Rationalists of East Tennessee Newsletter

December 2025

Wednesday,  December 3,  6:00 - 8:00 pm 

NEW LOCATION Peaceful Side Brewery

106 Everett Ave

Maryville, TN 37804 

This is a new location that we are trying out.

Check out the menu at https://peacefulsidebrewery.com/taproom-menu/

This will be a monthly event on the First Wednesday.  All are welcome to join in.

First Sunday In Person Meeting

December 7, 2025        10:30 AM - 12:30 PM Eastern Time

Dr. Terri Lyon and Trish Lockard will talk about Terri’s book The Happy Activist: Journey the 5-Step Activism Path to Focus Your Passion and Change the World. 

At the heart of The Happy Activist is the idea that you should thoughtfully identify the cause you are most passionate about and then craft a unique activism opportunity that draws on your own skills, talents, work experience, and education. An astonishing 2 of every 3 volunteers and activists quit within the first year of starting. Why? Because they have chosen an area of activism that is not their true passion or they are doing work they are not trained or suited for. Or both. The 5-Step Activism Path guides you toward your perfect activism match and away from work that won’t satisfy you. If you are suited for the work and doing something you enjoy, you will be happier, more productive, and stick with your activism longer. 

Coffee and other beverages will be available. Bring a snack to share if you wish. 

We meet in the Cafeteria Annex of the Goins Administration Building. Please enter from the rear of the building where there is direct access to our meeting room. 

A Zoom link will be provided in the newsletter and the event announcements for those who are members. 

December RET Book Club

12/14/2025

Author Book Event

Note the time and place change!!!

Britt Hartley will be talking at the ForUUm event at TVUUC.  Her book, No Nonsense Spirituality: All the Tools No Belief Required, will be the general topic of discussion:

In No Nonsense Spirituality, author and philosopher, Britt Hartley offers a groundbreaking exploration that marries the rigor of rational inquiry with the depths of human spirituality. Best of all? No faith in the unbelievable is required.

Drawing from the wellsprings of science, philosophy, religion, and psychology, this illuminating work charts a course for those who seek a meaningful life without dogma or woo. Hartley draws on her work as an atheist spiritual director to provide practical guidelines for navigating a secular approach to ritual, morality, awe, transcendence, wisdom, community, intuition, connection, and meaning that can withstand the harsh truths of reality.

With wisdom gleaned from the best of rationalism and the timeless insights of religion, No Nonsense Spirituality offers pathways to the good life that honor the complexity of the human experience. Engaging, thought-provoking, and deeply resonant, this book invites readers to explore a new understanding of what it means to live the good life in the middle of a culture that ranges from cold skepticism to the unhealthy truth claims of religion and pseudoscience that cannot stand up to modern sensibilities.

So, if you have time grab a copy of the book and read ahead.  If not, just join us at TVUUC for some interesting discussions and meet some new friends.  This is the first in-person book club event in a long time!

This is the location:

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church

2931 Kingston Pike

Knoxville, TN 37919

For discussion ideas see:  TVUUC ForUUm - This Month

Solstice Party, Saturday, December 20

Join Us for a Cozy Winter Solstice Celebration

Where: Al & Jennifer Borawski's home. (Located in the South Knoxville-                        Kimberlin Heights area.  Address will be provided upon RSVP.

Date: Saturday December 20

Time: Open house starting at 4pm

Food and drinks will be provided, from hearty seasonal bites to festive beverages.

(Must love dogs…and be prepared for enthusiastic greetings at the door.)

Please RSVP by December 14 to Al.Borawski@gmail.com or 727-422-1345 so we can plan accordingly.

NO Knox County Fourth Wednesday MEET-UP

Since Thursday, December 24, is Christmas Eve, we will not have a

December Knox County Meet-Up.

Happy Holidays!

December 28,  RET Reflections

Sunday, 12/28/2025  4:30 PM - 6:00 PM     Zoom

Last Chance for 2025!

Okay, you only have 3 days to complete your New Year's resolutions, find the cure for cancer, and save the world from tyranny.  How are you going to do it?  Well, maybe you will have to scale it back a little.  What is the one thing you got done, hope to get done, or disappointed that you didn't get done?  How is all this turning out? 

So, did 2025 work out for you?  Better or worse than average?  

Field Trip!!

Saturday, January 10, 8:30 AM

Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge

Sandhill Cranes

• When  01/10/2026
• 8:30 AM
• Location Meet at Kroger Parking Lot,

We will be meeting in the Northshore Kroger, 9501 S Northshore. Go to the parking lot behind the gas station. 

After meeting at 8:30 AM to determine who wishes to carpool we will set off for the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge (directions below).  

After viewing the cranes (bring good binoculars and cameras), we will make plans for lunch at a local eatery. 

Come join us for a fun field trip. 

Site Directions: On I-75, take exit number 25 in Cleveland, Tennessee. Travel north on Highway 60 through the town of Birchwood. Approximately 1.7 miles north of Birchwood, turn right on Shadden Road. Go one mile and turn right on Blythe Ferry Road. Take the next left on Priddy Lane and follow signs.

Annual Business Meeting, February 1, 2026

It is that time of year to be planning for RET's Annual Business Meeting on February 1, 2026. During the meeting we will be hearing about what RET has accomplished this past year and plans for the future. Another important part of the meeting is the election of board members and officers. This gives you the opportunity to help run the organization. The board generally meets monthly for an hour via Zoom. If you have ideas for future activities for RET, this would be the perfect way to bring them to fruition. 

If you are willing to serve on the board of directors, please send a message to nominate@rationalists.org. 

Call for books for the Skeptic Book Club

RET members,

Please send me your titles soon so I can complete a list for 2026.  I would like to have a complete list by the end of this year.  Send the titles to:

 rmorris126@comcast.net

Thanks for your participation,

Bob Morris 

Skeptic Book Club Coordinator

Early 2026 Selections

January 11, 2026

More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity by Adam Becker

February 8, 2026

Abundance by Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

March  8. 2026

The Stronger Sex: What Science Tells Us about the Power of the Female Body by Starre Vartan

April 12, 2026

Discounting the Future: The Ascendancy of a Political Technology by Liliana Doganova