WASH-NVC Meetings Location Contacts Humanist Links	NVC Meetings The Northern Virginia Chapter of WASH is Revived! March Meeting When: Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 2:00 pm Where: Tyson/Pimmit Library, 7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22043 Topic: “Polyamory - America's Next Romantic Revolution” Speaker: Anita Wagner Suppose we hear about a closeted gay man who, because of societal pressure to fit in and abide by tradition, marries a woman who is not aware he is gay. Most of us would say that this is sad because such people have few to no ethical alternatives to traditional marriage, depending on whether gay marriage is legal in their state. Consider the case of Tiger Woods and his extra-marital affairs. Not as many of us would think this to be a sad case because he certainly has ethical alternatives. The obvious alternative would be to abide by the monogamous commitment he made when he and his wife, Elin, married. Less obvious but equally ethical, if both agreed to it, would be the practice of polyamory, also known to some as responsible non-monogamy. Some may and do argue against such arrangements as both irresponsible and unethical, but this is because they lack a compassionate and informed understanding of this alternative to traditional monogamy. * What is polyamory? * How does it work? * What are the pitfalls? * How do people deal with jealousy? * What is compersion? * What are the ethics of polyamory? * What are the legal issues? * What are the outcomes for children? * What does science have to say about how monogamous or polyamorous we are as a species? * What are the most common misunderstandings about polyamory? Presenter Anita Wagner regularly speaks to groups where she answers these and other questions for the polyamory community. She is a highly-regarded community leader, organizer, advocate and media spokesperson and is the author of the very popular Practical Polyamory blog. Both her blog and website (practicalpolyamory dot com) are considered among the best internet resources available on the subject of polyamory. March Special Event with the Secular Student Alliance (GMU) When: Monday, March 22, 2010 Where: George Mason University, 4400 University Drive Fairfax, VA 22030 (Johnson Center Meeting Room C) Topic: “The Trouble with Easter” Speaker: Tom Flynn Tom Flynn, executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, editor of Free Inquiry, and author of that deathless polemic "The Trouble with Christmas," finally starts assaulting the rest of the holiday calendar. (Can "The Trouble with Arbor Day" be far behind?) In this lavishly illustrated talk, Tom turns over every egg (and not a few rocks) to probe the unsavory truths behind Christianity's holiest holiday. - How much does Easter owe to pagan sources? - If Easter is so holy, why do the world's Christian churches observe it on the same day only one year in four? - And why is it scheduled according to the phases of the moon? - Where did our secular Easter traditions really come from? Packed with rollicking humor and little-known facts, this talk closes with a side-by-side breakdown of the resurrection accounts in the four gospels. Does the New Testament even tell a single coherent story of what Christians consider history's most significant event? April Meeting When: Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 2:00 pm Where: Tyson/Pimmit Library, 7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22043 Topic: TBA Speaker: Shelley Mountjoy On the drawing board… May – Fred Edwords, United Coalition of Reason June – Roy Speckhardt, American Humanist Association "2020 Humanism – Achieving a Vision that Matches Our Aspirations" Location WASH-NVC monthly meetings are held in Meeting Room A at the Tysons-Pimmit library (7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22043). The meeting room is on the left. The library is only 1.3 miles from the West Falls Church Metro on the Orange Line. If you feel up to it, it's feasible to walk. There's also a bus. Parking is free. NVC Contacts Humanist Links Washington Area Secular Humanists Secular Coalition for America Restore The Pledge of Allegiance Council for Secular Humanism Alliance of Secular Humanists Campus Freethought Alliance Northern Virginia Ethical Society Past Events: February 2010 Meeting In February, Greg Paul presented his published research showing that religion is a superficial opinion that is popular only when socioeconomic conditions are dysfunctional, and that religion is collapsing in the western democracies.