Author: Wayne Wilson

Climate Change
~What can I do?~

At our January general meeting, I was happy to moderate a discussion on climate change where we posed the question; what can I do?

But before we began the discussion, we agreed that it was time to start calling it climate crisis rather than climate change. Then I took a few minutes to talk about some of my knowledge of the subject by way of my University of Utah Physical Geography studies. We used Google Earth to look at the High Uintah mountain range so that I could point out the perennial snow fields and patches which represent the edge of what we call the Cryosphere or the areas of the earth that are consistently at an average temperature below freezing. Through dozens of backpacking trips I observed a few specific areas of large and small snow fields, basically watching them grow and shrink through a number of years. While studying these snow fields I was also taking numerous slides of the evidence of the last glaciation, where at times you could observe that 15 to 20 thousand years ago, the trail you are on would be under over a thousand feet of glacial ice. The study of this Upper Alpine environments and Lake Bonneville gave me an understanding of the way climate changes naturally. Then the question becomes one of how are we humans accelerating these changes.

I also complained about the fact that we get distracted by the arguments about climate change and global warming when we should be talking more about pollution and the over use of resources.

Also, while we were online, I showed us a web site called the National Snow and Ice Date Center. This web site has all kinds of information useful to scientists and non-scientists alike. If you want to learn about the Cryosphere online this is a good place to go.

When I finished with my remarks, we went back to the question; what can I do?

Starting out, I said that we might put the possibilities of action in order from large to small, starting with global and national as the large efforts, followed by state and local, then neighborhood, and finally as individuals.

I certainly can’t remember all the comments, but the discussion touched on many topics. On the global and national level, we talked about supporting the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, as advocated by board members Brian Trick and Lisa Miller in their December newsletter piece. I mentioned a group called World War Zero with John Kerry and Susan Rice as two well knowns pushing that organization. They are one of the organizations that are now switching from calling it Climate Change to saying there is a Climate Crisis.

We discussed overpopulation and agreed that it wasn’t a good idea to get to preachy about having too many kids, but rather offer aid that would help empower women to have control over their choice of when and how many children to have. I mentioned how in a documentary I viewed; they were giving solar ovens to families in tribes along the edge of the Kalahari Desert in Africa. These ovens are beneficial in a number of ways. They are beneficial to the environment by reducing the gathering of what little wood there is along the edge of a desert for cooking. The ovens help the women by eliminating the need to spend time gathering fuel and by eliminating the smoke from cook fires.

We talked about how many communities are restricting or banning the use of leaf blowers. Studies have shown that a two cycle leaf blower creates as much exhaust pollution as seven average cars in the same amount of time. While they also stir up toxic dust containing all sorts of contaminants such as pesticides, fertilizers, bug parts, animal feces, and on and on.

In our personal lives using fewer resources is one of the best ways to not create pollution and waste in the first place. I used myself as an example of this by admitting that I use too much paper, mostly in the form of paper towels and that I waste too much hot water when I take a shower. I have committed to having very few fires in my fireplace.

Eating less meat was advocated and the fact that it takes a very large number of calories to produce one calorie of meat was mentioned.

Several other actions were suggested, like electric cars, electric lawn mowers, better insulation in our home, looking into the possibility of ground heat exchangers, home solar energy, consolidating our driving to lessen the number of miles traveled.

I enjoyed our discussion and it is my and our chapter’s intention to make this subject of climate crisis an ongoing effort with other meetings and discussions hosted by our chapter. We will also be reaching out to other groups to participate with us in addressing this climate crisis. The time for action is now.

—Bob Lane
HoU Board Member

President’s Report

The Dark Ages of medieval times received its name from the dearth of intellectual stimulation and progress in the realms of science, discovery and reason. Under the crushing weight of strict religious control, deadly plagues and incessant warfare, ideas and their applications seemed generally lost to the west. Indeed, it was the fortunate preservation and encouragement of past ideals and knowledge by the Islamic and eastern kingdoms that kept many of the ideas and records alive during these days.

