|
Summer Sunday Programs
During the Summer (from June 14 through August 30) the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia presents Sunday programs at 10 a.m. The programs alternate between colloquies and book discussions. The book discussions for this summer are listed below. The colloquies are quiet times for music, structured discussion, and meditation on a given topic. The Society will resume its regular Sunday schedule (when Platforms start at 11 a.m.) on Sunday, September 13. Our programs are free and open to the public. A coffee time follows each program. Free parking is available with a permit you can get inside the Society's office.
Richard Juang, of the Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality, will lead a discussion on the topic of transgender concerns.
Ellen Rose will lead a discussion of at least one story (two,
if time permits) by Flannery O'Connor (1925-64), the "Southern Gothic" writer
considered by many to be one of America's greatest writers of short fiction. A
devout Roman Catholic, O'Connor probes--with dark humor and acid irony--
profoundly moral questions in her limited but brilliant corpus (two novels,
thirty-one stories, some speeches and letters). Two of her most frequently
anthologized stories--"A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything That
Rises Must Converge"--should provoke lively discussion and controversy.
Both stories can be downloaded from the internet, and photocopies will be
available at the Society.
Colloquy, a quiet time for music, structured discussion, and meditation on a given topic.
Colloquy, a quiet time for music, structured discussion, and meditation on patriotism. Led by Lyle Murley.
Richard Kiniry will lead a discussion of Peter Singer's The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty. For the first time
in history, it is within our reach to eradicate world poverty and the suffering it
brings. Singer claims we face a profound choice: If we are not to turn our backs
on a fifth of the world's population, we must become part of the solution.
Colloquy, a quiet time for music, structured discussion, and meditation on a given topic.
Harry Thorn will lead a discussion of Dacher Keltner's
Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life. Dacher Keltner is a
professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, director of
the Greater Good Science Center and co-editor of Greater Good magazine.
His research focuses on pro-social emotions, power, and moral reasoning. In
this book Keltner investigates an old mystery of human evolution: why have
we evolved positive emotions like gratitude, amusement, awe, and compassion
that promote ethical action and are the fabric of cooperative societies? Born
to Be Good is a profound study of how emotion is the key to living the good
life and how the path to happiness goes through human emotions that connect
people to one another.
Colloquy, a quiet time for music, structured discussion, and meditation on a given topic.
Jack Schwar will lead a discussion of Avraham Burg's The
Holocaust is Over: We Must Rise from the Ashes. How can we move beyond the
Shoah? How can we return Judaism to its universal values? These are the questions
Burg raises. He tells us never to forget but also not to be held forever hostage by the
memory of the Holocaust. He urges readers to move from the faith of pessimism to the
faith of optimism.
Colloquy, a quiet time for music, structured discussion, and meditation on a given topic.
Ken Greiff will lead a discussion of the great American
classic, Herman Melville's Moby Dick, in which Captain Ahab and his crew confront a
creature that was clearly not made with humans in mind -- immense, landless, heartless
and "sharkish." The metaphysical argument of the book ruminates about the creator
of such a creature, referring to it variously as God, the devil and atheism. Ken will
analyze this metaphysical argument and explain how it furthered his personal interest
in Ethical Humanism. The sacredness of human connectedness is an anti-poison to the
idea of an Inhuman God.
Colloquy, a quiet time for music, structured discussion, and meditation on a given topic.
|
