Santa Barbara Humanist Society Newsletter for June 2001 |
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Founded in 1995 by Keith Bailey 2000 - 2001 OFFICERS Chairman: Roger Schlueter 962-6316-rogers@west.net Secretary: Colin Gordon 682-0545-colin3@juno.com Editor: Dick Cousineau 687-2371-rcous1geol@aol.com Treasurer: Russ Boggie 564-6086-rusans@aol.com Programs: James Kimberly 969-9686-drtunes@aol.com Social Director: Anne Rojas 564-6086-rusans@aol.com Membership: Mary Wilk 967-3045-wilk@electromatic.com Archivist: Bob Michael 963-5614 Publicity: Charlotte Carver 964-2773-charm@silcom.com Top of Page MEETINGS We meet on the third Saturday of every month (but see Calendar 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 Top of PageMEMBERSHIP NOTES We wish to welcome the following new members to our society: GEORGE DELURY RONALD KOEGLER GENE KUEHNLE CAROL PALLADINI JONATHAN YOUNG Our own Ellen Jackson received a wonderful write-up in the News Press last month in the book section. The author had great things to say about Ellen's new work Summer Solstice and mentions with high regard some of her other books, such as Cinder Edna, and The Winter Solslice, for which she won the International Readers Association, Children's Choice Award in 2000. SOCIAL SCENE BY ANNE ROJAS Summer Solstice: The Summer Solstice Celebration on June 16 the will soon be upon us. Please, all members, return your RSVP cards promptly. It appears so far that we will have a very good turnout. Scolari's Market is providing our group with Ham, Turkey, and Prime Rib; We'll all dine well! Our members always bring wonderful side dishes also. Anne Rojas and Russ Boggie have been working overtime to bring this memorable event to fruition. Remember there will be games, contests, mental gymnastics for those so inclined, but also you are welcome to just kick back, have some wine or juice, and enjoy Mary Wilk's beautiful Hope Ranch home and grounds. All of our Solstice celebrations in the past years have been successful and this will be no exception. Comedy Night: We have only two places left for our van trip to Ventura Harbor for this this fun excursion. Leave the driving to our designated non-drinking driver and join us on Friday June29 leaving Anne and Russ's house about 5 PM. We'll dine and see the show at Hornblowers. Cost for the Van and Show is $20 - Dinner is on you. Call 564-6086 Sunday Brunch on May 27 drew 19 members to our private dining room at Starlight Cafe (a new venue for us). There were mixed opinions on the suitability of the location so it was decided to alernate between Starlight and Sizzlers. The next brunch will be JUNE 24th at Sizzlers - Goleta. Come join us at 10 AM and wear your SB Humanist T-shirt, as well as pants, shoes, etc. Refreshments at Meetings: Most of us appreciate tbe cookies and soft drinks available at no cost during our regular Society meetings. Unfortunately only very few members have responded to continued pleas for cookie donations. For the past several years Russ and Anne have contributed all of the beverages. Because of the increased membership we need help! Some of the most dedicated munchers have not committed to make even one donation per year. With now over 70 people in attendance at meetings, any one person would not have to donate more than once per year. Please call Anne (564-6086) or sign up at the party to volunteer for drink and/or cookie contribution. Thanks for your cooperation. Top of PageMark your calendars, August 11, 2001, The Humanist Society of Santa Barbara is proud to announce the sponsorship of a presentation by the noted Thinker and Author, William Edelen. His editorial column is presented each Sunday in the Voices Section of the Santa Barbara News Press and other papers. For the past few months his articles have aroused controversy, contemplation, outrage and appreciation. Numerous letters to the Editor of the paper have attacked and/or praised the ideas expressed by this polymath and author. The presentation is to be held at La Colina Junior High, 4025 Foothill Rd. on Saturday, 8/11/10 at 2 PM. Tickets will be $6.00 for Members, $12.00 for the General Public. Top of PageGETTING TO KNOW YOU. INTERVIEW BY LOTTIE WHITE John and Patricia Coppejans The entrance to the Coppejans' home introduces visitors to two of their loves -
plants and cats. Inside, countless cat figurines, and two living felines-one ginger, one
black and white - share space with over a hundred African violets. On the walls numerous oil paintings signed by the artist, "J. Coppejans", indicate another interest of
the occupants as do the book-filled shelves lining the walls. There is no doubt that Pat
and John are avid readers. John collects old books as well as stamps, and the couple
enjoys classical, Latin and French music, and "good" jazz - and going to garage sales
where, occasionally, they find treasures such as the glassed case containing John's
valuable old books. John also plays pool (has his own table and cues) and lifts weights - which may be why he looks ten years younger than he is. Pat collects delftware and
coupons and does the gardening; John does most of the cooking. The couple travels
extensively together (often to Holland where John still has relatives), and they are proud
of their son, an economics professor at Duke University.
