Humanist Society of Santa Barbara - Newsletter July 2001

We meet on the third Saturday of every month (but see below for exceptions in September and November) at 3.00 PM at Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara, California (except in June and December when we have our biannual Solstice parties). It is not necessary to be a member to attend our meetings Everyone who is receptive to Humanist ideas and ideals is welcome. The views and opinions expressed in the Bulletin are the writer's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Society. Society Board Meetings are usually held on the Monday prior to each monthly Society meeting. All members are welcome. See Upcoming Events

Comedy Night: Our van trip to Comedy Night and Dinner in Ventura filled quickly and at this writing the trip is still to take place. More next month.

Help Needed: Because our group is now approaching 80 members, the Social Chair (Anne Rojas) needs help. PLEASE SERVE ON THE SOCIAL COMMITTEE It's a fun assignment and you will not be overworked. This is a good way for new members to become more involved and to get to know one another better. CALL ANNE (564-5614). The work involved is probably less then 2 hours a month!

Sunday Brunch on June 24th drew 16 members to Sizzlers. The next brunch will be July 29th at The Starlight. Come join us, at 10 AM and wear your SB Humanist T-shirt. While at last month's brunch we discussed the possibility of having a picnic in a park, instead of the Starlight with each person bringing their own provisions. Your input on this possibility is requested.

Refreshments at Meetings - Here is a list of Cookie Sign-ups for the upcoming meetings. Anne will call you one week prior to the meeting to remind you of your date. Please bring 4 to 5 dozen small but nice cookies (half each if two are bringing). If for some reason you have to miss your date please arrange with someone who has another month. Thank you for your cooperation:

One isn't with Dudley Duncan very long before his love of music shows itself: he tum-de-tum's parts of symphonies, somehow getting the beat of percussion as well as the theme - probably the violins', part or the bassoons', instruments he has played. He and his wife Bea, who shares his passion for music, travel from coast to coast to attend concerts. No doubt there's a genetic reason to explain why Dudley's daughter, the product of his first marriage, is an accomplished flutist. Dudley also composes music on the computer, and using the Draw Cricket Program on a machine he keeps for that purpose, he does computer drawings as well. Art is another interest he and Bea have in common. Because they are both retired academicians, they also share compatible intellectual pursuits. Both were UCSB professors, Bea in the art history department, Dudley in sociology. (You will be "getting to know" Bea in next month's newsletter.) Dudley's parents came from a very poor area of Texas. His father read H. L. Mencken, yet, none-the-less, belonged to the Church of Christ; his mother, a Baptist, became a member also. Dudley was sent to church but his father became lax in his religious supervision because he was busy advancing in the academic world. (While raising a family, he got his Ph. D. and became a professor at Oklahoma State University.) As a result, Dudley says, "I was able to escape the haranguing of ministers." By insisting only the elect (meaning Church of Christ disciples) would go to heaven--and everyone else to hell--they totally alienated Dudley. While attending university, Dudley met a sociologist who pointed out how the various religious philosophies contradicted one another. This led Dudley to pursue the subject of religion; he read Paine's "Age of Reason", Anatole France's "Penguin Island" (which is a parody of Christianity) and the writings of H. L. Mencken, and graduated from Louisiana State University an atheist. Dudley entered the University of Minnesota graduate school as a sociology major and there obtained his M. A. degree. In 1942 he was inducted into the army and was shipped all over the U. S. for training in the Office of Strategic Services. Two benefits of his army experience were the opportunity to attend concerts allover this country, and the G. I. Bill which financed his Ph. D. which he received from the University of Chicago where he concentrated on statistics and quantitative research. He then launched into an academic career. "In those years, money was plentiful for research," he remembered nostalgically. "So much could be accomplished. "Dudley is a professor emeritus from UCSB, holds a number of honorary degrees, and has published many books. One book, "Notes on Social Measurement", sums up his observations about social measurements, some of which he gleaned by reading classical literature. For example, in Greek and Roman literature, he saw the beginnings of human curiosity about social measurement, and also he discovered the ancient Athenians had invented random selection of juries. Both are described in his book. Although retired, Dudley still pursues statistical insights. Presently he is studying the published results of a poll asking about religious beliefs in the United States. This poll asks "What is your religious preference? Protestant? Catholic? Jewish? Other? None? He noticed that the frequency of "None" was rising over the last 25 years although that increase and its ramifications have not been commented on by those reporting on the poll's results. He decided he wanted to know more. This required access to a data file. Someone at Indiana University led him to a site on the internet where he discovered he can create "tons" of statistical tables in minutes--which, he says, is "hog heaven " for a sociologist. He has now written up a preliminary report on what he's tabulated which James Kimberly has sent to the Council on Secular Humanism. He has been in contact with the leading scholar in this field, a Catholic priest, who knows what he's up to and says "God Bless."

Santa Barbara Humanist Society Newsletter for July 2001