As we get ready to celebrate Darwin Day next week, I have been reflecting on the need to not only preserve scientific ideas and information, but to use it to fight against the encroachment of intolerance and pseudo-science. Charles Darwin is perhaps best remembered for his world travels that culminated in his publication of On The Origin of Species, in which he pondered evolution and its consequences for all of life, but few realize that he was a prize fighter in his time for the ability and right to question authority and dismiss conformity. After dropping out of medical school due to boredom and revulsion at surgical practices, his father pressed him to into becoming an Anglican priest, matriculating him into seminary. During this time, Darwin had grown utterly fascinated with naturalism, taxidermy and life sciences, eventually joining a group known as the Plinian Society, which challenged orthodoxy in religious concepts of science. His voyage to several continents would allow him the freedom to oppose prevailing thought and usher in a new paradigm of thought and understanding.

I hope as you consider Darwin’s contributions to science this month that you will also consider his radical refusal to accept the thought patterns and societal acceptance that had fallen over those people and institutions seeking to guide his life. He was a fighter, a rebel, an anarchist of thought—and at the base of all this, he was a declared humanist and believed in the power of reason, ethics and exploration to liberate a man’s heart and mind. In these times of rampant post-truth and alternative facts, I encourage you to question everything, seek to replicate your theories and thoughts via the scientific method, and have open discourse about ideas and their impacts in our lives. Science and reason do not live in a vacuum nor do they fight for themselves. They need us to do it so that we may avoid another dark age.

Please come out and support us at the Charles Darwin Day celebration next week. The HoU officers and board have worked extremely hard to deliver a fantastic celebration and we want you to be there! Bring friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers, whoever and be prepared to nerd out to science, nature and Humanism in action. See you there!

—Jeff Curtis
President, HoU

Free Thought Forum

https://www.freethoughtforum.org

We had the opportunity to meet up with the Free Thought Forum at the HoU Winter Solstice banquet. Their group holds weekly meetings in several locatinos around the local area. Specifics of the meetings are posted on their website.

The group’s Tag Line is:

Everyone is Welcome (regardless of personal religious belief, political leaning, education, race, sex, etc.) to join our weekly open and civil discussions on: Moral Philosophy-Science-Religion-Politics-Current Events-and More!

We have attended several of their meetings in Draper and find them well lead with interesting topics. If you are looking for some stimulating conversations you should consider checking them out. Be sure to go to their web page for more information.

—Brian Trick and Lisa Miller
HoU Board Members

March Mammal Madness

Have some March Madness fun this year by joining March MAMMAL Madness. This is an amazing event put together by a bunch of lovely science people running a March Madness bracket—with mammal playoffs (mostly mammals, a few exceptions sneak in from time-to-time). I have had so much fun with this I literally squeak with excitement every time I think about it coming. “March Maaammmal Madness!” No hyperbole–every year we learn about incredible animals that tend to come up in conversations throughout the year. Have you heard of the Mantis Shrimp? And that it can literally kill its prey from the shockwave of its fast-moving fist?

There are bunches of resources available for researching out all those mammals you’ve never heard of. It’s a month+ of geek delight: Science Facts, Smack Talk, Heartbreaking Upsets, Team Alliances.

More information and links can be found at http://mammalssuck.blogspot.com/2020/02/march-mammal-madness-2020.html. Division announcements come out the end of this month, so keep an eye out!

Pro-tip: Once the games get going, look for the “Rodent Recap” YouTube posts. They are a really fun way to get your bracket night recap.

—Lisa Miller
HoU Board Member

Solstice Banquet

Our annual Banquet was well attended! All 44 participants seemed to have a good time. There were representatives from Atheists of Utah and Freethought Forum. We look forward to working more closely with them and other similar organizations in the coming year and beyond.

Beginning next year we plan to modify the format to join the HumanLight Festival that was originally started in the late 20th Century by the New Jersey Humanist Network. The name HumanLight comes from a non-supernatural emphasis on humanity with “Light” pointing to human reason. The event is designed to celebrate the “positive human values of reason, compassion, humanity and hope.” The celebration is also supported by the American Humanist Association.

Board of Directors Election Results

 · 58 ballots created and sent to members
 · 23 ballots returned
 · 23 votes for Loren Florence, MD, Craig Wilkenson, MD, and Wayne Wilson. Two write in votes were cast for Jared Anderson. Jared was formally accepted to the Board at our monthly meeting on December 19 meeting
   

President’s Report

Happy New Year, everyone! We are entering not only a new year, but a new decade and here at HoU, we are optimistic and excited about the future of the organization and humanism in general. In the spirit of reflection and future vision, I would like to give you an update on what we accomplished this year and what we are looking at moving forward.

