2006 Meetings
Sunday, January 8, at 12 noon. Topic: Exerpts from a Book on CD by Bill Maher, New Rules. Bill Maher is a political and social commentator well-known for his TV shows, Politically Incorrect and Real Time. His new book, New Rules, is an uneven organized collection of stand-up bits, but there are some scathing critiques of religion and the current political situation. We will play a recording of selected parts of the book on CD, read by Maher. Location: The Orient Restaurant.
Friday, 20 January, 7:30 p.m. Special Interest Group on Humanism and Philosophy Topic: Spinoza. Influential and always controversial, the Jewish rationalist philosopher entranced and frustrated friends and foes during his life and continues to do so long after his death in 1677. We will discuss some of Spinoza's main ideas and try to understand why he continues to be a subject of great interest today.
Sunday, February 12, at 10:30 am. Darwin Day Monthly Meeting Topic: Greg Paul on his paper in the Journal of Religion and Society. Location: Baltimore Ethical Society meeting. Greg will speak on his paper in the Journal of Religion and Society, on the correlation between social problems and amount of religious belief, at the Baltimore Ethical Society. This meeting was cancelled due to snow, but it will be reschedule.
Friday, 17 February, 7:30 p.m. Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: Chance and Contingency. Philosophers from the earliest times have been intrigued by the nature of chance and contingency. Are they just illusions based on our limited knowledge, or are they integral to the nature of reality? Answers to these questions from Aristotle through quan tum theory will be explored. For more information, call 410-521-6215.
Sunday, March 12, at 1:30. Topic: Dr. Stefanie Fuhrman on Rational Philosophy. Dr. Fuhrman will repeat her talk from the October MDC meeting. She has been studying rational philosophy for eleven years, and she will discuss several related fundamental philosophical issues of interest to secular humanists. These issues include the following: the basis of morality, egoism vs. altruism, and capitalism vs. socialism. The ideas will be traced back to the basic axioms of philosophy, and principles will be demonstrated using concrete examples. A list of resources will be provided.
Friday, 17 March, 7:30 p.m. Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: Natural Atheism. Are we born atheists and is all religious sentiment culturally acquired? Or do we have a genetic tendency to believe in God? We will discuss various answers to these questions from a historical, philosophical, and psychological/neurological viewpoint, inc luding recent research which points to a predisposition in humans to believe in conscious entities behind natural events.
Sunday, April 9, at 1:30. Topic: Greg Paul, speaking on "Catholic Corruption: It's Much, Much, Much Worse Than You think." The recent Catholic Priest pedophile scandal shocked the world, but many assume it was an aberration within a basically moral church. In fact, it was the tip of an iceberg of corruption that afflicts an a utocratic city-state that, from the 1920s to 1940s, enjoyed close financial-political ties with fascism and, since WW II, has maintained close links with international criminal elements. This disturbing presentation is based on accounts reported in the NY Times, Wall St Journal, Washington Post, Fortune, Court TV, etc. In 2004, Greg authored an article on the collaboration between Christianity and Nazism that was published in Free Inquiry. He recently authored an article in the Journal of Religion & Society. To hear an audio recording of the talk, click here.
Friday, 21 April, 7:30 p.m. Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: The Limits of Knowledge Some have argued th at that the world sets limits to what humans can in principle know. Others have maintained that this claim is unjustified, and encourages supernaturalism and mysticism if it means more than the obvious and rather trivial fact that humans are never in a position to know everything in detail. We will examine pros and cons of this debate, including the theme of many classics of horror in books and on screen: Are there some secrets that humans should know?
Sunday, May 14, at 1:30: Monthly Meeting Topic: Alan Cutler, on the Discoveries of Nicolaus Steno. Alan Cutler is author of the book, The Seashell on the Mountaintop, and an article in the Washington Post, on Nicolaus Steno (1638-1686). Steno was a Danish anatomist and early geologist who postulated that the earth's history is recorded in its fossils and rock strata. Previously the only accepted source of such information was the Bible. Steno later became a priest and was beatified in 1988. Cutler discusses Steno as an example of the compatibility of science and religion. Location: Elkridge Library.
Friday, 19 May, 7:30 p.m.: Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: The Ethics of Jesus. Sayings of Jesus recorded in the Gospels include reasonable ethical teachings which have been admired over the centuries even if rarely followed. Mixed with these teachings are other bizarre and extreme commands and supernatural and eschatological claims inconsistent with the notion of the wise and humble teacher from Nazareth. We will try to sort out these teachings, and show how they have been used, ignored and abused in history.
Sunday, June 11, at 12 noon: Monthly Meeting Topic: DVD of "Bush's Brain" We will show the DVD "Bush's Brain." This documentary is about the somewhat shady tactics that Karl Rove used to win elections for George Bush, both for Texas governor and for U.S. President. Several Texas commentators who have followed Bush's career for years are interviewed. Please bring a snack or drink to share.
Friday, 16 June, 7:30 p.m.: Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: Islam and the Modern World. It is sometimes said that Islam, unlike Christianity, never experienced a Reformation and as a result has had difficulty in coming to grips with the modern world, remaining locked into an ironclad fundamentalist framework that cannot be reformed without destroying what makes Islam what it is. We will examine the tensions that exist between the ideas of Islam and the modern world and some of the ways Muslim thinkers have tried to deal with them.
