Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle

Environmental Issues in the Piedmont
2019-11-03 13:30 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Dr. Tom Hoban will speak to us about environmental issues and problems here in the Piedmont region. He is the Executive Director of the Haw River Assembly. Dr. Hoban has been a communication consultant and environmental social scientist for three decades. He is familiar with all aspects of social science research and theory, and he also has an in-depth understanding of all environmental challenges and concerns – particularly those related to food and water availability.

Extraordinary People
2019-10-27 13:30 - 15:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Gregg Ireland, founder of Extraordinary Ventures, Inc. (EV), will comment on and present a film about six adults across the autism spectrum, who, despite individual challenges, have found meaningful value and a deep sense of pride from their work at Extraordinary Ventures. The EHST holds its meetings in EV’s conference center, and we are delighted that our rent payments help to support such a worthwhile organization!

How Are We Doing?
2019-10-20 13:30 - 15:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Each fall, EHST has a meeting of members, friends, and visitors to discuss what has transpired (good, bad, and ugly) for the society, and what looms ahead for us. Our programs, budget, board activity, and needs are reviewed during the meeting. Questions are encouraged, which we will attempt to answer, to allow members and prospective members to understand our “state of the union.” We also will kick off our pledge campaign for 2020. Come get the real facts about our humanist congregation!

Habitat for Humanity and the Cost of Home
2019-10-13 13:30 - 15:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Alice Jacoby will speak to us about Habitat for Humanity. She is Associate Director for Engagement at Orange County Habitat for Humanity. Each local Habitat for Humanity partners with families to create better, healthier, and more financially stable lives. With their help, Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability, and independence they need to build a better future for themselves and their families.
The national organization has begun a campaign to make housing affordable for all families. “Habitat knows the complexities that surround the cost of home. We also know the struggle, stress and pain of far too many families in our communities. And we know that those with the fewest resources are forced to make the hardest choices. We have to take a stand and declare our commitment: No family should have to pay more than half of their paycheck to cover the cost of home.”
“Over the next five years, we commit to mobilizing our local Habitat organizations, our partners, our volunteers and community members across the country to find the solutions and help create the policies that will allow 10 million individuals to meet their most basic needs.”

What Does the AEU Do for Us?
2019-10-06 13:30 - 15:30
EHST members Chris Kaman and Dorothy Dale will give a slide presentation and talk about what the American Ethical Union does for us and other member societies.

GENTLE REMINDER: This will be the first Sunday of the month. Please bring canned goods and other non-perishable dry goods for the IFC Food Pantry.
Please remember to bring your donations in PAPER grocery bags.

EHST: How is it viewed and what is its future?
2019-09-29 13:30 - 15:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
The Ethical Humanist Society is a community that values democratic principles. This week’s program is a Community Day designed to foster communication and elicit opinions on how we operate, what is valued, and how we can meet members’ expectations and needs.
Jan Broughton will guide the conversation which, together with the survey sent to members and friends, provides a forum to voice opinions and suggest ways to make our society more relevant in our lives.

Einstein's Religion and Ethical Humanism
2019-09-22 13:30 - 15:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Was Einstein religious? If so, how was he religious? And what does that have to do with Ethical Humanism, aka Ethical Culture? EHST will re-broadcast a talk by Joe Chuman, a widely respected leader in Ethical Humanism, in which he argues that not only is Ethical Humanism “religious,” it is a “religion.” Belief in a god, gods, or spiritual beings is not a requirement in Ethical Humanism, so how could it be considered a religion? You will want to listen to his talk, and participate in a discussion afterwards about his talk. (Mr. Chuman will not be present for this event.)

Science, the Scientific Method and Society: A Synthesis?
2019-09-15 09:30 - 11:30
With the complexity of modern science can the public really understand what is happening in the research world? Do researchers understand the needs and wants of public? Bridging the gap is critical if we are all going to survive in a rapidly changing world. Fred Breidt will briefly describe the history of science, the scientific method, and discuss interactions between science and society.

Can We Go Back? Reclaiming Our Norms in a Post-Trump World
2019-09-08 09:30 - 11:30
We are living through a time of unprecedented change in the norms of our national politics. How much of that change is an aberration, and how much is permanent, or at least enduring?

