“The Paradox of Persuasion: Motivating Americans to Sacrifice Present Consumption for the Future” by Ty Jones

Friends Meeting House 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC

Ty will explore why the “Environmental Movement” mostly failed to motivate people to change their consumption behaviors. He will review some dark episodes in the nation’s history (Native American relocations, slavery’s profitability, numbing responses to today’s school shootings) as informative to today’s failures, that is, knowing something is morally wrong won’t likely change behaviors around the convenience of consumption, profit and loss, or national policy.

“Whole Broken People” by Brenda Lewis

Friends Meeting House 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC

In a culture that often values autonomy above most other principles and values, the challenges of aging impact our sense of self, the stories we tell about our lives, and our sense of meaning and spirituality in profound ways. How can we navigate changes and transitions with agency and intention and find the gifts that this unexpected and often unwanted journey brings?

“The Exvangelicals” by Sarah McCammon

Friends Meeting House 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC

The Exvangelicals is the story of a rising generation of the children of evangelicalism, including Sarah herself, who are growing up and fleeing the fold, who are thinking for themselves and deconstructing what feel like the “alternative facts” of their childhood. Part memoir, part investigative journalism, Sarah describes the post-evangelical movement: identifying its origins, telling the stories of its members, and examining its vast cultural, social, and political impact.

Presentation TBA

Friends Meeting House 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC

Presentation TBA