Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle

Environmental Justice and the Southern Environmental Law Center
2023-05-28 13:30 - 15:30 (America/New_York)
Julie Furr Youngman is a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, where she focuses on litigation in state and federal courts. Her cases involve protecting water quality and quantity, coastal resources, and endangered species, and promoting environmental justice. Her career has spanned military service, private law practice, and teaching law at Washington & Lee University, where among other things she directed the university’s interdisciplinary program in Law, Justice and Society. She holds a BS, MA from the School of the Environment, and JD, all from Duke University. Ms. Youngman will speak about environmental justice and how principles of justice and fairness manifest in a variety of types of environmental cases, using several of her ongoing matters as a backdrop: industrial swine operations, rules that affect development at the coast, and water quality protections.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Repairing Ethical Culture: Reflecting on a History of White Supremacy Culture
2023-05-21 13:30 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
Anya Overmann is a lifelong Ethical Humanist who has worked with multiple humanist organizations worldwide and currently serves on the American Ethical Union Board. During this experience, she has witnessed white supremacy culture on an institutional scale within both Ethical Culture and organized Humanism. In this talk, Anya offers her observations, insights, and recommendations on how we can dismantle white supremacy culture in Ethical Societies.

This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please email us at info@ehstnc.org and provide your first and last name in your request.

Building Community Partnerships for Health & Equity
2023-05-14 13:30 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
Air pollution is the world’s largest environmental health risk according to the World Health Organization. This burden is not shared equally and often disproportionally impacts historically underserved communities. This presentation, by Andrew Whelan, Communications Manager for iCleanAIRE NC, will focus on the ways CleanAIRE NC is partnering with communities to spread clean air awareness, measure local air quality, expand access to green infrastructure, and reduce harmful pollution in the community.
Andrew Whelan oversees outreach and engagement, content creation and communications strategy for CleanAIRE NC. He grew up exploring the lakes, mountains and forests of upstate New York, inspiring his passions for the outdoors. Prior to joining CleanAIRE NC, Andrew worked in water resources, wildlife conservation, and environmental communication. He holds a double Masters in Environmental Management and Public Policy from Duke University and currently lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and daughter.
This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please email us at info@ehstnc.org and provide your first and last name in your request.

What’s Going On? Current Events and Ethics.
2023-05-07 13:30 - 15:30
This week’s program is a discussion of current events with a consideration of the ethics involved. Please come prepared with thoughts and opinions! Possible topics include “Does the Supreme Court need a code of ethics?”

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Our Climate Future
2023-04-30 11:00 - 12:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
We are thrilled to announce that our program will feature special guests from Our Children’s Trust who recently appeared on the front page of The New York Times! This is a great opportunity to meet the lawyer and some of the youth plaintiffs in the upcoming lawsuit Held v. State of Montana, the first-ever constitutional and children’s climate trial in U.S. history- which will begin on June 12th in Helena, Montana. On March 13, 2020, 16 young people from across the state of Montana filed their constitutional climate lawsuit against the state, asserting that by supporting a fossil fuel-driven energy system, which is contributing to the climate crisis, Montana is violating their constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment, to seek safety, health and happiness, and to individual dignity and equal protection of the law. They also argue that the state’s fossil fuel energy system is degrading and depleting Montana’s constitutionally protected public trust resources, including the atmosphere, rivers and lakes, fish and wildlife.
This Zoom program is sponsored and presented by the American Ethical Union, our national organization. You MUST register to attend this program. You can do that via this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sfu2rrDojE9WL68-OggmO_kNhDnYbiQq7#/registration

Forensic Science in Criminal Cases
2023-04-23 13:30 - 15:30
IDS Forensic Resource Counsel Sarah Olson and School of Government faculty member Phil Dixon will present on the use and misuse of forensic science in criminal prosecutions. While rules of evidence require expert testimony to be based on sufficient data and reliable methods, junk science remains a problem within the criminal justice system. Sarah and Phil will discuss the relevant legal standards, provide examples of reliable and unreliable forensics, and offer thoughts on ways to improve the quality of forensic science in criminal prosecutions.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Let’s Go Dutch: A Heritage of Dutch Humanism
2023-04-16 13:30 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
The Dutch established New Amsterdam at the mouth of the Hudson River in the 17th century, and Jacob Klaeysen established a Dutch family in western New York in the 20th century. AEU Leader Anne Klaeysen explores her roots through the works of two Dutch Humanist philosophers, Erasmus and Spinoza.
Anne Klaeysen is Leader Emerita of the NY Society for Ethical Culture. She also served as Humanist Chaplain at Columbia University and New York University. Ms. Klaeysen holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Hebrew Union College and masters degrees in German from SUNY at Albany and in business administration from NYU. She is a member of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture.
This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please email us at info@ehstnc.org and provide your first and last name in your request.

