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"Goodness Without Godness", with Professor Phil Zuckerman

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4 The Secular Circular Newsletter of the Humanist Society of Santa Barbara www.SBHumanists.org OCTOBER 2016 October Program: Donna Lewis: Scaliageddon? Chaos or Status Quo after Scalia’s Last term Antonin Scalia’s strong conservatism and fiery way with language has inspired ire as well as additions to the lexicon, such as Scalia-ese, defined as Scalia’s version of legalese. This walk through Scalia’s last US Supreme Court term will highlight cases on topics relevant to Humanism’s core tenets, i.e. separation of church and state, commitment to the idea that ethics and morals do not require religion to exist, that ideologies should not be accepted on faith, and that open and pluralistic societies are best able to protect human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities. An engineer and a practicing attorney who teaches at Santa Barbara City College, Donna Lewis is, by her own admission, as nerdy and annoying as they come. During the run of the cable TV show What Not to Wear, several persons threatened to turn her in. As the ink was drying on her Brown University degree, she fled Rhode Island. She is the only past president of the century-old Santa Barbara County Bar Association who is married to another past president, Tom Hinshaw, an actor (appearing in SBCC’s Other Desert Cities in October) and Superior Court research attorney who makes a mean spaghetti aglio olio. Ms. Lewis’ practice emphasizes employment and business law. When: Saturday, October 15th, 2016 Where: Patio Room, Vista del Monte (Park ONLY in spaces marked "VDM"). Time: Meet at 2:30pm for socializing and light refreshments provided by HSSB. Program begins at 3:00 pm Donation: $2 members/$5 non-members. Students with ID are free. Optional Buffet Dinner: Dinner buffet at Vista del Monte. $25 includes tax and tip. RSVP to Nan Cisney by 12 noon on Thursday, October 13th: [email protected] For More Info: Call 805-769-4772 (769-HSSB) 2 The HSSB Secular Circular -- October 2016 Activities In 1969, the BBC commissioned a special program called Something Beautiful for God to Don’t forget that we have a wonderful buffet be produced by a devout Catholic, Malcolm dinner following the Saturday program on Muggeridge. Several weeks after returning October 15th. The menu is mixed green salad from shooting film on scene, one particular with assorted dressings, pot roast, fresh catch segment was showing the House of Dying, of the day fish, green beans, orange beets, where MT worked. It showed amazing clarity mashed potatoes, multi grain rolls, and and light compared to all other footage shot on assorted desserts. Cost is $25 per person, scene. Muggeridge called it “divine light,” which includes tax, tip and wine. RSVP to touted it as a miracle, and attributed it to MT. [email protected] no later than 12 noon, Thursday, October 13th. You can submit your Unfortunately, Muggeridge failed to listen to his payment to Nan before 3 p.m. on Saturday, cameraman, Ken McMillan, who testified that before the program begins. If you are paying by he used a new, high quality film produced by check, make it payable to Humanist Society. Kodak that accounted for the better quality Please note: It is very important to RSVP for images. Thus, a saint was generated through an the dinner and then attend it if you have signed amalgamation of advancing film technology and up for it; otherwise, HSSB has to pay for no- Muggeridge’s fanaticism and bluster. shows. Welcome to New Members! Yvonne Kane, Goleta Don and Mary McKenzie, Santa Barbara President’s Column: Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu Roger Schlueter As you may have noticed, the Catholic Church Mother Teresa has added yet another Saint to its uncountable Of course, MT is most noted for her Sisters of collection of holy figures. This new blessed Charity, which housed the sick and dying. new saint, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, better Sadly, these facilities were not places for known as Mother Teresa, has arrived at her healing and comfort. “Patients” (a better word exalted position justified by some very would be inmates) were given no serious generous interpretations of her work, and medical attention and no pain relief beyond, achieved through some highly suspicious possibly, aspirin. They were not allowed visits processes. Let’s explore Mother Teresa’s (MT) by family or friends, were kept in terribly life and death and holy resurrection from a unsanitary conditions and could not leave to Humanist perspective. visit a hospital. MT’s initial rise to fame from the slums of In short, MT created a death cult where Calcutta is based on