GOOD NEWS!

 

 

Due to On Top of the World's decision to enforce some pre-2023 rules (of which we were unaware) that prevented people who live outside of OTOW and those without a gateway pass in Indigo and Weybourne from regularly participating in our meetings, the Freethinkers Steering Committee has decided to change our status from club to private group. This is a positive change for our members. All of our current members who were required to pay $5 per meeting will no longer need to do so beginning February 1. This also relieves some of the work assigned to our treasurer in compiling the data and paying OTOW. As a private group, we will not be able to participate in the club fairs, but overall we think it is a win-win!

 

 

 

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 2, 6:30–8 PM

SOCRATES CAFE´ MODERATOR TRAINING
HOBBY BUILDING EVENTS ROOM

 

If moderating a Socrates Café discussion group is high on your bucket list, or if you have been to a training before and would like a refresher, come to an interactive training session on February 2. Roger Mack will present this workshop so that we can more closely follow the framework of the international Socrates Café program and develop our moderating skills. You know you want to do this!  RSVP to ramack@hotmail.com or text Roger at 352-571-9558.

 

 

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8, 1–3PM

(UN)HOLY HUMOR
HOBBY BUILDING EVENTS ROOM

 

Our dear friend Dr. Rod Broker returns to delight us with a look at (un)Holy Humor. Let’s take a mid-winter break from the serious to laugh!  For our newer members, Rod has been with us several times since the inception of Freethinkers in 2023 to present on such topics as The Origins of Religion: Did God Create Man or Did Man Create God? and Jesus Without God.  We will explore how humor can be an effective tool for social commentary.  Humor can break boundaries, question the status quo, and unpack the complexities that challenge traditional beliefs and religious dogma. Dr. Broker is a former academic and Lutheran pastor who served in ministry more than forty years before critical thinking led him to embrace freethinking.

 

MONDAY FEBRUARY 9, 6:30–8 PM

BANNED AND WOKE BOOK CLUB

HOBBY BUILDING EVENTS ROOM

 

For those voracious readers among us, we offer our Banned & Woke Book Club, coordinated by Mel Cox and Glenn Cohen, which is entering its second year. The selection for Monday, February 9, is The Giver by Lois Lowry. Originally written as a novel for young people, it has continuously been on the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books from 1994 to the present day. It is a dystopian novel about a seeming utopian society that has eliminated pain and conflict through “sameness” at the cost of emotion and choice. If you are not a reader, you might check out the 2014 movie of the same name starring, among others, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, and Taylor Swift. Please email Glenn Cohen at gcohen608@troycable.net to register to discuss this provocative book or sign up at a Sunday meeting.  Registration preferred but not required, just come on over!

 

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19, 6:30–8 PM

SOCRATES CAFE
HOBBY BUILDING EVENTS ROOM

 

There's always a lot to talk about at Socrates Café. The topic of our session this month will be "the culture of contempt." Each time we meet is a learning experience, and moderators will have a list of questions to promote discussion about the subject. How can we possibly get over the feeling that people who don't think the way we do should not be entitled to their opinions?  Come join us for this hour and a half discussion on this important conundrum.

 

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22, 1–3 PM

OPEN FORUM
HOBBY BUILDING EVENTS ROOM

 

Open Forum will be back—six tables, six topics, choose the one you are most interested in discussing. Roger Mack will be our moderator and will provide the questions most pertinent to a rousing discourse.  We will use a different approach this session as some of our members will be asked to take the Devil's Advocate position at each table.  Our topics are:

1. Having insanely rich people is a small price to pay for overall prosperity.
2. Slowing down AI development is more dangerous than continued acceleration.
3. We want extremely profitable drug companies.
4. Group-based politics lock people into victimhood rather than helping them succeed.
5. Removing morally corrupt heads of states is justifiable morally and as a legal imperative.
6. Individuals seeking asylum and refugee status should not get priority US immigration status.

Choose the one you'd most like to discuss and join that table when you arrive.

