Newsletter

Newsletter of the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago

March 2009

Welcome to Our Sunday Morning Programs
Every Sunday morning from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
These programs are free and open to the public.

• FLOYD SANDFORD, professor emeritus of biology at Coe College, Iowa, is featured on Sunday, March 1st. Culminating our “Weekend with Charles Darwin,” he will present “Darwin Remembers—Recollections of a Life’s Journey.” This one-act, 75-minute play, written and performed by Sandford, is a reenactment of the famous evolutionary theorist’s life and revolutionary achievements.

• JERRI ZBIRAL, local filmmaker and photographer, will present her film Never Turning Back: The World of Peggy Lipschutz, on Sunday, March 8th. Appearing with her to answer questions will be the film’s protagonist, chalk-talk artist Peggy Lipschutz. Accompanying them with a short program of songs will be folksinger/composer Kristin Lems.

• LITJEN (L.J.) TAN, Director of Medicine and Public Health at the American Medical Association, speaks on Sunday, March 15th. His topic is “Calling the Shots on Pediatric Vaccines.” Dr. Tan will explain how childhood vaccines work and how their effectiveness and safety are ensured. He will discuss some of the common myths about vaccines.

• TERRI BUFFALO STAR, Elder Minister of the Native American Spiritual Center in Chicago, speaks on Sunday, March 22nd. Her topic is “The Good Red Road: Cherokee Spiritual Beliefs.” Rev. Buffalo Star will discuss traditional indigenous teachings on how we evolve in a loving way as human beings and spiritual beings.

• KAREN HELM, sociologist, community activist, and mem- ber of the Baltimore Ethical Society, speaks Sunday, March 29th, on “The Ethics of Endorsing the Concept of Race.” Helm will discuss how race is not a biological reality but became fully developed in the 19th century as a social construct to rationalize slavery and colonial conquest.

Coming Society Events

• Our Sunday Morning Colloquies are from 9:30–10:00 a.m. in the library. Led by Ken Novak, we meet in a small, nonjudgmental group to examine how we feel about our lives. The topics this month are Doubt on March 1st, Dreams on March 8th, Questions on March 15th, Listening on March 22nd, and Acceptance on March 29th.

• Our Sunday Music Jam is on March 1st, at 12:15 p.m. For a fun session of folk and popular songs, bring your voice, guitar, mandolin, drum, or other instrument.

• Our Fiction Circle group meets on Sunday, March 8th, at 12:15 p.m. Led by Ken Novak, we’ll discuss Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King, about an eccentric American millionaire who moves to live in deepest Africa. Said to be Bellow’s favorite, it was rated by the Modern Library as one of the greatest American novels. Vision impaired? Contact Ken at kennovak@gmail.com to borrow the abridged cassette version.

• Our Second Saturday Coffee House, hosted by Vicki Elberfeld, is on Saturday, March 14th, at 8 p.m. The featured performers will be folksingers Phil Cooper and Margaret Nelson, with a pre-St. Paddy Day’s concert of strong old music, much of it Celtic. To allow for the longer-than-usual program, there will be no open mike. The $7 charge includes refreshments.

• Our Film Discussion Group, led by John Ungashick, meets on Monday, March 16th, at 7:15 p.m. The Reader unravels the secret behind the relationship of a teenaged boy and an older woman in postwar Germany. It is directed by Stephen Daldry, with Academy Award nominee Kate Winslet, David Kross, and Ralph Fiennes. The Class is an Academy Award-nominated film about the dynamic between a class of French students and their teacher. It is directed by Laurent Cantet, with Francois Begaudeau, Wei Huang, and Franck Keita. Our standby film is the animated documentary Waltz with Bashir, directed by Ari Folman, about the controversial massacre of Lebanese civilians in 1982.

• Our Documentary Film Night is on Friday, March 20th, at 7:30 p.m. We’ll show Maxed Out, an exposé of the credit card industry, an all too real nightmare for many of us. The film is directed by James Scurlock. As always, there will be a concurrent children’s film. Please bring fruit or snacks to share. Coffee and tea will be provided. Admission is free.

• Our Ethnic Dinner Out is on Saturday, March 21st, at The Chicago Bauhaus, 4732 N. Lincoln Ave., in Chicago. Enjoy fine German food in a Bavarian setting with live entertainment. There are metered street parking and two nearby metered lots. We order at 5:30 p.m. If you’re coming, please contact Richard Curren at richard_curren@yahoo.com.

• Our Creative Writers group, led by Milt Zerkin, meets on Sunday, March 22nd, 12:15 p.m. Newcomers are welcome to share their short original works with us.

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Recent Sunday Programs

• Peter Civetta, a post-doctoral fellow in religion at Northwestern University, continued our Living Ethics series on January 11th. He spoke on “Vote by Faith—Personal Belief and the 2008 Election.” The meeting was moderated by Matt Cole.