fiction, a fact which will be suffering was seen as a path to god. She saw no repeated throughout the remainder of her life. need to alleviate symptoms or even provide The HSSB Secular Circular -- October 2016 3 sanitary facilities but rather let nature (read: western medicine. god) take its course. Worse, as her fame grew, she spread this idea of the connection between This is just a very short summary of all the suffering and god to all corners of the globe. At wrongs committed by and for MT. But you may home in India, when the Bhopal chemical spill say, “So what? Let the Catholics have their happened, her recommendation for the imaginary god and all his saints.” But MT’s life afflicted: “Forgive. Forgive.” Around the world, and sainthood have caused endless she opened over 500 Houses of Dying similar to unnecessary suffering and death. And her the one in India where suffering was seen as a influence extends beyond the Catholic Church. good thing. As Bill Donohugh, President, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, says, “I've never seen any single person as revered as Mother Teresa by people all over the world by people of different civilizations, religions and demographic groups.” As a Humanist, I think this mythology surrounding MT is a disgrace to all who hold Humanist values. Should you ever have an opportunity to destroy or damage or even call out this myth, please do so. House of the Dying MT also emphatically supported the Catholic position on birth control and abortion. In her speech upon accepting the Nobel Peace prize, she stated, “The greatest destroyer of peace today is the crying of the innocent unborn child. If a mother can murder her own child in her own womb what is left for you and me to kill each other." What she meant is that there’s nothing to stop you and I from killing each other if we allow abortion. MT’s sainthood process was a debacle from beginning to end. The normal five-year waiting period after death for a nominee was waived. The requirement that two miracles have to be attributed to the nominee was reduced to one. The miracle case chosen involved the case of Monica Besra, who claimed an image of MT placed on her abdomen cured her of tuberculosis and an ovarian cyst. Her husband disagreed. He said she used good old-fashioned 4 The HSSB Secular Circular -- October 2016 September Program: Woolley claims that both the Democrats and the Republicans have become more ideological, John Woolley: causing an ever-growing partisan split. Legacies of 2016 I will note that this is highly debatable. Many Robert Bernstein independent observers have said that the UCSB Political Science professor John Woolley Republicans have become ever more began his talk on this unusual election year ideologically extreme, and the Democrats have with a poll of those in attendance. The result? tended to follow them, but more watered- Thirty-two (32) of the 36 votes were for the down. Democrat. He did the same in 2000 at a downtown talk where 90% were for the Take health care as an example. True universal Democrat. health care was considered mainstream in both parties through the 1970’s. Only the means was Woolley grew up in the Deep South long ago. in dispute. The Republicans rejected this view Being an isolated outlier in a hostile starting with Reagan. And the Democrats environment is something he is used to. He moved toward “compromises” that have left noted his sympathy for the one Republican in millions without health care under Obamacare. the audience. The US is almost alone in the world in thinking this is acceptable. Woolley considers this to be the most remarkable election campaign in his lifetime. In the spring of 2015, one of his teaching assistants said that Bernie Sanders will be the Democratic Party nominee. Woolley laughed at this. Sanders was not a Democrat. He is from a non-Democratic state. He is a cranky old man, and a socialist. Woolley also made fun of Trump in his class back then. He predicted Trump would go away in two months. Then the Republican Party would go on to serious candidates to take on Hillary. He was wrong and he was not the only one. Our September speaker, John Woolley (L), with HSSB President Roger Schlueter (R). Photo by Robert Bernie was never close to winning, in Woolley's Bernstein. view. But he did far better than anyone Bernie Sanders argued repeatedly that there predicted. are large areas of agreement on the most important matters to the majority of What might change? It depends on who wins Americans. It is only the deliberate “wedge and by what margin. It also depends who wins issues” that divide us. in the House and Senate. Woolley noted that it is easy now to live in a media bubble where we only hear views matching our ideology.
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