Pat, an only child, was born in Red Wing, Minnesota where she enjoyed a happy
childhood. She spent a great deal of time with her grandparents on a dairy and hay farm
that had been in the family 130 years. Her mother, as much at home on a tractor, snow
plow or rock crusher as any man, worked along side her father in a trucking business. The
family was Lutheran and Pat attended church every Sunday and studied her catechism,
but in her teens she became disillusioned with what the minister was teaching her. Nothing made sense.
After she married, Pat moved to Santa Barbara, divorced, worked in the County Assessors office (31 years) where she met John (who validated her apostasy), married, and is living happily ever after.
John was born in Zaadam, Holland, a town just north of Amsterdam. He was in
the service when Germany invaded the Netherlands. The resistance crumbled quickly
and Holland's soldiers were made prisoners of war, half of whom were sent to German
prisoner of war camps. The other half were kept in Holland to clean up fortifications.
John was one of the latter. He got a job driving a supply truck to France and used that
means to attempt an escape, hoping to reach Spain or North Africa. This effort was
foiled by the Germans and he was returned to Holland. Two years before the end of the
war he went to Arnhem, west of Amsterdam, which was not a good move as it was the
focus of the historical Battle of Arnhem: in 1944, the British, Canadians, and
Americans - first by air and then by invading land forces - were trying to drive the
Germans out of the area, so the town was besieged by shelling and street fighting on all
sides. Later, he got into the resistance movement and, three weeks before the war's end,
had to flee to north Holland. Again, he was apprehended and was to have been sent to
Amsterdam to be executed, but a German officer, knowing the war was about over, let
him go.
After the war, while John worked for the government locating collaborators, he
received a letter from his uncle in New Orleans, Louisiana, who urged him to join him
there. He decided to take his advice. He got a job there with Shell Oil as a draftsman.
However, he disliked the weather and the social climate in the South - his sense of justice
was offended by the southerners' attitude towards, and their treatment of, blacks - so he
took the advice of a couple whom he'd earlier met on the boat and moved to California.
His first job was with Los Angeles Shell Oil. Then we worked for Franco Western in
Bakersfield which sold out to Mobile. John disliked Bakersfield, so moved to Santa
Barbara where he worked for the county, first as a surveyor, then as head of the drafting
department in the assessor's office. It was then he met Pat. Their May/December
romance has been a lasting one; they have been married 31 years.
John was raised a Catholic because his father, although a free thinker, had
promised his Catholic mother he would raise their children in the church. However, he
privately told his off - spring not to believe everything they heard there. At twelve, John
left parochial school and, he says, "never looked back" - which is easy to do in a liberal
country like Holland where religion is not a big thing. "In that country," he observed, "a
person can announce he's an atheist and no one cares." He misses that tolerant mindset
of the Netherlands' people.
An article in the Santa Barbara "News-Press" by Roger Schlueter brought Pat and John Coppejans to the Santa Barbara Humanist Society. We are delighted they have
become members.
Top of PageQuotes of the Month "I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal
example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has
preserved - the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief
has produced!" "I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do
not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature.
They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent
men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have
been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of
this coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half
hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth." "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for
everv noble enterprise. ...During almost fifteen centuries has the legal
establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits?
More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance
and servility in laity; in both, superstition, bigotry, and persecution. "Some books against Deism fell into my hands. ...It happened that
they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by
them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quote to be refuted,
appeared to me much stronger than the refutations, in short, I soon
became a thorough Deist." "The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the
greatest miseries that have afflicted the human race have had their origin
in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion." Brent Meeker (Meekerdb@rain.org) Top of Page |
As you may remember from a previous Chairman's Chatter column, last fall I participated in a debate in a "Critical Thinking" class at Santa Barbara City College. According to the class instructor, it was so well received that he invited both participants back for a new topic and a new session in the current spring semester. I enthusiastically accepted the invitation and participated in the debate on May 17th. I engaged with Dr. Hal Fishel, a retired University of Chicago Physics professor, on the topic "Does the old testament (OT) provide an accurate account of the history of the universe, the earth, and humankind?"