Dorothy Dale presents some food for thought and interactive discussion, reflecting her views as an observer, not an expert.

Facebook's Role in Brexit and the Threat to Democracy
2019-09-01 09:30 - 11:30
In an unmissable TED Talk, journalist Carole Cadwalladr digs into one of the most perplexing events in recent times: the UK’s super-close 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Tracking the result to a barrage of misleading Facebook ads targeted at vulnerable Brexit swing voters − and linking the same players and tactics to the 2016 US presidential election − Cadwalladr calls out the “gods of Silicon Valley” for being on the wrong side of history, and asks: Are free and fair elections a thing of the past?
We will show the video of Ms. Cadwalladr’s TED Talk, and then have a discussion about the problem and how we can respond to it.

GENTLE REMINDER: This will be the first Sunday of the month. Please bring canned goods and other non-perishable dry goods for the IFC Food Pantry.
Please remember to bring your donations in PAPER grocery bags.

Climate Change Activism (rescheduled from an earlier date)
2019-08-25 09:30 - 11:30
Elijah King, a member of the Youth Steering Committee with the Youth Justice Project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, will present a program on the efforts of him and other students in the area of climate change. Are we up to the challenge of following their lead?

Elijah King is an inspiring and highly motivated young man who recently graduated from Riverside High School. He came to EHST with Peggy Nicholson several months ago and spoke to us about “Ensuring Fair Treatment of Youths Across All Institutions.” Today we are welcoming him back to tell us more about the Youth Justice Project.

Please note, this program was originally scheduled for June 30th, but had to be postponed.

Judith Lessler, "Department of Corruption"
2019-08-18 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Our guest speaker is Judith Lessler, who edited the book “Department of Corruption: Darren Rainey, the Untold Story” (Harold W.J. Hempstead, author).
You may think you know what happens to people who are incarcerated in our prison systems, but you need to know what happened to Darren Rainey, who was imprisoned by the State of Florida. Here’s an excerpt from the writeup on Amazon:
“In this historically factual book, Harold Hempstead chronicles: • Facts about the Darren Rainey case that have never been told to the public and about his work to expose the brutal and fatal scalding of Darren Rainey to the Miami Herald newspaper, • The murdering, starving, torturing, and abusing of Florida inmates by prison staff, • The poisoning of the food that inmates eat with pills, chemicals, feces, and urine by the Florida prison staff, • The extreme physically and sexually violent conditions in the Florida Department of Corrections, • The rise of gang membership and violence in Florida prisons, • Drugs, cellular phones, and other contraband smuggling activities, as well as, • Numerous facts about the culture of corruption and the unconstitutional conditions of the Florida Department of Corrections. Hempstead also describes his personal journey and how his Christian faith has sustained him throughout his nearly 20 years in prison.”
Also note that the new book, “Nickel Boys,” by Colson Whitehead, is a fictional piece but is based on actual facts behind a correctional facility for young offenders in Florida back in the 1950s and 1960s. Ms. Lessler will not speak about this book, but the book illustrates our problems in correctional facilities over time. We can’t fix them if we don’t know how badly they are broken.

Highlights of the AEU Assembly in Tampa
2019-08-11 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
The American Ethical Union (AEU) is the national organization of which EHST is a member. Each year the AEU holds a convention, called an “Assembly,” in which delegates from the other Ethical Humanist societies meet for three days of lectures, workshops, entertainment, and a business meeting. EHST President Dorothy Dale, and members Jan Broughton and Chris Kaman attended this year. They will give a presentation covering the highlights of the Assembly.

Teaching American Indian History
2019-08-04 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Do our public schools teach historically accurate depictions of American Indians? Ryan Dial-Stanley, a member of the Lumbee tribe, will discuss what education should depict. Leslie Locklear was originally scheduled to speak, but had to step aside. She recommended her colleague Mr. Dial-Stanley who is also quite knowledgeable about this issue, and works with her to inform the public of the problem. You can find out more about the problem via this recent article in the News and Observer: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article228639074.html.

I Am a (Non) Believer
2019-07-28 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Many theists ask non-theists, “Well, just what do you believe?” Atheists believe there is no god, but what about non-theists? Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader of the Washington Ethical Society, will address just what folks who call themselves non-theists believe in. Ethical Humanism, aka Ethical Culture, is non-theistic. Ms. Poppei will help us understand more about what non-theists actually believe.