The Permafrost of the High Arctic: The Tipping Points
2023-04-09 13:30 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
EHST will present a video about the high arctic permafrost melt, one phenomenon of climate change. Bernice Notenboom leads an expedition across Alaska to the North Pole to explore the ticking time bomb of the Permafrost Melt and the release of Carbon Dioxide and Methane. In this film, she climbs cliffs of frozen soil, explores an underground laboratory in Fairbanks, collects permafrost samples, and witnesses evidence of coastal erosion in Barrow.

This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please email us at info@ehstnc.org and provide your first and last name in your request.

The 1965 Baldwin vs. Buckley Debate in Cambridge, England
2023-04-02 13:30 - 15:30
This week’s program will feature a play by Solomon Gibson, III and Fred Breidt based on the debate that took place in the Student Union of Cambridge University in Cambridge, England, on February 18, 1965. William F. Buckley and James A. Baldwin addressed the proposition that the American dream was at the expense of the American Negro (in the parlance of the time).
Join us for this historic debate (brilliantly acted by Solomon and Fred), which so clearly described feelings about race at that time (almost sixty years ago) and which is still very relevant today.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Girl Rising - Nine Girls, Nine Stories of Courage
2023-03-26 13:30 - 15:30
On Sunday, March 26th, EHST will honor Women’s History Month by viewing a portion of an award-winning documentary, Girl Rising. We will meet at our usual time of 1:30pm – 3:30pm. (Book Club follows at 3:30pm.) Following the partial viewing of the film we will have a discussion.
The fifth anniversary edition of Girl Rising travels the globe to meet nine unforgettable girls, striving beyond circumstance and overcoming nearly insurmountable odds to achieve their dreams. Directed by Academy Award Nominee, Richard E. Robbins, produced by Martha Adams, written by acclaimed female writers, and voiced by celebrated actresses including Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington, Anne Hathaway and more, Girl Rising proves that one girl with courage is a revolution.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Probability and Ethics
2023-03-19 13:30 - 15:30
John Holmgren, EHST member and Mathematical Psychologist, will make the claim that all real-world ethical decisions are based on probability. He will then attempt to prove that claim by showing through argument, examples, and consideration of some well-known ethical dilemmas how both objective and subjective probability considerations affect our ethical decision-making. A question and answer period will follow his talk.
Mr. Holmgren received a PhD in Mathematical Psychology from Stanford in 1970. After receiving his degree, he was a member of the Psychology faculty at the University of Maryland, where he taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in statistics. Most of his career was spent at Bell Laboratories (22 years), where he led groups developing new services for AT&T and worked on some of the initial applications of both speech recognition and speech synthesis in the phone system. Since retiring in 2002, Mr. Holmgren has maintained his interest in probability theory through reading and problem solving.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

How to Design Climate-Resilient Buildings
2023-03-12 13:30 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
EHST will view and discuss a video Ted Talk presented by Alyssa-Amor Gibbons. Ms. Gibbons is from Barbados and designs environmentally conscious architecture that combines a reverence for nature with a sense of human interconnectedness.
Architecture can’t ignore the realities of climate change. For time-tested solutions that perform under extreme conditions, designer Alyssa-Amor Gibbons says we should look to traditional buildings. Taking us to her home of Barbados, where the hurricane season is unforgiving and freak storms are becoming more frequent, Gibbons points to the brilliance of endemic
designs that are built to work with nature — rather than against it.
Ms. Gibbons has a master’s degree in structural engineering and architecture and has worked on projects throughout the Caribbean and the UK. She is a champion of net-zero building practices and virtual architectural modeling, which allows designers to drill down to the tiniest details before laying a single brick. “My passion is for delivering architecture that tells a story of consideration, environmental consciousness, energy efficiency and resilience,” she says.

This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please email us at info@ehstnc.org and provide your first and last name in your request.

