*ASSEMBLY this month is at BAYVIEW PARK

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14th at 10:30 am, Weather depending of course, At Bayview Park. We will meet near the main parking lot at the main entrance.

HWF’s November is about: Native Americans and their plight to exist.
Area Homeless and Hungry as is our quarterly charity.

*MONTHLY ASSEMBLY PRESENTATION:
It’s you and us of the HWF. We will just walk and talk and then sit a bit and chat. Remember to bring a lawn chair and some water.

The Mission of HWF-
A chapter of the American Humanist Assn.

The Mission of the Humanists of West Florida is to facilitate the advancement of humanist thought and action in Pensacola and surrounding areas by interconnecting groups of humanists, atheists, agnostics and non-religious.
We will strive for equal participation in government and societal life through building strategic partnerships with other humanist and freethought organizations and with our religious neighbors to advance the greater good of humanity.
*** See the AHA mission below–

Announcements:
The missions of AHA an HWF are always in this newsletter.
The AHA follows our chapter presidents letter.

Our Annual Calendar is now available and shown at the bottom of this newsletter, and is also posted on our Facebook Friends page as well

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE:

From the Desk of the President:

Greetings all!
As I write this, we are awaiting Hurricane Zeta. I trust everyone is taking safety precautions and I hope that damages will be minimal. Any supporting members who experience significant losses are welcome to reach out to the BOD. The BOD will authorize an appeal to membership for donations to cover food, utility bills, and/or medicine in cases where the affected member(s) are lacking any other means. Construction of new Little Free Libraries will be deferred until January 2021 or later. Repairs to two libraries damaged by Hurricane Sally are complete. Thank you, Buz.
NOVEMBER’S ACTIVITY All are encouraged to join us Nov 14 at 1030AM at Bayview Park for a walk and talk and sit and chat. As a reminder: any 2nd quarter donations (Oct, Nov, Dec) received by HWF will be gifted to Sean’s Outpost to help them provide food and shelter for homeless persons. The Third Annual Shoe Drive to benefit Alfred Washburn Homeless Day Care Center is in progress and we need your help. Take sturdy, new or used, shoes for men or women to Washburn at 31 Murphy Lane in Pensacola, any MONDAY through November 23, 11AM until 1PM. Winter apparel and new socks are needed, too. Roger Scott Tennis Center at 2200 Summit Boulevard accepts gifts anytime they are open. Gift money at humanistsofwestflorida.org and indicate it’s for shoes. Customarily HWF hosts a food distribution in late November or early December. The BOD will soon be deciding if, this year and perhaps into the future, we should donate money to ‘Feeding the Gulf Coast’ instead. They are set up with corporate donors who match donations. Our gift would make a greater impact and as we are struggling to acquire a distribution team this year, it seems sensible. Share any ideas with a BOD member or on the HWF PG page.
Sincerely, Betty Myers, HWF President

BOARD of DIRECTORS
Next meeting is January 9th, 9:00 am @ Ever’mans EC if open or online if not.

*Our HWF Charity of the Quarter:
Seans’ Outpost led by Michael Kimberl.
Seans’ is the owner operator of Satoshi Forest Homeless Camp, and Michael operates Food Not Bombs that feeds the homeless downtown on MLK plaza every Friday at 6pm.
You can send donations to our PO box at the bottom or online at our website and designate for Seans’.

* The American Humanist Association
has stood as the voice of humanism in the United States for over 75 years.**

We strive to bring about a progressive society where being good without a god is an accepted and respected way to live life. We are accomplishing this through our defense of civil liberties and secular governance, by our outreach to the growing number of people without traditional religious faith, and through a continued refinement and advancement of the humanist worldview.

Humanism is a nontheistic worldview with ethical values informed by scientific knowledge and driven by a desire to meet the needs of people in the here and now. At the foundation of those values is an affirmation of the dignity of every human being.

We count humanists and other nontheists as the core of our movement but are always willing to work with friends and allies on issues of common concern. The positions we hold and the actions we take are not simply for our own benefit, but for the betterment of all of society and the world in which we live.

