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Informal discussion of Politics, Philosophy and Religion over dinner in old city Philadelphia.
Discussion topics:

PZ Myers' visit to the Creation Museum in Kentucky

Public Transportation

Subway: the location is within easy walking distance of the 5th Street station of the Market Frankford Subway Line.

Regional rail: all Septa passenger rail lines pass through Market East station. From there one can take the subway from 11th Street station eastbound to 5th.

Bus: The 9, 21, and 42 Septa buses travel past the location.

Show Description on Eventful.com

Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist’s live performances draw a surprisingly diverse audience--not only the expected “true nonbelievers” and “philosophical and theological types” but, a lot of people who just like to laugh.

The two-act show, which writer-actor Roger Scott Jackson describes as a theater piece rather than a stand-up act, will be presented at the Ethical Society Building at 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 18, at 8 p.m.

Tour manager Cari Park describes the setting: “The stage is black and bare except for a pulpit, a small altar bench, three rickety folding chairs, and a coat tree, all starkly white. Brother Sam, in his signature frock coat, blue vest and matching spectacles, conducts the crowd through a hilarious and hair-raising tour of his childhood among ‘the tongues-speaking, snake-handling, frothing-at-the-mouth holy rollers,’ and subsequent ‘reversion to the atheistic state into which we all are born,’ before ending Act I with a mercilessly satiric deconstruction of the role of God in American life.”

The performance itself lasts a little less than two hours including a 15 minute intermission. Tickets are available in advance for $12 at www.samsingleton.com. Any remaining tickets will be available for $15 dollars at the door.

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Meetup member Shaun McGonigal will be meeting afterwards for dinner. You can reach him on his contact page.

Informal discussion of Politics, Philosophy and Religion over dinner in old city Philadelphia.
Discussion topics:

The death of Steven Wells, journalist for the Philadelphia WeeklyCover Story: Steven Wells: In Memoriam


Discussion in Message Boards
Taking the Christ out of Christmas, Wells' article about the atheist "Tree of Knowledge" in Chester County.

Public Transportation

Subway: the location is within easy walking distance of the 5th Street station of the Market Frankford Subway Line.

Regional rail: all Septa passenger rail lines pass through Market East station. From there one can take the subway from 11th Street station eastbound to 5th.

Bus: The 9, 21, and 42 Septa buses travel past the location.

The First Unitarian church will be hosting free screenings of the film For the Bible Tells Me So on the weekend of June 5th.

Space is limited; however, there are multiple additional film showings (See below).

Synopsis from imdb.com:

We meet five Christian families, each with a gay or lesbian child. Parents talk about their marriages and church-going, their children's childhood and coming out, their reactions, and changes over time. The stories told by these nine parents and four adult children alternate with talking heads - Protestant and Jewish theologians - and with film clips of fundamentalist preachers and pundits and news clips of people in the street. They discuss scripture and biblical scholarship. A thesis of the film is that much of Christianity's homophobia represents a misreading of scripture, a denial of science, and an embrace of quack psychology.

For the Bible Tells Me So - Official Website

Film trailer on Youtube

Discussion Board - comment on the meetup or related topics here.

Additional Showtimes from the First Unitarian Church Calendar:

Friday - 10:00 pm
Saturday June 6 - 1:00, 7:00, 10:00 pm
Sunday June 7 - 1:00, 7:00 pm

Subject:Crises of Conscience for Nontheists in the Military

Speaker: Jason Torpy, President, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers

From the phillyethics.org website:
Nontheists suffer the same ethical dilemmas as other service members. We consider the ethics of orders received from our direct superiors and our civilian leaders in government. Nontheists have additional difficulty for two primary reasons. First, we lack the helpful guidance of chaplains, who are simply not equipped and in some cases not inclined to provide morale support to nontheists. Second, the overt theistic religiosity of our commanders at all levels makes it very difficult for us to serve with a clear conscience without feeling as if we are perpetuating a theocratic regime.

The Ethical Society of Philadelphia holds Sunday platforms every week at 11:00 am. The Society is a religious Humanist organization. Note: these are formal religious services including music and hymns.