Understanding Systems of Bias in the United States
2023-03-05 13:30 - 15:30
We’ve long known about disparities in income, homeownership, college completion across race and ethnicity. But how did these differences come to be, and why have they persisted so long? This talk will explore several competing explanations and then argue that the present disparities can be best understood and solved by identifying the network of systems in our society that perpetuate poverty for the non-white poor. Our guest speaker is DJ Passey.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Racist Roots - The Origins of NC's Death Penalty
2023-02-26 13:30 - 15:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Kristin Collins and Tyler Swanson of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation will be coordinating a facilitated viewing of the film “Racist Roots.” “The documentary” is a powerful 25-minute film which reveals the North Carolina death penalty’s deep entanglement with slavery, lynching, and racism — and inspires people to join the movement to transform the criminal legal system. It includes the stories and voices of advocates, artists, exonorees, and people on North Carolina’s death row. Tyler Swanson of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation will introduce the 25 minute video, and then lead the discussion afterwards.
Kristin Collins, Director of Public Information: Kristin joined CDPL as a writer and researcher in 2012. She previously served as executive director of Uniting NC, a non-profit that works to create a welcoming climate for immigrants. Before beginning her career in non-profits, Kristin worked as a newspaper reporter for 13 years, 11 of them with The News & Observer in Raleigh. Her first journalism job was at a small newspaper in eastern North Carolina, where she covered crime and courts, including death penalty trials.
Tyler Swanson, Campaign Strategist: Tyler joined CDPL in 2021 as a campaign strategist working to engage communities across North Carolina in the movement to end the death penalty. Before coming to CDPL, Tyler was a special education teacher for three years with Wake County Public Schools. While a student at North Carolina A&T State University, Tyler began working with the N.C. NAACP and was a part of the Forward Together Moral Movement and a Moral Monday arrestee. He was later hired by the NAACP and served as Youth Director and Communication and Policy Director for North Carolina. Tyler earned his B.A. in Political Science from North Carolina A&T State University.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Disability Planning
2023-02-19 13:30 - 15:30
Disability planning deals with who handles your personal and financial affairs if you incur a disability that leaves you unable to handle those affairs for yourself. There are two distinctly different disability plans. One is to rely on your family members, significant others, health care providers, or creditors to sue you seeking a judicial determination that you are unable to handle your own affairs because of your mental or physical incapacitation, and to appoint someone to handle them for you. In North Carolina, the proceeding is called a guardianship. The second approach is to sign a well thought out and well written power of attorney, which circumvents the need for the complexity, cost and public nature of a guardianship proceeding. Charles Dorothy’s talk will focus on the use of a power of attorney, and the various issues that it should deal with. Mr. Dorothy has retired from the practice of law. So, he will provide you information regarding powers of attorney generally, but he will not give you legal advice regarding your power of attorney. Legal advice regarding your specific circumstances and needs should be procured from an attorney of your choosing licensed to practice law in North Carolina.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ehstnc.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Darwin Day Lecture
2023-02-12 15:00 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
The North Carolina Botanical Garden is holding a Darwin Day Lecture on Sunday, February 12, from 2-3 pm.
Karin Pfennig, Professor of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will give a talk entitled “The hybrid in your genome: How recent advances in behavior and genetics are changing our view of Darwinian evolution.” The talk and discussion will be moderated by Johnny Randall, Director of Conservation at the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
This free hybrid event REQUIRES preregistration. Please visit the following URL to register and for more information:
https://reg.learningstream.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0005-0014-49855ec969df480e9760be9bb189a8fe
Please Note: Following the talk, at 3pm, we will start a separate Zoom meeting for EHST, for discussion and socializing.

Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History
2023-02-05 13:30 - 15:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
February begins Black History month. We will start with a 1 hour video titled “Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History” followed by discussion of his both his method, and his points. There so so much to explore in Black History, and so much controversy in the news, particularly in Florida with Gov. DeSantis’s war on “wokism” and in particular his decision to block AP African American studies from high school curriculum. So we start with Hart’s video. Hope you can join us!

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ncethicalsociety.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

The Future is Now: Our Children Putting Ethics into Action
2023-01-29 11:00 - 12:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
Our program will be an “All-Societies Platform,” a nationwide program for all Ethical Humanist Societies. Brought to you by the AEU team of Ethical Education Directors, we will hear from the directors themselves about their program as well as from the parents on what goes into raising our ethical leaders of tomorrow. The parents will also tell us about why it’s important that they teach their kids about the the value of Ethical Action and service. For the stars of the show, the kids will share performances with us as well as give their thoughts on what they need from the adults that they embark on their own ethical journeys.
Zoom Info
Join by computer, tablet, or smartphone: http://vh9d.2.vu/janasp
*Registration for this event is required

Annual EHST Business Meeting for 2023
2023-01-22 13:30 - 15:30
EHST will hold its annual meeting of members. This is a business meeting where the members will (re-)elect board members, and pass a budget for 2023. We will also seek suggestions from members for our priorities for the year. Visitors and friends are welcome to attend, but they will not be eligible to vote. Members who cannot be present must submit proxies to the EHST secretary if they wish to have their interests/votes counted at the meeting. Submission of proxies by email is acceptable. See our bylaws section 6 for more information.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ncethicalsociety.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Love or Lust? A Look at Love Poetry; Ethics in Poetry
2023-01-15 13:30 - 15:30
The Western Canon is replete with what is called great love poetry. What constitutes love poetry is seldom challenged. EHST member, Blue Marvin, will lead a discussion and analysis of some of these well-known poems to decide if the classification is justified. He will explore whether a poem is about love, lust, or infatuation with a surprise bonus poem that will defy these classifications.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ncethicalsociety.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Artificial Intelligence Technology And Ethical Culture Values
2023-01-08 13:30 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
Artificial intelligence and machine learning software applications are rapidly reshaping our future. Applications of this powerful new technology are now touching many aspects of our lives, including finance and banking, the justice system, health care, the military, social media, and others. Fred Breidt will give a brief overview of artificial intelligence algorithms and how they can be harnessed to solve complex problems. We will then discuss some successes and failures of the technology with an emphasis on social justice and ethical culture values.

