Category: 2020

COVID-19 Statement

The board and officers of the Humanists of Utah are not unaware of the challenges we are facing in the world right now with regard to COVID-19 and its impact on our lives. We are adapting to the changes around us but still moving forward with our support and promotion of human-centered life responsibility and reason. With the safety of our members at the forefront of our mind, we have taken some actions to mitigate the impact.

1. Monthly meetings and attendance at major events will be postponed indefinitely as per public health recommendations. We will notify you when this changes.

2. Board meetings have moved to videoconferencing so that we may continue providing guidance, content and support for our members and community.

3. We are launching a support option for those of you who may need assistance with shopping or may need critical supplies and cannot leave the house. If you find yourself in need, please send an email to board@humanistsofutah.org or text 385-495-3786 and provide us with the details. We will arrange assistance.

In the meantime, we are producing great new Humanist content for you to enjoy in many ways:

· Read current and past issues of The Humanist, our monthly newsletter. We will be adding additional content and writers starting next month so you will not want to miss a single issue.

· Check us out on Facebook, where we have a community of over 1100 people who share thoughts and conversations around Humanism and contribute your own insights.

· On YouTube, see presentations by past featured speakers in our Humanist Speaker Series.

· Like Twitter? We now have a channel where you can stay in touch and retweet HoU information.

· We are working on a podcast series starring Jared Anderson, our resident celebrant, in which he discusses subjects that will be sure to fascinate you.

The Humanists of Utah strongly denounces attempts to cast blame or incite vile racist or similar dehumanization against fellow humans for the virus. It is critical that reason, empathy and mutual assistance rise above the tide of lazy and ineffective efforts to create an enemy out of “others”. We encourage a defense against the toxic appearance of nationalism and tribalism wherever found.

Thank you for your support of the HoU community. If you are not a member, please consider joining and enjoy all the many benefits mentioned above. Annual memberships start at just $35 ($20 for students) and we welcome all with open arms.

—Yours in Humanism
The Board of Directors

President’s Report

Over the last year the Humanists of Utah have worked diligently to build our brand, promote practical Humanism in our daily lives, and broaden the content offerings for our members. We refer to this as HoU 2.0 and is it part of our larger stratagem of bringing the visibility and appeal of Humanism to the Beehive State. Most recently, we have overhauled our marketing and promotional trade dress to reflect a consistent and striking visual arsenal of colors, symbols and messaging that will unite our efforts and let us be more recognizable, thus strengthening our brand.

I am thrilled to announce that the board of directors has recently approved the adoption and immediate usage of a new striking organizational logo that we think is worthy of HoU 2.0. It brings a fresh and vibrant pulse to the group while still honoring our philosophies and aspirational aims. But underneath it all is a rich set of symbology that we feel unites and energizes Humanism in Utah. We hope you like it!

LOGO

The eight Happy Humanists form a circle that represents global forward progress and also represents a sun of enlightenment. Their arms are outstretched in hope, potential and joy.

The white space surrounding the beehive is in the shape of both an atom and a flower, representing an emphasis on science, reason and naturalism.

The beehive represents the state of Utah and HoU’s cooperation with and involvement in bettering our society through Humanist ideals and action.

The star in the beehive represents unity and direction through Humanism, a north star of sorts, as well as representing a state in the American Humanist Association.

—Jeff Curtis
President, HoU

Chaplin’s Corner

Reality, Response, Invitation

I know things feel crazy, and scary, and upside down right now. Many if not most of us are worried about our health and the health of our loved ones. We are worried about our jobs. We are worried about our future. We are even worried about toilet paper. You aren’t overreacting. This is a matter of life and death at a global scale. The best thing most of us can do is stay home and check in with ourselves and our loved ones.

I want to share a few thoughts about reality, response, and invitation.

Reality. The reality is that life is always this vulnerable, always this uncertain. Life is always this precious. Science teaches us that we are not selves or individuals the way we think we are. We are complex systems, both internal and external. Our internal systems are fighting World War III with a new virus. Our external systems are fighting World War III with the consequences of that virus. Covid-19 functions as a systems check, and most of our systems are falling short. At the same time, we are seeing the noble and beautiful in human nature as we care for each other. Italians sing to each other. China sent medical masks to Italy and put on the crates a poem by the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca: “We are waves from the same sea, leaves from the same tree, flowers from the same garden”. Japan donated supplies to China and put on the boxes a Buddhist poem: “We have different mountains and rivers, but we share the same sun, moon, and sky.” And our heroic medical workers risk themselves during long shifts.

