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First Meeting A Success

Nice Crowd at first meeting

Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) met for the first time offi­cial­ly on May 5th. We had a dozen human­ists inter­est­ed in the group and mov­ing for­ward.

The inter­est was so great that we were able to have enough AHA mem­bers to sign our chap­ter appli­ca­tion and we had sev­er­al peo­ple inter­est­ed in serv­ing on the steer­ing com­mit­tee. This com­mit­tee will help devel­op the for­mal struc­ture of the group as we become a chap­ter.

“I think it shows how need­ed a group like this is in Toledo and our PR cam­paign helped get the word out,” Co-founder Doug Berger said. “I am over the moon at the num­ber who attend­ed today with­out any pre­vi­ous his­to­ry.”

Berger led the meet­ing and gave a pre­sen­ta­tion about the group and what he would like to see hap­pen in the future. There was a good dis­cus­sion peri­od where the con­sen­sus was that there needs to be a group that can help pro­tect the 1st amend­ment and con­cern that our group is too small to be effec­tive.

“I under­stand the con­cern,” Berger said lat­er. “We need to start small and grow into some of the ideas I have for the group. I have no prob­lem with that.”

The next meet­ing will be on June 16th 2018 at 11 am at The 577 Foundation 577 East Front St.  Perrysburg, Ohio 43551 (just west of East Boundary St.)

Berger will also being doing a pre­sen­ta­tion about church and state issues in the Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan area.

All meet­ings of SHoWLE are free and open to the pub­lic.

Here is a clip from the Toledo Blade on May 5th:

Meeting announcement in the Blade
Religion Section Toledo Blade 05/05/2018
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A New Dawn For Humanism In Toledo

A new day is dawn­ing over Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. From Monroe to Findlay and from Sandusky to Defiance, a new group is form­ing to give a safe space and com­mu­ni­ty to peo­ple who are sec­u­lar human­ists.

Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) val­ues peo­ple, empha­sizes rea­son, and focus­es on this world. Our pur­pose is edu­cat­ing the pub­lic about Humanism and build­ing a Humanist com­mu­ni­ty in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. Membership is open to all Humanists in sub­stan­tial agree­ment with our prin­ci­ples and val­ues. Our reg­u­lar meet­ings and sched­uled events will be free and open to the pub­lic.

SHoWLE will be hav­ing an orga­ni­za­tion­al meet­ing on May 5th, 2018 at 1 PM in the meet­ing room at the Washington Branch of the Toledo Public Library 5560 Harvest Lane Toledo OH 43623. The plan is to hold reg­u­lar month­ly meet­ings and become a chap­ter of the American Humanist Association.

Humanism is a demo­c­ra­t­ic and eth­i­cal lifes­tance which affirms that human beings have the right and respon­si­bil­i­ty to give mean­ing and shape to their own lives. It stands for the build­ing of a more humane soci­ety through an ethics based on human and oth­er nat­ur­al val­ues in a spir­it of rea­son and free inquiry through human capa­bil­i­ties. It is not the­is­tic, and it does not accept super­nat­ur­al views of real­i­ty.

For most, human­ism is an alter­na­tive to reli­gion. In many cas­es and sit­u­a­tions there is a human­ist alter­na­tive to prob­lems we see in the world. We feel that in the Toledo area, that alter­na­tive isn’t being heard. or at least being addressed.

We are look­ing to build a strong core of indi­vid­u­als who share Humanist val­ues and who want to build a vibrant com­mu­ni­ty for Humanists

If you have any ques­tions, or for media inquiries, feel free to use our con­tact form.

Visit our Facebook and Twitter pages too.

Here for Good 2025: [Buy a T-shirt and Support SHoWLE](https://www.jupmodesupply.com/products/secular-humanists-of-western-lake-erie-here-for-good-2025)
Here for Good 2025: [Buy a T-shirt and Support SHoWLE](https://www.jupmodesupply.com/products/secular-humanists-of-western-lake-erie-here-for-good-2025)