For 2019, we set out three specific goals: to become a community versus a group, to gather a dynamic board and officer cadre for future leadership, and to make ourselves a known and active entity in the Utah secular community. I feel that all of these have been accomplished and will be a solid foundation for 2020. Accomplishments this year include:

· Nearly doubling of average meeting attendance

· Increases in HoU social media membership and activity

· Upgrading branding and trade dress of HoU media and communications

· Launch of new version of website (please go check it out at humanistsofutah.org

· Launch of HoU YouTube channel for viewing our speakers and events

· Participation in Utah Pride parade, all-secular community events and service projects

· Hosting community events including Charles Darwin birthday, the Summer Barbeque, and our Winter Solstice Banquet

· A wider variety of speakers for monthly meetings, including subjects as varied as: climate crisis, international refugee entrepreneurism, judicial ethics, healthcare, meditation and mental health and more

For 2020, we will be focusing on growing our active membership, branding HoU with more participation in the community and modernizing our framework, tools and messaging for further impact. We aim to participate in regional gatherings and increase our presence with events such as Utah Pride and civic events/ceremonies. Additionally, we will be rebranding the Winter Solstice banquet as HumanLight to dovetail with national AHA efforts to provide a humanist-oriented holiday celebration for the community.

The unfortunate reality is that this impact and support is not free. The events all take money to put on. We have no paid positions and all of the hours and efforts are volunteered by your local HoU team. I am asking each of you reading this to consider financial support of Humanists of Utah so that we may continue our mission to provide education and a community in Utah based on Humanist principles. If you are a member currently, please renew when the time is up. If you are not yet a member, please consider joining us officially —memberships start at just $35 annually—for the cost of a cup of coffee each month. Regardless, we want you to come and participate with us in these fun events and informative meetings. We will see you there.

Thank you and we look forward to a successful year with your support!

—Jeff Curtis
President, HoU

This is a new series where Lisa Miller and Brian Trick will be exploring some of the groups that have either given talks to our chapter or have associated themselves with us through some other venue in depth. We want to be able to give some feedback on the group’s activities and possible ways our chapter members can get involved.

HoU Out’n’About with the Citizens Climate Lobby

After Bill Barron and Tom Moyer, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Leaders in Utah, spoke with the Humanists of Utah on “Solving the Climate Challenge” we (Lisa and Brian) had the opportunity to attend their Citizens Climate Lobby’s (CCL) monthly meeting in September. The meeting was well organized and CCL’s maturity around their messaging and focusing on their objectives was very evident. It should be noted that their plan is a truly bipartisan effort for meaningful Carbon Reduction through Carbon taxing legislation. As first timers we participated in a 1/2-hour pre-meeting where the essence of what the CCL is doing was explained. After that a general meeting with all the participants was held and a guest speaker presented a relevant issue. Details on this call can be found on the CCL’s website at: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/dr-jonathan-haidt-on-how-moral-psychology-can-inform-climate-advocacy/

After the General meeting the new members were put together again and a general discussion around opportunities and how they could help support the cause was discussed. Overall it was a very pleasant experience with a very well-organized group. In our opinion, any time and effort that you may have would be well spent helping the CCL. If planning on attending a call, please allow for an additional 1/2 hour before (and after) the meeting for your first time.

There are several opportunities for interested parties to help the CCL including contacting congress through writing, calling or tweeting.

For more information on the CCL’s presentation to the HoU follow https://humanistsofutah.org/climate-action/

The CCLs home page is

Homepage

—Brian Trick and Lisa Miller
HoU Board Members

Website Upgrades

I have substantially updated our Humanists of Utah website. Please come on over and take a look at humanistsofutah.org! We wanted to be able to have more interactive content—and finally the ability to pay for memberships and to make donations online. We now have a PayPal portal that will accept your payments. It notifies Leona so that you get credit and a receipt for your charitable contribution. It also lets Wayne know so that your membership records can be properly updated. The website should be more active in future so check back and see what we’re up to.

The website still contains archived resources from all our newsletters going back to 1991. The information is presented logically and can easily be searched for content.

If you have a dinosaur selfie that you’d like to star in the Slide Show on our Front Page, please email a landscape orientation photo to lisa@humanistsofutah.org. Include a description of where it was taken.

