RSVP on Facebook

Look at all those evil people

Discussion Topics

• Accomodationism and respecting religious feelings
• The meta-debate: Why celebrities make the front page
• Is it religious profiling ethical?
• Science as a political weapon
• Scarborough Shoal and sovereignty

After the meetup we usually go for dinner and drinks somewhere nearby. If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

• Newbies are welcome.
• Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
• There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
• Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
• You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.

Location: Starbucks, Anson’s (across The Podium), ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig (Google map)
Date: Sunday, April 29, 2012
Time: 2:30pm – 5:30pm

RSVP on Facebook

Discussion Topics
- The Philippines is the most religious country: a good thing?
- Squatters’ Rights and Violent Demolition
- Gay literature by straight people

After the meetup we usually go for dinner and drinks somewhere nearby. If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

* Newbies are welcome.
* Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
* There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
* Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
* You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.

Location: UP Los Baños Freedom Park
Date: Sunday, April 22, 2012
Time: 10am – 7pm

Discussion Topics:

1. Values in a secular and freethinking family
2. How to survive romantic relationships between religious individuals and nonbelievers
3. FF labeled as an atheist organization? Can religious people and progressive theists be freethinkers, too?
4. Joint-projects of FF-UPLB and Metro Manila South
5. RH Agenda students’ assembly
6. Planning of possible UPLB activities for AY 2012-2013

RSVP on facebook

Newbies are welcome.
Bring snacks and packed lunch to share with your fellow freethinkers.
After the meetup, we can go somewhere for dinner and drinks.

For inquiries and for those who will be coming from Manila, please text Karl at 09228493476 or Api at 09151806652

Location: Holy Trinity Church (Google map)
Date: Sunday, April 15, 2012
Time: 2:30pm – 5:30pm

RSVP on Facebook

Discussion Topics

• RSS Forum Recap
• Point of Clarification: Can atheists be agnostics?
• Is it ethical for clergy who lose faith to continue as religious leaders?
• SM Baguio: Paving Paradise to Put Up A Parking Lot
• Miss Universe Allows Transgendered Women: The Right Call?
• Easter Reflection: Was Jesus’ sacrifice ethical?

After the meetup we usually go for dinner and drinks somewhere nearby. If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

• Newbies are welcome.
• Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
• There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
• Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
• You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.

Location: Amberbase Solutions, Inc., Eastwood Avenue, Eastwood City, Quezon City
(Google map)

Date: Sunday, March 18, 2012
Time: 2:30pm – 5:30pm

RSVP on Facebook

We’re meeting at Quezon City this week at Eastwood City. Please head to the Amberbase Solutions building and ask for Filipino Freethinkers.

Discussion Topics
- Lucy Liu as Watson: Changing Genders in Timeless Classics
- Kony 2012: The Lesser Evil?
- Banning Sharia Law: Infringement of Freedom of Religion?
- Women’s Month: How Are Filipinas Faring? 

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at (see map). If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

* Newbies are welcome.
* Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
* There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
* Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
* You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.

Half of the FF Forum 3 Venue

Spend April Fools’ Day wisely! Attend the third Filipino Freethinkers forum!

• What: FF Forum 3: Reason, Science, and Secularism
• When: April 1, 2012 (a Sunday), from 1:30 – 6:30pm
• Where: Tech Portal Conference rooms A & B of UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub in Commonwealth Avenue (directions here)

Join us as we celebrate our journey with the following activities:

3 years of FF

Through talks and discussions, videos and presentations, we share the story of FF’s first three years, remembering how we fought for the causes we believe in:

• RH Bill
• LGBT Rights
• Freedom of Speech
• Freedom of Religion
• Secularism

State of Freethought Address

We tell you what we think of the current state of reason, science, and secularism in our country, and invite people — through official membership and recruitment — to join us in our cause.

Freethought Awards Ceremony

We give out the first annual Freethought Awards to those individuals and groups in the Philippines who champion the ideals of freethought (and those who don’t):

• Reason Award
• Science Award
• Secularism Award
• Bigotry Award

More information about the event will be posted in the coming days. The venue can hold 200, but only fifty slots are left, so if you wish to reserve one, please do so soon using the form below. Be sure to answer the question at the end of the form to let us know that you’re a freethinker who’s serious about attending the event.

There were over 80 attendees that afternoon, and our usual haunt at Starbucks Ansons Ortigas was barely able handle all of that sexiness. So, we felt it was high-time to try out a non-commercial venue the next time around, and what better place could there be to house a bunch of heathens for some sweet, sweet sacrilege than this –

For the following Sunday meetup, the Freethinkers went to church. But it was a very special one — the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Makati, which is the home church of FF’s Reproductive Health Advocacy Director Kenneth Keng and his family.  The Episcopalians — basically the Anglican Church when set outside of England — are a more liberal bunch compared to Catholics. They have female and homosexual members in their clergy, and generally have a more progressive stance on social issues.

It’s very refreshing to see a church with a sense of humor.

Kenneth and his sister Michelle were awesome enough to arrange for a meetup in their church’s parish hall, a large room where they usually tag-team as Sunday school teachers.

Lot of great discussions that day. Thanks to the hall’s acoustics, which was an honest relief from all that blender-whirring from coffee shop meetups past, we could easily converse on several rich topics, from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ controversial new advertisement, to the current Republican war on contraception in the US.

