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December 27, 2024
January 29, 2025 – FFRF Co-Sponsors Thomas Paine’s Birth Celebration Webinar (Virtual)
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, The Thomas Paine Memorial Association (TPMA), Center for Inquiry/Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science (CFI/RDFR&S), Black Nonbelievers (BN), American Humanist Association (AHA), the Freethought Society (FS), and the Secular Coalition for America (SCA) are sponsoring a Zoom webinar celebration of the birth of Paine on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST. Pre-registration for this Zoom event is required.
Register here.
Congressman Jamie Raskin hopes to be the welcome speaker if his hectic Washington, D.C. schedule allows. Margaret Downey, president of TPMA, will also welcome everyone to the event and introduce the special guest speaker, artist Steve Simon.
Simon will talk about Paine’s life and accomplishments while the artwork he created and dedicated to honoring the under-appreciated and oft-forgotten Founder is on display. The Simon portrait is actually the logo for this event and is pictured above.
Following the Simon presentation, a video about the Thomas Paine Hotel, located in Paine’s birthplace (Thetford, England), will be shown. The director and owner of the hotel, Gez Chetal, will usher us through the hotel’s Paine-themed displays and educational exhibits.
After the two presentations, audience members will be able to ask questions of the artist and Paine experts Gary Berton (president of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association) and Frances Chiu (professor, TPMA board member, and author of The Routledge Guidebook on Paine’s Rights of Man). SCA’s communications manager, Nnenna Onwukwe, will host the Q and A portion of this event.
Representatives of the cosponsoring organizations will deliver closing messages. They are Robyn Blumner (CFI/RDFR&S), Annie Laurie Gaylor (FFRF), Fish Stark (AHA), Steven Emmert (SCA), Mandisa Thomas (BN), and Downey (FS).
Register now.