Think Like A Boss
2019-07-21 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Most organizations focus on professional development from the perspective of grooming better employees. Dr. Dauv Evans will assert that we need more employees who think like a boss. He has trained employees how to incorporate an entrepreneurial perspective to their jobs. Thinking like a boss can create a more productive and ethical work environment.

Dr. Dauv Evans has devoted over ten years of his time and talents to teaching, training, and coaching professional excellence. He is an advocate of promoting employees’ mindset to that of a BOSS to produce a more productive and well-rounded team. He is the author of the book “Don’t Forget to Breathe.” His guide to redefining success has been well received by professionals in various industries.

https://www.noomii.com/users/dauv-evans

Questioning the Authority of One's Assumptions
2019-07-14 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Randy Best, Leader of the Northern Virginia Society for Ethical Culture, will discuss assumptions and their ethical effects. Here is a snippet of his talk:
“What assumptions do I make as I move through the world? How do my assumptions influence my interactions with others? Are my fundamental assumptions about myself too narrow and self-limiting? To what extent is my experience of the world generalizable to others? These thoughts intrigue me. I will unpack these ideas and reflect on how they contribute to my ethical consideration of others and help bridge the gap of understanding.”

Post July 4th Reflections and Refreshments
2019-07-07 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
July 4th is the day the U.S. celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, also known as Independence Day. EHST will focus on what this day means to us in 2019. The microphone will be passed around, and each attendee will have an opportunity to reflect about what the day means to them. We will also use video and music to help us explore the dimensions of the Fourth. We will then share food via a potluck format. Potluck means “pot luck” so no coordination will be done, but please label what food you bring, and any ingredients that might affect others’ choices to partake such as “contains gluten,” or “vegan,” or “contains peanuts,” etc. Visitors need not prepare any food, members are encouraged to do so. Chris Kaman, longtime EHST member, will guide us through the celebration.

Polarization in Politics, and the Search for Meaningful Dialog
2019-06-23 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
In the midst of what seems like extreme polarization in politics, a national organization is working to bridge divides. Better Angels is working to bring dialog to a fractured nation. Better Angels groups are working here in the Triangle! Here is an excerpt from the website of Better Angels:
“In December, 2016, ten Trump supporters and eleven Clinton supporters gathered in South Lebanon, Ohio, in what became the first Better Angels Red/Blue Workshop. The goal? To see if we could respectfully disagree and find any common ground.
“The results were remarkable. We liked each other. We wanted to know more about each other. We wanted to keep on meeting. We wanted to help start workshops in communities all across America! Those reds and blues invited their friends to another workshop and helped to found the first Better Angels Alliance.”
Our guest speakers will be Laura Gilliom and George Thompson, who are members of a group at the Community Church of Chapel Hill, Unitarian Universalist, called “Sanctuary for Dialogue.” The group was formed in 2015 with the purpose of leading conversations on difficult topics within the church and in the community. After the 2016 election, Laura and George discovered Better Angels, and found it to be a very good fit with their mission. Several members of their group got trained as moderators, and began holding workshops. As a group, they have held approximately 16 workshops in total, most in the Triangle area, but some in the Triad and in South Carolina.
Professionally, Laura is a clinical psychologist with a private practice doing couples and individual therapy, and George is a retired school counselor and an active musician.

Confederate Monuments and Memorials in the Piedmont Region 1868-1914
2019-06-16 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Christopher Laws will be discussing the pre-war views that North Carolinians (especially in the Piedmont) held about secession and the Confederacy in early 1861; the rhetoric that was used in the monument dedication ceremonies; who gave the speeches and why that is important; and (time permitting) a brief glimpse into Non-Confederate Civil War commemoration and why it is also problematic.
Christopher Laws wrote his Master’s thesis dissertation on “The Rich Man’s Memory that the Poor Man Buys: Analysis of Confederate Monuments and Memorials in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina, 1868-1914.” Mr. Laws is now working on his PhD in Public History at North Carolina State University.
The following is the abstract from his thesis:
“The purpose of this study is to determine the themes presented in the dedication ceremonies of Confederate monuments in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, between 1868 and 1914. Analysis of the inscriptions on the monuments, the speeches that the main orators gave, and musical selections of the ceremonies were considered when determining the themes presented.
“Additionally, the political climate of the Piedmont region in 1860 and 1861 was examined to determine the level of Unionism that existed in the region before North Carolina’s secession from the Union in May 1861. A quantitative analysis was then done to determine the wealth of the men in the North Carolina General Assembly in 1860, along with the wealth of the orator’s families in 1860. A comparison was then done to show the disparity of wealth between those two groups and the average county wealth of the Piedmont counties in 1860.”