Bishop Arthur Jones, the Presiding Rector of Holy Trinity, even dropped by to say hi. We very much enjoyed his short speech about always being inquisitive and open-minded. I personally would like to hear one of his sermons — tales of fire and brimstone they’re likely not.

And it seems the Episcopal god took kindly to us, what with the rainbow that appeared when the meeting was adjourned!

And then Red got insecure and started levitating to put us in our place. We’re sorry we doubted you, Red!

The following day, a few of us from FF’s Coordinating Council made the trek to Los Banos, Laguna to attend the meetup of the group’s burgeoning UP- Los Banos Chapter. Chapter director Api, along with LB Freethinkers Ryan, Peter, JM, and Karl were very, very kind enough to take us on a tour that afternoon. We started at the International Rice Research Institute, where we saw a 6,000-year-old grain of rice at the museum; then visited the UP Carabao Center for a quick snack; then took a leisurely trek by the woodsy roads near the Forestry.

We also saw an Abueva sculpture called the “Pegaraw,” although we were smart-asses and pointed out that the winged beast was more of a Pegasus-carabao hybrid, hence it should be called a Pegabao instead, but Kenneth was obviously delighted by it regardless.

Later that evening, we met up with the rest of the chapter for a nice meetup, where we discussed conspiracy theories, Red’s Satanic Challenge, and the chapter’s exciting new projects, which include accreditation in the university. We had dinner and drinks after, and while we had to head back to Manila at the end of the night, we knew we’d definitely be visiting more and more often. Awesome job, FF UPLB!

And I’m so sorry you had to see that.

–

Photos courtesy of Frank III Manuel, Patrick Charles Rigonan, and Chris Villanueva Sienna

With no regular source of funds and no desire to require people to support Starbucks’ global empire by buying some minimum amount of overpriced coffee while there, we began asking around for places that would welcome us with open arms, while having full knowledge of who we are and what we intend to do.

We’re happy to say we have secured such a place! Centrally located (ish) in McKinley Road, Makati, we’ll have the hall on the otherwise quiet unnocupied grounds all to ourselves, and there’s even a small food center across the street. The people who run it like some of our members so much that they’ve offered it to us free of charge. Truly it is an ideal place to talk about reason, science, and secularism.

Isn’t it?

You can find the address and a map to the place here.

That’s right people. We’re having our meetup at Holy Trinity Church.

Location: Holy Trinity Church (Google map)
Date: Sunday, February 19, 2012
Time: 2pm – 5pm

Please note that the meetup is 30 minutes earlier than our regular meetup time, at 2PM rather than 2:30PM.

Discussion Topics

• Obama’s “War on Religion”
• Approaches at popularizing veganism or Why Some People are Turned Off By Vegans
• Star Wars: Is it okay for artists to fundamentally change classics that they made?
• Chris Brown and the Grammys: Should the personal lives of artists affect how their audience perceives their art?

After the meetup we usually go for some dinner and drinks nearby, so if you can’t make the meetup but would like to catch up, let us know in the comments.

3 years ago, 26 freethinkers met for the first time in Shangri-la Starbucks to talk about reason, science, and secularism. Since then, we’ve been pretty busy:

• We’ve spread freethought on social media through Twitter (over 3,000 followers), Facebook (over 3,000 group members and almost 10,000 fans), and our website, which has almost a thousand posts, has been viewed more than half a million times, and has won the overall prize at the recent Globe Tatt Awards. (And don’t forget our forum, Tumblr, and YouTube pages, too.)
• We’ve presented the freethinker’s perspective — on secularism, skepticism, and the RH Bill — through our appearances and interviews on AM and FM radio; and both local and foreign TV.
• We’ve hosted more than a hundred events — meetups, forums, a film fest, and an excommunication party — in Metro Manila and Davao; and in our university chapters in UP Diliman, UP Manila, and DLSU.
• We’ve helped educate students on freethought and secularism, giving interviews and answering questions for homework and research papers; delivering talks and participating in panel discussions; and providing a forum for learning and discussion through our university chapters.
• We’ve become advocates and activists, mobilizing creative demonstrations for causes we believe in: fighting for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill and refuting irrational arguments against it; walking (and running) with our LGBT allies and distracting the bigots who bother them; reminding people to guard their freedom of speech from opponents who cry blasphemy and call for censorship.

And we don’t intend to stop. Just this January, we’ve presented at the World Debate Forum in Ateneo, lectured at UP Diliman and Philippine Science High School, and guested on Bottomline with Boy Abunda. (The episode will air this Saturday (Feb. 4) at 11:45PM on ABSCBN, with a replay on Sunday at 1 PM on ANC.)

To celebrate all this, we’re organizing our third forum, tentatively titled “Filipino Freethinkers Turns Three.” It will be held on March 3, 2012, a Saturday, and will probably be a whole-day event. Be sure to save the date; details will soon follow.

If you want to celebrate in advance, the best way to do so is to attend our meetup this weekend, the first of many we’ll have in our fourth year.

3 years ago

RSVP on Facebook

Hi folks! This meetup marks three years since the first ever FF meetup on February 1, 2009! Thanks for being with us in all the meetups, our filmfest, our parties, and forums! Come join us in our first meetup of our fourth year on February!

Discussion Topics
- Temples for Atheists
- Cybercrime Bill
- DepEd delays science
- Ethics of artificial brain enhancement
- The Merits of Pride Marches

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at(see map). If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

* Newbies are welcome.
* Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
* There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
* Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
* You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.
* You don’t have to buy anything from Starbucks.