 

LOOKING BACK AT JANUARY

 

On January 4, we were lucky enough to have the super interesting and talented author and river guide Lars Andersen talk with us about the history and ecology of Florida's waterways. Especially for those of us who are transplants, his presentation gave us another reason to love and care for our natural surroundings and to realize how lucky we are to live here (and not just because it's been snowing everywhere else!)

      And speaking of ecology, on January 18 we hosted Heather Grove, the director of the Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery in Gainesville which specializes in natural burials. And on Thursday of this week twelve freethinkers took a road trip to this awesome place—a beautiful, natural tree- and foliage-filled woodland and a tranquil meadow, where 1500 individuals have made the commitment to be returned to nature in this final resting place. It's something to think about!

 

COMING UP IN MARCH

 

Ever wish you had the opportunity to let the local newspaper know what you'd be interested in seeing as a headline?  On March 8, our friend Jennifer Hunt Murty, Owner/Publisher of the Ocala Gazette will be back to present OG Listens, a feedback series that she debuted with readers in January. Most of you will remember Jennifer from her presentation last October about the Gazette's investigative reporting on the high number of deaths in custody at the Marion County Jail. What would you like to shine a light on?  Bring your best suggestions!

      And on March 29, in lieu of our regular meeting, we will hold the Freethinkers Florida First Annual Picnic at the OTOW Veterans Park Pavilion on 97th Street, about a mile past the Hobby Building on your left. Look for the tall flagpoles! This is such a good way for us to talk with those we just wave to on Sundays. Bring a chair and a picnic-type dish to share (be creative or we will have tons of potato salad!).

 

 

DOING GOOD FOR GOOD’S SAKE

 

What you do does make a difference!  Remember to bring any items you find while cleaning out your closet, garage, or pantry that would be helpful to unhoused individuals living rough on the streets or in the forest. Freethinkers Debby Levy and Roland Campbell will transport your unneeded camping equipment, clothing, and food items to their Monday night program which provides a hot dinner for the homeless in downtown Ocala. Shoes for both men and women are especially needed. Just bring your donations to any Sunday meeting and they will be sure they are distributed the very next day to people who really need them. For more info text or call Debby at 561-346-7401 or Roland at 917-742-6514. Debby’s away until February 9, so please use Roland’s number during that time.

 

WOW!  Karen Henkel Reeves and her mat makers group who crochet water resistant mats for the homeless are overwhelmed with your generosity and now have a million used grocery bags (well, almost) to use for this purpose so we will suspend collection of bags for now.  Karen's been out with a wrist injury to her crocheting hand but will be back in action soon. If you want to help her out, she will be giving a lesson on how to crochet the mats on Wednesdays February 4 and 18 at 9:30 in the Art Room in the Hobby Building. If you are not talented at crocheting but would like to help, she can show you how to cut the bags into strips that are used in the mat making.  

     We are overwhelmingly grateful to all the Freethinkers who support Karen, Debby, and Roland in their volunteer efforts to help the homeless. You have no idea how far your donations go to help people who are living without shelter. Thank you for caring!

 

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

WELCOME COMMITTEE

 

Do you have a smiling face we can borrow for our Sunday meetings? The Welcome Committee could use 1-2 more people to greet members, direct first time attendees, distribute candy and attendance sheets for each table and collect the same after the meetings. Hours are 12:30–1 pm and 3–3:15 pm. Can you spare 45 minutes of your time? There is nothing better than making our members feel welcome. Email Kathy Bell at kbell4570@aol.com or text/call 863-455-6286. Must be available most meeting dates or if you prefer, you can volunteer to be a backup to the team on an as needed basis. Thanks!

 

The Freethinkers Florida Club at On Top of the World meets twice a month in the Hobby Building Event Room for presentations, discussions, and social time. If you are coming from outside On Top of the World, please email  FreethinkersFlorida@gmail.com for information on entry through the gate.

 

Both of our January 2026 presentations support the humanist commitment to environmentalism.