Previous Events

Forum: Sunday March 30, at 1:00 p.m., in the Las Vegas Library Program Room
The Forum is a  meeting for discussions of items of interest to humanists and freethinkers
NOTE the change of date.

Service: Sunday March 30, at 10:00 a.m. at the UUCLV facilities
"The lighter side of humanism":  HALVASON member Paul LaCombe will turn to Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut for inspiration, and speak to a whimsical and humorous side of humanism. Laughter will be permitted.



Place/Time:

Sunday, March 16, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Varieties of Freethought

Speaker/
Moderator:

Dr. Mel Lipman, longtime humanist activist and President of the American Humanist Association

Note(s):

This is a joint HALVASON/LVFS presentation

 

Place/Time:

Sunday March 2, at 11:30 p.m. in the UUCLV facilities

Topic:

It's the Community, not the Economy

Facilitator:

Laurie Bullock

Notes:

How do we live in community and strengthen our bonds within the human family and with the rest of the interdependent web of existence? This discussion will focus on the evolving community and our connections to it.

This is a joint event with UUCLV.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday, February 24, at 1:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

None: this meeting is an open forum for discussions of items of interest to participants.

Speaker/
Moderator:

None: this meeting is an open forum.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday, February 17, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

A World of Clashing Darwinisms

Speaker/
Moderator:

Dr. David Wrobel,  UNLV  Professor of History and the  current President of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Society

Note(s):

Dr. Wrobel's talk focuses on the debate over Darwinian Science and the applications of evolutionary theory to human society in the late 19th century, and in doing so, lays the foundation for more informed discussion of a range of contemporary hot button issues from welfare policy to intelligent design.

This is a joint HALVASON/LVFS presentation

 

Place/Time:

Sunday February 3, at 11:30 p.m. in the UUCLV facilities

Topic:

The Menace of Fundamentalism

Facilitator:

Gary DeVaney, author of "The God Murders"

Notes:

Gary will discuss the menace of fundamentalism and an end-times mentality that promotes a risky foreign policy stance as well as neglect for an ailing environment and troubled biosphere.

This is a joint event with UUCLV.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday, January 27, at 1:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

None: this meeting is an open forum for discussions of items of interest to participants.

Speaker/
Moderator:

None: this meeting is an open forum.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday, January 20, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Letting Go of God

Speaker/
Moderator:

Julia Sweeney (video)

Note(s):

We will display portions of Julia Sweeney's video Letting Go of God, interespersed with discussion from attendees. 

From an Amazon review:  Equally comedic and insightful, "Letting Go of God" is Sweeney's brilliant one-woman show about her struggle with her faith. Grappling with the seeming contradictions in Adam and Eve, Noah, the Ten Commandments, and even the teachings of Jesus - and trying to understand the Bible's messages about morality, family values, and human suffering while faced with door-knocking Mormons and wise-cracking priests - Sweeney takes listeners on her very personal journey from God to "not-God".

This is a joint HALVASON/LVFS presentation

 

Place/Time:

Saturday, December 22, at 6:00 p.m. at the home of HALVASON member Leslie Tighi

Topic:

HALVASON Winter Solstice/Holiday Party

Speaker/
Moderator:

None.  See description in Notes

Note(s):

Members of HALVASON and the LVFS are invited to attend the joint HALVASON/LVFS Winter Solstice party on Saturday, December 22nd, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Last year's party was a huge success and lots of fun for everyone, and we expect this year's to be even better. We will be serving a holiday dinner of with a variety of meats (turkey, ham and beef), a large variety of side dishes (including potatoes, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables), and soft drinks and ice. Those desiring alcoholic beverages are welcome to bring their libation of choice.

There will be a $10.00 charge to attend, payable at the door, to defray the costs of the event.

Those planning on attending the event need to RSVP by phone or email to Loretta C. (Phone: 258-1587, email: lorettac2@cox.net) by Wednesday, December 19th. The RSVP is needed because the event is held within the Red Rock Country Club, a gated community, and we need to give a list of names to the guard gate so that the guards will know who is permitted to enter. We will also use the list of names to plan the amount of food needed.

Time is short (my fault), so please RSVP in the next couple of days if you are able to attend.

The party will take place at the home of HALVASON member Leslie Tighe (as it did last year), at 2676 Red Arrow Drive in Las Vegas. Here are directions to Leslie's house.

We will take a few minutes near the start of the party to approve a HALVASON Board of Directors. The current Board has identified a slate of candidates it will present for affirmation. This slate consists of current Board Members Mel Lipman, Carl Kaun, John Powers, Loretta C. and Bill Jacobs, together with new candidates Mike Plaistad, Leslie Tighe, Fred Knapp, Robert Hannah, and Jim Dreitzler. We look forward a dynamic organization in the coming year with this board.

