Category: Video+discussion

We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (And Maybe You Should Too)

Kate Cohen (photo by KT Kanazawich)

11 a.m., February 11, 2024

This Sunday we will watch and discuss an interview by Seth Andrews of Kate Cohen about her latest book, We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (And Maybe You Should Too).
Mr. Andrews is a former Christian broadcaster and is now the host of The Thinking Atheist ( https://www.thethinkingatheist.com).
Ms. Cohen is a Washington Post contributing editor, author, and mother of three kids.
You can preview this video at: https://youtu.be/P6Mf2xVJ_g8

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This week, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at Maker Nexus, 1330 Orleans Drive, Sunnyvale CA, 94089. (On the first and third Sunday of the month, you can continue to attend our forum at the Mountain View Senior Center.) We may visit a nearby restaurant for lunch after the forum. If you attend in person, COVID protocols will be followed. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom. Help us make sure we have room for you. If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to let us know.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

Add this event to your Google calendar:
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/
Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2024-02-11/
RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/299064783/
Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1755371082008400061.

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

Raised in the Jehovah’s Witness Cult, and Surviving the Escape

Nate Vizcarra

11 a.m., February 4, 2024

Come hear the saga of a young man whose family raised him in the Jehovah’s Witness (JW) Christian cult, and who left when he decided he did not believe the cult’s religious dogma. He now inspires others to escape the narrow, rigid JW world.

The Atheist Community of San Jose and the Humanist Community are proud to jointly host Nate Vizcarra from Irvine, California, in person and on Zoom. We encourage you to come meet Nate and other atheists and humanists, hear his inspiring life story, engage in lively Q&A, and join us for further discussion with Nate over lunch.

Nate will give us a brief history of the Jehovah’s Witness cult, and will describe what it is like to grow up in such a constricted and controlling environment. We will discover what led him to question the beliefs he had been taught and how he managed to exit the JW community. He will tell us about the shunning that follows after someone is audacious and courageous enough to leave JW.

Our enthusiastic speaker will tell us about the support network that exists to ease the transition out of JW for anyone who chooses to leave, and Nate’s role in that network. The sudden loss of family and friends can be harmful for the escapees from JW. How did Nate cope, and how has the ex-JW support network helped others?

Nate Vizcarra was raised in Orange County and is now a software engineer. He will tell us how he has rebuilt his life after JW, and created new family and friends to replace those lost to him.

At this event, we also expect to be hosting a large group of students from Dr. Elizabeth Drescher’s university course on “Nonreligion in America.” Come help us introduce these college students to humanism and atheism!

2/4/2024 Nate Vizcarra from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

———-

On the first and third Sunday of the month, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Ave., Mountain View, CA 94040. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation for lunch.

If you attend in person, COVID protocols will be followed. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom. Help us make sure we have room for you. If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to let us know.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

Add this event to your Google calendar:
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/
Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2024-02-04/
RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/298725328/
Atheist Community of San Jose on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/acofsj/events/298654718/
Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter:
https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1750043257130873050/.

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

The Worst Intelligence Disaster in FBI History

Robert Philip Hanssen

11 a.m., January 28, 2024

This Sunday we will watch and discuss The Worst Intelligence Disaster in FBI History, about the career of FBI Soviet counterintelligence agent Robert Philip Hanssen, who sold secrets to the Soviet Union and Russia from 1971 to 2001.
This 51-minute video presents a good picture of the Soviet and U.S. spy industries, the life and the activities of Agent Hanssen, and his eventual capture and punishment.
You can watch this video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8WgEHAC2Cg

———-

This week, you can attend our forum in person with fellow humanists at Maker Nexus, 1330 Orleans Drive, Sunnyvale CA, 94089. (On the first and third Sunday of the month, you can continue to attend our forum at the Mountain View Senior Center.) We may visit a nearby restaurant for lunch after the forum. If you attend in person, COVID protocols will be followed. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom. Help us make sure we have room for you. If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to let us know.

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

Add this event to your Google calendar:
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/humanistcommsv/
Visit the Humanist Community web site:
https://www.humanists.org/blog/2024-01-28/
RSVP on Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/298728810/
Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter https://x.com/HumanistCommSV/status/1749689064448749737.

