JH Newsletter January 2020
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Chapter Meeting January Coral reefs make up a minute Humanist Perspectives Our amount of our oceans yet provide Finite Planet and Atheism home to nearly a third of all life in Review (Nov & Dec) the seas. These magnificent and Humanist Perspectives mysterious ecosystems are truly the Atheism Review (Nov & nurseries of our marine world. Dec) Continued However, these spectacular places are feeling the heat, quite literally. Chapter Meeting Preview February and Appetizers Our changing climate is having dramatic impacts, at a global scale, Zack Rago Speaker Humanists Helping on our coral reefs and all of the Humanity—Recent and organisms that call it home. This Upcoming Events presentation will explore the for his role in the Netflix Movie Night— experience of documenting this documentary Chasing Coral, Zack has ROCKETMAN and Game impact through the production of spent his entire career working with Time the Netflix film Chasing Coral, how coral reefs and has become an we can shed light on an ecosystem activist and voice for the ecosystem. 8 FROG Book Group that this largely out of sight and out His passion for the sea led him to Art, Science, Cultural of mind and create an educated create The Ocean Blueprint where Outing (ASC) January general public that can stand up for he can continue to engage the public Isaac Asimov the issues facing our natural world. about the dire state of coral reefs, 10. AHA Accomplishments Zack Rago is a passionate coral and involve the enthusiasts in enthusiast and science unique and novel programs. As an 12 (4 H) Happy Hour and educator, activist and ‘coral nerd’ he The Five Strangest Things communicator. He has a diverse is thrilled to embark on a new from The Humanist.com background that includes extensive experience with coral care and journey protecting what he loves. Humanists Birthdays husbandry, underwater fieldwork, Zach holds a bachelor’s degree in and public outreach. Well known Evolutionary Biology & Ecology from the University of Colorado.▲ Jefferson County Colorado Chapter of the American Humanist Association (AHA) JeffersonHumanists.org JH Monthly — 2020 January 1 Issue 5.01 Hosted by Jim Bole and Tom Kellogg We are doing a 6-part series of • Part-3: Mar. 21 - Sustainable discussion programs on our finite Agriculture, GMOs, planet and what we need to do to Livestock - (Traci Bickell) save it. Starting with • Part-4: Apr. 18 - Protecting & Overpopulation, the biggest Healing the Biosphere - Air, problem facing humanity, it is the Water, Land, Other Species - major driver of other problems, (Lucy Deakins) such as climate change and pollution that is destroying the • Part-5: May 16 - Our World in environment and our precious eco- a Hundred Years - (Ian systems. We simply cannot Kolsky) continue to keep dumping people • Part-6: June 20 - Global on the planet without serious Economics with Declining catastrophic consequences. How Population and Resource can we feed everyone with healthy food, and when we Limitations – (Ralph Hughes) do slow and reverse population growth, what happens Audience participation is encouraged. to the global economy? Breakfast pastries and beverages will be served, and Here is the tentative schedule of topics in the series: donations are appreciated. • Part-1: Jan. 18 - Introduction to the Series (Tom We meet in the Mills Building behind JUC. Park on Kellogg) and Overpopulation (Jim Bole) the east side and take the walkway between the • Part-2: Feb. 15 - Global Warming & Climate buildings to the side entrance.▲ Change (Tom Kellogg) https://www.meetup.com/JeffcoHumanists/ events/267393079/ Humanist Perspectives | Review (Nov and Dec) Atheism Types and Atheist Myths By Tom Kellogg & Jim Bole On Both November 16th and December 21st, around 20 people attended two of the liveliest discussions we’ve had at HP. Here are the atheism types and atheist myths we explored. It all started with reading Seven Types of Atheism by John Gray in November. Atheism Types (based on research at the University of Tennessee) 1. Intellectual Atheist/Agnostic (IAA): This type includes individuals who proactively seek to educate themselves through intellectual association and acquire knowledge on various topics relating to ontology (the search for Truth) & non-belief. They enjoy healthy democratic debate discussions. 2. Activist Atheist/Agnostic (AAA): This type is not content with simply holding a non-belief position; they (Continued on page3 ) JH Monthly — 2020 January 2 HOME Issue 5.01 Humanist Perspectives | Review (Nov and Dec) continued Atheism Types and Atheist Myths By Tom Kellogg & Jim Bole (Continued from page 2) seek to be both vocal and proactive regarding current issues in the atheist & or agnostic socio-political sphere. This sphere can include such egalitarian issues as: concerns of humanism, feminism, LGBTQ issues, social or political concerns, human rights themes, environmental concerns, animal rights, and separation of church & state. 