Members may also indicate their approval or disapproval of the slate of Board candidates to any board member, by phone, in person, or by email. My phone number is 897-0337, and my email address is carl@halvason.org.

The Winter Solstice party will take the place of the normal HALVASON/LVFS Members meeting. That means there will be NO Member's meeting on this coming Sunday, December 16. There will also be no forum on December 23.

We hope you will join us for a delicious dinner and congenial conversation with like-minded individuals.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday December 2, at 11:30 p.m. in the UUCLV facilities

Topic:

Presidential attitudes on bioethical issues

Facilitator:

Dr. Kurt Regner, Asst. Professor of Life Sciences at UNLV

Notes:

This is a joint event with UUCLV.  Notes from a previous presentation by Dr. Wegner to HALVASON are available.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday November 25, at 1:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

None: this meeting is an open forum for discussions of items of interest to participants.

Speaker/
Moderator:

None: this meeting is an open forum.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday November 18, at 6:30 p.m. at Congregation Ner Tamid, 55 N. Valle Verde Dr., Henderson 89074.  Tel: 733-6292.

Topic:

Interfaith Council Thanksgiving Service

Speaker(s):

Representatives of various faith traditions.

Note(s):

HALVASON President Carl Kaun will represent Humanism.  Our participation on the Interfaith Council depends on our representation at these Services, and we encourage members to participate.  Participants have an opportunity to submit written questions at each event.  A short fellowship and refreshments follows the forum, prepared by the host faith community.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday November 18, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Exploring the dark side of religion: how religion impacts the individual and society

Speaker/
Moderator:

Ryan Smith

Note(s):

Ryan is an elementary school teacher and initiator of an online business.  He was at one time a fundamentalist Mormon missionary, and has gone to religious school and worked for the Mormon Church.  He has spoken to the HALVASON/UUCLV forum on sex and religion.

The membership meeting will include final nominations for the Board of Directors and their election.

The talk is a joint HALVASON and LVFS event.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday October 28, at 1:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

None: this meeting is an open forum for discussions of items of interest to participants.

Speaker/
Moderator:

None: this meeting is an open forum.  Mel Lipman has announced that because of the national AHA board meeting earlier in the day, several members of the AHA board, including Executive Director Roy Speckhardt, will be present.  This will provide an excellent opportunity for members to ask about AHA's direction and to indicate their desires.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday October 21, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Where our health insurance dollars really go

Speaker/
Moderator:

Kenneth Osgood, MD, MPH

Note(s):

Dr. Osgood is President and Director of  Product Development for MSR Medical Scientific Resources
This is a joint HALVASON and LVFS event.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday October 7, at 11:30 a.m. in the UUCLV facilities

Topic:

Common Arguments against humanism revealed:  Pascal's Wager, Einstein believed in god, Hitler was an atheist, the universe must have been designed, etc.  Come and discuss arguments you have heard or may hear in the future and why they are fundamentally false.

Facilitator:

Randon Beckstead

Note:

This is a joint HALVASON/UUCLV event

 

Place/Time:

Sunday September 16, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Modern Therapy: where the secular and spiritual collide (and sometimes overlap)

Speaker/
Moderator:

Steven Kalas

Note:

Mr. Kalas is a former ordained minister who writes a human-oriented column Sundays and Tuesdays for the Review-Journal.  Further information on Mr. Kalas is found below at 6/23/2007.



Place/Time:

Sunday September 2, at 10:00 a.m. in the UUCLV facilities

Topic:

Varieties of Judaism--From orthodox fundamentalist to humanistic

Presentor:

Mel Lipman, president of the American Humanist Association

Note:

There is NO joint forum in September due to Labor Day.  Mel is talking to the UU congregation.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday August 26, at 1:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

None: this meeting is an open forum for discussions of items of interest to participants.

Speaker/
Moderator:

None: this meeting is an open forum

 

Place/Time:

Sunday August 19, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Religion in the 2008 elections

Speaker/
Moderator:

Dr. Ted G. Jelen

Note:

Dr. Jelen is a professor of Political Science at UNLV.  His main research interests are in public opinion, religion and politics, feminism, and the politics of abortion.  He is an editor of the academic journal Politics and Religion, and a former editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday July 15, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Human rights and church/state separation

Speaker/
Moderator:

Dr. Gregory S. Brown

Note:

Dr. Brown is an Assistant Professor of History at UNLV

 

Place/Time:

Sunday July 8, at 11:30 a.m. in the UUCLV facilities  NOTE DATE CHANGE!

