Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville

"Leverage Your Voting Knowledge" by Ron Katz By ZOOM ONLY
2024-09-15 14:30 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
Join Ron Katz, long-time CJJ-West leader and voting rights advocate, to explore ways of leveraging your voting knowledge. You can be a resource to your friends and family. Ron will focus on three questions. 1) How do I navigate voting? (What has the NC General Assembly done to make it harder to vote?); 2) How do I find the positions of the candidates on the issues I care about? (I want more than the misleading info on candidate mailers.); 3) How can I do more? (There are a wide range of partisan and nonpartisan groups and activities to match your interests and empower voters with information on the up AND down-ballot races.)
Ron Katz currently focuses much of his time on issues of social justice. He created and administers the website WNC Social Justice Guide which connects those interested in social justice public policy with nonpartisan organizations working on eighteen social justice issues. He edits an e-newsletter on Voting & Democracy Rights for WNC. He is also the lead for the Carolina Jews for Justice West chapter for Democracy Rights and a member of the state advisory board of Common Cause NC. Ron retired from the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County as the Community Fund Director.

Colloquy
2024-09-01 14:30 - 16:00 | Zoom
Colloquy is an opportunity to explore and reflect on a particular aspect of life in a structured and facilitated small-group setting in a nonjudgmental, confidential atmosphere. It is held on the First Sunday of the month from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. We meet online – live! Join on Zoom
Colloquy was created more than 25 years ago by Arthur Dobrin (now Leader Emeritus of the Ethical Society of Long Island) and brought to Asheville by Joy McConnell, Consulting Leader for the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville. Colloquy inspires participants to raise awareness of their own views, emotions and values. Guided by a facilitator, participants sit in a circle, listen to a topic read by the leader, and take turns sharing responses – speaking from personal experiences, thoughts and feelings.
Examples of recent topics include: honesty, friendship, generosity, anger, forgiveness, music that defines us, “This I Believe.”
Visitors are welcome. Come join us!

"The Foundations of Applied Ethics: Felix Adler and Henry Sidgwick" by Terry Smith
2024-08-18 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
“The Foundations of Applied Ethics: Felix Adler and Henry Sidgwick” will be presented by Terry Smith at the Sunday, August 18, 2024, meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. This will be a hybrid meeting, in-person and also available for interactive conversation by Zoom. All are welcome to attend.
Join Terry L. Smith as he explores the foundational assumptions, ideas and ideals of Ethical Culture and contemporary applied ethics. Applied ethics is built upon the judgment of people of good will, who are found in all walks of life. Ethical culture focuses on applied ethics rather than philosophical ethics, promoting the knowledge and practice of social and personal ethics. Its goal is to help people find meaning by living lives of moral worth.
Terry Smith is the former dean of arts and sciences at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and before that, department chair and philosophy professor at the University of the District of Columbia. He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.A. in History from Wittenberg University. Now retired, Terry has renewed his interest in research, writing, and editing and has published articles in several professional journals on behavior and philosophy.

Colloquy
2024-08-04 14:30 - 16:00, 2024-05-05 14:30 - 16:00, 2024-04-07 14:30 - 16:00, 2024-03-03 14:30 - 16:00, 2024-02-04 14:30 - 16:00, 2024-01-07 14:30 - 16:00, 2023-12-03 14:30 - 16:00, 2023-10-01 14:30 - 16:00 | Zoom
Colloquy is an opportunity to explore and reflect on a particular aspect of life in a structured and facilitated small-group setting in a nonjudgmental, confidential atmosphere. It is held on the First Sunday of the month from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we will meet online -live! Join on Zoom
Colloquy was created more than 25 years ago by Arthur Dobrin (now Leader Emeritus of the Ethical Society of Long Island) and brought to Asheville by Joy McConnell, Consulting Leader for the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville. Colloquy inspires participants to raise awareness of their own views, emotions and values. Guided by a facilitator, participants sit in a circle, listen to a topic read by the leader, and take turns sharing responses – speaking from personal experiences, thoughts and feelings.
Examples of recent topics include: honesty, friendship, generosity, anger, forgiveness, music that defines us, “This I Believe.”
Visitors are welcome. Come join us!

