Maryland Freethinkers is a fellowship of people who share a worldview free of mystical and supernatural elements.
Together, we explore the science and wonder of nature here on earth and the universe. We discuss our connection to our local communities and our relationships with people around the world. We examine and strengthen our own personal beliefs through support of each other. And we believe in having the courage to share our worldview with others with mutual tolerance and respect.
Founded in 2009, the group meets on a regular basis in Annapolis, Maryland for discussion and free exchange about a universe free of the supernatural and mystical. We are comprised of individuals from many different backgrounds and perspectives that share an enthusiasm to learn about and celebrate the positive aspects of our natural world in chemistry, biology, and physics.
“Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
– Douglas Adams
We challenge the impact of religion on society and share our personal interactions between believers and non-believers. We accomplish this through DVD sharing, invited speakers, book discussion, and a free and open exchange of individual views and perspectives, as well as field trips to world-renown scientists and atheists.
Thus far we have explored eighteen books including Richard Dawkin’s The God Delusion, The Greatest Show on Earth, and The Magic of Reality; Stephen Hawkings’ A Briefer History of Time, and The Grand Design, Fred Muir’s The Whole World Kin, William Murry’s Reason and Reverence, Christopher Hitching’s God is Not Great, Rick Hanson’s Buddha’s Brain, Thomas Clark’s Encountering Naturalism, Sam Harris’ The Moral Landscape, George Vaillant’s Spiritual Evolution, Daniel Dennet’s Breaking the Spell, Ursula Goodenough’s The Sacred Depths of Nature, Michael Shermer’s The Believing Brain, Greg Epstein’s Good Without God, Chet Raymo’s When God is Gone, Everything is Holy, and Phil Zuckerman’s Faith No More.
We have gone on seven field trips to hear: Greg Epstein, Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse -Tyson, Sam Harris, Phil Zuckerman; to Baltimore’s Charles Theatre for Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life; and to the National Mall in Washington D.C. for the March 24, 2012 Reason Rally “The Largest Gathering of the Secular Movement in World History.”
“We are connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, and to the universe atomically.” – Neil de Grasse-Tyson
We have had three “Freethought Film Festivals” viewing nine films including: Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life, Carl Sagan’s Contact, Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, Jerome Bixby’s Man from Earth, Akira Kurasawa’s Ikiru, Robert Wise’s The Day The Earth Stood Still, James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta, and Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Decalogue.
Finally, in the summer of 2011, we joined with several midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy to begin an inaugural Plebe Summer program for nonbelievers, and helped start the Naval Academy Freethinkers and Atheist program which has continued to meet on a weekly basis with some 100 enrollees.
MD Freethinkers is a program of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis (UUCA). If you are concerned about participating in an atheist group associated with a church, fear not. Unitarian Universalism (UU) promotes that each person must determine their own beliefs based on evidence and experience. Members of our group have simply chosen to be atheist or agnostic.
Most of us do agree with much of the “7 UU Principles” including “a free and responsible search for meaning and truth”, and “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are all a part”, and we believe that atheists are well served by a cohesive community working cooperatively toward progressive social action in areas as “acceptance, equality, democracy, conscience, peace, liberty, and justice.”
Skeptics Freethinkes Agnostics and Atheists - “We believe in Science & Reason, Community, Compassion, Respect, & Wonder.”
If you are an atheist, agnostic, freethinker, bright, skeptic, humanist, non-believer or naturalist, we encourage you to join us. We meet the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7pm. Depending on date, meetings are held at various UUCA locations in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Please write if you would like to participate.
For more information E-mail us at: info@mdfreethinkers.com or join our FaceBook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/MDSFAA/members/ or our MeetUp group at http://www.meetup.com/UUCA-Skeptics-Freethinkers-Agnostics-Atheists/
Copyright 2013 Maryland Freethinkers