Humanist Society of Santa Barbara
Newsletter for August 2003

Secular Humanism is a philosphy of life guided by reason and science, free from religious dogma, motivated by an appreciation of life and the life of others, seeking to reach goals of human happiness, personal freedom and growth with responsibility and understanding on this earth, in this life, at this time.

We meet at 3pm on the 3rd Saturday of each month at The Patio Room of Vista del Monte, 3775 Modoc Road, Santa Barbara.

If you would like a copy of this bulletin mailed to a friend or someone you believe would be interested in our Society please drop a line to us with their name and address to P.O. Box 30232, Santa Barbara, CA 93130.
BULLETIN OF THE HUMANIST
SOCIETY OF SANTA BARBARA

OFFICERS 2003 - 2004

CHAIRMAN - Bob Perry
968-1951 bob.perry3@verizon.net

SECRETARY - James Kimberly
969-9686 dr.doboy@cox.net

TREASURER - Ron Kronenberg
967-0883 seelberg@home.com

MEMBERSHIP - Mary Wilk
967-3045 mwilk@cox.net

PROGRAMS - Bea Duncan
964-3109 bfarwellduncan@cox.net

EDITOR - Dick Cousineau
687-2371 rcous1geol@aol.com

WEB MASTER - Colin Gordon
682-0545 colin3@juno.com

SOCIAL DIRECTOR - Anne Rojas
564-6086 annehrojas@cox.net

PUBLICITY - Marian Shapiro
968-0478 marianshapiro@cox.net

MEMBER AT LARGE - Art Brody
692-8898 brodybiz@silcom.com

MEMBER AT LARGE - Don Young
898-7000 donandjuan@worldnet.att.net


Please donn't forget to bring canned foods and non-perishable goods to our regular Society meetings. These donations are given to the Crisis Shelter (Domestic Solutions) and they are well appreciated by the clients and staff.

  
SOCIETY EVENTS

IN RETROSPECT

July 19: George Dulury gave us his thoughts regarding his varied background mingled with his Humanist commitment, and was answered by Roger Schlueter as Respondent. The discussion that followed was perhaps the liveliest we've ever had.

IN PROSPECT

August 16: Gordon Melton will speak on The problematic Future of Religion in America. Dr. Melton, director of his Inst. for the Study of American Religion and author of the Encyclopedia of American Religion has obvious qualifications for his subject and will be glad to field questions and participate in discussion after his talk. Come prepared to question.

Sept. 20: WE are the speakers. Chairman Perry wants to get a picture of who we are, where we are going, and what actions, if any, we wish to take. This is a policy session: A good turnout is encouraged to showcase the ideas that concern and define us.

October 18: Ellen Johnson, President of the American Atheists has agreed to speak with us. Her subject will be announced later.

Nov. 15: The Voices of Reason, an 8-voice choral group from Los Angeles will entertain us with songs for humanists and skeptics, perhaps with audience participations.


MEMBERSHIP NOTES
We are pleased to acknowledge and welcome the
following new member to our Society:

MIKE BONO

A note about your membership- We send you a notice when your annual renewal is due. We thank all of you who help us out by responding promptly and urge those of you who are late to renew without at once.
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CHAIRMAN'S COLUMN
by
BOB PERRY


August 2003
Last year Roger, then Chairman, devoted three columns in the June, July and August newsletters to the relationship of Humanism to Atheism, Agnosticism, other freethought philosophies and Deism. The essays were concise, well researched, thoughtful and objective. They effectively broadened my perspective of Humanism and I sincerely recommend them to all members of HSSB. (The columns are still available on our web site and copies will be on the information table at our next general meeting.) I refer to this material as it will have a definite connection to what follows.

This year, prior to the annual board election, Roger suggested that a complete review of the Society's activities be conducted so that "by knowing where we have been" we would better know "where we want to go." Last fall Art Brody, the At-Large board member, stated that all organizations needed a "mission statement" to explain the basic purpose for their existence. Combined, these two thoughts imply that there are some important matters that we still need to address.

The general parameters of our philosophy are eloquently described in our by-laws* and our printed brochure. The by-laws state in Article 2, Section 2: Purposes: The purpose of HSSB is to foster a community dedicated to: 1. Improving the human condition through rational inquiry and creative thinking; 2. Providing a forum to challenge and nourish the intellect; 3. Creating opportunities for social action and interaction. Article 2, Section 3 lists six goals of the Society. The first three relate to the preceding purposes, the last three propose specific activities:

These are certainly worthy, even noble, objectives and I am sure that no member of the Society would object to them. However, a question arises when we compare our intentions with the reality of our performance. What, as a group, do we care enough about to devote the time, energy and resources to accomplish some tangible result? Are we focused so broadly on our agenda that nothing becomes a priority? Which of the many good things we stand for is the most important? Condensing our thinking and preferences to a coherent minimum might illuminate and highlight the projects within our reach.

So, some questions:

*Copies of HSSB by-laws will be available on the information table.