—Lisa Miller

Pride Center

If you think the Utah Pride Center has only an annual festival, and maybe an activity or two, Hillary McDaniel, Community Events Manager for the Utah Pride Center can dissuade you of your limited notions. She spoke to us for about an hour talking rapidly and still didn’t cover all the activities based in the beautiful new Center. The doors opened in June 2018 with a mission to empower and celebrate Utah’s diverse LGBTQ+ community by providing a safe and welcoming space for education, partnerships, services and events which advance the collective health, wellness, and success of all involved.

Their website at utahpridecenter.org describes opening as the Utah Stonewall Center in 1992 to provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ people to come together amid the conservative Utah cultural climate. Within two years, the Center attracted many volunteers and raised enough money to hire a part time staff person.

In 1997, they moved to two buildings. By 2006, they had settled on their current name, Utah Pride Center, to be inclusive of all people who are concerned with and/or are impacted by LGBTQ+ issues, including parents and children. By 2018, they had the wherewithal to build a Center of their own. The list of programs starts with Youth and Family. Of special note is the close association the Center has with the Volunteers of America Homeless Youth Center. The Humanists of Utah also feel close to the Homeless Youth Center, as we have been donating and providing services to them for many years.

Other programs have services for different age groups, i.e. for children 2-10, 10-14, 14-20, as well as parents and caregivers. Kids aged 2-10 are invited to a playgroup that meets weekly on Saturday. Whether one has two moms, a single gay dad, a transgender kid, or a questioning older sibling, all are welcome to the gathering called “Families Like Ours”.

My favorite events are the dances which provide a safe space for youth to experience an alternative to traditional school dances where they may feel isolated or judged for simply expressing themselves. Queer Prom is in April. Qpid’s Ball and Homecoming are held in the Fall. Masqueerade is held in December. Kicking off the Pride Festival, is an outdoor dance party on the Pride Festival Grounds. Parents and Caregivers have their own lounge in the new Pride Center Building which is open especially during the dances. In September, a GSA and Educator’s Conference was held. But services are not limited to the young ones. SAGE, Services and Advocacy for Gay, (lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer+) Elders, provides socialization opportunities, support for emotional, mental and physical needs with ongoing Social Events and Support Groups. Names like: Stitch and Bitch Knitting Club, Tuesday Trotters, Lunch and Learn, Sage Book club, Game Night, Bi-Hive (40+), Good Grief, Phone-a-Friend, and 1 to 5 Club represent the joyous and lighthearted approach to issues of real import and seriousness that the Pride Center attaches to caring for it’s community. The Utah Queer Historical Society is even more academic and serious with a mission to objectively compile, organize and safeguard the history of the LGBTQ+ community of Utah and to share this history within the LGBTQ+ community and beyond to the general public.

For the general public, there are cultural competency training sessions offered to businesses and community groups including educators, case workers, health care professionals, mental health professionals and youth service providers. The training covers basic language, current research, and best practices related to the LGBTQ+ community. There is exposure to the daily experiences of LGBTQ+ people including micro-aggressions, intersectionality, and multiple marginalized statuses. And finally, training in Q.P.R. for Suicide Prevention. Question a person about suicide. Persuade the person to get help. Refer the person to the appropriate resource.

In keeping with our Humanist desire to all do better (with a nod to Jim Jeffries), Hillary McDaniel has offered us a brilliant path. Thank you, Hillary.

—Lauren Florence, MD  

Climate Change

Hello freethinkers, I want to reboot my efforts to get our chapter involved in the realm of climate change. We can start by discussing the various ways to get involved from a global aspect through national, state, city, neighborhood, and even our homes. Another way for us, as a chapter, to get involved, is to help educate the public about climate change. At the January meeting I will be giving a presentation about studying climate in general and climate change specifically. I also want this meeting to be partly a discussion, so bring your opinions, suggestions, and information.

As I am starting to prepare for this presentation, I realize that I need an upgrade of my physical geography knowledge. So, I traveled up to the University of Utah bookstore and purchased the latest textbook for the Geography department’s Climatology class. It contains a wealth of information, presented in a way to facilitate learning about the subject. In fact, I plan to refer to Chapter 9 “Natural Causes of Climate Change,” as the foundation of my presentation.