2:00 PM Aspirations for Ethical Culture
2024-07-28 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
2024 Assembly Platform
Sunday, July 28 2:00 PM ET
Ethical Culture Leader Louise Jett will talk about her aspirations for Ethical Culture and the importance of clergy within our movement and Societies.
Immediately following the presentation, Joy McConnell will lead a discussion for EHSAsheville members and guests on

"Leadership and Public Education” by Mo Green
2024-07-21 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
“Leadership and Public Education” will be presented by Maurice (Mo) Green at the Sunday, July 21, 2024, meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. This will be a hybrid meeting, in-person and also available for interactive conversation by Zoom. All are welcome to attend.
Join Mo Green as he discusses Leadership and Public Education. Not only will Mo’s style entertain, but his passion for championing public education and his determination to make a difference is impressive. Under his leadership, the Guilford County Schools saw substantial improvements in student performance and overall educational standards. Green implemented changes in personnel and leadership, ensuring that the right talents were in place to drive the district’s vision forward. He inspired educators and administrators by fostering a culture of excellence and innovation and advocates for improving North Carolina’s public schools.
Maurice (Mo) Green, served for more than seven years as superintendent of Guilford County Schools – the third largest district in North Carolina. Prior to that, he served as general counsel, chief operating officer and deputy superintendent for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He was the executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation from 2016-2023.
Mo began his career as a lawyer in private practice after doing two United States judicial clerkships. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics and a law degree, both from Duke University. Mo is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and Sigma Pi Phi (the Boulé) fraternities. He is married and has two adult children, both of whom were educated in North Carolina public schools

Colloquy
2024-07-07 14:30 - 16:00, 2024-06-02 14:30 - 16:00, 2023-11-12 14:30 - 16:00 | Zoom
Colloquy is an opportunity to explore and reflect on a particular aspect of life in a structured and facilitated small-group setting in a nonjudgmental, confidential atmosphere. It is held on the First Sunday of the month from 2:30 to 4:00 pm. We continue to meet online – live! for Colloquy. Join on Zoom
Colloquy was created more than 25 years ago by Arthur Dobrin (now Leader Emeritus of the Ethical Society of Long Island) and brought to Asheville by Joy McConnell, Consulting Leader for the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville. Colloquy inspires participants to raise awareness of their own views, emotions and values. Guided by a facilitator, participants sit in a circle, listen to a topic read by the leader, and take turns sharing responses – speaking from personal experiences, thoughts and feelings.
Examples of recent topics include: honesty, friendship, generosity, anger, forgiveness, music that defines us, “This I Believe.”
Visitors are welcome. Come join us!

"Standing Up to Book Banning" by Dr. Christopher Harris
2024-06-30 10:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Attempts to ban books from all types of libraries continue to rise at an unprecedented level across the country. The American Library Association reported attempts to censor 4,249 unique titles of library books and resources in 2023. This is the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago and a 65% increase over 2022.
Learn how concerned people can support the Freedom to Read along with the many partners of the Unite Against Book Bans campaign led by the ALA.
The American Library Association fully supports the right of every parent to control what their child reads and to select alternative reading or instructional materials for their child. We do not believe, however, that a parent’s right to control their child’s reading includes a right to restrict what other children read, or to limit the books that are available to young people in the library.
Register Here. AEU Link Here
Presenter: Dr. Christopher Harris
Dr. Christopher Harris is the Director of a School Library System in Western New York and a Senior Policy Fellow with the American Library Association. He was a participant in the first American Library Association Emerging Leaders program in 2007 and was honored as a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2008. His policy work with the ALA has included equity of access to ebooks, coding for youth, and most recently the Unite Against Book Bans campaign. Dr. Harris is an author, speaker, gamer, and member of his local public library board of trustees.
Read two opinion pieces by Dr. Harris:
Censorship and the case for institutional literacy →
Support your local librarians by rejecting book bans →

2024 Annual Meeting - 6/23/2024 2:30 PM
2024-06-23 14:30 - 16:30 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
Dear EHSA Members,

Our annual meeting is scheduled for Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 2:30 pm at Friends Meeting House. It will be followed by a very brief board meeting – and finally, after a few years of intense Covid-fears, a potluck meal. Please contact Gloria Cosgrove Smith and let her know what you plan to bring to our potluck. Gloria’s email is gloria.cosgrove@gmail.com.

The candidates for the board are:
Martha Marshall
Andy Reed
Jackie Simms
Rich Wasch
Karen Ziff

Annual Members Meeting Agenda June 23, 2024

Looking forward to seeing you on June 23.