Ridiculing exit polls as “essentially useless,” Civetta contended they mask how we actually feel about political issues. He pointed instead to long-term focus groups of voters from whom he elicited deeper feelings. “Our feelings are decisive in decision-making,” Civetta said. “They dominate our reason.” Voters want to know why a candidate holds a position on an issue, he added. “They look for trust.”

Civetta stressed that people look at politics “through a moral lens.” Noting that political decisions are greatly influenced by emotion and religious faith, he called for “exploring the relation between faith and issues.” He added that people are motivated by a sense of social justice and the need for self-discovery, clear answers, and community.

• Linda Kruhmin, co-chair of the Evanston Food Policy Council, presented another program in our Living Ethics series, “The Talking Farm—Farming in the City,” on January 18th. Also speaking was architect Thomas Ahleman. The meeting was moderated by Mike Dupuis.

Kruhmin said “much of our life is about food.” She ac-knowledged the benefits of modern farming but noted nega-tive impacts such as soil and water contamination from fertilizers and sewage, atmospheric pollution by methane gas from livestock, and high use of energy and water.

Kruhmin described The Talking Farm, along the North Shore Channel in Skokie, as one of many small urban farms that show how food can be grown locally. She said expansion plans for the farm include an educational center for the public. Recalling her growing up on a farm in upper Michigan, she spoke about careful crop selection and farming techniques. Ahleman discussed green, organic farming and its focus on energy conservation and reuse of water.

• Dale McGowan, 2008 Harvard Humanist of the Year and co-author of Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Children Without Religion, ended our Living Ethics series on January 25th. He spoke on “Thinking Well for Goodness’ Sake.” The meeting was moderated by Svetlana Bekman.

McGowan described himself as “an unconditional lover of truth.” He warned against “confirmation bias” and “cherry-picking” the facts that confirm our beliefs. He said critical thinking is needed, with moral beliefs based on the truth. He stressed that “indoctrination of rules impedes moral development.”

McGowan called for “moral reasoning.” He pointed out that successful parents “explain the rule,” instilling in their children with “the power of their own minds” and “encouraging them to think.” He noted that “we educate by example.” He concluded that “we are morally obliged to challenge people’s actions, not their beliefs.”

• Joanna Pinsky, founder and director of “Art Encounters,” spoke February 1st on “How to ‘Read’ 20th Century Art.” The meeting was moderated by Una Malkinson.

In an exercise of audience involvement, Pinsky asked our opinions of several large paintings she had displayed on the podium. There was a three-paneled example of cartoon art, her own abstraction on an odd-shaped canvas, a quiet realistic room interior, an abstract collage, and a surrealistic array of flowers and plants. She tried to evoke what we thought of their subjects and of their balance and use of shapes, texture, and color. “Who likes it? Who doesn’t? Why or why not?” she asked.

Pinsky said that how we look at a painting is influenced by “our own vision.” She said “reality is different for each of us.” She likened the viewing of art to listening to music, adding “We should enjoy a piece of art for what it is” and “not worry about whether it is good or bad.” She noted that an artist’s cultural background could influence whether he or she is expressing feelings or is trying to communicate.

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Our People

• Theodore Utchen has joined the Society. He lives in far west suburban Wheaton and is an attorney and legal arbitrator. Welcome, Ted!

• Paul Ozarowski, Society secretary, is taking classes at the Humanist Institute in Washington, DC. The 3-year program leads to a Graduate Certificate in Humanist Leadership.

Sunday School Scoop

Last month our kids made about 50 Valentine’s cards and sent them to some of our members and friends who have been ill or away. We also got to decorate our own Valentine’s cookies for a yummy treat! We were very excited to have Idy Ciss, an African dancer and instructor, for our spring intergenerational program on February 22nd.

This month we’ll be planning for our Spring Festival in April, and we have four Coming of Age students who are working on their graduation projects. They will be having some bake sales and other fundraising events in the coming months, so watch for opportunities to support them.

—Sharon Appelquist, Director
sundayschool@ethicalhuman.org

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From the President

As both a teacher and a student, I always found that the most difficult task of any writing assignment was the open-ing line. However, as president of the Society it’s easy—I just begin by saying “Thanks” to the membership and the doers in the Society: for programming that ranged from raising kids, to understanding polls and art, to celebrating Darwin, to participating in African dance. And thanks for all the good deeds, by members and their kids: feeding hungry people, cleaning the environment, and entertaining our members and guests with music, poetry, and film.

Topping it off. we continue to add creative, bright, active new members, who will soon need to be thanked as well. Along with “thanks” often comes “please.” So please mark April 5th on your calendars, when we’ll be having a special Town Hall meeting, whose purpose is listening to your ideas on how we can finance the growth and prosperity of the Society. So “Thank You” in advance for your input at that important meeting.