Dr. Damon Tweedy, a Moderated Interview
2019-06-09 09:30 - 11:30
We are very fortunate to be able to have as our guest speaker, Dr. Damon Tweedy, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, and author of Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine (a New York Times bestseller and one of Time Magazine‘s Top Ten nonfiction books of the year in 2017). The program will be in the form of a moderated interview conducted by EHST friend, Solomon Gibson, III.
Dr. Tweedy was interviewed earlier this year on NPR after the events in Virginia involving Governor Northam and the Blackface Scandal. Listen to the interview here.
Dr. Tweedy will be bringing about 20 copies of his book, which can be purchased for $15. He will accept personal checks and cash only.
This is an event you won’t want to miss. Please come, and invite your friends to attend.

Vernetta Alston - Durham City Council member and LGBTQ activist
2019-06-02 09:30 - 11:30
Our speaker today will be Vernetta Alston, a Durham City Council member and LGBTQ activist.
An article in the News and Observer on February 7, 2019, describes events at Immaculata Catholic School in Durham.
Vernetta Alston, a Durham City Council member and an alumna of Immaculata Catholic School in Durham, was invited to speak at the school for Black History Month. However, classes were canceled after officials heard “a number of groups” planned to protest the school’s invitation to her. Ms. Alston is one of six openly LGBTQ candidates elected to office in North Carolina in 2017. Durham County District Court Judge Shamieka Rhinehart and City Councilwoman Jillian Johnson were also scheduled to speak at the school to celebrate Black History Month, a city official said. “We were all scheduled to speak at different times this month,” Johnson wrote in a text. “They told me that they’ve canceled the whole Black History Month program.”
Please plan to attend and support this program. Also, GENTLE REMINDER: This will be the first Sunday of the month. Please bring canned goods and other non-perishable dry goods for the IFC Food Pantry. Please remember to bring your donations in PAPER grocery bags.

The Spiritual Significance of the 2030 SDG Agenda and Ethical Culture
2019-05-26 09:30 - 11:30
Our speaker will be Martha Gallahue, from the American Ethical Union.
Martha Gallahue will speak of her work in interfaith cooperation with the URI (United Religions Initiative). In the face of comprehensive interdependence there is an urgent need in the world, using science) to grasp the coherence of the universe and why humans may be of significance for the next step in evolutionary consciousness. Noting the fragility of species, highlighted by the number of endangered creatures recently identified, it is evident why the Sustainable Development Goals are necessary.
Premise: The Evolutionary Biology of Altruism
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201212/the-evolutionary-biology-altruism?
Martha Gallahue is an AEU certified clergy leader who has served the National Ethical Service at the United Nations and the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, where she continues to coordinate their Families for Ethical Education initiative. Martha was a Dominican Sister for 11 years, and left during graduate school training in theology. She is a certified psychoanalyst in private practice and holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University/Union Theological Seminary. She represents Ethical Culture in the United World Religions at the UN, with a focus on peace building and the culture of peace.

Exploring Ethical Decision Making
2019-05-19 09:30 - 11:30
May 19th is our annual Founders Day celebration. This year our program will be: Exploring Ethical Decision Making.
Every day we come across problems, large and small, that require some thought and comparisons to reach the ‘right’ decision. Often we have limited information but still need to take action. Today’s program will be a combination description and workshop in ethical decision making. by Jan Broughton, EHST member.
Using Arthur Dobrin’s book, Ethics for Everyone: How to Increase your Moral Intelligence, we will be presented with a dilemma and asked to choose the right response based on the facts as known. When given more information, does the decision become clearer? What questions do we need to ask? What assumptions can we make? What are some strategies for assessing the harms and benefits of a course of action? Through this exercise we can increase our ability to approach ethical analysis in a more effective way.