Topic:

Who owns our bodies, anyhow?  Dr. Kurt Regner will facilitate this forum from the world of bio-ethics which we will call "Who owns our bodies, anyhow?" The several areas of current interest - cloning, stem-cell research, genetic engineering among others, prompt us to ask this question. Current Admininstration efforts to stymie research in these areas brings us back once again to the Wall of Separation. Join us for a stimulating discussion.

Facilitator:

Dr. Kurt Regner, Asst. Professor of Life Sciences at UNLV

Note:

This is a joint event with UUCLV.  Notes from a previous presentation by Dr. Wegner to HALVASON are available.  President Carl Kaun recently wrote a hopefully provocative letter to the Las Vegas Sun concerning stem cell research.  Deanna Dally wrote a to-the-point letter urging stem cell research.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday June 24, at 1:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room
NOTE TIME CHANGE

Forum:

What should the HALVASON Forum do for members?  Where should we meet?  What should we talk about?

 

Place/Time:

Sunday June 17, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Godless Grief and remembering Clark Adams

Moderator:

Cathe Jones of Godless Grief

Note:

This is a joint event with LVFS.   Cathe will lead a discussion of  how humanists and other nonbelievers grieve, including remembrances of Clark as appropriate.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday June 3, at 11:30 a.m. in the UUCLV facilities

Topic:

Unfit to Serve:  Why, in a nation where the constitution guarantees separation of church and state, would an agnostic, atheist or humanist be incapable of gaining national office? Why is freethought seen to be synonymous with evil?

Facilitator:

Paul LaCombe

Note:

This is a joint event with UUCLV.

 

Place/Time:

Sunday June 3, at 2:00 p.m., at the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation  facilities at 3316 E. Lake Mead Boulevard, a block east of Pecos.

Topic:

A memorial for Clark Adams, celebrating a life well-lived.

Speaker:

Mel Lipman will deliver opening remarks.

Note:

This is a joint event with LVFS. 

 

Place/Time:

Sunday May 20, at 2:00 p.m. in the Las Vegas Library Program Room

Topic:

Humanism in the civil rights movement

Speaker/
Moderator:

Mr. Michael Estes, who has given this presentation at other events. At six feet six inches tall, Mike Estes is certainly easy to find in a crowded room!   He is currently a member of the Atheist Coalition of San Diego, and has been involved with freethought organizations in the San Diego area for over fifteen years.  He was raised as a Baptist until age twelve when he read The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Introduction to African Civilizations by atheist John G.  Jackson.  That started him on a journey from religion to atheism that took over ten years to complete.
    Mike has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from San Diego State University, is an Air Force veteran, and is currently completing a sabbatical from his career as a Quality Assurance Software Engineer, taken in part to spend more time on issues related to freethought and church-state separation.

Note:

This is a joint event with the Las Vegas Freethought Society.  Please join us for what both Mel Lipman and Clark Adams describe as a stirring presentation, and following discussion

 

Place/Time:

May 6, at 11:30 a.m. in the UUCLV facilities

Topic:

A humanist examination of sex, exploring differences in outlook from more fundamentalist perspectives.

Facilitator:

Ryan Smith, husband, parent and humanist

Note:

This is a joint HALVASON/UUCLV event.

 

Place/Time:

May 6, at 2:00 p.m. in the brand new theater of the Sci Fi Center, at  2520 State Street (just west of Commercial Center and just south of Sahara; park along State Street)  NOTE THAT THIS IS A SPECIAL EVENT AT A NEW LOCATION

Topic:

Where the Hell is Jesus? A Look at the "Trial Transcripts" of Peter and Paul, which is a humorous take on evidence in Acts that Jesus didn't exist

Speaker/
Moderator:

Richard Carrier,  a Ph.D. student of ancient history at Columbia University and frequent lecturer and debater on atheism, theology and history.  He is one of the most noted scholarly authorities of first century Rome.  A veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, Richard holds a  B.A in history from Berkeley and two masters degrees in ancient  history, one M.A. and one M.Phil, both from Columbia University.   He is also the author of Sense and Goodnesss Without God: A Defense of  Metaphysical Naturalism and has three chapters in The Empty Tomb: Jesus  Beyond the Grave, an anthology edited by Robert Price and Jeff Lowder. He also has numerous articles on the Secular Web ( http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/) and on his own blog ( http://richardcarrier.blogspot.com). Richard is a popular speaker at various freethought functions as he is able to use humor to give a modern understanding to issues of ancient history.

Note:

This is a joint event with the Las Vegas Freethought Society.  Please join us for what promises to be a really fun presentation.