IL/WI Stateline Atheist Society

At our next Book Club meeting on June 8th we will discuss our new book choice " In Freedom We Trust, An Atheist Guide to Religious Liberty" by Edward M and Michael E Bruckner. It presents the origins of the idea of separation of church and state in our country, and why they need to remain separate for the sake of all. We may meet at Hononegah Forest Preserve if it's a nice day. As always - you do not have to have read the book to come to our book discussions. Everyone is welcome to join the conversation.

The annual Freedom From Religion Foundation National Convention is "a weekend of great speakers, awesome people, good food, irreverent music and a chance to recharge your secular and freethinking battery." This is a major convention that won't break the bank; it is within easy driving distance for most. There will also be opportunity to explore downtown Madison, and to visit the FFRF headquarters. The speaker lineup includes: - Best-selling author Sarah Vowell - Women’s rights activist Wendy Davis - Americans United for the Separation of Church & State President Rachel Laser - “Liberal Redneck” comedian Trae Crowder - FFRF’s Director of Strategic Response Andrew L. Seidel, who will be talking about his new book - Mandisa Thomas, the founder and president of Black Nonbelievers - Anthony B. Pinn, the founding director of the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning at Rice University More info or to register: https://ffrf.org/outreach/convention

Madison Skeptics is discussing the possibility of screening 'The Decalogue'. I wondered how many of our group might want to carpool, to join them? They do not yet have a place and time for it. Details to come. It is 10 hours long, so they are proposing to show it in (5?) increments. However, each hour stands alone, so even if you could only go to one, you would lose nothing by it. It sounds very intriguing, and interestingly, it has one of the highest overall ratings of any movie at all, on IMDB. It is also rated # 4 on the 'Arts and Faith Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films', but that does not make it about religion. It is about humanity, and our most basic, and most difficult moral underpinnings. Here's a pretty dry description from IMDB: "Don't read this review - watch the movie 4 December 2000 | by frank.vandenblock (Brussels) – See all my reviews If ever there was a good reason to start learning Polish, the Dekalog series is the definitive reason. The extent to which Kieslowski goes to show us what it is to be human, cannot be compared to the work of any film-maker. Yes, Ken Loach is the master of the social drama, and Lars Von Trier is without a doubt the best experimental melodramatist, but Kieslowski just manages to outclass them both in 10 powerful, striking and breath-taking stories loosely based on the 10 Commandments. It's a must-see, don't take my word for it...go watch it !" Full info is here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092337/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1 , but don't read too many reviews, you'll spoil it for yourself.