Response. Our initial response is likely fear and grief, and that is ok. Whatever your initial response is, that is ok. Grief is the other side of love, and we aren’t used to sitting with it. Grief researcher David Kessler said, “We feel the world has changed, and it has. We know this is temporary, but it doesn’t feel that way, and we realize things will be different. Just as going to the airport is forever different from how it was before 9/11, things will change and this is the point at which they changed. The loss of normalcy; the fear of economic toll; the loss of connection. This is hitting us and we’re grieving. Collectively. We are not used to this kind of collective grief in the air.” (https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief) So what do we do with this fear and grief? We feel it. We breathe through it. And we ground ourselves in the present moment. This mindful presence is an emotional workout, and you will be stronger because you do it.

Invitation. The reality is that everything that happens in our lives is an invitation. As a rule, we are as good as we are incentivized and empowered to be, and this moment invites with world shaking power. This challenge invites the best of us. Grief invites gratitude. Risk invites perspective. Distance invites connection.

I hope that we will check in with and care for ourselves. I am completely alone during quarantine, and grateful for the work I have done to be a friend to myself. Relationships, closeness, touch… I hope we will never again take these for granted. Last night I read bedtime stories to my two youngest children via video chat. My cautious hope is that this global challenge, by showing us how vulnerable and interconnected we are, by showing us how flawed our systems are, will catalyze some real improvements. Because however noble our individual responses are, change must happen at the national and global level to be sustainable.

But as we wait and work for that change, we can hold still, be grateful, and connect as we can.

History will remember when the world stopped
And the flights stayed on the ground.
And the cars parked in the street.
And the trains didn’t run.

History will remember when the schools closed
And the children stayed indoors
And the medical staff walked towards the fire
And they didn’t run.

History will remember when the people sang
On their balconies, in isolation
But so very much together
In courage and song.

History will remember when the people fought
For their old and their weak
Protected the vulnerable
By doing nothing at all.

History will remember when the virus left
And the houses opened
And the people came out
And hugged and kissed
And started again
Kinder than before

—Donna Ashworth

Jared Anderson (MA, BCC) is endorsed by the AHA Humanist Society as a Chaplain, Celebrant, and Lay Leader. He provides rituals across the life span for birth, coming of age, and divorce, as well as weddings and funerals. He specializes in designing personalized ceremonies that integrate ideas from art, history and popular culture. Contact him at jared@humanistsofutah.org

Staying Focused at Home

We are currently in a very peculiar time. Our deliberate choices will have impacts that can change the course of history. Whether it be in how we are going to vote, Whether we are practicing social distancing ( I prefer the term physical distancing), and for many of us, a complete change of daily lifestyle by either self-quarantining or working remotely from home.

These changes can be overwhelming and stressful to some. The most important thing during this time on our planet is to find peace of mind and comfort while navigating the chaos around us. The best way to do this is to create a plan. What do you want your days to include? What do you need to do? What do you want to do? How can you make it happen? When will I rest? This is an important part of each day. Here are five ways to help you create your plan. These are helpful for those of you who are new to working from home but can be modified to any aspect of your lives.

1. Double down on your daily ritual

2. Lean on your most important Big Three focus items

3. Find a focus spot, where you can be that will provide the best source of staying focused

4. Agree on a signal to tell people in your home that you are in “deep work” and now is not the time to interrupt, setting the boundaries

5. Be flexible, being at home is new for your family too

We are making history. We are living history. You are so important and so very valuable to the world we all live in. Hang in there, make smart choices and think outside of the box—you will be amazed at the beautiful things that await you!

Kindest regards,
Melanie White-Curtis
HoU Vice President

Socialism
Evil, Wicked, Mean & Nasty?

The following is a reprint of an HoU meeting report from April 2009. Here is a link to the original report

Did you know that socialists have held public office even in Utah? This is just one of the juicy tidbits that history professor and historian John McCormick Ph.D., shared in his fascinating presentation at the March 2009 meeting of Humanists of Utah.

History is not only a study of the past McCormick began, but is a selective history since not everything can be included. War, diplomacy, politics, and stories of great people, that usually means men, usually white men, are the exclusive subjects.

A fun way to illustrate how narrow history is to ask
students to list who they remember from their history classes. Typically, the
list is 90% male, mostly white, many of them presidents, generals, and
inventors. Few women and non-whites are mentioned.

McCormick has worked toward being more inclusive and
expansive in his teaching and writing, particularly in showing how history is about
many peoples, ideas, experiences, and cultural traditions. Thus, in looking at
any event in history, he will explore a range of individuals and groups that
might have been involved and affected an event. A group usually left out that
McCormick has learned to appreciate centers on the ordinary person in everyday
life–history isn’t limited only to influential, great, and important people.
For instance, what was the experience of women in the Civil War? What was the
experience of an ordinary soldier or person at the battlefront or home front?

