. New this year was a donation collection box and we brought in $9.18.
The Prize Wheel was just as popular with the kids and the young at heart but it did suffer some damage from overnight rain between Saturday and Sunday. We will have it restored and better than ever for the Maumee Summer Fair in August.
SHoWLE wants to thank the volunteers that spent their weekend helping staff the booth — Ed, Michaelene, Anne, and Shawn. We also thank the donors that funded the booth space and much of the swag we handed out this weekend.
May 4th is the National Day of Reason in 2024 and into the future. One of the ways we have wanted to mark the occassion is to have the city council issue a resolution marking the day in the city. We weren’t prepared for how hard it really is to get it done. That’s why we started a petition.
Back in 2019, SHoWLE reached out to the Mayor of Toledo about issuing a proclamation but his office declined and then the pandemic happened and our efforts fell by the wayside.
This year we decided to focus on the city council since they have issued resolutions for a whole host of issues with the most recent being demanding a cease fire in Gaza. So how hard could it be?
There is no written formal process but in talking to a long time community activist, they suggested emailing the council president with the request. We did that and heard nothing back. Not even a thank you for sending this email. After reaching out again, the president responded back that our request had been missed and she declined to sponsor a resolution from us.
A resolution has to be sponsored by a member of council and this being a resolution from a non-religious group to mark a day about reason, there were not many council members to approach who would welcome our request. We identified another council member known for their progressive stances on the issues and advocacy for social justice and reached out to them. Never heard back. Again not even an acknowledgement they got the message.
In consulting our community activist friend again, he mentioned that council is innudated with requests like ours all the time, they have no formal office or staff at city hall, and most times they won’t act on anything unless they know citizens are requesting it and will back their efforts.
That’s where our petition comes into the picture.
We’ve started a petition with the goal to ask the Toledo City council to adopt a Day of Reason resolution. The National Day of Reason is May 4th. so it is most likely too late this year to get a resolution adopted but we will share the petition with the council for next year’s Day of Reason. Won’t you help us out?
Starting today you can find a SHoWLE community server on the Discord platform. Participation is free and open to anyone who wants to participate but it does require an invitation.
You need to create an account on Discord. You will need to install the Discord app or use the browser version to access the group.
The good news the invites are free. A limited time one is with this post. If it is expired feel free to reach out to us and ask for an invite. If you are a member of SHoWLE you get a special invite and get a special role on the server.
This is just another social media platform to have some discussions and fun outside formal meetings. It is moderated and there are some rules for the group.
On Tuesday 3/19, Lucas county Judge Stacy Cook ruled that the Sylvania City School District bus transportation plan for students of non-public schools doesn’t violate Ohio law or constitution.
Back in 2022, a couple of families that send their children to a catholic school in Sylvania, filed a lawsuit because their children had to be picked up hours before their school started, transported with older students, then dropped off at a high school to transfer to another bus, to arrive at their catholic school. The parents thought it was unlawful and violated the equal protection and religious freedom clauses of the Ohio constitution.
From the ruling:
“The evidence submitted by plaintiffs consist of several affidavits by the parties and a nonparty spouse. These affidavits recite that they choose Catholic education because of their personal Catholic faith. The affidavits also recite the various inconveniences the Plaintiffs and their children face because of the District’s transportation scheme. However, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have offered no evidence of any coercive effects on their religious practice: there is no evidence that the transportation plan has compelled Plaintiffs to do anything forbidden by their religion or that it has caused them to refrain from doing something required by their religion. Plaintiffs have also not offered any evidence that the transportation plan has compelled them to affirm or disavow a belief forbidden or required by their religion. Accordingly, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate any coercive effect upon their religious practice. The Plaintiffs have therefore failed to show that Defendants’ transportation plan violates their right to free exercise of religion under the Ohio Constitution.
The Court finds against Plaintiffs as to their claim that Defendants’ transportation plan violates their right to free exercise of religion under the Ohio Constitution. Again, the presumption that a legislative act is constitutional applies to the Board’s transportation plan. With this presumption the Court finds in favor of Defendants as to Plaintiffs’ free exercise claim.”
Both parties had asked for a summary judgement since the facts in the case weren’t in dispute. In the original lawsuit the families asked the court for an injunction to order the school district to “fix” the transportation plan. Judge Cook said the court couldn’t do that, it could only rule if the district’s act was lawful and not unconstitutional.
The original lawsuit was dismissed by the parents on August 30, 2022. Parents refiled on September 16, 2022 and asked for class action status and removed all references to the 1st amendment to keep it out of Federal court. The class action was never certified.
A lawyer for the families, who was one of the plaintiffs when the lawsuit had been filed in August 2022 but dropped out in September of 2022, stated they were probably going to appeal the ruling.
We were contacted recently by someone who lives in the Sylvania Public school district. She said that LifeWise had a presentation scheduled for the next school board meeting and wanted to know if we had any information about the group.
Released Time Religious Instruction is allowed under Ohio Revised Code 3313.6022. The big takeaway is that school districts aren’t required to adopt RTRI policies.
Other points from the law:
(1) The student’s parent or guardian gives written consent.
(2) The sponsoring entity maintains attendance records and makes them available to the school district the student attends.
(3) Transportation to and from the place of instruction, including transportation for students with disabilities, is the complete responsibility of the sponsoring entity, parent, guardian, or student.
(4) The sponsoring entity makes provisions for and assumes liability for the student.
(5) No public funds are expended and no public school personnel are involved in providing the religious instruction.
(6) The student assumes responsibility for any missed schoolwork.
LifeWise Academy is a large religious group based in Columbus that works with local groups to install Bible classes in school districts. In 2022, LifeWise brought in over $6 million in donations, enrolls nearly 30,000 students from more than 300 schools across more than 12 states. LifeWise has a strong presence in Ohio. LifeWise will be in more than 170 Ohio school districts by next school year — more than a quarter of the state’s school districts.
LifeWise only teaches Christianity and only hires Christians to be instructors and staff.
The other issues we have is that children are being removed from school grounds for an hour more by people who don’t work for the school district and who the district doesn’t vet. The classes have absolutely no connection to anything being taught in the public school. It is basically a Sunday school during the week. LifeWise claims it is teaching character values but you can learn those values without religion.
We have created a FAQ page about Released Time Religious Instruction with additional information about the classes and LifeWise.
