What we’re about
This Meetup is a coalition of most of the Bay Area Freethought groups. We post our various meetings, hoping that people will find groups that suit their outlook. A number of Skeptical meetings are also posted here. We're an "umbrella" for a few locations at once: SF, North, East, and South Bays, and the Peninsula.
Some groups post their meetings as recurring, meaning you will see several meetings listed as upcoming. But most post their meetings a couple of weeks before the event. This can give the appearance that meetings are dominated by the groups with recurring events.
For science events, check out http://wonderfest.org
Upcoming events (2)
See all- BAS SkepTalk: From Creationism to QAnon: Answers in Genesis and the Culture WarLink visible for attendees
From Creationism to QAnon: Answers in Genesis and the Culture War
The book "Righting America at the Creation Museum" came out in 2016. In the intervening years, the creationist organization Answers in Genesis has opened Ark Encounter, remodeled the Creation Museum (in some places as a response to our book), opened a K-12 school, and dramatically expanded its online presence. At the same time, AiG has doubled down on the culture war rhetoric, dismissing climate change (or, as AiG CEO Ken Ham refers to it, “the climate cult”) as a hoax, rejecting the reality of a COVID-19 pandemic (in the process attacking vaccination mandates as oppressive), and working hard to appeal to QAnon devotees (to the point of opening the Ark to the filming of a QAnon video).All of us have a stake in understanding what is happening in the world of AiG – including the museum and the Ark – and its role in preparing and arming crusaders for the ongoing culture war that polarizes and poisons U.S. religion and politics. As bizarre as the world of AiG may seem to many Americans, what happens there matters to all of us.
About the speakers:
Susan Trollinger is Professor of English at the University of Dayton. She earned her Ph.D. in Rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh, and is the author of Selling the Amish: The Tourism of Nostalgia (Johns Hopkins, 2012).
William Trollinger is Professor of History and Religious Studies at the University of Dayton. He earned his Ph.D. in History from the University ofWisconsin-Madison, and is the author of God’s Empire: William Bell Riley and the Making of American Fundamentalism (2nd ed., Tennessee, 2025).
The Trollingers have co-written, among other publications:- Righting America at the Creation Museum (Johns Hopkins, 2016)
- “Creationism,” Oxford Handbook of Christian Fundamentalism (Oxford, 2023)
- “The Bible and Creationism,” Oxford Handbook of the Bible (Oxford, 2017)
- “From Creationism to QAnon: The Culture War Conspiracism of Answers in Genesis,” which will appear in Isis in the summer of 2025, and from which this talk is taken.WHEN: Thursday 9 May @ 7:00 PM Pacific (GMT-7)
WHERE: Online. Click HERE - Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. FranklLink visible for attendees
This is a Book Group. Reading the book is useful for participation but not mandatory.
Join us on video chat as we discuss this month's book, details below. Newcomers are always welcome, as are new book suggestions. A Zoom link will be visible to those who RSVP.
PLEASE NOTE that no one will be admitted after the first 30 minutes of the meeting in order to avoid disrupting the discussion.
IMPORTANT: Please make sure to add any +1s, and to change your RSVP early if you can't make it.ABOUT Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
A timeless examination of life in the Nazi death camps. Frankl's Holocaust memoir provides universal lessons for coping with suffering and finding one's purpose in life to offer an unforgettable message for readers seeking solace and guidance.See past Book Group Selections at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rOYjJXpE_ixZg6F9YezAFSQrWBQxMR251tNrkARVJVw/edit#