What we’re about
Are you good without a god? Hey, so are we!
We all benefit from a supportive community for friends, charity, and fostering a better understanding of secular values with our neighbors. Atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, humanists, skeptics, non-religious, lost tourists, and the generally confused are all welcome to join us!
It is often claimed that atheists are rare when in fact nearly 20% of our nation's population do not believe in a higher power. Still, atheists can feel isolated because the religious community is so organized and outspoken on issues. Building and participating in a community is the first step toward being heard.
Plus - the conversation is great!
The Arkansas Society of Freethinkers is an organization of secular individuals whose goals are to:
Build a supportive and active community.
Promote public acceptance of nonbelievers.
Defend science education and the separation of church and state.
We encourage everyone to suggest events and activities. In addition to various volunteer, social, and public events, our regular events are:
Monthly Lecture Series
1st Tuesday dinner and drinks
New member welcome potluck
Book Club
Pint Night
The "Freespeakers" Toastmasters chapter
Human Light mid-winter celebration
Winter Solstice holiday display at the Arkansas State Capitol
Public Events that we regularly support and attend
Science Cafe \
Socrates Cafe \
We are a volunteer organization and most of our events are free for the public to attend. If you want to support the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers and help us keep sponsoring these activities and events, membership is $30 a year. Our membership year is Jan 1st - Dec 31st.
New members and new ideas are always welcome.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Socrates Café - MaumelleMaumelle Library, Maumelle, AR
- Socrates Café is a "3rd Party event" operated by the Central Arkansas Library System and is not hosted by, nor an official event of, the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers. We recommend and promote this event as a service to our members.
At Socrates Café, people explore questions from their lives through public, non-academic dialogue. There are no prerequisites, and no reading or other preparation is required. At the beginning of each meeting, participants suggest questions, from which the topic question for the evening is determined by popular vote. Recently suggested questions include: What is the best religion? How is education different from indoctrination? How does language influence thought? What are war memorials for? Why have Socrates Café?
In Little Rock the Central Arkansas Library System sponsors the following monthly Cafés:
1st Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at Maumelle Library, 10 Lake Pointe Dr, Maumelle.
4th Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. at Fletcher Library, 823 N. Buchanan, Little Rock
Find us on Facebook, too.
The idea to explore philosophy using non-academic, public conversation was promoted in the book Socrates Café by Christopher Phillips. From the book:
"While an undergraduate college student, I took a number of philosophy courses. I was disappointed to no end that my professors did not encourage their students to see themselves as co-inquisitors who were there to engage with the professors in the types of impassioned dialogues Socrates and his cohorts held. They tended to treat philosophy like a museum piece that only they, the experts, could discuss with authority. All too often they employed an inaccessible jargon that left students intimidated and bewildered, and vowing never again to take another philosophy course once they had satisfied their degree requirements."