I will begin by talking about my geography studies of the alpine and periglacial areas of the Uintah Mountain range, and my studies of the paleoclimate of the Lake Bonneville time frame. I will also spend a few minutes talking about how to get involved on the ground to make difference. Then I hope we can finish the evening with an informative discussion of climate change specifically and the environment in general.

Next month I plan to continue these Soapbox submissions with what might be considered as a “factoid” of sorts about one of the subjects of the previously mentioned Chapter 9 called “Variance in Solar Irradiance.”

Until then, I hope to see you at our annual Solstice Dinner for what I have always called a time for good food and good conversation.

—Bob Lane

  Remembering Rolf Kay

What do the following people have in common: Robert Redford, Leonard Bernstein, Mikhail Gorbachev, Colin Powell, Al Gore, Lech Walesa, Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, Doc Severinsen, Pete Fountain, Mike Leavitt, Norm Bangerter, Scott Matheson, Rocky Anderson, DeeDee Corradini, Ted Wilson, Jon Huntsman, Jim Sorensen, Leontyne Price, Luciano Pavarotti, Glade Peterson, Shamir Perez, Chase Peterson, Bernie Machen, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Workman, Earl Holding, Robert Goulet, Joey Silverstein, Ray Charles, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Dinah Shore, Mel Torme, Victor Borge, Elizabeth Dole, Ansel Adams, Elizabeth Smart, Alan Greenspan, Dorothy Hamill, Bob Bennett, Orrin Hatch, Roberta Peters, Olene Walker, Maurice Abravanel, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Larry Miller, Steve Young, Lavell Edwards, Ron McBride, Gordon Hinckley, Ezra Taft Benson, Dallin Oaks, Earl Wunderli, Florien Wineriter, Rabbi Benny Zipell, Yo Yo Ma, Jay Leno, Carol Channing, and Heather Dorrell? They have all been photographed by Rolf Kay.

Not only photographed but “there were always stories to tell after I photographed these people,” Rolf says. He rarely asks his subjects for autographs; the photos are enough. He did want an autograph of Gorbachev, however, but “didn’t have any paper with me for him to write on. All I had was a twenty-dollar bill, which I gave to his wife so she could hand it to Gorbachev to sign.” Then he realized he had no pen, but Raisa “got the message and started reaching in some men’s coat pockets until she found a pen and then handed them both to her husband. He pointed to the signature of the Treasurer of the United States and said something to his interpreter.” The interpreter turned to Rolf and said, “Mr. Gorbachev said that this bill has already been autographed.” They all smiled, and Rolf got the autograph.

Such stories are vintage Rolf. He tells another one of photographing Walesa shortly after Yeltsin had fainted in public and fallen. “Every time I photographed Walesa with a woman, he would look at her and raise himself on tip toes if she was taller than he.” One time he forgot to look at a much taller woman, so Rolf “got his attention and stood on my tip toes to give him the message. Someone bumped me from the back and I lost my balance. Walesa laughed, pointed at me and shouted, ‘YELTSIN.’”

Rolf and Victor Borge together were bound to create a classic. “Before I photographed him, I had dinner with him at his hotel,” Rolf relates. “I asked him where he was living now and he said, ‘Upstairs.’” After I photographed him I told him to come back soon and he replied, ‘I haven’t left yet.’”

Rolf’s interest in photography goes back to his high school days in New York, where he had his own photo-finishing lab. It remains his passion even though he couldn’t make it his life’s work until he retired from American Optical in 1983.

He was born in Badsachsa in the middle of Germany, a town that he hasn’t seen since he moved with his family to New York City in 1929 at age seven. His father and older brother preceded his mother and five other children (Rolf was the fourth child) to New York, where they lived for over ten years before moving to Utah in 1940.

He was the first in his family to graduate from high school and he worked as a messenger for American Optical before enlisting in the army in 1942. He was the only one in Officers Candidate School who hadn’t gone to college, and of the eighty in the class, one-half of them washed out. After OCS, he went to India, whereas a first lieutenant he served as executive officer in heavy automotive maintenance that maintained both the Ledo and Burma roads. He was honorably discharged in 1945.

After the army, American Optical called him back and he worked first as a lens grinder, then successively as a sales representative, branch manager, and finally major market manager. When the company closed all its branches, Rolf had had 42 years of service and returned to his first love, photography. He has three children, all in Salt Lake Valley, and eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren, scattered all over. He has been a director of Humanists of Utah virtually since its founding in 1991. He is also on the board of The Gandhi Alliance for Peace.

