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Paul Hebert (Case Manager for the Palo Alto and Los Altos Mediation Programs, www.paloaltomediation.com, which are administered by Project Sentinel, www.housing.org) will briefly describe the services available through Project Sentinel and the Mediation Programs. Then he will describe the key elements of communication skills which mediators model and support to help resolve conversations that have gotten off track. He and a panel of other mediators will then take questions from the audience about challenging communication scenarios they have experienced, and describe how a mediator would approach those conversations.

For a copy of Paul’s handout provided at the forum click here

Humanist Community Forum (2014-08-17): Moving Through Difficult Conversations (Paul Hebert, Jeffrey P. Blum) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Your Hopes and Dreams for the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley (HCSV)

Laura Mappin and Paul Gilbert

Aug 10, 2014

What do you appreciate about HCSV? How could HCSV change to be more meaningful to you? What would you be willing to do to help make HCSV be more worthwhile to you? This Forum will be a discussion among attendees (co-facilitated by HCSV members Laura Mappin and Paul Gilbert). Bring your thoughts to share, and your willingness to listen to, and collaborate with, others.

The Twin Pillars of Humanism

Jim Barnett

Aug 03, 2014

Humanism has influenced the modern world tremendously. But many people have only vague ideas about what humanists believe. There is no authority to say who is and who is not a Humanist, and opinions vary over a considerable range. But to be a viable movement, there must be some principles that Humanists share widely, if not universally. Jim Barnett (Co-President of the Bay Area Humanists, www.sfhumanists.org, and a humanist for decades) will review the principles that he believes are essential to Humanism.

You can view the slides for this excellent presentation (captured in the video below) by clicking here.

Humanist Community Forum (2014-08-03): The Twin Pillars of Humanism (Jim Barnett) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

Why Reality Needs a Religion (and Why Atheism isn’t Good Enough)

Marc Perkel

July 27, 2014

Marc cropped Marc Perkel, founder of the Church of Reality, explains why Reality needs a religion and why Atheism isn’t good enough. In a perfect world Atheism becomes totally meaningless. No one cares what you don’t believe in, they care about what you do believe in. And what should you believe in? Reality!

Atheism needs Reality because without Reality there would be no place for God not to be real in. Realism is the science of understanding who we are, what our purpose is, and how we can live our lives in Right Relationship to Reality so that Reality doesn’t excommunicate us from existence.

So – Atheists – it’s time to put down your Bibles, quit talking about God, and start focusing on what is real rather than what isn’t real. If you know everything about nothing then you know nothing about everything.

You can watch the video of this most interesting presentation here.

Humanist Community Forum (2014-07-27): Why Reality Needs a Religion (and Why Atheism isn’t Good Enough) – Marc Perkel from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.

The Mondragon Cooperatives

Richard Hobbs

July 20, 2014

With 120 worker-owned cooperatives developed over nearly six decades, the Mondragon Cooperatives in the Basque region of Northern Spain offer perhaps the most shining example on planet earth of institutions that are democratic, egalitarian, cooperative, sustainable, and kind. With no laid off workers since 1956 and higher income than Spanish workers, what lessons can we learn from the largest worker-owned cooperatives in the Western world? Richard Hobbs (an immigration attorney, former director of the Office of Human Relations of Santa Clara County, and Executive Director of Human Agenda) will discuss (having just returned from his latest visit there).

Humanist Community Forum (2014-07-20): The Mondragon Cooperatives (Richard Hobbs) from Humanist Community-SiliconValley on Vimeo.