McCormick recounted a lecture he gave earlier that
day. Given the current economic downturn, the subject chosen for him was the
Great Depression. How did the Depression affect ordinary people in their
everyday lives?

Nationwide the unemployment rate was about 25%. Utah
had an average 26%, but in 1933, it soared to 36%. In1940, ten years into the
Depression, Utah still had 18%. There was widespread, growing unemployment and
underemployment with lost homes and apartments.

Showing how the Depression affected ordinary people,
McCormick shared the story of his family. In 1930, his grandfather at age 46
lost his job, never again to obtain a full-time, permanent job. He died
thirteen years later.

Born and raised on a farm near Price, his mother, youngest of seven children and the first of her siblings to graduate from high school, entered the University of Utah in 1929 intending to be a teacher. A month later, the stock market crashed, and she managed to stay at school for the rest of the year but was financially unable to complete her degree. So, she returned to Price where at least there was food and a place to live rent-free. That is, until her parents lost the farm because they couldn’t pay the mortgage.

What was the impact of these circumstances for
McCormick’s parents? They delayed getting married until eight years after
they’d met, which meant fewer children–only two–his sister and himself: money
and age the determinants. Wanting security, his father stayed in a job he hated.
Since it didn’t pay well, his mother who had wanted to stay home and raise her
family had to work. These events exacerbated the challenges in their marriage.

Noteworthy from the Depression is that our
government, under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, changed in unprecedented ways that
remains to this day.

In addition to exploring how ordinary people affect
history, McCormick also explores the radical tradition, radical people, radical
movements. After all, this country originated from an act of revolution.

McCormick defines radicalism as a fundamental
restructuring or changes in the way society is arranged or organized–not mere
adjustments. He is particularly interested in radical changes that involve
inclusion rather than exclusion: inclusion expands rights and opportunities.
e.g. Ku Klux Klan is a radical group, and is interested in fundamental changes,
but they restrict opportunities and rights.

Here McCormick referred to a relevant book: The
Radical Reader: A Documentary History Of The American Radical Tradition. It
is a collection of 155 primary sources of those people who changed history
through what then was considered radical. It includes notables like Jefferson,
Paine, Thoreau, Friedan, Ginsberg, Carson, etc.

Referring back to Utah’s 36% unemployment, McCormick
related an incident of radicalism–possibly Salt Lake City’s first protest–how
ordinary people in everyday life reacted.

In February 1933, a number of houses and farms were
to be auctioned off at Salt Lake City and County Building. A group of 200-300
Salt Lake City citizens disrupted the auction, saying that people shouldn’t
lose their homes through no fault of their own (sound familiar?). They refused
to allow this sale to go on. In desperation, the sheriff called the Fire
Department, which turned hoses onto the group, flooding the basement of the
County Building; police turned tear gas onto the crowd. Fifteen were actually
convicted of unlawful behavior and served time in jail. After the crowd
dispersed, most of them reassembled and marched up State Street to the Capitol
where the State Legislature was in session. There they held a rally with signs
e.g. organizers starve, we want milk for our children, moratorium on mortgages.

What was going on here? McCormick wondered. Why and
how is it that in Salt Lake City where the majority is conservative that such
an event took place?

Interestingly McCormick discovered that a communist
candidate in Utah got 15% of votes who ran 4th out of seven; another radical
act.

He also discovered that in 1911, Murray City voted
in a Socialist mayor and city council and re-elected them in 1913 so that for
four years, Murray had a Socialist administration. What happened here, he
wondered. How could that have happened?

Of course, he knew that during this period, the US
had its only significant socialist movement, which was a viable part of
American history. Between 1900 and 1912, two Socialists were elected to
Congress, there were over 1500 Socialist mayors and city commissioners, they
had a significant presence in the labor movement, and there were 300-400
socialist publications then, one with a circulation of 750,000.

With further study, McCormick discovered that
between 1900 and 1923, Utah had over 100 Socialists in public office with
Eureka electing the most: 35. For three years, the Utah State Federation of
Labor officially endorsed the Socialist Party.

McCormick said he finds these historical events
extremely interesting, partly because some of it is relatively unknown, but
more importantly, history of this type is critical because of its potential to
fundamentally change our way of thinking about the past, since the way we think
about our past affects the way we think about the present and about the future.
There is not just one way to think about our past.