If you’ve talked to Rolf, and you probably have, you’ve also been told a joke. He loves humor, which he combines with his wisdom acquired over eighty years. He calls himself a god-fearing agnostic and passes along this adage for everyone to live by: “Remember that no matter how thin you slice baloney; you can always break a window with a brick.” Rolf died January 4, 2013

—Earl Wunderli  

Previously published January 2004    

Our Judicial System

Part of being a humanist is being a good citizen. Being a good citizen requires attention to our community and staying aware of how the systems we live with affect the people around us.

On October 10, we spent time at our monthly meeting examining our judicial system. An energetic and thoughtful judge, Richard Mazrick of the Third District gave us time and attention to keep us up to date on our local judicial system. The title of his remarks to us was, “Understanding our Legal System through Ethics and Compassion.” Judges are known to set the tone in their own courts. I already appreciate this judge for the offered lens of ethics and compassion, through which we could view our legal system.

The United States is well-known for having one of the most sophisticated judicial systems in the world. Our system is also flexible and far reaching as it operates in a country with as much diversity as we have here.

One of the keys to this success is a balanced and well-organized hierarchy. Federal courts control issues of federal law. The highest federal court is the Supreme Court. Just below this are the regional courts of appeals. Next down are the 94 district courts. Each of these courts has at least two judges who may appoint magistrates to help with their case load.

State courts are separate and different in order to control the different systems of laws in each state.

The basic elements of the U.S. judicial system are, in part, inherited from English common law and depend on an adversarial system of justice. In an adversarial system, litigants present their cases before a neutral party through their lawyers who present written and oral testimony as evidence. These arguments allow the judge or jury to determine the truth about the conflict.

Many rules exist regarding how evidence and testimony are presented, trial procedure, courtroom behavior and etiquette. These rules are designed to promote fairness and allow each side an opportunity to adequately present its case.

Many court rulings become precedent, i.e. a principle, law or interpretation of a law established by a court ruling. Precedent is generally respected by other courts when dealing with a case or situation similar to a past precedent. This policy is known as “stare decisis” or “let the decision stand.” Precedent is sometimes overturned or disregarded by a court, but the policy generally provides continuity in courts’ interpretations of the law.

State courts are the courts most Americans will contact during their lives.  In Utah, civil cases are appealed directly to the state Supreme Court, which then has the power to refer the case instead to an intermediate appellate court, rather than being appealed first to an intermediate appellate court and then to a state supreme court.

While we hope not to have to know anything about our judiciary system personally, it behooves us to understand how it works and be able to wend our way through the system just in case, for either ourselves or others. Many thanks to Judge Richard Mazrick for the time he spent with us, making us more educated about our judicial system and thus, better citizens.

—Lauren Florence, MD

Carl Sagan Day

November 9

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known”

(In his book, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, Sagan directs the reader’s attention to the first photo ever from deep space of the Earth – a pale blue dot in the vast black void of space.)

Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar”, every “supreme leader”, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

Interviewer: Didn’t he want to believe?
Ann Druyan: He didn’t want to believe; he wanted to know.
—November PIQUE
Secular Humanists Society of New York

Harriet

The recent movie ‘Harriet, about Harriet Tubman, is a wonderful production. It has tension, strong storytelling, action heroes, and hope – injections against the days of now.

One of the things that has stuck with me is this idea of ‘bold humanity’. When Harriet must take off running, she is met with a ‘system’ that is already in place. I think about the amount of creative planning and communication that had to take place to form all of that under a ruling system that put you at so much risk for doing so. And the human drive to do right things despite huge risks.

Harriet threw herself almost impulsively into danger time and again, driven to free others from slavery. Often the Underground Society wanted to proceed with more caution when danger was very high, but Harriet was compelled to follow her own vision (literally at times). It also struck me how both courses are needed to move something like this – the careful planning and efforts to move things at high levels, as well as the very, very brave throw your physically into making it happen. It takes my breath away with a need to be bolder myself.

The movie was wonderful. So moving and lasting. Highly recommended!

I want to form my own committee to “Get Harriet on the $20 bill!”. These are the heroes we need. I also need to go out and find 2 or 3 good biographies/profiles on her life right now.