Karen Ziff

"Christian Ethics vs. Ethics” by Dr. Vincent Bacote
2024-06-16 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
“Christian Ethics vs. Ethics” will be presented by Dr. Vincent Bacote at the Sunday, June 16, 2024, meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. This will be a hybrid meeting, in-person and also available for interactive conversation by Zoom. All are welcome to attend.
Join Dr. Bacote for a lively presentation and discussion as we consider questions on Christian Ethical Discernment vs. Ethical Discernment – Is there a difference? Ethical Societies “preach” deed vs. creed. Creed, however, can be formal (religious) doctrine, or a philosophy or personal set of beliefs. Dr. Bacote will explore and seek greater understanding of the intersection of beliefs from different doctrines and its impact on ethical discernment (ability to judge well).
Dr. Vincent Bacote, Ph. D., is Professor of Theology and Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College. Dr. Bacote is a frequent author of scholarly publications (from a Christian perspective) on ethics, race, racial justice, public life/theology, African American Theology, and other works. His forthcoming work is Eschatology and Ethics, Baker Academic. He has been a regular columnist for Comment Magazine and contributes to other magazines and journals, including Books and Culture, Christianity Today, Think Christian the Journal for Christian Theological Research, and others. Dr. Bacote believes that doctrine is central to the life of a church.
The Center for Applied Christian Ethics (CACE) promotes and encourages the formation of moral character and the application of biblical ethics to contemporary moral decisions. CACE serves Wheaton faculty and students through a portfolio of activities, including ethical training, public forums, and projects. The upcoming spring 2024 CACE faculty seminar will focus on civil discourse and teaching controversial issues in undergraduate courses.

"Living Our Ethical Humanism to Bring Out Our Best" by Dr. Khandra Sears
2024-06-09 13:30 - 15:30 | Zoom
The American Ethical Union president, Khandra Sears, is speaking at the Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle (Chapel Hill) Sunday, June 9 at 1:30 PM. We are invited to take a “field trip” (via Zoom) to our North Carolina sister Society. Register to receive a Zoom link: https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/

Living Our Ethical Humanism to Bring Out Our Best

Khandra Sears will address how living our ethical humanism will bring out our best. Her relationship with Ethical Humanism began as she pursued an undergraduate degree in microbiology and began to question what faith and the Bible meant to her. As she moved to Baltimore to earn a Ph.D. in Microbiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), she started to attend Baltimore Ethical Society Platforms and went on to join them as a member. She is now President of the American Ethical Union, the national organization of ethical humanist/culture societies in the U.S.

This program will be presented via a Zoom session. If you would like to be a participant in the meeting, please use our contact us form to make your request.

Contact Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle:
https://ehstnc.org/contact-us/

Understanding: The Assignment by Dr. Je’ Exodus Hooper
2024-05-19 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
We seek to understand each other. Understanding creates relationships. Understanding is rooted in epistemology – a way of knowing. The worth of knowing, the worth of understanding is learning to create a better world. Take on the need to apply learning and understanding so that we can elicit the best in each other and thereby the best in ourselves.
The history of the Ethical Culture Movement had been a long journey of uncertainty and unprecedented ideas. Dr. Felix Adler, although well educated and informed, made up this philosophical and religious formation each and everyday. In this platform, we will seek to appreciate and explore uncertainty, seek meaning, be generators of ideas and agents of change. You are the assignment: you matter. You shape your role, your assignment.
Jé Exodus Hooper (them/they) is an arts and cultural community curator, clergy, and scholar, who has served the Ethical Culture and Congregational Humanist Movements for over eight years while an instructor of performance theory at Ohio University School of Theater. Dr. Hooper repurposes the Humanist message with alive spiritual intensity, cultural complexity, and persistent intellectual urgency.