Some background may prove interesting. Originally, Dr. Fishel, an orthodox Jew, proposed three topics revolving around the OT. I rejected these topics as being too specialized and specifically stated that I was "not prepared" (in both senses of the word - not "knowledgeable" and not "willing") to debate the OT. My rationale beyond my own lack of expertise in the OT was rooted in the belief that a debate on the OT was not really a good topic to illustrate the principles of critical thinking. I'd have much rather engaged in some topic such as "Should drugs be legalized?" on which I have no expertise either but which surely would have grabbed the students far more than some arcane OT topic.
Alas, I did not prevail and the topic presented above was the focus of the evening. Recognizing my utter lack of biblical expertise, I prepared an argument that did not depend on specific details of the OT but rather considered it from three perspectives which I defined as the "literal", the "metaphorical"and the "historical." Thus armed (although my armor felt distinctly feeble), into battle I went.
Sadly, I lost the toss of the coin and went first. I really wanted to spend my efforts rebutting the opposition rather than arguing my own view, but it was not to be. I took 15 minutes to argue that the literal interpretation was nonsense, the metaphorical was inconsistent and inappropriate, and the historical was the best view. I ended with this conclusion: "The OT is one of numerous mythological documents that reflects the harsh brutalities of its cultural and historical setting and the realities of life on earth."
My opponent's argument (which was twice as long as allocated) had two components. First, he spent at least 15 minutes justifying why the six-day creation story of Genesis is factual. His argument depended on Einstein's Theory of Relativity and was totally incomprehensible. Well, it was to me anyway, and I wasted way too many of my graduate school years trying to understand Einstein. Secondly, he focused endlessly (or so it seemed) on the classical "double-slit" experiment that demonstrates the wave-particle duality of modern quantum mechanics in an attempt to justify "free will" and god's choice of what to do with us humans after death.
Now, you may well ask what all this has to do with the debate topic. I certainly did. As far as I can tell, his justification of the six-day creation was in support of his opening statement that "Genesis is amazingly accurate" (yes, that is a direct, literal quote). How "free will" and - especially - quantum mechanics enters into a justification of the OT as "accurate" is totally beyond me.
After our opening statements, we were supposed to enter into a dialog regarding the questions raised by our positions which was then to be followed by student Q&A. I must confess I had trouble coming up with questions for him, mostly because all of his material seemed so, well, irrelevant. But at one point, he did say the OT did not deal with god at all except to affirm that he was just and kind and benevolent. Anticipating this, I had brought along a slide that listed all the killings in the OT done in the name of god. I asked him to resolve a just god with this long, bloody and cruel list of murders. I got no answer beyond an assertion that that is how life is.
He had no questions for me at all (one can draw any number of conclusions from that fact) so we opened the floor to the students. In both the previous session and this one, I thought this was the most interesting part. One of the first questions was from a student who asked where I thought I would go after I die. (No, I do not know how that relates to the topic, but given my opponent's gross irrelevancies, can we fault the audience?). I basically replied "nowhere" and you could tell from his expression that he just did not comprehend this perspective. We were so far apart, I doubt there was much room for discussion.
Another student perceptively noted that the key difference between our positions was whether we believed in god. I had an abbreviated but very interesting exchange with him. He argued that god's existence was obvious based on the Big Bang theory of the universe as argued by the six-day creation story of my opponent. I questioned, "Where do you see god in that" to which he replied, "Where do you NOT see god?" Now that's an impasse if I've ever seen one!
So I tried to raise the level of the argument by stating that those who make extraordinary claims must support them with evidence and the burden of proof was on him. I used the old "Leprechaun on my shoulder" argument, but it didn't seem to get to him. Then Dr. Fishel interjected an aside that it was my responsibility to prove god did not exist, at which point I dropped the whole thing.
I had two compatriots in class. Ellen Jackson and Ethel Trione came to observe. Ellen spent quite a bit of time helping me get ready for the debate, for which I am thankful. She said beforehand that he would argue from Genesis and I said nobody was that silly and did not really prepare for that possibility. Oops, score one for the ladies. In class, Ellen also took on Dr. Fishel regarding his account of the Noah and the flood and the subsequent rainbow but she could not get a straight answer even on the question whether the flood was a local or global event. Ethel was quite observant after the class that the instructor did not control the debate, making it much less effective than it could have been.
I enjoy these intellectual challenges, but in my opinion this one failed to provide the class with an example of a good, critical thinking debate. Ellen (and apparently the instructor, because he has asked me back for the fall semester) disagree. In any case, next time, I'm going try to find a more relevant and appropriate topic that would appeal to today's student.