*The HUMANIST MAGAZINE: current bi-monthly magazine
and the 2020 Humanist of the Year–
https://thehumanist.com/magazine/november-december-2020/

*AHA Monthly THEME: Native American rights.

*From the AHA Leadership: (Washington, DC, October 28, 2020)—Yesterday, counsel for the American Humanist Association filed a lawsuit against Maryetta Public Schools in Adair County, Oklahoma for violating the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution for mandating young students to participate in evangelistic religious activities. “Maryetta school officials have brazenly violated the First Amendment rights of their students.” said Monica Miller, Legal Director and Senior Counsel of the AHA. For decades, Maryetta Public Schools has brought Christian missionaries into its classrooms, from prekindergarten through eighth grade, in a monthly class called “Missionaries.” During this hour-long class, three “Missionaries” proselytize Christianity to a captive audience of schoolchildren. Students are given bibles, coloring books, and sing songs about Jesus, all during school hours and under the direct authority of school officials. Non-Christian students have been forced to attend this class without their parents’ knowledge or consent. “No school official could reasonably believe that it is constitutional to subject impressionable prekindergarten students to overt Christian proselytization in a class called ‘Missionaries’ led by church officials, held during school hours and with no option to leave,” Miller explained. The AHA filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma on behalf of its members, including two parents and their five-year old daughter who was forced to attend “Missionaries” even over the parents’ express objection. The AHA’s lawsuit seeks to vindicate this serious infringement of students’ First Amendment rights through damages against the school district and responsible school officials, including several named in their personal capacities. Miller added: “The fact that school officials have run this ‘Missionaries’ program for decades, together with the fact that they have forced children as young as four to participate and have done so without parental consent, makes this case appropriate for punitive damages. ”In a statement attached to the complaint, the five-year-old student testified, “I always felt very uncomfortable during Missionaries class because I don’t like pretending to believe in god.” The mother confirmed that her daughter “acted down and melancholy for several days afterward.” As soon as the parents learned of Missionaries, they contacted the AHA and informed school officials of their objection to the program. Yet school officials still forced their daughter to participate in Missionaries over their objection.

*From the AHAs’ upcoming activities:

AHA announces the Humanist Action Headquarters for Grassroots Advocacy. https://americanhumanist.org/actionhq/

AHA Center for Education to learn more about us–
https://americanhumanistcenterforeducation.org/
As an AHA member you have access to the Zoom presentations they are offering plus other activities as well.

Do you have a legal question you would like answered?

Watch the most recent Legal Tuesdays video with our Legal Director and Senior Counsel Monica Miller. Be sure to tune in or send an email if you have a question!

DONATE TO THE WORLD:Want to help people suffering from national or global catastrophes? Do it here as a Humanist to the Foundation Beyond Belief-FBB. This is the AHAs’ disaster relief partner organization.
https://foundationbeyondbelief.org

*HUMANIST CORNER

October 2020

“Evolution – A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage.)” Word Web

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin

Remember in the movie “Bambi”, when the cry goes out “Fire!” all the forest creatures scurry away from impending danger? As a family elder, I’ve even imagined myself as the old stag proudly standing on that lofty hilltop. Okay, enough imagining, but fact is only imagining will see us through the West in flames and the East under water. Prepare us for great Northward migrations. How else to deal with this convergence of events shaking civilization physically and economically to its core? You might go back to the beginning quotes.

Yet, how does that factor into conditions on levels humans have never experienced experienced before? Where’s the cook book (pun intended) for all this? Every field of human activity under pressure from an ultramicroscopic, infectious agent replicating itself only within cells of living hosts. Surviving with us as transportation. Some even consider COVID 19 a starter set-

So, how does a tribal elder advise, teachers teach, on how to manage a future few of us can even envision except in sci-fi novels and movies? Clearly it involves concerted effort by each and every one of us to the extent we can muster and contribute. A walk on that tight line between regimentation and discipline. Revolutions simply won’t cut it. Nothing less than evolutionary action, made visible, is needed in order for Team World to win!