Be the Change: Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence for Self-Care, Deep Collaboration and Conflict Resolution” by Stacey Crowley
2024-04-21 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
“Be the Change: Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence for Self-Care, Deep Collaboration and Conflict Resolution” will be presented by Stacey Crowley at the Sunday, April 21, 2024, meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30-4:00 PM, at Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Road, Asheville, NC. We hope you will attend in-person. There will also be a Zoom connection. All are welcome to attend.
While restorative justice and social emotional learning initiatives are on the rise in the United States, many adults have not been trained in the conflict resolution or emotional intelligence practices we seek to teach our youth. Additionally, the complexity of 21st Century life and the enormity of the mental health issues we see across the human lifespan create an imperative for parents and educators to tend to our own well-being as the first intervention offered to those in our care.
This highly experiential session, based on the Search Inside Yourself program, combines neuroscience and mindfulness with emotional intelligence training to offer participants foundational practices that promote self-care and build self-awareness, empathy and communication for deep collaboration and conflict resolution.
Stacey Crowley, MA, CCC-SLP (she/her); communicologist, neural architect, storyteller, owner of Learning Tree Literacy, is a certified public accountant turned dually certified speech language pathologist and literacy specialist with over two decades of experience as an educator, public speaker, and professional development provider. Her current work combines her fields of expertise with neuroscience, mindfulness, and nonviolent communication to teach emotional literacy and peaceful conflict resolution to youth.
As a certified teacher for the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, Stacey is passionate about restorative practices and providing state of the art emotional intelligence and compassionate communication training to adults who teach and raise children. Stacey’s work with educational systems focuses on empowering students with the 21st Century skills they need to become engaged citizens who are mentally fit, emotionally intelligent, creative problem solvers capable of deep collaboration. It is Stacey’s core belief that a peaceful planet depends on the human skills we teach, and that these human skills are trainable at all ages and stages of life.

Opening the Door for Democracy with YVote (Why Vote)
2024-03-31 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
AEU All-Societies Platform
March 31, 2024, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET
“YVote is creating a youth-led civic movement. We equip young people to channel their passions into positive action—at and beyond the ballot box.”
Sanda Balaban, co-founder of YVote, and Audrey Kindred, of the NYSEC will present on how they collaborate to bring Voter and civic engagement activities to hundreds of youth in ongoing democracy reinforcing programs. They will show how other Ethical Societies can do similar civics / voter actions.
The program will include youth who will tell of their concerns and how YVote has prepared them for action and leadership.
RSVP for Opening the Door to Democracy
Sanda Balaban is passionate about helping young people understand their individual and collective power, at and beyond the ballot box. In response to the complex times we’re living in, the vulnerability of democracy being demonstrated, and the desire to support young people in being on the front lines of change, she co-founded and directs cross-partisan youth civic engagement nonprofit YVote / Next Generation Politics, aiming to equip leaders of tomorrow for their roles and responsibilities as citizens shaping a more just world.
Sanda has held leadership roles in education and youth development for over 25 years, in the public sector at the New York City Department of Education, in education philanthropy at the Ford Foundation and the Goldman Sachs Foundation, and in nonprofits including Facing History and Ourselves, the Boston Private Industry Council, and The Teachers Network.
Sanda is proud to serve on the founding Board of Directors of Generation Vote and The Hope Reichbach Memorial Fund and on the National Reader Advisory Board for Chalkbeat. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Audrey Kindred is Director of Ethical Education for children, youth & families at The New York Society For Ethical Culture.

"Instructions for Living a Life" by Kathy Meacham and Ira Sloan
2024-03-17 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
“Instructions for Living a Life” will be presented by Kathy Meacham and Ira Sloan at the Sunday, March 17, 2024 meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30-4:00 PM, at Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Road, Asheville, NC. We hope you will attend in-person. There will also be a Zoom connection. All are welcome to attend.
“Pay attention. Be Astonished. Tell about it.” This stanza from Mary Oliver’s poem “Sometimes” is at the core of being aware, living in the “now” and thinking ethically. Kathy and Ira teach medical students about ethical thinking and moral imagination versus risk aversion. Moral imagination means envisioning the full range of possibilities, including new and creative alternatives in a particular situation, in order to solve an ethical challenge. Acting morally requires more than just strength of character; it requires compassion, empathy and the awareness to discern what is morally relevant in a given situation. Join Kathy and Ira to elevate your moral imagination, creativity and moral courage as we seek to act more ethically in society.
Kathy Meacham, Ph.D., is the recently retired, Co-Director of Ethics & Humanism at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Asheville Campus (@MAHEC). She is a Professor Emerita in Philosophy from Mars Hill University, with academic degrees from Temple University (Ph.D. and M.A.), Harvard University (Ed.M.), and Eckerd College (B.A.).
Ira Sloan, M.D., is the recently retired Co-Director of Ethics & Humanism at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Asheville Campus (aMAHEC). He is a semi-retired Psychiatrist, licensed in NC. He is Emeritus Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Professor, Evanston Hospital, for Northwestern University Medical School. Dr. Sloan earned his B.A and M.D. from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana and Chicago. Ira also teaches at the OLLI College for Seniors on magic, Zen and the Art of Balloon Twisting, and medically-related topics.