Concluding with a quote from one of his books, The Gathering Place: an Illustrated History Of Salt Lake City, he asserted that we need to look at the study of history in a new way because the old way is inadequate. Rather than exclusionary and narrow as it has been, we need to move toward a history that is more inclusive, more expansive, more accurately taking into account the diverse society that Utah really is and has been. We need to resist rather than uphold monolithic, one-dimensional, stereotypical representation. A new way of looking at our past could help us overcome longstanding, narrow, restrictive, crippling definitions of ourselves and of our society.

—Sarah Smith

FDR proposed a “Second Bill of Rights” in his State of the Union Address. Here are a couple of links:
Wikipedia summary
YouTube

President’s Report

Preparing to Be Prepared

The Boy Scouts have had it right for over 100 years.
Their famous motto “Be Prepared” has helped millions of boys and their families
have the confidence and knowledge to proactively prepare for unknown incidents
and situations in which they may find themselves throughout life. By learning,
planning and executing on preparedness plans, one may weather future storms and
mitigate disaster. As a former Eagle Scout, I have kept this at the forefront
of many of my decisions in my past and current life and understand the strength
in preparation.

We are living in a time of momentous social upheaval
and natural change, one that has often left mankind struggling to keep up
with—much less ahead of—the curve. The news is not always good. The COVID-19
virus has begun its exponential networking across the planet, natural disasters
due to the climate crisis are ramping up in both frequency and strength, social
unrest due to wealth inequality, racism, nationalism and refugees continues to
swell, and tensions between hegemonic global players remain strained. Though we
may not know specifics until the very last moment, the ability to have a plan
and support can alleviate a large part of any potential harm and give us a
sense of direction and protection looking forward.

Author and ocean activist Peter Benchley shrewdly
noted that “Fascination breeds preparedness, and preparedness, survival.” In
order for something to take hold within us, we must first have interest, born
of curiosity and access to information, and secondly, the ability to act on it.
To anticipate. To be prepared. Humanists know well that optimism for the future
is not enough, that there must be action taken upon principles in order to
realize progress. We must DO once we KNOW. The old G.I. Joe public service
announcements stated that “Knowing is half the battle” and in March, we present
a way to increase your knowledge as well as finish the battle with preparation.

This month’s speaker is Linda Milne, 2018 AARP Andrus Award winner and member of S.A.F.E. Neighborhood Task Force. She will be presenting on “Emergency Preparedness”, a timely discussion on strategies, tactics, and information on how to prepare for disasters of all kind—pandemics, civil uprisings, natural upheavals, etc. This information will be critical not only for knowing what to do in these situations but also in how to prepare for them beforehand. This is universal in its application and relevance. I invite you to join us for this free event and invite friends, family and neighbors to this community event. Now Is the time to mitigate the effects of the unknown by thinking like a Boy Scout—and being prepared.

—Jeff Curtis
President, HoU

Chaplin’s Corner

Meet Your Chaplain

I had a column nearly finished about (non) afterlife, when I realized that for my first column should introduce myself! So, it is nice to meet you all (Watch for the oblivion post next month.)I have had the privilege for the past three years of working as an openly Humanist Chaplain. In fact, I was very pleased that during my interview for a hospice position, my now-boss asked me, “How will you meet the needs of the non-religious?” I was thrilled to respond that the non-religious happen to be my specialty! I’ve been honored to present on humanist approaches to ministry at hospice conferences, prison conferences, and even a United Nations conference.

So first, what is a Chaplain? My favorite definition
is a “professional decent human being.” I enjoy stumping my World Religions
students is to ask them, “If I want to become a professional good person…if I
want to get a PhD in goodness…what career is that?” Unfortunately, our culture
has mostly outsourced the question of goodness to religion. And we all know how
well that has turned out. My second favorite description of a chaplain’s work
is “show up where life breaks open.” Too often we get through life through
distraction and avoidance. As a rule, we are as good as we are incentivized and
empowered to be (I’ll unpack that in another column.) We usually only come
fully alive during tragedy. Or tragically, only come fully alive as we are
about to die. One of the greatest benefits of my work is that I don’t take that
for granted, and I hope to pass that along to you.

I joke that I can reach pretty much anyone because I
was raised Latter-day Saint (to this day I have a Sunday School podcast,
without a single truth claim), I did PhD work in Biblical Studies, taught World
Religions for seven years, and now I am a Humanist Minister.

I
look forward to discussing important topics with you each month, and you can
always feel free to email me to continue the conversation.

Jared Anderson (MA, BCC) is endorsed by the AHA Humanist Society as a Chaplain, Celebrant, and Lay Leader. He provides rituals across the life span for birth, coming of age, and divorce, as well as weddings and funerals. He specializes in designing personalized ceremonies that integrate ideas from art, history and popular culture. Contact him at jared@humanistsofutah.org

DEBATE
Is God Necessary for Ethics?

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