RogerTop of Page HSSB Fiscal Year Election The HSSB fiscal year starts on July 1st of each year and marks the formal change in Board membership through the election of new officers. This year, our election will take the form of a written ballot at the Summer Solistice party. This ballot will not only contain a list of recommended Board Officers (and write-in alternatives) but will also provide you with an opportunity to express your own views on the current state of the HSSB, where it has been and, most importantly, where we should be headed.
The Summer Solstice party is an ideal opportunity for this election because it is a "members only" event without the distraction of visitors, a speaker and the time limits of our regular meetings. However, not all members are able to attend so if you would like to cast your ballot but canot attend the Solstice party, contact me at 962-6316 or rogers@west.net to get a ballot and to make sure your voice is heard.
When you recive your ballot, you will notice that the lower part constitutes a survey regarding your ideas regarding our Society. Please give some thought to the following issues and take some time to expresss your ideas (anonymously, if you want):
Top of Page Many of our existing memberships are coming up for renewal in the next few months and there are many new members who are just becoming acquainted with our Society so I've written this article to summarize our various membership and meeting fees.
Regular, annual membership dues are $36 per person ($60 for partners at the same address) and the Board has decided to retain this fee for our next fiscal year. When you renew your membership, you are entitled to participate in all regular HSSB activities and enjoy the reduced costs for our various social activities.
Beyond the regular membership, you also have the opportunity to become a Society Sponsor by making a significant contribution to the HSSB above the regular membership fee. By financially contributing to the HSSB well above the normal fee, you can contribute to the activities and efforts of our Society.
Typical Sponsor contributions have ranged from $100 to several times that amount. This money goes into our general budget and is used in the best possible manner to support our many activities. Typically, you can expect that we will use the money for speaker fees, event promotion and newsletter expenses, our largest budgetary items.
Alternatively, you can become a Sponsor by becoming active in the organization and giving of your time and energy. The existing Board members can always use help, and, as we come to the end of the Fiscal Year (June 30), new Board members are elected and all positions are open for new talent, energy and ideas. Involvement in the operations of the HSSB is fun and rewarding so give this possibility serious thought.
Beyond the "psychic rewards" of supporting Humanism, Society Sponsors also benefit by being invited to special events. For example, just before the programs featuring Dan Barker and Paul Kurtz, we held a reception honoring these notable speakers to which Sponsors were invited. We plan to continue our Special Events series and your involvement as a Sponsor will create an enhanced opportunity for involvement.
The "Sponsorship" program was begun last year at the instigation of James Kimberly and it has made a significant contribution to our activities. I urge you to become a Society Sponsor and thereby enhance the vitality of our organization.
Conversely, there may be some members (or prospective members) for whom payment of the annual membership fee is a hardship. We are adamant that we do not want such circumstances to deter anyone from becoming a member. To deal with this possibility, we have created HSSB Scholarships. These scholarships will defer some or all of the annual dues so that a truly interested Humanist with limited resources can still participate in the HSSB. So if you know anyone in ths category, please contact me in private so I can arrange for wavier of some or all of the dues. We have budgeted for a few such Scholarships and if they are truly needed, I would like to see them used. No matter the outcome of our discussion, please be assured that it will remain completely personal and private.
Next, let's review the cost of meeting in Jefferson Hall at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara. We have been informed that the room use fee schedule has been changed. Heretofore we were charged $1 per person, which was exactly what we charged for members so we usually broke even for any one meeting. The new charge is $50 per meeting, no matter how many attendees there are.
Historically, we have rarely, if ever (the Faye Girsh meeting aside), had 50 attendees at our regular monthly meetings (my dream is that this becomes no longer true!!). Thus, we must increase the monthly meeting fees to cover our direct costs. Consideration of how to handle this problem centered on two issues. First, we do not want to have to deal with coins. In other word, we do not want to set the fee at $1.25 or $1.50 because it would cause too much consternation. Secondly, we want to give a significant incentive and reward for membership. The outcome is that the Board decided that meeting fees will be $2 for members and $4 for non-members starting with the new fiscal year, which means the July meeting.
Finally, what about tax exemption? The process of becoming a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization is underway. All necessary By-laws and Articles of Incorporation have been submitted to the State of California and are being processed as this is written. Once we receive California approval, a request will be submitted to the IRS for approval. I do not anticipate any problems, but I have no idea how long the process will take to come to fruition.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at rogers@west.net or 962-6316. Roger S. Schlueter, Chairman Top of Page Old Time Religion ala Peter Seeger chorus verses We will pray with those Egyptians, Good old Odin we will follow, Let me follow dear old Buddha, We will pray with Zarathustra, We will pray with those old druids; Hare Krishna gets a laugh on I'll rise at early morning, Top of Page |
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