Video+discussion

Can a Divided America Heal?

A video of Jonathan Haidt, and an audience discussion

11 a.m., September 27, 2020

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

If you don’t intend to ask any questions or make any comments during this Forum, then please click the below link on Sunday around 11 a.m. in order to view the Forum as it occurs (in real time):

https://www.echoplexmedia.com/humanist

If you may want to ask a question or make a comment during this Forum, then please click the below link on Sunday around 11 a.m. in order to view, and possibly take part in, the Forum as it occurs (in real time):

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/314247393

Note: If you don’t have the Zoom app installed on your desktop computer, then joining the meeting via the above link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer, and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your smart phone, and then enter 314247393 as the “meeting number” that you want to “join”.

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This Sunday’s online Forum will show, and have an audience discussion of, a video of a TED Talk by Jonathan Haidt entitled “Can a Divided America Heal?”.

The political divide in America has become very serious. We find ourselves wondering whether there will be a peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses, or if our social progress will be undone if he wins. Most of all, we wonder what people on the other side of the political spectrum could possibly be thinking.

This 20 minute TED Talk (see https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_can_a_divided_america_heal) was recorded in November 2016, but Jonathan Haidt’s clear analysis still gives us a lot to think about and a lot to discuss.

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See videos of our past Forums here.
To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism

A video and audience discussion

11 a.m., September 20, 2020

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

https://www.echoplexmedia.com/humanist

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/314247393

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This Sunday’s online Forum will show, and have an audience discussion of, a video of Katherine Stewart discussing her new book:

“The Power Worshipers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism”

This video is from the American Humanist Association’s speaker series.

Stewart will expose a network of think tanks, advocacy groups, and pastoral organizations embedded in a rapidly expanding community of international alliances and united not by any central command but by a shared, anti-democratic vision and a common will to power. In her deeply reported investigation, Katherine Stewart reveals a disturbing truth: this is a political movement that seeks to gain power and to impose its vision on all of society. America’s religious nationalists aren’t just fighting a culture war, they are waging a political war on the norms and institutions of American democracy.

This fascinating and informative video runs 53 minutes and can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/americanhumanist/videos/1121321928211408. An audience discussion will follow the showing of the video.

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Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Is Atheism Still a Dirty Word?

General audience discussion

11 a.m., August 2, 2020

Because of the coronavirus situation, this Forum will be held online.

https://www.echoplexmedia.com/humanist

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/314247393

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This online, general audience discussion Forum will be on the topic of:

“Is Atheism Still a Dirty Word?”

While pundits on the right often see atheism as a bad thing, this view may be less so among the general population.

What are your feelings and experiences? Please let us know by taking part in our discussion, or listen to other audience members discuss this topic.

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RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Two Videos with Discussion

Jeff Justice and Carl Angotti will facilitate

11 a.m., December 1, 2019

The two videos this Sunday are “Is the World Getting Better”, and “Happiness: What Your Mother Didn’t Tell You”.

We will watch the above videos of talks by distinguished professors from Harvard University. Then we will spend some time discussing each one for about 10 to 15 minutes.

The videos are:

1) Steven Pinker’s Ted talk “Is the World Getting Better or Worse?”. It’s 18 minutes long. See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCm9Ng0bbEQ&t=37s

Steven Arthur Pinker is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science author. He is Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, and is known for his advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind.

2) Dan Gilbert from Harvard University: “Happiness: What Your Mother Didn’t Tell You” (2018 WORLD.MINDS Annual Symposium). It’s 21 minutes long. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Y2Z1BGwno

Professor Gilbert is interested in how human beings navigate the complexities of time and social life. The first of these interests motivates his research on affective forecasting (how, and how well, do people predict the emotional consequences of future events), inter-temporal choice (when and how people sacrifice for the future), and other topics in judgment and decision-making.

Both of these videos give us a lot to stimulate our thinking, get a discussion going.

Come join us to discuss these two great videos, and join in for lunch afterwards to discuss them further.

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After the Forum, please join us for a lunch at 12:30pm. The lunch is complimentary for first-time visitors and students.

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Follow us on Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.

To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.

Two Videos with Discussion

Jeff Justice and Carl Angotti will facilitate

11 a.m., November 10, 2019

This week we will show two videos, each followed by an audience discussion. They deal with two topics of interest to Humanists.

The first video is “What Happened to the Atomic Test Sites?”:

During the cold war, you couldn’t get through a day without news articles on nuclear warfare. Why has that dropped from the news and what happened to the bombs? We will show an excellent documentary to start the discussion.

We will leave time for a more positive 10 minute documentary called “3 People Who Saved Your Life” about three people who exhibited very Humanistic values:

Join us to view videos about, and discuss, these two very interesting subjects.

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To help our Forum series continue, please consider making a donation or becoming a member (http://www.humanists.org/blog/membership/) of the Humanist Community.

Do your online shopping at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-6173979, and Amazon donates to the Humanist Community every time you do.

Note: If you would like to speak at a Forum, or know of someone who you think might be willing to speak at a Forum, please send an email about your idea to the HCSV Program Committee.