—Lisa Miller

Theodicy?
The Idiocy!

An airplane faltered, then fell from the sky;
Eighty-nine died. A collective sigh,
“It’s God’s will.”
A terrible flood, but all were saved
by rescuers strong, fearless and brave.
“It’s God’s will.”
A child was starved, beaten, then died.
They buried her deep, and adults cried,
“It’s God’s will.”
A little one found-he wasn’t quite dead.
The people thanked heaven, and then of course said,
“It’s God’s will.”
Millions can suffer in earth’s darkest holes,
Yet millions keep saying that god’s in control.
The greatest good or the greatest ill,
“Why don’t you know? It’s all god’s will.”
“God’s will” is the phrase they mindlessly use,
So no matter what happens, god can’t lose!
Absurd contradictions their intellects kill.
We humanists work with a human will.
Sifted through reason, the finest of screens,
This is what god-talk really means:
All of us born to a world cold and stark;
Most remain “children crying in the dark.”

–Adrienne Morris

Tess is a Happy Humanist, and a retired Advanced Placement English teacher with a flair for writing and stimulating her students to THINK.

THEODICY: The defense of god’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence

LIFE CAN BE WONDERFUL

It must have been twenty years ago when my daughter Sarah and I were talking one evening and she said “Dad, when I look up at the mountains or the night sky I feel so small. Insignificant. Like nothing.” She was only about 12 years old at the time, and her angst wasn’t surprising. Many of us have such feelings when we face the immensity of space and the stars, the vast face of a mountain, or the rolling expanse of the sea. If we compare our physical size against such immensity we are indeed seemingly insignificant, less than ants staring down an elephant. But that feeling of smallness is the product of only one, very limited point of view, and given what we now know about ourselves and our place in the cosmos it is not very relevant.

Even two decades ago, I had enough insight to reply to Sarah, “You are the most complex system in nature.” I then attempted to convey that as part of the web of life on Earth, and a very beautiful member of one of the most complex species in that network, she was far more intriguing, rare, and wonderful than any star or mountain. The stars are just big globs of gas collapsing and fusing under their own weight; mountains mere piles of stone pushed up by tectonic forces. They are indeed magnificent and awesome, but lacking a nervous system they are unable to think, play the violin as Sarah does, invent, write, speculate, measure, create music, poetry or mathematics. The stars cannot look at each other and wonder or, large as they are, even feel insignificant or grand. What would it be like to be a star or a mountain? Not much different than being a stone or being dead. No awareness or thoughts, no emotions, no sensations.

We humans can observe, reason about what we see, and explain our insights to each other. And that ability to see, measure, reason, and communicate reveals ever more about us and this universe with each passing year, reveals more and more about how marvelous we are, how rare and improbable, and how wonderful. The intricate, interwoven patterns of life on Earth are the facets of a jewel in the cosmos. And only the human pattern, the most complex of these aggregates of atoms, these systems of chemically communicating cells, can puzzle out the rules, laws, and history that made us and the universe what we are. No star can do that; no mountain can attempt to decipher the riddle of its own existence.

What is the point of all this? Ross Douthat, a conservative columnist for the New York Times, in his memorial to Christopher Hitchens wrote that “rigorous atheism casts a wasting shadow over every human hope and endeavor” (NY Times December 17, 2011). This remark has stuck in my craw these last 12 months and is very far from the truth, betraying an almost laughable ignorance. It is typical of the remarks made by the conservative religious community about secular humanism and atheism. Such remarks are made with no data to back them up, just flat statements of dogma without justification.

Indeed, it is very easy to make the opposite case, as Hitchens did in his book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, that religion casts a wasting pall over existence. It isn’t atheists who denigrate all humanity as miserable sinners, terrorizing children with threats of eternal hellfire and endless torment. And it isn’t atheists who claim that this life is only a painful proving ground for the next, warning that lest we spend our lives groveling in preparation for meeting a vengeful and capricious maker he may visit us with tsunamis and massacres of children. If those aren’t part of an enervating cloud darkening existence, I don’t know what is.

