A selection of humanist and freethought events for April, 2008
Sunday, April 6; 11:00 am
Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County
687 Larch Avenue
Teaneck, NJ 07666
Contact: 201-836-5187
Dr. Joseph Chuman, Leader of the Ethical Culture Society, takes a comparative look at the sources of human dignity among humanists and traditional religious communities.
Dr. Chuman has been Leader of The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County for more than 33 years. He holds a Ph.D. in religion from Columbia University, where he is adjunct professor of religion and human rights. Dr. Chuman lectures frequently to public audiences on philosophy, social issues and humanist thought.
Dinner with Beth Lamont of the Humanist Society of Metropolitan NY
Tuesday, April 8; 7:00 pm
Join Beth for Dinner and Conversation on Humanism and issues of the day. Beth Lamont is the widow of humanist pioneer, Corliss Lamont.
You can contact Beth at beth@corliss-lamont.org
Venue:
LifeThyme Natural Market
410 Sixth Avenue (aka Avenue of the Americas), between 8th and 9th Streets
NY, NY
Thursday, April 10; 8:00 pm
Join CFI-NYC for the inauguration of a new, monthly event combining fine food and wine with intimate, intelligent conversation. On the second Thursday of each month, a local author, intellectual, or artist will discuss his or her latest work with a small group of participants over wine, cocktails and dinner.
Our first event on April 10 will feature Susan Jacoby, author of the acclaimed NY Times bestseller The Age of American Unreason. Susan is the author of eight books, including Wild Justice: The Evolution of Revenge, a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1984, and Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, named a notable book of 2004 by the Washington Post and the NY Times. Her latest book, The Age of American Unreason, picks up in the early 1960s where the historian Richard Hofstadter left off in his classic work, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Susan’s book addresses the astonishing growth of public ignorance, anti-rationalism, and anti-intellectualism that threaten the future of American democracy.
Venue:
Gascogne
158 8th Avenue (at 18th Street)
SPACE IS LIMITED. RSVP REQUIRED.
For reservations or more information, contact nyc@centerforinquiry.net, or call (212) 504-2935.
Sam Greenfield, Radio Show Host
Saturday, April 12; 10:00 am
The Humanists of North Jersey host radio show host Sam Greenfield for a talk on politics and humanism at:
Maurice M. Pine Public Library
10-01 Fair Lawn Ave
Fair Lawn, NJ
Contact: northjersey@humanists.net
Norman Gershman on Besa, To Keep the Promise
Sunday, April 13; 11:00 am
Righteous Albanians saved over 2,000 Jews during the Holocaust, hidden by Albanian Muslim families throughout the war. Albania was the only country to boast a larger number of Jewish people after WWII than prior to the Holocaust. Norman Gershman, a long-time former member of our Essex Ethical Society, a humanist, man of conscience and prize-winning photographer, traveled to Albania and Kosovo to chronicle the tales of the righteous Albanians and their devotion to Besa, an Albanian code of honor. Featured at the United Nations and the Hebrew Union College, these photos and their stories will be presented by Mr. Gershman during this Platform. His work has been lauded in Congress and by Jimmy Carter. In Congress: “When we find common ground, our minds are safe and open to limitless possibilities for dialogue, tolerance and change”.
Mr. Gershman is a fine art photographer with his work shown in various museums throughout the world. His work is described as humanistic rather than as photojournalism and has brought people together with his work in the former Soviet Union, Cuba and Muslim Albania. He has taught his humanistic photography in many prestigious art institutes in the U.S.
Ethical Culture Society of Essex County
516 Prospect Street
Maplewood, New Jersey
Contact: 973-763-1905
Woman and Child Crossing: Caution - Lives at Risk
Thursday, April 17; 6:30 pm
A panel discussion on critical human rights issues facing women and youth around the world, including access to reproductive rights; sexual violence against women; and exploitation and abuse against female migrant workers. Join us to learn about critical human rights issues, help to raise the voices of women and youth, and find out how you can get involved. Cosponsored by the New York Society for Ethical Culture and the United Nations Association Young Professionals for International Cooperation Human Rights Committee.
New York Society for Ethical Culture
2 West 64th Street at Central Park West
New York, NY
Contact: 212-874-5210
Can Science Help Us Make Wise Moral Judgments?
Thursday, April 17; 1:00 pm
Speaker: Paul Kurtz, PhD, Fellow AAAS, Founder of the Council for Secular Humanism
Sponsored by: The New York Academy of Sciences; 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St. at Barclay St., 40th fl.
Can science and reason be used to develop ethical judgments? Many theists claim that without religious foundations, “anything goes,” and social chaos will ensue. Scientific naturalists believe that secular societies already have developed responsible ethical norms and that science and reason have helped us to solve moral dilemmas. How and in what sense this occurs are vital issues that need to be discussed in contemporary society, for this may very well be the hottest issue of the twenty-first century.
NY City Atheists’ Demonstration
Saturday, April 19; 8:30 am
The Pope is Coming! The Pope is Coming!