"Peer Support" by Jodi Ford
2024-02-18 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
“Peer Support” will be presented by Jodi Ford at the Sunday, February 18, 2024 meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. Jodi will present in person. There will also be a Zoom option. All are welcome to attend.
Everyone deserves the chance to see tomorrow, but anxiety, trauma and isolation are symptoms contributing to a massive rise in substance use, mental health challenges and unintended overdose deaths.
Join Jodi Ford to learn how certified peer support specialists, who have managed and overcome their substance use and mental wellness challenges, use their personal experience with mental health and substance use disorders, houselessness or incarceration to help others with their life journeys. Jodi will discuss some of the causes for chaotic substance use and how Sunrise is filling in much-needed gaps in continuums of care for individuals struggling with the effects of trauma.
Jodi Ford is the Marketing and Development Director for Sunrise Community. Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness is a non-profit recovery community organization staffed entirely by certified peer support specialists who help remove stigma, reduce loneliness and lower rates of incarceration, hospitalization and recidivism.
Sunrise’s Peer University program provides training opportunities as a Certified Peer Support Specialist, as well as training as a recovery coach, forensic peer support, problem gambling, harm reduction, reverse opioid overdose, and developing a personal wellness recovery action plan. www.sunriseinasheville.org.

"Breaking Free from Racism: Can White People Do It?" by John Huie
2024-01-21 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
“Breaking Free from Racism: Can White People Do It?” will be presented by John Huie at the Sunday, January 21, 2024 meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. John will present in person. There will also be a Zoom option. All are welcome to attend.
John Huie is the subject of a book written by Bill Lightle, “Breaking Free: The John Huie Story”, published in November 2023, available at Malaprops and Amazon. It is a story of a Southern boy from Georgia, who found his way out of a profoundly racist culture to higher ground. The book and John’s presentation will highlight the cultural battles in the Deep South and throughout the United States and John’s inspiring journey influencing and being influenced as he worked for social justice and environmental sanity. Join John as he draws on his life experiences to stimulate discussion around the question of how white people can shed their racism — or can we?
John Huie emerged from humble roots in Albany, Georgia, to become a leader in both experiential education and environmental activism. John is the product of segregated public schools. He attended Davidson College on an athletic scholarship (when Davidson did not admit black students) and majored in American history and psychology. He earned a MA in American Studies from Emory University (wrote his thesis on segregationist Lester Maddox, who became Georgia’s governor in 1966), and earned his Ph.D. in Confluent Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
John is the former director of the North Carolina Outward Bound School (1977-1994) a character-building, wilderness-based program; founded and led the Environment Leadership Center of Warren Wilson College for eleven years and continues to work supporting older adults who face declining health find meaning and purpose. John is married to Jaan Ferree, native North Carolinian and former chair of the Asheville Public Arts Commission.

Human-I-Tree - AEU All-Societies Platform
2023-12-31 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
December is a month that moves us toward Winter’s balance of light and dark with short days and full nights. For many, it’s a time to mark the rhythm of our days, years, and seasons.
December is also a time to turn toward each other and gather together in celebration and remembrance of our interconnection. Our All-Societies Platforms have become one place we connect with each other as an Ethical movement.
Join Audrey Kindred, the American Ethical Union, and Societies from across the country on December 31 at 11:00 AM ET for the next All-Societies Platform: Human-I-Tree.
RSVP for Human-I-Tree

About Human-I-Tree

Human-I-Tree Concept 3

Human-I-Tree is an original vision grown through community engagement at the New York Society for Ethical Culture by Audrey Kindred‘s collaboration with artists, activists, and children of all ages. It honors how every breath we take as humans is integral to the life of trees.
Audrey brings Felix Adler into dialogue with ecological hero and 2004 Nobel Prize for Peace recipient Wangari Matthai by proposing that “bringing out the best in one another and thereby ourselves” is not truly peace unless we honor our interconnectedness by respecting the earth together. Human-I-Tree branches into a whole family of tree concepts that can inspire our human community building processes.
This tree-inspired platform includes gifts from several artists with whom Audrey has collaborated for Human-I-Tree. Among them are Simba Yangala, Jody Sperling, Alexa Babakhanian, Annie Lanzillotto, and Bonita Oliver.
About Audrey Kindred

Audrey Kindred

Audrey has led Ethical intergenerational programming for 25 years and currently serves the New York Society for Ethical Culture. She is the co-author, with Dr. Anne Klaeysen, of a brand new course published by the American Humanist Association called “Humanist Family Life Ceremonies.”
She is currently completing a master’s degree that centers mindful Climate Justice education. Audrey is focused on how creativity and embodiment impact our ethical development. She honors retired Ethical Leaders Lisel Burns and Martha Gallahue as her Ethical roots.