Surely a far cry from today’s over-production, political chaos and greed. Okay, back to the old stag on the hill. Occasionally I send out a little “bulletin” to our seven grandkids. The last carried three little kernels of advice that just seemed to make sense in unsettling times.

Be creative. The “same old” just won’t cut it anymore. Don’t think out of the box. Move out of the box every chance you get, remembering we’re all in this together.
Learn to land on your feet. A feat easily accomplished if you’re a cat. People, especially, those in black or white mode, not so much. Absorbing disappointment and downfall demand endless practice of us. An unexpectedly, long life has helped me. Cats have nine lives, I’m pushing twenty. Likely just genes and lots of luck.
Reach deep down inside. Last but more importantly, determine, as best you can, what “Success” in life really means to you. Knowing that as certain as that my seem, it too is subject to re-setting your sails in the winds of change.

Looking back on my own years, one thing seems to stand out on both personal and professional levels. Flexibility! Something I’ve harped on with our own kids until, either in appreciation or exasperation. they presented me with a T-Shirt with the words emblazoned on it.

“It’s not WHAT I perceive, but HOW I perceive it.”
Bill
Thank you for your writings Bill.

IMPORTANT DATES:in the secular world.

Nov. 1 Secular Day of the Dead
Week of Thanksgiving Holiday: Church/State Separation Week
Fourth Thursday in November: Thanksgiving

HWF Annual Calendar July 2020 thru June 2021

Welcome Back Party at Assembly and AHA Commitments Review

Q 1 Summer Charity: Member Memorial Fund (honors with a book to local library)
July 11th Assembly – The Freedom to Assembly & Right Vote Theme.

Committees-Teams policy reviews
BOD meets: New Directors and Officers seated, Committees % Teams filled, New budget approved
Quarterly Book Review Online

August 8th Assembly — Back to School Theme

AHA chapter members report
Open Books Packing on 1st Wed.

September 12th Assembly – Students Ethics and Rights Theme

Q 2 Fall Charity: Seans’ Outpost(owns Satoshi Forest and does Food not Bombs)

October 10th Assembly – Homeless and Hungry Theme

BOD meets:

Quarterly Book Review Online
Fall picnic party
November 14th Assembly – Native Americans Theme
Food Distribution TBA +
Open Books Packing on 1st Wed +
Shoe Drive TBA

December 12th Assembly – Global Celebrations Theme

Winter Festivities Party with Freethinkers on Dec 26^th

Q 3 Winter Charity: Currie House(providing shelter & housing for youth)

January 9th Assembly – A New Start Theme

BOD meets:

Food Distribution TBA +
Quarterly Book Review Online
February 13th Assembly – Science and Critical Thinking Theme
Charlie’s Chili-Chowder Cookoff @ Assembly
IRS N-990 Due, Fla Incorporation annual report
Open Books Packing on 1st Wed

March 13th Assembly – Myths and AHA Rights Theme

Nominating Committee is activated
Fla Charities Registration due, Fla Tax Exempt redo every 5 years-next 2025
Little Free Library Building Workshop

4 Spring Charity: Earth Ethics Inc.(provides education and environmental advocacy)

April 10th Assembly – Earth Ethics Theme

BOD meets: Directorship nominees due by 4/30 and presented to chapter

Quarterly Book Review Online
May 8th Assembly – Reason is the Reason Theme
Elections (if candidates surpass 3) from May 1 thru mid Assembly -Email vote or at Assembly
Open Books Packing on 1st Wed
June 12th Assembly – Humanist Proud and Planning Theme
Ideas Workshop @ assembly
Membership renewal month
New Draft Budget 6/30

SUGGESTIONS? Contact us with your ideas-

Email: info@hwfl.org

Humanists of West Florida
P.O. Box 11930
Pensacola, Florida 32524

Phone
(850) 366-3410

***The American Humanist Association is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable educational organization, as well is the Humanists of West Florida. Donations to the Humanists of West Florida , a chapter of the American Humanist Association, are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
FLORIDA REGISTRATION #: CH54590 “A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.”

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