MDC is the original WASH chapter with members or other interested people in the greater Washington area including Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland.
Our next meeting
WASH MDC discussion of the Johnson Amendment
Matt Bulger of AHA, will be our speaker on the topic of the Johnson Amendment. It is important and part of the church/state separation issue.
In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, prez candidate DJT singled out “the evangelical and religious community” for their assistance in getting him nominated.
He argued:
“They have much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits,”
“An amendment, pushed by LBJ is his target. He and many conservatives think it threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views.(More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Amendment) , Tuesday October 17 from 7 -9 pm Matt Bulger will lead a discussion of this subject and what AHA is doing about it.
Matthew Bulger is the Legislative Director at the American Humanist Association, where he advocates for church-state separation and humanist values in public policy to government officials.
Bulger also serves as the editor of the AHA’s quarterly membership publication Free Mind and regularly contributes to TheHumanist.com.
He graduated with a B.A. in political science from American University in Washington D.C., and is the co-founder and former president of the American University Rationalists & Atheists.
The meeting will be at the new American Humanist Association HQ, 1821 Jefferson Place NW, Washington, DC 20036 which is just south of Dupont Circle between Connecticut and 19th on Jefferson Place (between M and N).
It’s a very short walk from the Dupont Circle Metro, and a 10-minute walk from Farragut West. If you drive there are garages nearby including one just past the AHA offices on the right side of Jefferson Place.
Plans for Fall 2017
Rachel Berman will speak on Tuesday Nov. 14, from 7-9 on “Humanist Month in a Box.”
Venue: 1821 Jefferson Pl NW Washington, DC
Dec. 9th WASH annual meeting 10-noon
Venue: Chevy Chase DC Library
Annual DC Area HumanLight Meeting
We are currently planning our annual DC Area HumanLight Celebration.
Our planned date is Saturday Dec. 16th from 4 to 9 pm. This will be again organized by the WASH Maryland-DC chapter and is a free and relatively informal, ritual-free secular celebration near the winter solstice.
Contact point: Gary Berg-Cross; gbergcross@gmail.com. This event be at my house again this year:
13 Atwell Ct.
Potomac, MD 20854
While the event is free we’d like to know who plans on coming so contact me so that we make proper arrangements.
As in past years we will have a rolling pot luck “dinner” (bring what you like but something that you will enjoy. A google docs page will be set up so that people can list what they will bring and see what others are bringing.
We will provide drinks.
There will be games and puzzles for children. If your kids are too young for board games, you might want to bring something else to entertain them. Either way, you’ll need to provide your own supervision for them. And we will have our annual raffle (probably around 7-8) featuring small presents complements of the Edwords.
We also will have our Tree of knowledge with favorite book-tags to decorate.
We hope that you can come, bring friends and pass the message along. More details as planning proceeds.
For general information and if there are any questions you may contact the chapter coordinator:
Gary Berg-Cross via email at gary@wash.org.
For general information about the MDC chapter, contact Gary Berg-Cross via email (gary@wash.org) or via phone (240-426-0770).
P.O. Box 15319 Washington, DC 20003
General info on WASH MDC mdc@wash.org
Phone: 240-426-0770
Please remember that WASH is a volunteer organization. Contributions of your time and money are the core of WASH’s ability to serve you, our membership. If you’re not already a member, please consider joining for $35, or at least becoming a friend of WASH for $10. If you have the means to provide financial support for WASH beyond the membership dues, your contributions help WASH engage in projects such as the following:
- Printing of the Ingersoll Walk booklet (estimated cost: $300)
- Upgrades for the next Ingersoll Oratory Contest to include rental of a tent, an improved PA system, and upgraded prizes for contestants (estimated cost: $2,000).
- A project to make WASH generated videos available on YouTube (estimated cost: $500)
- Support for student groups (estimated cost: $500)
- Support for a fee-based speaker, such as professional interpreters of Jefferson (Steve Edenbo) or Madison, book authors, or others at a WASH event (estimated cost: $3,000)
- Advertising campaigns such as billboards (estimated cost: $5,000)
Thank you!
Past Meetings
For Recent Past meetings see:
http://wash.org/past-mdc-meetings/
Older Past meetings Include:
Sept 2016 Confronting our Whiteness
Oct. 2016 Democracy for Realists
Nov. 2016 Meeting to hear thoughts on the 2016 election
A Special Event organized by the Montgomery County Public Libraries called “An Evening with Steve Roberts.”
Dec. 2016 Annual DC Area HumanLight Celebration
Oct. 17th, 2015 We highlighted the recent WASHcon15 Regional meeting and some of its speakers topics:
Linda LaScola, Co-Author of “Caught in the Pulpit – Leaving Belief Behind” and Co-Founder of The Clergy Project
Dr. Andy Thomson, Psychiatrist and Author,
Ron Lindsay, President and CEO, Center for Inquiry
Julien Musolino, Author and Scholar, Rutgers University
Tom Flynn, Executive Director, Council for Secular Humanism
Dr. Jason Heap, Executive Director, United Coalition of Reason
For slides used at the session try here or contact the moderator, Gary Berg-Cross
2015 Sept. 12th The Sept. WASH MDC meeting was held Saturday Sept. 12th at the Wheaton Regional Library. The meeting starts at 10:45 and the topic is a community discussion comparing the Atheist and Secular Humanist stance (featuring key humanist virtues) with participation of the DC Region Atheist chapter of WASH as well as other persuasions (Nones, Skeptics, Freethinkers etc.).Are these labels important and what do they mean to you?Do they share a naturalistic & ethical worldview with a positive emotional/affective thrust?
A-theism starts off by saying what it it does not believe. The humanist movement, has what Roy Speckhardt calls a forward-thinking outlook with an emphasis on critical thinking and self-reflection.
For past meetings see: http://wash.org/past-mdc-meetings/
Stay tuned for announcements on the Fall 2017 series of talks & Meetings.
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