Winter Festival
2023-12-17 14:30 | Cloisters Clubhouse, 2700 St. Augustine PL., Asheville, NC, 28805
We’ll be jingling our ethics bells . . . Oh what fun it is to ride on our EHSA sleigh!

MC: Gloria Cosgrove Smith

Note Location – NOT at our regular Friends Meeting House location
At Cloisters Clubhouse; 2700 St. Augustine Pl. Asheville
In person only – No Zoom

"Ethical Culture at the Parliament of the World's Religions - Again!" by Anne Klaeysen
2023-11-19 14:30 - 16:00 | Zoom
“Ethical Culture at the Parliament of the World’s Religions – Again!” will be presented by Anne Klaeysen at the Sunday, November 19, 2023 meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. This will be a hybrid meeting, in-person and also available for interactive conversation by Zoom. All are welcome to attend.
The first Parliament of the World’s Religions (https://parliamentofreligions.org/), held in Chicago in 1893, was surely revelatory for many people, bringing together, as it did, religious adherents from around the globe. Their differences must have seemed tremendous and yet, by all written accounts, similarities were discovered and common values shared. Recent parliaments, like the one Anne Klaeysen attended in August, have emphasized those shared values and celebrated on common ground, drawing the world’s attention to existential issues, e.g., human rights and climate change. Those who participate understand and appreciate the many forms that religion can take. Dr. Klaeysen represented the National Leaders Council and joined colleagues from the American Humanist Association and Secular Judaism to staff an information table on Humanism.
The number of presentations offered – plenary and small sessions, performances and demonstrations – felt, as always, overwhelming and exhausting, running the gamut of religious expressions. We Humanists tend to avoid proselytizing, perhaps because so many of us grew up in religions that engaged in that behavior, but we take our mortal lives and what we do with them very seriously. We recognize that we are a part of, not apart from, the natural world in which our species evolved, and we are responsible for the impact we have upon it. Our societies evolved from small intimate circles around a fire to complex impersonal networks. Humanists hold that we have an obligation to learn about our existence and to make ethical decisions to make that existence life-affirming. We are not exceptional in our existence but we may be in our awareness of it and our commitment to act responsibly. That’s basic: no need for a deity or supernatural realm. Just treating one another as we would wish to be treated and taking care of the earth we inhabit together.
Anne Klaeysen is Leader Emerita of the New York Society for Ethical Culture. She co-chairs The Encampment for Citizenship board of directors, serves on the board of Ethical Culture Fieldston Schools, and is a member of the American Humanist Association Education Advisory Committee. Anne previously held positions as Humanist Chaplain on the campuses of Columbia University and New York University, as well as Adelphi University when she served as Leader of the Long Island Ethical Humanist Society. She holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Hebrew Union College and masters degrees in German from SUNY Albany and business administration from NYU. Anne is co-author, with NYSEC Ethics for Children Director Audrey Kindred, of AHA’s new Humanist Family Life Ceremonies online course. She is vice president of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, where she was married and raised her two children.

"The Crumbling Wall of Separation Between Church and State" by Daan Bravemen
2023-10-15 14:30 - 16:00 | Friends Meeting House, 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC
“The Crumbling Wall of Separation Between Church and State” will be presented by Daan Braveman at the Sunday, October 15, 2023 meeting of the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville, 2:30 – 4:00 pm at 227 Edgewood Rd, Asheville, NC. This will be a hybrid meeting, in-person and also available for interactive conversation by Zoom. All are welcome to attend.
Thomas Jefferson referred to the First Amendment as creating a “wall of separation” between church and state, and the Supreme Court stated in 1947 that “the wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach.” In fact, the wall always had some cracks. In recent years, however, it appears to be crumbling as increased emphasis is being given to governmental accommodation of religious beliefs. When does such accommodation weaken the wall separating church and state? More generally, what is the appropriate role of religion in the public arena?
Daan Braveman, President Emeritus of Nazareth College and former Dean of Syracuse University College of Law spoke to the Ethical Humanist Society of Rochester on this topic on October 11, 2023. Daan gave us permission to use the edited video as the basis for understanding the issues and adding to the discussion that took place at the Rochester meeting.
