GBH Summer Solstice Luncheon and Talk: "The Future of Anti-Theocracy"

We'll celebrate the longest day in Earth's northern hemisphere with our traditional "Solstice Secular Luncheon," dining together as a community at our favorite vegetarian-friendly restaurant in Cambridge.

We'll have a special pair of speakers, two Massachusetts atheist activists who participated in the Secular Coalition for America's Lobby Day in Washington DC back in March, to speak after the buffet lunch on "The Future of Anti-Theocracy."

Many humanists and atheists are fighting back against attacks on free speech, legal and Constitutional norms, and the separation of church from state at all levels of government. We'll hear from Zachary Bos and Josiah vanVliet who joined with humanists and other activists at the Spring 2025 Secular Lobby Day. Josiah Van Vliet is a past president of Boston Atheists and a citizen lobbyist; Zachary Bos is State Director for American Atheists and a community organizer.

We'll dine and enjoy the important benefits of communing with one another. Then we'll hear about some ways our community is fighting to defend and promote freedom of thought and belief.

THE RESTAURANT
The India Pavillion in Central Square Cambridge (vegetarian options*). It is $17 per person for all you care to eat, not including drinks; bring cash or check made to GBHumanists, please). RSVP.

Parking in Cambridge is free on Sundays in metered and some non-metered spots, and several garages and lots in Central Square including several just steps away on Green Street. MBTA red line Central Square station and associated bus stops are also within the block.

*(Unfortunately, the restaurant does not have any vegan options on the buffet, so check out the menu and plan accordingly to purchase from the menu and pay separately.)

THE SPEAKERS:
Josiah Van Vliet has long been involved in community organizing and thought leadership for the Boston secular community. An advocate for tactical epistemology, science-based policy, and public secularism, he has recorded podcasts, authored blog posts, hosted public events and given talks to focus attention on the merits of reason and reason-based ethics. In the past, he has served as president of the Boston Atheists and Sunday Assembly Boston. An alumnus of the philosophy department at Tufts University, he is a military veteran, a professional media technologist, and a resident of Jamaica Plain.

Zachary Bos has been an organizer in New England movement secularism since the early 2000s. As an advocate and lobbyist, he has worked to close legal loopholes which violate church-state separation. He is a past officer of organizations including the Boston Atheists, the Boston Coalition of Reason, and Sunday Assembly America. His present primary involvement is as State Director of American Atheists and founder of Greathouse New England, a fiscal sponsor for local secularist groups. He speaks and publishes often on the topics of blasphemy incarceration, coalition-building, and the future of secular organizing. He is a union president, and resides in Fitchburg where he plans soon to open a bookstore.

The talk will be recorded for future distribution.