This will be a Zoom only program…

Everyday Ethics
2023-01-01 13:30 - 15:30
We are kicking off 2023 with a Discussion Sunday! The topic is Everyday Ethics. A few examples for discussion are as follows:

What do you do if you find that you received too much change from a grocery or other store?
Should we be eating only pasture raised animals? Should we be eating animal products at all?
How much recycling should each of us be doing? Is environmentalism an ethical issue?
Is it okay to lie? If so, when?

We look forward to hearing from all attendees on these and other topics that people choose to raise.
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. Masks are recommended at our in-person meeting.

EHST Holiday - No Meeting
2022-12-25
EHST will not meet at Extraordinary nor on Zoom today. We hope everyone enjoys the holidays, and stays safe during their holiday travels.

Predictions for 2022 - A Review
2022-12-18 13:30 - 15:30
In January of 2022 our members and friends filled out a form which asked them to predict the outcome for 14 events in 2022. We will review those predictions without revealing who predicted what. The benefit of this? It will underscore that most of us can’t predict the future, and sometimes the future does indeed have surprises both good and bad. Prediction questions ranged from “Will SCOTUS overturn Roe v Wade” to “Will Russia Invade the Ukraine?”

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ncethicalsociety.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Tedx Talk: "My descent into America's neo-Nazi movement -- and how I got out."
2022-12-11 13:30 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
Our program features a TEDx talk by Chritian Piccioloni entitled “My descent into America’s neo-Nazi movement — and how I got out.” In this talk, Christian Piccioloni describes his journey into white supremacy and then discusses not only how he got out, but a little about the work he does now countering extremism and racism. We will follow this brief video with discussion.

This program will be presented via a Zoom session. You do not need a Zoom account to “attend” this virtual meeting. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please email us at info@ncethicalsociety.org and provide your first and last name in your request.

Poetry Sunday
2022-12-04 13:30 - 15:30
EHST is celebrating the human experience with a Poetry Sunday. Longtime EHST friend Hugh Giblin will help us celebrate with his poetry, and other local poets will also participate. Poetry enhances the lives of humanity, including when it shines a light on spheres that may be painful or unpleasant. Come join us for an appreciation of some local poets.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ncethicalsociety.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Post Thanksgiving Potluck and Game Playing
2022-11-27 13:30 - 15:30
We’re taking a break from normal programming for this holiday weekend. Please join us November 27th, 1:30pm – 3:30pm for a Post-Thanksgiving Potluck Social and Game Playing Afternoon! Come decompress from your holiday stress and join us at Extraordinary Ventures to eat, relax, and play games. This is an extra-casual meeting!
This event is in-person only; the meeting will not be Zoomed.
If you are not a member or friend of the society, please let us know you want to come. Send an email to info@ncethicalsociety.org and tell us your name, and what you’d like to bring.

Stone Soup Thanksgiving Potluck
2022-11-20 13:30 - 15:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
On November 20th, EHST will hold its annual “Stone Soup” celebration. We will tell the history of Stone Soup, and then we will each be given an opportunity to express what we can be thankful for in our lives. (Please note that being “thankful” does not require theism; nontheists can be thankful too!)
Please bring your favorite dish to share. Please do label what your dish is, and its ingredients so attendees can make informed choices.
You may bring bread, rolls, or juice as your contribution. Desserts are also welcome!
This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting. We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place. We will also Zoom the program until we break for our potluck. If you wish to attend via Zoom, please email info@ncethicalsociety.org with your first and last name to be registered as an attendee for this program.

Assessing the 2022 Midterm Election
2022-11-13 13:30 - 15:30 | Virtual Program using Zoom
EHST will discuss the 2022 election and what it means for ethical humanists, and the issues we care about, and how this will affect our plans for the future. Our Zoom only discussion will provide all a chance to share their ideas, and insights.

What is Consensus and How is it Relevant to EHST?
2022-11-06 13:30 - 15:30
While consensus decision making may not address the many issues posed by our current political polarization, it is a method of achieving agreement by hearing and addressing all pros and cons of an issue or proposal before taking a decision to act. It can be very useful in groups (like EHST) when people are committed to serious listening and to finding solutions acceptable to all which are based on a group’s core principles. Come to learn more about this decision making method! EHST member, Amy Piersma, will be our speaker.
