Humanist Group
The Humanist Group meets on the last Sunday of the month online at 7:30 pm. Humanism is a philosophy that encourages people to think for themselves, valuing science and reason. It is focused on human means for comprehending reality and pursuing good. Humanist ethics are based on respect for all life and regard human values as having meaning in the context of human life rather than the promise of life after death.
2024
Sunday June 23rd: I am absolutely thrilled to say that our guest presenter will be Moji Agha. Brother Moji Agha is an Iranian-American Sufi “monk” (or dervish) with a vow of service and poverty. He is currently on a speaking tour engaged in the healing of “Grandmother Earth.” His concerns are with the intersectionality of peace, justice, human rights, democracy, interfaith, dialogue, and “Grandmother Earth” activism. He will speak of PATH (Peace And Truth Heals.) Brother Moji will outline PATH’s 3 topics: Iranian nonviolence, Native/American Truth and Reconciliation, and intersectional circles or chambers of compassion. The talk will be followed by questions and discussion.
Brother Moji Agha has had a four decade long professional clinical and academic career in cultural psychology (and ecological studies and conflict resolution) as a now retired university educator and psychotherapist. He is a member of Historians for Peace and Democracy, an associate member of Veterans For Peace, and a Muslim member of the Jewish Voice for Peace. His intersectional activism has been endorsed by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Professor Noam Chomsky, among many other notables.
More information can be found here. Zoom link to join.
July and August: No meetings. We look forward to meeting again September 29th.
Register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Register once to attend any or all.
Past topics:
Are we animals?
How are we different from/the same as the other animals?
What does being truly human mean?
What does this mean about our relationship with the other animals?
Does it separate us or connect us?
May 26th: How does ChatGPT work and is AI a menace to society? Tristan Engst, a third year Ph.D. student in machine learning/computer science at SFU will be leading this discussion. Source material includes a podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVm2IoUUxdo and a New Yorker article: https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-artificial-intelligence/what-kind-of-mind-does-chatgpt-have both by Cal Newport.
Status, says Storr, is our life. Status meaning competition in very many ways, placing others on many hierarchies of value, labelling them as good at this and bad at that. Gabor wakes us up to recognition that we are diverse, to be looked at as whole people, not one of us fitting some arbitrary definition of normal, status not defining the person. Can we do this?
and with your approach. Visit CoqZest for more information.
Dec. 31st: No meeting this month.