Sunday, July 9, at 12 noon: The Morality in The Odyssey. The Odyssey, one of the oldest surviving works of literature, has a remarkably complex and interesting narrative, and the hero must deal with several complicated moral dilemmas. We will discuss some of the moral questions that are raised by the story, and play a tape recording of a lecture by Prof. Elizabeth Vandiver about the book. Location: The Orient Restaurant. THIS TOPIC WAS POSTPONED UNTIL JAN. 2007 DUE TO GOOD WEATHER.
Friday, 21 July, 7:30 p.m.: Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: Descartes. The 17th century philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes, eternally famous (or infamous) for his famous "I think, therefore I am," was a key figure in the rise of what purported to be "scientific" philosophy in early modern times. Perhaps more than any other philosopher he produced an industry stretching from his time to ours dedicated to isolating and refuting his "mistakes," including such things as the cogito itself, his ontological argument for God's existence, and perhaps above all his mind-body dualism. We will examine some key ideas of this important thinker and why he continues to fascinate people today.
Sunday, 23 July 2006 (12:00 noon): Annual WASH Picnic. The WASH Maryland / DC Chapter (MDC) will host the Annual Picnic at Black Hill Regional Park (Little Seneca Lake) in northern Montgomery County, with provisions for grilling, hiking, boating, chatting with WASH friends, or just loafing under a pavilion that affords shelter in case of an unlikely rain. MDC makes the arrangements and provides a number of picnic items, but all WASH members are invited and are asked to bring food to share.
Sunday, August 13, at 12 noon: Whose Version of Democracy is Better? With all the talk of encouraging democracy around the world, perhaps we should discuss what democracy means. The basis of the discussion will be an article in The Washington Spectator by Ian Williams, from Nov. 15, 2005. The author argues that the U.S. democracy has ceased to evolve or reform since the Revolutionary War, while the British and European "monarchies" have continued to be improved. As a result, George W. Bush has the same kind of political power that King George III had, that the colonies rebelled against. He makes several provacative statements that we will talk about. Location: Charles Village Pub, 19 W. Penna. Ave., Towson.
Friday, 18 August, 7:30 p.m.: Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: Why Do People Believe in Weird Things? The title of this month's SIG is from Michael Shermer's book of the same title. We will look at Shermer's answers to the question, as well as attempts to answer it made by other philosophers, anthropologists, and psychologists. As part of the discussion we will examine the role of beliefs in genetic and cultural evolution.
Sunday, September 10, at 12 noon: Organizational Meeting--What can we be doing better? It's time to have a discussion about what the chapter is doing. In particular, we'll discuss the following issues, as well as any others that are raised: 1) Is it worth continuing to have outside speakers? 2) Is anyone interested in a SIG focusing on ar ts? 3) Is anyone interested in special events notices on a webpage or via email? 4) Should we have a meeting day other than Sunday? 5) Can we learn anything from other Baltimore humanist groups, including BES, the Meetups, or HVN?
Friday, 15 September, 7:30 p.m.: Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: The Evolution of Music Music is a part of every human culture with roots deep in prehistory. We will first examine theories offered to explain how music arose in the evolution of homo sapiens. We will also examine some features of the evolution of music itself in the West in its folk, religious, "classical" and contemporary dimensions, and discuss models for assessing the relative aesthetic worth of musical expressions.
Sunday, October 8, at 12 noon: Discussion of Kevin Philips's book American Theocracy We will play a tape of an episode of The Marc Steiner Show from WYPR, April 19, 2006, with an interview of Kevin Philips. Philips is a Republican strategist who has recently written a book, American Theocracy, that questions the current administration's emphasis. In fact, he compares the current state of the U.S. to the decline of previous empires due to reliance on foreign oil, high debt, and religious fundamentalism.
Friday, 20 October, 7:30 p.m.: Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: Philosophies of India. India's philosophical traditions are among the oldest in the world. We will examine Indian philosophy in the context of Indian culture, and provide an overview of how Indian philosophers have dealt with many of the same concerns that have occupied Western philosophers in the areas of epistemology, metaphysics and ethics.
Sunday, November 12, at 12 noon: What I Believe NPR has been running short essays in which various individuals give descriptions of what their deeply held convictions are. The series of essays is called, "This I Believe." We played recordings of a selection of essays, and had a discussion. Essay by Penn Jillette, "There is no God;" John McCain, "The Virtues of the Quiet Hero;" Bill Gates, Unleashing the Power of Creativity;" Roald Hoffmann, "The Tense Middle;" John W. Fountain, "The God Who Embraced Me;" Alan Lightman, "The Power of Mysteries;" Brian Greene, "Science Nourishes the Mind and the Soul;" and Ted Gup, "In Praise of the 'Wobblies'" were presented. These essays can be read or listened to online.
Sunday, December 10, at 12 noon: Holiday Lunch. Location: Paolo's Restaurant, 1 West Pennsylvania Ave., Towson. Paolo's is an Italian restaurant with entrees priced between $15-$25. We will get together for a holiday lunch and conversation.
Friday, 15 December, 7:30 p.m.: Special Interest Group Humanism and Philosophy Topic: Epicurus and His Legacy. Epicurus (c. 341- c. 270 BCE) founded a philosophical school which along with Platonism, Aristotelianism and Stoicism, was a major contributor to the intellectual life of ancient Greece and Rome. Many of his ideas find expression in modern humanism as well. We will examine Epicurus' ideas with the goal of finding what is perennially valuable and provocative in them.
Sunday, January 14, at 12 noon: Meeting Topic: The Morality in The Odyssey. The Odyssey, one of the oldest surviving works of literature, has a remarkably complex and interesting narrative, and the hero must deal with several complicated moral dilemmas. We will discuss some of the moral questions that are raised by the story.
For previous meetings, click here.