3. Seeker-Agnostic (SA): This type consists of individuals tuned to the philosophical possibilities of non- physical existence, or at least recognizes the philosophical difficulties regarding ideological beliefs. 4. Anti-Theist: The Anti-Theist both proactively & aggressively asserts their views towards others when appropriate, seeking to educate theists in the outdated nature of belief & theology. Anti-theists view religion as ignorance & see any individual or institution associated with it as backward & socially detrimental. 5. Non-Theist: The Non-Theist is non-active in terms of involving themselves in social or intellectual pursuits having to do with religion or anti-religion. Non-Theists simply do not concern themselves with religion. 6. Ritual Atheist/Agnostic (RAA): This type holds no belief in a god or the divine, or they tend to believe it is unlikely that there is an afterlife with a god or the divine. They are open about their lack of belief & may educate themselves on the various aspects of belief by others. They also may find utility in the teachings of some religious traditions. 7. Atheist Myths • Atheism provides no basis for morality. Without religion, people would act immorally. • Atheists believe that life is meaningless. • Atheism is responsible for the greatest crimes in human history. • Atheists think everything in the universe arose by chance. • There are no atheists in foxholes, with many variations on this myth. • Atheists are out to destroy Christmas & politically suppress religion. We also discussed a few facts about atheists, taken from research done at the Pew Research Center. 68% are men, and the median age of atheists in the U.S. is 34. 69% identify as Democrats, and 56% call themselves liberals. Over 90% say religion is not important in their lives. 54% feel a deep sense of wonder about the universe and 31% feel a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being. 65% say they seldom or never discuss their views on religion with religious people. Virtually no atheists turn to religion for guidance and 32% say they look primarily to science for guidance on right and wrong. Americans like atheists less than they like members of most popular religions, and about half would be less likely to support an atheist candidate for president. About half of Americans say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral, while 45% say belief in God is necessary to have good values.▲ JH Monthly — 2020 January 3 HOME Issue 5.01 February Preview Creating a New Chance Creating a New Chance: Criminal Justice Reform from a Scientific and Humanist Perspective by Allison Tapia Mass incarceration has been a hot topic across the country as local jail incarcera- tion rates have grown exponentially since the 1960s. The growth of jail popula- tions is a direct result of pretrial detention, which is the incarceration of people who have yet to be convicted of a crime. Over the years, research has shown us that money bail does not have an impact on public safety or individual flight risk, so why are so many people still stuck in jail? In this presentation, we will talk about the national landscape of pretrial reform efforts in addition to the pretrial evolution in Colorado. Speaker Allison Tapia has more than 14 years of experi- ence leading innovation in criminal justice and community-based corrections.▲ Alison Tapia February Speaker Now that I have your attention… If you love food like I do, read on. Jefferson Humanists have followed a tradition of having food before each monthly meeting and have found everyone loves appetizers. This is how you can help keep that tradition alive. Hi, I’m Carol Wilson Jefferson Humanists new appetizer coordinator for 2020 and will be scheduling the appetizer providers for the monthly meetings. The coordinator is NOT responsible for providing the appetizers and I will need volunteers. Providing appetizers is pretty easy, because we have the job well organized. You don’t need to use any of your own dishes or utensils. There are two plastic bins that contain a variety of platters and bowls used to set out the appetizers, as well as We need you large serving spoons and other utensils. And you’ll work with a budget. On Sunday, January 24th I will be attending the appetizer table with Roberta Larson and you can see the entire setup. Talk to me about having your opportunity to plan and create a similar table or better, once or twice a year. You can also call Carol at 303-550-1533 (leave a message if no answer) or email [email protected]. Looking forward to at least 10 interested people.▲ JH Monthly — 2020 January 4 HOME Issue 5.01 RECENT ACTIONS: • November 24 Chapter Meeting: Socks (and personal items) Thanks to Jefferson Humanists and other community groups, The Action Center’s effort to collect 10,587 pairs of socks was successful beyond expectation.