You will be forgiven, in a secular sense at least, for not knowing that there’s something called ‘Darwin Day.’
A dozen years ago, there was only one known celebration of Charles Darwin’s birthday — Feb 12, 1809. Now, if we may be so droll, the event has evolved into something with global reach. Some 850 events are said to have been held last year. And somehow, you missed every last one of them.
Well, here’s your invite to this year’s. On Sunday, Feb. 10, the Red Bank Humanists will host a Darwin program featuring a lecture by Julian Paul Keenan, Director of the Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Montclair State University. He’ll take up the topic, “Exploring the Evolutionary Connection Between Religion and Deception.”
A Q&A and, yep, birthday cake will follow.
The Red Bank Humanists say they “seek to understand the universe through science and critical thinking, and represent an overall objective of developing a more humane society… RBH, a non-profit, educational organization, is an affiliate of the American Humanist Association, the Council for Secular Humanism, Institute of Humanist Studies, and the New Jersey Humanist Network.”
From a press release issued by the Red Bank group:
“Darwin Day promotes understanding of evolution and the scientific method,” said Matt Cherry, executive director of the Institute for Humanist Studies, which promotes the Darwin Day celebration. “This celebration expresses gratitude for the enormous benefit that scientific knowledge has contributed to the advancement of humanity.”
The event will be held at 10:30a at the Red Bank Charter School, 58 Oakland Street. The event is free and open to the public.