A view of existence based on evidence and reason rather than divine magic demonstrates that we are marvelous and precious creatures in our own right, far more astonishing and rare than anything depicted in creation myths or fantasies given in any antiquated text. The story of us is far more fascinating than any ancient fable. The evidence, after all, shows no trace of an all powerful creator, but tells a 14-billion-year-long tale of chaotic explosions, collapsing stars, expanding space, warping space-time, black holes and cosmic jets, serendipitously spawning a tiny island of order that eventually produced us, unique in all this universe. The atheist sees that life is rare and precious, something to be cherished and celebrated, not wasted ranting in hatred against our fellows over doctrinal differences or sexual orientation, or groveling before an imaginary deity.

To understand how rare and precious we are, we need only understand what the evidence demonstrates, that we came about through biological evolution from simpler forms of life. That evolution is driven through random mutation and non-random selection by the environment when the mutations occur. That randomness provides a set of choices for survival, and that randomness makes us unique in this cosmos. If evolution is happening on other worlds, the random mutations ensure that non-random selection has a completely different set of survival choices on each world. Life on no two worlds will be alike, and the complex creatures that might result on each planet will be quite different. The species of Earth are therefore unique. We are the only humans in this cosmos, and we may be the only highly intelligent species in it. We are certainly almost infinitely rare.

Sure, our individual lives are limited and sometimes brief, but that brevity doesn’t make them any less wonderful or marvelous. Certainly, many of us suffer horribly in our short lives, but that doesn’t diminish or make them less precious. Knowledge of the ephemeral nature of life, our mutual suffering and predicament, our astonishing origin, and the potential in each and every human brain must cultivate compassion and a positive humanism.

This year (2012) we celebrated my granddaughter’s first birthday with my daughter and her husband. At the party I marveled as I watched them, tall, beautiful, intelligent, and compassionate holding their own perfect little girl. My complete lack of religious belief cast no shadow over the love and awe that I felt at that moment. On the contrary, that lack of belief gave me a clear understanding of how lucky I am and how wonderful life can be.

—Steve Hanka
Reprinted from our January 2013 newsletter

SOAPBOX

I missed Jared Anderson’s presentation of Humanism 101 last month. Fortunately, we now record speaker presentations and make them available via our website, so I watched it. Jared did a great job and expressed some ideas that I had not thought of. First, he talked about a Geek Culture where organized religions are inherently humanistic because they were created by and for humans. Yes, they get a little confused sometimes about what is and is not important but basically organized religions are about humanism! One of the first things I thought about was watching the 1988 PBS six-episode series, The Power of Myth, where Bill Moyers interviewed the renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell. One of the main takeaways from this series is that every known culture, past and present, has a Creation Myth and that these myths have many common features. I’m not sure if the “original” myth is known. It is, however, understood that they all grew from a basic framework. There is almost always a Deity (creator), and the stories often involve a tree with special fruit and a serpent. The Creation Myth in the Bible is actually more than one story; in Genesis I God creates humans “in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” In the earliest known cultures this God was a woman.

You’ve seen the Fertility Goddesses, round statues of a pregnant woman. Female’s had the power to create children and were worshiped as Gods. The phrasing in Genesis I identifies humans as women, or men, or hermaphrodites and findings from dwellings of these ancients show evidence of these beliefs. But in Genesis II, which is much younger version of creation story than Genesis I, “man” is created individually. Then God planted a garden and created all the beasts, the birds, etc. Finally, God got around to creating “woman.” According to Joseph Campbell this myth arises from stories when historical humans replaced “hunter/gatherer” tribal organization with farming Communities. The new organizational structure led to men replacing women in important community leadership roles.

Jason also discussed humanism’s goal to, “Maximize Well Being.” An old and oft-used subject in humanist discussions is to describe humanism in less than 30 seconds Also called an elevator response. I have been fiddling with this for 20 years or so. Our website banner reads, “Joyful Living, Rational Thinking, Responsible Behavior.” I think clarifying edits to something like, “Live Joyfully by practicing Rational Thinking and Behaving Responsibly” is in order. Still a little awkward but I think it is moving in the right direction. Any Word Smiths out there want to take a crack at design? What about Maximize Well Being? Please email your thoughts to me with the subject of Soapbox and maybe we can get a discussion going.

—Wayne Wilson

The Power of Myth series is available on both Amazon Prime (charge for each episode) and on Netflix.

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Donation Received

The Florien Wineriter Trust donated $1000.00 to our chapter . Thanks to Flo’s family for following up on his wishes.