What we’re about
Meet other local Humanists, people who believe in the basic goodness of the human spirit without supernaturalism.
The Washington Area Secular Humanists (WASH) was incorporated in 1989 as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization in Maryland. Our purpose is to promote scientific literacy and critical thinking, to provide a forum for humanists and others to explore humanist principles and how they relate to all aspects of human experience, and to study the significance of humanism throughout history. Secular humanists are distinguished by an emphasis on scientific methods of knowing, separation of church and state, and a commitment to the pursuit of humanist goals outside religious frameworks.
WASH has several active Chapters from Roanoke, VA to Baltimore, MD.
WASH is an independently incorporated non-profit organization and also a chapter of the American Humanist Association and an affiliate of American Atheists.
Check out our webpage and find a link to our chapter pages and our bimonthly newsletter "WASHline."
http://www.wash.org
While being a member of the WASH meetup group is free please consider joining as a member of WASH to help support our activities.
http://www.wash.org/join
Like us on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/wash89
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Secular Zoom CommunityLink visible for attendees
Posting this so late, sorry.
The war on democracy is obviously tightly linked to the cultural war on anything that is not cis, white, and Christian. Oh yeah, male superiority is also part of the plan. We can’t let women imagine that they can escape their role as reproductive livestock.
For the moment, the courts have put a hold on the requirement for school districts to report on how completely they have eliminated all DEI related programs. Unfortunately the Supreme Court is committed to produce a finding that the parents of school children might have a right to opt out of even having their children exposed to things that are “against” their religious teaching. There might be no limits on the extent to which children would then not have their home based religious bigotries protected from anything that might support a more inclusive society.
Trump has declared that the courts have no right to tell the executive branch how to conduct foreign policy. This is despite the fact that Congress has passed numerous laws defining required foreign policy actions. and our Constitution demands a right for all US residents have an opportunity to have their rights protected. Trump has declared that we cannot have a “trial” for all people being deported. Obviously the legal requirement is for a hearing that might affirm a legal right to be in this country. The administration’s claim is that these are murderous, dangerous people and we cannot spent 200 years of legal efforts to get them removed. There already have been numerous cases in which ICE agents have arrested American citizens. The attempted procedure in Texas was to just put arrested people on a bus to the airport within 24 hours of an arrest. Mass deportations, in their opinion, require that judicial review be minimized or eliminated.
Let’s talk about corruption. Can you imagines someone saying something that nets his interest over $900,000 in one day. The “fees” that created that increment have already netted over $324 million. There was almost $3 billion in trading in the 24 hours ending 4/26 in the market shown here. $2.7 billion was added to the market value of “digital assets” which are intrinsically lacking in any value. But if your friends could sell sell a few million of those assets to the suckers who are inspired to buy… Well you can imagine. And there is this related little scam that has already netted $550 million. For those who want to read about the facts, check here. Of course, it helps if you control all legal mechanisms that could go after this corruption. It becomes legal because all sanctions against it have been removed.
The above areas of intense legal struggle and corruption are a tiny fraction of the global assault on almost everything in the existing world order. We have intense efforts against science funding, university independence, the rights of legal firms to bring undesired actions, the independence of the Federal Reserve Board, existing international trading relationships, and the first amendment rights to free speech in all media, among many other efforts. The intent is create shock and awe on the part of any aspect of society that might want to resist the centralization of power in an autocratic unitary executive. By the time of our meeting the first 100 days of this administration will be history. Will democracy and the rule of law survive for the next 3.5 years? We will see as this demented clown show evolves.
Let us not to forget to have fun. Our community is here to both acknowledge the chaos and somehow remain sane in spite of insanity. We can connect and share our thought on how to remain positive.
This meeting will be closed in that only vetted secular members will be allowed to join in our discussions. That has worked perfectly so, please see directions below for new members who wish to attend.
**************************************************************
Our meetings have become a target for organized zoom bombing. Our major topic of discussion has been Christian nationalism and its hideous impacts across America. They have good reason to try to force us to stop our meetings. This requires us to work to preclude militant religious extremists from wrecking our meetings.
We will not post the zoom link for our meeting. The zoom link information will be delivered by email or direct personal messaging to trusted attendees only. I am now comfortable that this procedure works well enough so that a zoom waiting room will not be required.
I have a Google Voice phone number, (202) 643-4366. I do not answer calls to that number. But it does and excellent job of transcribing messages. People can use this number to verbally describe items requested in a possible email below.
I use the email: don1wharton (at) outlook (dot) com for social media, including Meetup. Please email the following:
Name:
Zoom ID if different than name:
your email to receive zoom info:
Specify that you are RSVPing for this meeting only if you
do not want to receive future zoom invites.
--People can UNSUBSCRIBE by replying to a future zoom invite with UNSUB in the subject line.
If you are a first time attendee, please share prior secular activities or cite your prior secular meetup attendance (making sure it is visible for us to confirm it) or arrange for a brief phone or zoom interview at a time of your convenience. This should insure enjoyable meetings.
************************************************************************** - Wayne Besen: Debunking "Conversion Therapy" and the "Ex-Gay" IndustryLink visible for attendees
Hi everyone, you need to register for this event on Eventbrite, if you have not already RSVP'd on PaperlessPost.
Wayne Besen: Debunking "Conversion Therapy" and the "Ex-Gay" Industry Tickets, Sun, May 18, 2025 at 2:00 PM | EventbriteThis talk by Wayne Besen is for everyone — straight people, straight allies, and LGBTQ people.
Wayne Besen is a journalist, author, and LGBTQ rights advocate, renowned for his efforts to debunk the "ex-gay" movement and "conversion therapy" practices.
Wayne Besen’s upcoming talk to the Washington Area Secular Humanists is especially timely. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear a case challenging Colorado's 2019 ban on "conversion therapy" for minors. This law prohibits licensed mental health professionals from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. All major scientific and medical organizations affirm that sexual orientation is not changeable.
Opposing "conversion therapy" is important to the secular community because it is a religion vs. science issue. It is overwhelmingly motivated by religious beliefs that LGBTQ people are “bad,” whereas science shows that LGBTQ people are normal and healthy. As humanists, we support evidence-based care over faith-based ideology.
Wayne Besen will be speaking with us on Sunday, May 18, at 2:00 PM EDT via Zoom. Don’t miss this important event. If you have not already RSVP'd, register on Eventbrite for your free ticket.
