Platform
Meetings –2011
December 4
"Poverty in North Carolina:
Changing Faces, Swelling Ranks"
Patrick Conway,
Professor of Economics,
UNC at Chapel Hill
Professor Conway has been on UNC's faculty
since 1983. During that time, he has taught courses in introductory
economics, international economics, development economics
and macroeconomics. He was awarded the William C. Friday
Award in 2001 for excellence in teaching. His
current research interests include the impact of IMF lending
programs on developing-country welfare, the development of
financial markets in transition economies, and the impact
on US workers of US textiles and apparel imports.
Link to Professor Conway's presentation. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32717171/ehst.d12042011.mp3
November 20
Stone Soup
Randy Best, Ethical Leader
Randy will guide us
through the
making of a "stone" soup. Bring
pre-cooked vegetables to put
in the pot. Strictly vegetarian.
November 6
Members Meeting
Conducted by Committee Chairpersons
This meeting kicks off the pledge year.
Committee Chairpersons will report this year's accomplishments.
EHST and its individual members contribute to the worth and
dignity of each individual and to bringing out the best in
all. We strive to develop ethical ideas and ideals, to share
life's joys, to support each other through life's crises,
and to work together to improve our world and that of our
children. Your continued financial support is essential to
maintain the strength of our society and to pursue these
goals.
October 2
"October International Humanism Today:
Report from the 2011 International Humanist Congress "
Randy Best, EHST Leader
A report on the activities and inspiration that Randy found at the International
Humanist and Ethical Union's Congress held in August 2011 in Oslo,
Norway. The experience was heightened by the recent terrorist attack in Oslo
and Norway's reaction to these events. The Congress was a powerful experience
he is eager
to share with you. This year's theme was peace, and it is ironic that the
congress was held shortly after the terrorist attacks in Oslo. The response
of the Norwegian government and the people of Norway to this tragedy is an
inspiration for the world to follow.
September 18
"Immigration and Asylum"
Niklaus Steiner
Director of the Center for Global Initiatives
UNC Chapel Hill
A native of Switzerland Professor Steiner moved to the U.S.
in his youth. He has moved between cultures all his life, and
this experience shapes his academic focus. Steiner earned his
Ph.D. in Political Science at Northwestern University. His
research and teaching interests include migration, refugees,
nationalism, and citizenship, and has several publications,
including Arguing About Asylum: The Complexity of Refugee
Debates in Europe (St. Martin's, 2000) and The Problems
of Protection: UNHCR, Refugees, and Human Rights, eds.
His most recent book International Migration and Citizenship
Today (Routledge, 2009) is a thought-provoking examination
of the ability of international migrants to move and the ability
of states to control this movement.
September 11
"Morality Without God"
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Stillman Professor in Practical Ethics
Department of Philosophy and the Kenan Institute for Ethics
Professor
Sinnott-Armstrong presentation will be based on his book, Morality
Without God? The goal of this book is basically to show
that atheists can be and are moral. He is co-director of the
MacArthur Law and Neuroscience Project and co-investigator
at the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics. He has worked in the
fields of ethics, philosophy of law, epistemology, philosophy
of religion and informal logic. He also authored Moral
Skepticisms and edited Moral Psychology, Volumes
I-III. His articles have appeared in a variety of philosophical,
scientific, and popular journals and collections.
August 21
"Beyond Shame and Guilt"
James Coley
When we build our moral values on the twin pillars of reason
and the love of humanity, instead of the purported commands of
a supernatural parent-figure, we undercut the potential for the
dominance of shame and guilt in our ethical feelings and thoughts.
This is one of the best features of Humanism, as it encourages
us to approach our moral choices as adults taking responsibility
for our actions, not children who feel self-deprecating and ashamed
when they disappoint their heavenly father. And we are better
able to recognize our errors and shortcomings, and to strive
to be better people, when we are not burdened by guilt about
the kind of beings we are.
James Coley has a master's degree in philosophy from UNC Chapel
Hill and has taught courses in ethics and other philosophical
subjects. He is a past president of the Ethical Humanist Society
of the Triangle, and for many years hosted the "Ethics
Matters" radio program.
August 7
"
Why the ‘Old World’ Stopped
Fighting Wars and Started Building a
Peaceful Transnational Union"
Professor Lloyd Kramer
UNC History Department
Professor
Kramer's research is on modern European history, with emphasis
onnineteenth-century France. His major focus is the historical
processes that shapes cultural identities, including cross-cultural
exchange and the emergence of modern nationalism. His teaching
stresses the importance of reading, discussing, and writing
about influential books in various eras of European and world
history.
July 17
Alexandra Forter Sirota
Ms. Sirota joined the N.C. Budget and Tax Center
as a Public Policy Analyst in April 2010 and became Project
Director in November 2010. Before joining N.C. Justice Center,
Sirota coordinated research on child well-being and policy
analysis on family economic security at Action for Children
North Carolina. Sirota has a broad range of experience at non-profit
organizations and government agencies both in the United States
and abroad in the areas of human rights, community development
and anti-poverty programs and asset building policy. Sirota
received a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College in
Pennsylvania and a joint master’s degree from the University
of Chicago.
July 4
AEU 96th Annual Assembly
EHST Members who attended the American Ethical Union's
96th Annual Assembly presented a platform about the workshops
and information shared at this conference. It was held
in Columbus, Ohio from June 16 through 19.