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MICHIANA POINT OF VIEW/ROBERT ASPLUND

FREEDOM FROM RELIGION
IS A CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE


There are many "God issues" in the news these days. Among these are prayer in schools, display of the Ten Com mandments, and the wording in the Pledge of Allegiance.
I'm sure these issues will continue and others may arise, such as inscriptions on coins and oaths in courts - maybe even allowing tax deductions for religious donations.
I'm also sure that any changes will be opposed by those who want to keep their religion at the forefront of our country:
In the past year or so, The Tribune printed reviews of two books which I feel have an interesting connection to these "God issues."
"The Ornament of the World," by Maria Rosa MenocaI. describes a remarkable time when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in a society of tolerance, a society which existed for more than twice as long as our country has so far.
In this time and place, cultures flourished in amazing ways. This society lasted until some Christians overtook it by force and instituted a regime of religious oppression, exiling those who would not subscribe to the predominate religious position.
The second book is "What Went Wrong?" by Bernard Lewis. Part of the premise of this book is that most Muslim countries are not as advanced today because the religion and the state are the same. The static religion. v.ith its con- trols, cannot adapt to a dYnamic wurld. Countries. in order to stay at the forefront, nee4 to constant - ly grow in areas of science, tech- nology and government.
Another example of religious oppression was when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Rather than all Christianas now being free from persecution, most Christians suffered increased pcrsecution - that is, those Christians who disagreed with the state's official interpretation of the religion. Again, those holding a different theological interpretation were sent into exile.
On the Ten Commandments monuments, I disagree for two reasons with those who want these put on public display. One reason is from a Christian position and another from a non-Christian view.
Jeremiah 33 describes a new covenant which will be written on people's hearts. Jesus, in fulfilling this new covenant, talks of two commandments: love your God and love your neighbor. Nowhere do I see anyone wanting to put these two commandments on display even though this is a predominately Christian community.
However I also understmd the non-Christian position. Over half of my teaching career was spent in a U.S. school in which the Christians were a minority; I am very grateful that the majority popu]ation of that community did not push its views, either overtly or subtly, on me.
I must agree with those who want "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Failing that maybe there should be an amendment which would allow predominately Muslim schools to say, "under Allah," Jewish schools to say "under Yahweh" and American Indian schools to say "under the Great Spirit."
Most would oppose this amendment (as I would), but that opposition demonstrates how the current phrase really does support a specific religion. This is against our Constitution.
I also hope that no one would attempt to keep these under the guise of historical importance as South Carolina is doing with the Confederate flag. All symbols, religions or political, can be oppressive to a minority population when flaunted.
We all want a strong America. We all want freedom of religion. Both will happen in a society of tolerance where all people can both love their God and love their neighbor. But, in addition to freedom of religion, we also must have freedom from religion - freedom from religion in our schools and in our governments. This will help keep us a strong and dynamic country.

Robert Asplund is a retired educator living in the New Carlisle area.

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WORDS FROM GREAT MINDS

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why? Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever," -Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff." -Mariah Carey

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life," -Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body," -Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country," -Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC.

"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president." -Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.

"That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it," -A congressional candidate in Texas.

"I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves." -John Wayne

"Half this game is ninety percent mental." -Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." -AI Gore, Vice President

"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix." -Dan Quayle

"It's no exaggeration to say that the undecided could go one way or another" -George Bush, US President

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?" -Lee lacocca

"I was provided with additional input that was radically different from the truth. I assisted in furthering that version." -Colonel Oliver North, from his Iran-Contra testimony.

"The word "genius" isn't applicable in football, A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." -Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.

"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people." -Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor.

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." -Bill Clinton, President

"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur." -AI Gore, VP

"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas." -Keppel Enderbery

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WEB SITE OF THE MONTH
BY
COLIN GORDON

Our selection for this month is

http://www.atheistworld.com

This site looks quite promising at first glance - an extensive list of subjects covered including Humanism, a professional-looking presentation, and fairly easy navigation, but it seems to be a work in progress with many of the pages empty or incomplete. There are reviews of some interesting books but the authors seem to prefer anonymity, listing themselves simply as "Book Store @ AtheistWorld.Com"

In a review of "Christianity Exposed", in which the real author's name slips out as Dr. Solomon Tulbure, we find "... that Jesus was a Jew in every sense of the word. Jesus never intended for Christianity to be a new religion, but instead he saw it as a new sect of Judaism. As such, Jesus also had no intention of revoking the Law of Moses by dying on the cross. The New Testament does not cancel out the Old Testament."

And in a review of its counterpart "Islam Exposed", possibly by the same author, we find this little gem, attributed to Ayatollah Khomeini: "A man can have sex with animals such as sheep, cows, camels and so on. However, he should kill the animal after he has his orgasm. He should not sell the meat to the people in his own village; however selling the meat to the next-door village should be fine."

So next time you go to the butcher's shop watch out for a label "Imported from Iran"


TIME magazine letters,
Time and Life Building,
New York

Missionaries under cover

So now Christian missionaries flock to Iraq to try to have the Muslims exchange one superstition for another.
The fact is that organized religion, no matter what tenet it is, has been and still is , one of the major obstacles on the road to a saner and more peaceful world.
All through history millions have been tortured and killed in the name of some God or other.
Even Christianity is not one peaceful movement, but is composed of many different factions that still fight each other.
People better realize that in order to improve life on this planet it is up to us humans to reach this goal and praying or trying to appease a mythical deity will not do it.
The idea that one has to be religious in order to be a good human being is absurd.

John Coppejans
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