Two videos on “God Does NOT Exist”

Michael Shermer and Peter Millican

11 a.m., August 14, 2022

This Sunday we we will watch and discuss two videos on the topic “God Does NOT Exist”, debated at the Oxford Union Society.

Dr Michael Shermer begins by saying that 84% of the world’s population believe in some kind of organised religion. How do those who believe in a particular religion know that they have chosen the right one and everyone else has got it wrong?
Dr. Shermer is an author and founder of the Skeptics Society.
You can see his 16-minute talk at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pOI2YvVuuE.

Professor Peter Millican says that every religion has a moral code, but this is not surprising as humans are universally moral beings. We are moral because we are a weak species, and the only way we can survive is by cooperation in society. We need a morality to be able to do that.
Professor Millican is the Gilbert Ryle Fellow & Tutor in Philosophy at Hertford College, and a Reader in Early Modern Philosophy at Oxford.
You can see his 23-minute talk at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcHRRjsttOc.

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Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

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War and Democracy

Michael Eisenscher

11 a.m., August 7, 2022

Michael Eisenscher has spent the last few years focusing on the intersection of labor, environment, foreign policy, and militarism, as interconnected and mutually-interrelated features of 21st Century US capitalism.
He will put forward some thoughts about their interconnection, and pose some questions to discuss with us.
Reading the following articles may provide a preview of some of the issues he will address.
The memes he creates: https://bit.ly/SolidarityINFOServiceMemes.
Back issues of SolidarityINFOService News: https://bit.ly/SISNews
Sign up to receive SIS News: https://bit.ly/SISNews-Signup

Michael Eisenscher is now in his sixth decade of activism in the labor and progressive movements – in struggles for peace, civil rights, civil liberties, women’s rights, immigrant rights, and environmental justice.
From 1972 until 2003, he worked for unions as an organizer and negotiator.
In 2003, he joined with other labor activists to found US Labor Against the War (USLAW), and served as its National Coordinator for the next dozen years.
Since “retiring” in 2015, he has continued his labor activity as a delegate to the Alameda Labor Council, helping to found its Climate and Environmental Justice Caucus.
He also joined other Bay Area trade unionists to found Labor Rise for Climate, Jobs, Justice & Peace, and is a member of the national Labor Network for Sustainability.
His articles have appeared in a number of periodicals, journals and bulletins, and in chapters of three labor anthologies.
Along the way, he picked up a BA in Labor Studies from San Francisco State University and MA in Public Policy from University of Massachusetts-Boston.
For six years he taught a course in political economy in the Labor Studies Program at Laney College.
He also produces memes and a twice-weekly news bulletin for SolidarityINFOService, which he established during the historic Teamsters UPS Part-timers strike in 1997.

220804 Michael Eisenscher.mp4 from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

———-

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

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The Secular Coalition for America Advocates for Religious Freedom

Heather Rigby

11 a.m., July 31, 2022

This Sunday Heather Rigby will talk to us about the Secular Coalition for America. The Coalition advocates for religious freedom and works to defend the equal rights of nonreligious Americans. It represents 20 national secular organizations, hundreds of local secular communities, and works with allies in the faith community. It combines the power of grassroots activism with professional lobbying to make an impact on the laws and policies that govern separation of religion and government.

Heather Rigby, Communications Manager of the Secular Coalition of America, comes from a background in education and public/educational/government media. She has earned awards from the American Association of University Women and the Alliance for Community Media, presented at conferences on topics including social media engagement and volunteer programs for nonprofits, and served on committees for media organizations and a library. Her passion is a good story — hearing or telling. As a child, Heather spent time immersed in the stories told by elders and veterans at the senior center and VFW where her grandfather volunteered and was a member. This turned into an academic career dedicated to understanding how stories build community and shape society, with a desire to have people’s stories take the lead in advocacy.

220731 Heather Rigby.mp4 from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

———-

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
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Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Twists and Turns in Teaching Evolution over the Years

Glenn Branch

11 a.m., July 24, 2022

Controversies over the teaching of evolution in the public schools have rocked the nation over the past century. Evolution’s foes have consistently used the same arguments, but their ambitions have shifted, from banning the teaching of evolution, through balancing it with a supposed alternative, to blunting it by misrepresenting evolution as scientifically controversial. In his talk, Glenn Branch, Deputy Director of the National Center for Science Education, will discuss the causes, history, and consequences of these controversies, with a special emphasis on events in California.

Glenn Branch is a coeditor of Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design Is Wrong for Our Schools. He is the author of numerous articles on evolution education and climate education in such publications as Scientific American, The American Biology Teacher, and Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics. He received the Evolution Education Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers in 2020.

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220724 Glenn Branch.mp4 from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

———-

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
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Behaving Decently: Kurt Vonegut’s Humanism

Wayne Laufert

11 a.m., July 17, 2022

This Sunday we will watch and discuss a talk about the life of author Kurt Vonnegut. In 1992, Vonnegut was given the Humanist of the Year Award and was the AHA’s Honorary President from that year until his death in 2007.

Behaving Decently is a talk given to the American Humanist Association by Wayne Laufert last June17 on World Humanist Day. Wayne is a former newspaper reporter and editor who now proofreads material published by the United States government. He has been a member of the humanist Baltimore Ethical Society since 2013 and a fan of Kurt Vonnegut since long before that. Wayne joined the Vonnegut Baltimore book club in 2011, as it began its second season. These days he runs the club with lots of help.

———-

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

To see the Forum, and to ask questions or make comments, if you wish, click here.
Our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, if it’s not already installed, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smart phone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
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Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.