Our Assembly is an important point in our lives as Ethical
Culturists. It is an opportunity to immerse ourselves in
what it really means to belong to Ethical Culture. During Assembly,
we gather with like minded people and we experience the Movement
in a larger context. Each member has unique talents within
Ethical Culture. By participating in our annual Assembly we
show each other, newcomers,
and the greater community that we are a people with strong
ideals, willing to declare our ethical principles for the betterment
of humanity.
June
19
Skype Presentation
"The Future of Social Security and Medicare"
John Glaser, Grassroots Manager
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
John
Glaser 's long career as a community organizer has been focused
on strategic planning, advocacy, and coalition building for
community based groups, including settlement houses, the United
Way, and international organizations in over 25 countries.
Working with local, national and international groups, John
has educated, trained and mobilized citizens on raising funds
and demanding action on human services programs that assist
seniors, children, and the physically challenged. John has
been a Grassroots Manager with the National Committee for over
10 years.
June 5
"Muhammadiyah: A View of Liberal Islam"
James Peacock, Kenan Distinguished Professor
Department of Anthropology,
UNC, Chapel Hill
Professor Peacock attended the 100-year congress of the
Muhammadiyah organization last year in Indonesia. He will
summarize his experiences at the congress and give us an
overview of the organization.
May 15
Founders Day
Recognition
Today will be our Founders Day Recognition Sunday, when we
recognize members for their contributions.
May 1
Skype Presentation
Jason Torpy, President
Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers
Jason Torpy serves as President of the Military Association
of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF), a national non-profit
building community for nontheistic veterans. He also holds
seats on the board of Secular Coalition for America and the
American Humanist Association. Mr. Torpy speaks on a range
of issues related to the atheist, humanist, and general nontheist
community as these issues relate to the military. Jason has
spoken at national conventions, awards banquets, outdoor events,
and press conferences, as well as making radio appearances.
His education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering
Management from West Point and a Masters in Business Administration
from Ohio State University.
April 17
" The Self-Help Credit Union and Responsible
Financial Services"
Marty Belin, Treasurer, Self-Help Credit Union
Marty is a senior staff member of the nationally recognized
Self-Help Credit Union in Durham, North Carolina, specializing
in innovative financing for small businesses and organizations
and underserved communities. Self-Help is a community development
lender, credit union, and real estate developer that works
with individuals, organizations and communities traditionally
underserved by conventional markets. The funds that support
our work come from deposits, grants, and other investments
made by individuals and institutions across the U.S.
April 3
"The Ethical Society Without Walls"
Susan Rose, Leader
The Ethical Society Without Walls serves people who are unable
to attend Ethical Societies with walls. We connect with each
other by online forum discussions, chats and regular community
telephone calls. ESWoW is dedicated to cultivating a community
of people who support each other in leading a more ethical
life. ESWoW is currently supported primarily by the American
Ethical Union but needs to move towards being a fully independent
Ethical Society supported by members and participants.
March 20
Barbara Lau, Director,
Pauli Murray Project
Duke Human
Rights Center
Among her many accomplishments are the documentarypublic art
project 'Telling Stories of Community Life,' curator of traveling
exhibits about Durham’s civil rights heritage and historic
Black Wall Street, and guest curator of the exhibit 'From Cambodia
to Greensboro: Tracing the Journeys of New North Carolinians
and published the catalog for this. Ms. Lau has more than twenty
years of professional experience as a folklorist, oral historian,
teacher, curator, radio producer and consultant. For the past
ten years, she served as the Community Documentary Projects
director at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.
March 6
“
Forgiveness”
Randy Best, EHST Ethical Leader
February 20
"Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Anti-Intellectualism
in America."
Alex Glass, Instructor, Invertebrate Paleontology and Science
Education
Earth & Ocean Sciences, Duke University
" Anti-evolutionism is alive and well in the United States,
reaching new
supporters via the ever-expanding internet, and finding ample
grounds
for expansion among an American public that is innately suspicious
of
"
scientific elitism". As the merit and integrity of science
is
increasingly under attack by those whose political and economic
interests run counter to the latest scientific findings, conservative,
religiously-motivated anti-science groups are finding new converts
among
more religiously progressive members of the faith community.
The
scientific community must become more actively involved in
cultural and
community affairs to counter the growing anti-intellectualism
in
America."
February 6
“ Good Life, Good Death, Your Choice”
Fran Schindler, Executive Coordinator, Final Exit Network
The guiding principles of this on-line organization are that
mentally competent adults have a basic human right to end their
lives when they suffer from a fatal or irreversible illness
or intractable pain, when their quality of life is personally
unacceptable, and the future holds only hopelessness and misery.
Such a right shall be an individual choice, including the timing
and companion, free of any restrictions by the law, clergy,
medical profession, even friends and relatives no matter how
well-intentioned. The organization does not encourage anyone
to end their life, do not provide the means to do so, and do
not actively assist in a person’s death. We do, however,
support any member who requests it when medical circumstances
warrant their decision.
January 23
“The Humanist Approach to Happiness”
Jennifer Hancock
Ms. Hancock’s presentation was based on her book The
Humanist Approach to Happiness, a book that basically
says – here are personal ethics,
here is why they are important, and here is how you can apply them to your
daily life and why doing so will help you live a happier more productive
life. It isn’t a philosophy book so much as a book
about the pragmatic reasons for being an ethical, compassionate
January 9, 2011
" Annual Meeting"
Speaker: Board members
Election of 2011 Board and presentation of 2011 budget
January 2, 2011
A showing of the video"The Meeting House", made
for the 100th anniversary rededication of the N York Ethical
Culture Society
building.
This video includes a history of Ethical Culture, emphasizing
the New York society.
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