Watch videos of our past Forums: https://vimeo.com/user2798508

California Motherlode Gold Country

Susan Shalit

Susan Shalit

11 a.m., December 3, 2023

Join Susan Shalit in Mountain View, where she will discuss and answer questions, OR join us on Zoom.

A journey from my experiences traveling to and from and living part-time in the Motherlode town of Jamestown, CA for the past 8 years. It is a very rich area of California in history, geography, geology, animal life, literature, music, art, and scenic value. If you grew up in California, most likely you know about the famous 49er Gold Rush. I will go into how to get there, places to stop, side trips, etc. I will touch on some of the many places, people, and items of interest that I have experienced so far. I am continually learning about this area so there is much more to explore only 2 ½ hours from the Bay Area.

About our speaker
Susan Shalit was born in Boston, MA, the youngest of four children. At 18 months her family relocated to the SF Bay Area where she went to school and then went on to the University of California at Berkeley to graduate with a degree in Economics. After graduation, she went to SF State for a teaching credential working with the disabled but decided to take a break and become a letter carrier for the USPS in Berkeley. At the same time, as a single person, she bought her first house in Oakland where she tore out walls, re-tiled floors, painted, and did some electrical and plumbing. Her father taught her a lot about house repair. Her mother taught her to cook without recipes. She does some gardening, indoors and outdoors. Realizing that she needed to go beyond the postal service and house rebuilding, she took a course in software programming and, for over 40 years, has worked as a computer programmer/software engineer/Sr. Business Analyst in the IT industry for major corporations. This brought her to live in Silicon Valley, continuing to buy and fix houses and own an independent coffee house in Gilroy. She has one son and three teenage grandchildren. In 2015, she bought a 2nd house in the Motherlode area of California where she visits every other week. She loves to explore new places and entertain.

Susan has been an HCSV member for over 30 years where she was a board member. For HCSV she evaluated and installed a membership management system that eliminated manual renewals, created an effective attendance monitoring system, designed and produced name badges for members, organized many events, hosted many potlucks, designed and created posters, flyers, and the HCSV trifold brochure. She was the primary administrator for many years of the database system and helped author the membership page of the HCSV webpage. In 2019, she received the HCSV Humanist of the Year award.

Most recently she co-hosted a very successful concert/educational event in the Motherlode area which involved extensive research in Native American culture, food, dance, and music. She designed and produced the graphical promotional materials and online references for the event. She also volunteers at a Los Gatos thrift store that donates to Pacific Clinics, a large family services, and foster care agency, Railtown Historical Park in Jamestown, the Tuolumne County History Research Center, and the Tuolumne County Center for the Arts.

See Susan’s slides here.

12/03/23 Susan Shalit from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

———-

You can attend our forums in person with fellow humanists at the Mountain View Senior Center at 266 Escuela Ave, Mountain View, CA 94040. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation for lunch. Help us make sure we have room for you. If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to let us know.

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

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Share to your Linkedin account here.
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Check out the Humanist Community web site here.
Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.

What’s So Funny?

Chris Kramer

A video of a talk by Prof. Chris Kramer

11 a.m., October 22, 2023

You can join the Humanist Forum in person OR on Zoom.

This Sunday we’re going to look into the science of comedy by watching The Philosophy of Humor: What makes Something Funny, a short video in which Chris A. Kramer, chair of the Santa Barbara City College Philosophy Department, presents some of the theories about why we find things funny. Second, we’ll watch a sample of three different examples of humor in the 10-minute Examples of Types of Humor. Finally, President Barack Obama and his anger translator, Arthur (Keegan-Michael Key) in President Obama’s Anger Translator at White House Correspondents Dinner.

Bring your favorite joke(s) or a short video to put in the chat window.

You can watch the videos above at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW9ntFy9Ilk, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqtFTOUBdv0, and at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6NfRMv-4OY

———-

Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, click here.
No password is needed — our host will admit you from the waiting room. Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it’s not already installed), and then take you to the meeting. You can also install the Zoom app on your computer or smartphone, and then enter:
Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634

You can also call any of the following phone numbers and then enter the above Meeting ID and the Passcode in order to join the meeting by phone.
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
You can find international phone numbers to call here.

———-

RSVP on Meetup here.
Like us on Facebook here.
Retweet our announcement on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter here.
See videos of our past Forums here.
Add this event to your Google Calendar