—Matt Cole , President

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Activities and Announcements

• Our Annual Pledge Drive is cruising along. By mid-February we had received pledges of $52,234, or 95 percent of our $55,000 goal. The pledges came from 101 members, of which 44 were sustaining. Thank you all for your commit-ment and generosity. If you haven’t yet pledged, please contact John Ungashick at jungasick@aol.com with any questions.

• A letter to President Obama has been sent by the Society thanking him for “declaring in your inaugural address that we are a nation of non-believers as well as those of main-stream religious faiths.” The letter noted that we “share ideals with the good people of all faiths.”

• Our Ethical Action group has sent $200 each to the Mid-west Workers Association and the Howard Area Community Center. The money is from the 10 percent share of our Sunday collections earmarked for charity.

• Our Youth for Ethical Societies (Y.E.S.) group is plan-ning a workday at Campus Kitchens in Evanston on March 15th. We’re also having a bake sale on March 8th and another bagel sale on March 22nd, both after-the-platform efforts to raise money for a Sunday School ping-pong table.

• A “What We Are About” document, assembled from comments made at our Town Hall meeting last October on what the Society means to each of us, is now available. Our next Town Meeting, on financing the Society’s growth, is scheduled for April 5th.

• Our summer programs are mostly presentations by members. If you have an interesting talk that you (or another member you know) would like to give, contact Anil Kashyap, Alan Kimmel, or the office for a suggestion form. The next Sunday Program Committee meeting is on Sunday, March 8th, at 12:30 p.m.

• Join our Audiovisual Volunteers. A training session on the use of our sound, light, and video equipment is planned for Wednesday, March 18th, from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information, contact Scott Walton at sns@swwalton.com.

• Our Tribute Fund is a way we honor each other—such as condolences on the loss of a loved one and congratulations on a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or personal achieve-ment. Each tribute is printed in the newsletter. Forms are on the literature tables.

• Try Public transportation to our Sunday meetings. The #290 PACE bus leaves the Howard L station at 9:30 a.m. and goes to Touhy Ave. and Cicero Ave. (Skokie Blvd.). It’s then a short walk to our building. A return #290 bus to the Howard station leaves Touhy and Cicero at 1:20 p.m.

• Our Weekly Program Reminder is emailed to anyone who wants to be regularly informed of the coming week’s meetings and activities. To be on the list, send an email to programinfo@ethicalhuman.org or call the office.

• Get our free electronic newsletter. It comes sooner and saves postage. Email us a request, noting pdfnewsletter as the subject and your name and address. A subscription to the printed newsletter is $20 per year if you’re not a member, a contributing friend, or new on the mailing list.

• Become a member of the Society. Show that you share our ethical outlook by making a commitment to our caring community. Contact Membership Chair Tom Hoeppner at thomas_J_Hoeppner@rush.edu or come to the Membership Orientation on Sunday, March 15th, at 12:15 p.m.

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TributeFund

• In memory of Mrs. Rubenstein, mother of Dr. Osvaldo Rubenstein
—from Yolanda Adler

About Us

The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago is a democratic fellowship and spiritual home for those who seek a rational, compassionate philosophy of life without regard to belief or nonbelief in a supreme being. We value the importance of living an ethical, responsible, and joyful life. We promote intellectual, philosophical, and artistic freedom, avoiding dogma and rigid creed. We nurture a sense of wonder about life, nature, and the universe, and are inspired by models of human achievement. Shaped by the forces of humanism, democracy, science, and religious reform, we cherish human diversity and focus on what we have in common, not on what keeps us apart.

While respectful of the faiths and traditions we may have been born to, we serve as a new religion or as an alternative to religion.

We care for and support each other, sharing our joys and sorrows. Like traditional religious communities, we celebrate births, conduct wedding ceremonies, host memorial services, and provide for the caring, ethical education of our children.

We believe in deed beyond creed and in working for a better world. We recognize the worth and dignity of every person, and strive to act so as to bring out the best in others and thereby in ourselves.

Meetings of the Ethical Humanist Society are at our home in the Greiner Center, 7574 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie, IL 60077. Sunday meetings start at 10:30 a.m. Refreshments and a social hour follow the program. Child care is available. Everyone is welcome. If you need transportation, please call the Society office by 1 p.m. Friday. We will try to get a ride for you. The Ethical Humanist Society of Greater Chicago was founded in 1882. The Society is a member of the American Ethical Union.

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The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago, founded in 1882, is a member of the American Ethical Union.

Officers and Trustees: Matt Cole, President; Yolanda Adler, Vice President; Paul Ozarowski, Secretary; John Ungashick, Treasurer; Susan Burck, Lisa Crowe, Sheila Caplan Curren, Steve Freedman, David Hardesty, Oliver Pergams, Renee Sullivan, Carolyn Welch

Sunday School Director: Sharon Appelquist
Newsletter Editor: Alan Kimmel
Ethical Officiants: Marne Glaser, Jo-Ann Hoeppner, Tom Hoeppner, Ken Novak
AEU Representative: Tom Hoeppner