The weekly update on SPI coalition members
by Johnny Monsarrat
SPI coalition member Rationalist International is starting an eBook publication on a wide variety of secular topics. The first book is a secular analysis of the Hindu holy text Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavad Gita A Critical Study. It was formally released by Mr. Ashok Kumar Sharma, Indian Ambassador to Finland, as shown here in this photo with author and the head of Rationalist International, Sanal Edamaruku.
Edwina Rogers, the head of the Secular Policy Institute, is traveling in New Zealand this week, and we notice that SPI Coalition member The New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists is also welcoming Americans and secular podcasters Matt Dillahunty and AronRa, at an event on March 10.
Did you know that SPI Coalition member American Atheists has its own television channel? It’s called Atheist TV and you can get it on the internet-streaming service Roku, which is sort of like Netflix plus a set top box.
Many SPI coalition members wrote heartbreakingly┬áabout the murder of an American atheist in Bangladesh. Our favorite is this piece from the Center for Inquiry, Statement on the Murder of Dr. Avijit Roy, Bangladeshi Ally and Friend, because they had worked closely with the victim. They also present Dr. Roy’s final and unpublished article which comes out in CFI’s Free Inquiry magazine next month.
SPI coalition member Foundation Beyond Belief raised $20,000 this month to benefit the Syrian American Medical Society Foundation (SAMS) in honor of Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, three college students tragically killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The hate crime against Muslims resonates especially loudly with secular people, of course, because we face our own form of discrimination.
Finally, this week we welcome three new national groups to the SPI coalition:
- Peruvian Rationalist Humanists is a Peruvian group that prefers to explain reality and live according to reason and scientific knowledge.
- Polish Secular Society publishes the bimonthly “Res Humana”, the magazine of humanist, rationalist, and secular culture
- Technoprog, the French Technoprogressive Association calls for “democratic transhumanism” through its website and conferences, promoting justice, democracy, and social harmony.
Would your group like to discuss the benefits of joining the Secular Policy Institute’s coalition, the world’s largest coalition of secular groups? See our list of 259 members worldwide and then contact johnny@secularpolicyinstitute.net.