The Pope’s visit on April 18-20 will give us an opportunity to let him and the world know that Atheists are here to stay, that we’re visible, that we don’t appreciate him blaming us for all the world’s problems and that the Catholic Church must bear responsibility for its share of the world’s woes.
So we are going to hold a demonstration—our first since the Republican Convention in 2004 — in coordination with American Atheists (who will be demonstrating against the Pope near the White House while he is in Washington). NYC Atheists will hold a
peaceful demonstration near St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
For more information, please contact Ken Bronstein at nycatheists@aol.com or at 212-535-7425.
Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York
Tuesday, April 22; 6:30pm EST
Meet with the Humanists of Metro NY at the LifeThyme Natural Market at 410 Sixth Avenue (aka Avenue of the Americas), between 8th and 9th Streets, for food and conversation.
Contact: beth@corliss-lamont.org
What Israel’s 60th Anniversary Means for Palestinians
Tuesday, April 22; 7:30pm EST
Ghada Karmi & Joel Kovel
Leading Palestinian writer Ghada Karmi maintains that a resolution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians will remain elusive until all those involved in finding a solution accept the real causes of conflict, and its consequences on the ground.
Thursday, April 24; 6:30pm EST
“The Four Horsemen of Atheism”
A video of a round table discussion with Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. They talk about the public reaction to their recent books, their unexpected successes, and criticisms of their work. They also discuss the tough questions about religion that face the world today and propose new, if not always nuanced, strategies for going forward.
SLC Conference Center
352 Seventh Ave., between 29-30 St., 16th Floor
Contact: info@nyc-atheists.org, (212) 330-6794
Science and Congress: The Role of Think Tanks and Congressional Science Committees
Thursday, April 24; 7:00pm EST
Recent years have seen a rise in prominence of legislative issues that control how scientists work or that require scientific information for decision making. How do legislators receive this information, and what are the potential effects of distortion or misunderstanding of it on science in the United States? Join us for a discussion on how science-related think tanks and congressional science committees are involved in this process.
Speakers:
Joanne Carney, Director of the American Association for the Advancement of Scientists (AAAS) Center for Science, Technology and Congress.
David Goldston, former chief of staff for the House Committee on Science and author of Nature’s “Party of One”column on Congress and science policy.
Michael Stebbins, Director of Biology Policy for the Federation of American Scientists, President of the Scientists and Engineers for America Action Fund, and author of Sex, Drugs & DNA.
New York Academy of Science
Martin E. Segal Theatre
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY
Wednesday/Thursday, April 23/24; 7:00pm/7:30pm
Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times not only is a timely, inspiring, and even revolutionary look at who wields the greatest power in America–everyday people who take a chance and stand up for what they believe in–but also offers advice on what you can do to help. Where are the millions marching in the streets to defend human rights, civil liberties, and racial justice? Where is the mass revulsion against the killing and torture being carried out in our name? Where are the environmentalists? Where is the peace movement?
The answer: They are everywhere.
The award-winning sister-brother team of Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and investigative journalist David Goodman traveled the country to detail the ways in which grassroots activists have taken politics out of the hands of politicians. Standing Up to the Madness tells the stories of everyday citizens who have challenged the government and prevailed. As the Bush administration has waged war abroad and at home, it has catalyzed a vast groundswell of political action.
From African-American residents of deluged New Orleans who are fighting racism and City Hall to regain their homes; to four Connecticut librarians who refused to spy on their patrons, challenged the USA PATRIOT Act, and won; to a group of high school students who were barred from performing a play they wrote on the Iraq War based on letters from soldiers; to the first U.S. Army officer to publicly refuse orders to deploy to Iraq, charging that his duty as an officer is to refuse to fight in an illegal and immoral war, Standing Up to the Madness profiles citizens rising to extraordinary challenges. And, in the process, they are changing the way that politics is done, both now and in the future. In communities around the United States, courageous individuals have taken leaps of faith to stop the madness.
They could only hope that if they led, others would follow. That is how movements are born. What begins as one, eventually becomes many. In that tradition, the authors have included the ways in which any individual can take action and effect change.
Wednesday’s Location: Community Church of New York, 40 E. 35th Street (between Madison and Fifth Avenues) in Manhattan - 7:00pm
Thursday’s Location: Temple Ner Tamid, 936 Broad St., Bloomfield, NJ - 7:30pm
Saturday Night at the Movies!
Saturday, April 26; 8:00pm EST
Using footage of procedures, exploring the murders of doctors and interviewing individuals who represent the gamut of opinion, director Tony Kaye (American History X) examines the loaded issue of abortion in America in this evenhanded black-and-white documentary. Cultural critic Noam Chomsky, Nat Hentoff, Alan Dershowitz, Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry and others lend their voices to the ongoing discussion in this blend of personal stories, political realities and philosophical debate.
“I was blown away by the film. I could not shake it,” says Mark Urman, the head of US distribution at ThinkFilm, which bought ‘Lake of Fire.’ “Certain films make you think. A lot of documentaries are meant to make you think; this film makes you think again and again.’
These forums take place in Sussex Country, New Jersey, and are FREE and open to the public. Refreshments will be served!
For more information and directions, email Katie at kifischer@optonline.net.