Election Fraud
2019-05-12 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
On Sunday, May 12th, EHST friend and frequent visitor Andrew Silver will be our speaker. He will be discussing election fraud, focusing on electronic voting and voter suppression. His main points are:

New voter ID laws disfranchise up to 10% of citizens in some states
Paper ballots are not counted when optical scan machines miss marks made by voters, or break down and are replaced
Arbitrary purging of voters led to removal of over one million voters from registration rolls without cause in 2016

Andrew Silver is an epidemiologist who has lived 16 years in Thailand. His interest in election fraud followed the 2000 stolen presidential election, after which he co-founded the NC Coalition for Verified Voting. The NCCVV campaigned to introduce and support a bill sponsored by Elli Kinnaird and Verla Insko, the Public Confidence in Elections Act, to end use of unsecured, secretly programed, paperless voting machines. It became North Carolina law in 2005.

Ensuring Fair Treatment of Youths Across All Institutions
2019-05-05 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Peggy Nicholson, Youth Justice Project Director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice will speak about the work of the Youth Justice Project. That project works to ensure equity, fairness, and justice for youth in high-quality education, juvenile, and criminal systems. The goal of the project is to ensure that all people and institutions will treat youth with love, empathy, fairness, respect, and dignity, and fulfill their other basic human needs. You can find out more about the project here: https://www.southerncoalition.org/youth-justice-project/.

Two Cultures: Sixty Years Later
2019-04-28 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
“The Two Cultures” is the first part of an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow. Its thesis was that “the intellectual life of the whole of western society” was split into two cultures – the sciences and the humanities – which was a major hindrance to solving the world’s problems. “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution” (1959) was a published version of the lectures in book form. In 1963 Snow added a second part to his original work, “The Two Cultures: A Second Look.”
The lecture and subsequent publishing of the book raised a storm of outrage. There were howls of protest from mostly non-scientific critics, and there were scientists who were also critical of Snow’s thesis.
Sixty years have passed since Snow’s lecture at the University of Cambridge. It is time to re-visit the original thesis and evaluate whether the phenomenon of two cultures is still a concept influencing society, or a belief that is no longer relevant. Since 1959 science, and hence technology, has made immense gains in fundamental knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological universe. That knowledge has spurred tremendous technical development that has changed human life to an extent that would have been unimaginable in 1959. Do science and humanities now speak the same language, or is it still mostly ships passing in the night?
EHST Member Atish Sen will present his thoughts on this topic.

Humanist Happy Hour at the Modern Life Deli in Pittsboro
2019-04-24 14:00 - 16:00
EHST will celebrate our Humanist Happy Hour at the Modern Life Deli in Pittsboro.
Come join us for dinner and whatever you wish to drink. Our goal is to celebrate friendships, and make new friends too!

Earth Day Celebration
2019-04-21 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970. The celebration has grown from 50 million participants, to more than a billion people celebrating worldwide. EHST will celebrate Earth Day with reflections by EHST members, music, and foods to enjoy. Come celebrate with us!

My Art and Social Issues
2019-04-14 09:30 - 11:30 | Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Prof. Pedro Lasch will speak to us about his art, and how social issues inform his work. Prof. Lasch is a visual artist, and a Duke professor. He is also director of the FHI Social Practice Lab at Duke. Solo exhibitions and presentations include Open Routines (QMA), Black Mirror (Nasher), Abstract Nationalism (Phillips Collection) and Art of the MOOC (Creative Time). Group exhibitions include MoMA PS1, MASS MoCA (USA), RCA, Hayward Gallery, Baltic (UK), Centro Nacional de las Artes, MUAC, National Palace Gallery (Mexico), Prospect 4 Triennial New Orleans (2017), Gwangju Biennial (2006), Havana Biennial (2015), Documenta 13 (ANDANDAND, 2012), and 56th Venice Biennale (CTS, 2015). He is the author of four books, and his work has appeared in numerous catalogues, as well as journals such as October Magazine, Saber Ver, Art Forum, ARTnews, Cultural Studies, The New York Times, and La Jornada. His online pedagogical artwork ART of the MOOC has had over 29,000 enrolled participants in 134 countries since it was launched in 2015.
