SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 1-3 PM

OTOW HOBBY BUILDING EVENTS ROOM

ORBITS AND ICE AGES: THE HISTORY OF CLIMATE

Did you know we are in a climate Ice Age? It seems counterintuitive as we are experiencing some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded. We will watch a video lecture given by Daniel Britt—Orbits and Ice Ages: The History of Climate.

    Dr Britt is the Pegasus Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida. He was educated in geology at the University of Washington and Brown University. His career includes service in the US Air Force as an ICBM missile launch officer and an economist for Boeing. Britt has served on the science teams of four NASA missions to Mars, comets and asteroids. He currently does research on the physical properties and mineralogy of asteroids, comets, the Moon and Mars, and is the director of the Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS). He has served as chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society and the Planetary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America.

    We have invited members of the Ocala Citizens' Climate Lobby to join us for an informative discussion. We hope you will be there, too.

LOOKING BACK AT AUGUST

On August 3, we hosted Dr. Rod Broker, an academic, counselor and former Lutheran minister, who presented: God Talk: The Evolution of Religion. From his perspective as a freethinker, Rod asked the age-old question, did god create man, or did man create god and proceeded to provide a rational basis to argue the point. Of course, a robust Q&A period followed. Freethinkers always have lots of questions!

Then on August 17, Open Forum returned with six tables and six topics. As Roger Mack, our Open Forum Coordinator, always says, the Forum is a work in progress, and in this go round he piloted the use of preselected facilitators at each table to keep the discussions on track. Success! The facilitators summarized the groups’ input and opened the floor for comments and questions.

And on August 25, our Banned and Woke Book Club discussed the Pulitzer prizewinning book James by Percival Everett. This amazing retelling of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim seems to have touched all of us as we looked at the inhumanity of slavery and the resourcefulness of those enslaved to survive dire circumstances. Glenn Cohen and Mel Cox, our book club coordinators, are looking for input on our next selection which will be announced around September 15 for the October 27 book club meeting. Suggestions? Email FreethinkersFlorida@gmail.com.

LOOKING AHEAD

SUNDAY OCTOBER 5, 1-3 PM

OTOW HOBBY BUILDING EVENTS ROOM

THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL NEWS REPORTING

Jennifer Hunt Murty, the Owner/Publisher of the Ocala Gazette and Ocala Style Magazine, will join us for a discussion of The Importance of Local News Reporting. Prior to moving to publishing in 2018, Jennifer had a seventeen-year career as a paralegal. This background gives her a unique perspective on investigative reporting. She has covered some of Ocala’s biggest news stories, including the unusually high number of inmate deaths in the Marion County Jail. She also investigated the Marion County School construction and procurement controversy, which revealed manipulation and violations of district policy. Her reporting raised serious concerns about the integrity of the vendor selection process. Is there freedom of the press in Ocala? Come join us and bring your questions.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 19, 1-3 PM

OTOW HOBBY BUILDING EVENTS ROOM

EVOLUTION AND SOCIAL DARWINISM

Freethinkers’ own Glenn Cohen, Professor Emeritus at Florida Institute of Technology, will compare Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, a scientific theory describing biological changes in species over time through natural selection, with Social Darwinism (this seems to have had a resurgence now among conservative thinkers) which is a social and political ideology not endorsed by Darwin that suggests that societies can justify inequality, imperialism, or lack of aid to the poor because “survival of the fittest” allows the human race to evolve. For example, Nazi Germany used social Darwinism and eugenics to justify racial hierarchy and genocide. As Freethinkers, it is important for us to be aware of the difference in today’s political climate. No doubt the discussion following this presentation will be quite lively!