Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie
Guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience
A decision was made to close our Meetup.com account. It will be closed by June 24th. There are no plans to schedule any additional events on Meetup before June 24th.
We thank all who followed our page and we thank the few who actually attended our events from the blurbs on Meetup.
Continue reading “Closing SHoWLE’s Meetup Group”
There has been talk about a slow reopening of the state starting around May 1st. The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie believe that without mass on demand testing, reopening too much too soon will be the wrong move.
Continue reading “SHoWLE Suspends In-Person Meetings and Events Until September 2020”
As we enter our third week of a statewide shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to give you all a brief update from the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie.
Continue reading “SHoWLE Group Update”
As the state of Ohio battens down the hatches to battle the COVID-19 outbreak, many of our friends and family are being affected by the increasing need to “flatten the curve”.
The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) cares not only about our members, friends, and family, we also care about our community during this difficult time.
Continue reading “We will have a virtual meeting”
Toledo, February 5, 2020 – The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) announces the debut of a new outreach project for secular people and friends in Northwest Ohio. “Glass City Humanist” is a podcast hosted by SHoWLE President Douglas Berger.
Continue reading “New Podcast Reaches Out To Toledo Secular Community”
This holiday season, the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) participated in two service projects. One was an outreach to prisoners and the other was adopting a family.
Continue reading “Two Holiday Service Projects Completed”
This weekend I am attending Skepticon 11 in St. Louis, MO with Shawn and Peggy. Skepticon is a free convention for seculars and skeptics.
Shawn and I are having a good time, meeting new people, getting new ideas, and communing with people who have similar world views as we do.
I’ve learned how to make an awesome podcast and how to persuade people on issues I think are important. I also learned about the religious right’s effort to have special laws passed in state legislatures through their Project Blitz initiative. Did you know Ohio has a chapter of the Prayer Caucus? It lobbies state legislators in Columbus.
Shawn and I are bringing back meeting and event ideas for the coming year.
The only misstep to this year’s conference is it being scheduled during the 5th Anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. He was shot and killed by a white police officer just 10 miles away in Ferguson. Until one of the talks this evening, Skepticon made no effort to acknowledge the event. I hope they do better next time in making sure there are no conflicts like that or at least dedicate some time to marking those kinds of tragedies.
Shawn walked around the area where our hotel is located and mentioned to me she saw a lot of homeless people. It made me consider that a convention like Skepticon should include a community service project so participants experience life outside the hotel.
I do want to attend another Skepticon in the future. This type of convention is needed by people in our community.
On Friday evening, July 12th, at Levis Square in downtown Toledo, the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) co-sponsored the Lights For Liberty vigil to End Human Concentration Camps.
Lights for Liberty partnered with international, national, regional and local communities and organizations who believe that human rights are fundamental rights, are not negotiable, and are willing to protect them.
President Douglas Berger was one of several speakers, at the event in Levis square, who highlighted the human rights issue with the immigration detention camps setup around the country.
Continue reading “Berger Spoke At Lights4Liberty Vigil”
SHoWLE had our first informational booth at the Toledo Pride Festival on August 18th. Doug, Shawn, Margarette, and Larry had over 50 people show interest in the group.
It was a beautiful day with a large crowd visiting all the booths in Promenade Park in Downtown Toledo.
“Having a booth takes a lot of time and effort to pull off,” SHoWLE President Doug Berger explained. “For our first time, we did a great job. I have a lot ideas on how to improve our booth for the future.”
If you be interested in helping staff our booth at other events let Doug or Shawn know.