Hudson Valley Humanists

EVENTS
Hudson Valley Humanists
For more information, contact Ed Poll at hudsonvalley@humanists.net
Phone (845) 247-0098

Hudson Valley Humanists Lecture Series at SUNY New Paltz
(End of April) Date and Location TBA
Sustainability or Apocalypse?
Mike Ignatowski. In the next few decades humankind is facing a "perfect storm" of challenges including peak oil, global climate change, major resource depletion, the potential for a major economic disruption, and an exponential growth in technology. Depending on how we manage these next few decades we could usher in a long term era of increased prosperity and sustainability - or face an environmental collapse and major social disruption.

HV Humanist Book Club with Michael Strong
Thursday April 17, 7-9 pm, Barnes and Noble in Kingston
"Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman

Sunday April 6, 2 pm, Unitarian farmhouse (302 Sawkill Rd Kingston)
The Great Global Warming Swindle
Neil DeRosa presents a half-hour segment of the video Now for the other side of the debate! as part of his long-term project of questioning mainstream paradigms (and propaganda) in science. The claim is made by several prominent scientists and other leading figures that the present Global Warming may not be what we think it is. The earth may soon be due for a "correction." Discussion afterward. $4, $3 members

Saturday March 29, 2 pm, Unitarian farmhouse (302 Sawkill Rd Kingston)
Pathways to Humanism
Three people give a 10-15 minute talk which includes a personal bio focused on tracing their evolution into humanist philosophy. $4, $3 members

HV Humanist Book Club with Michael Strong
Thursday March 20, 7-9 pm, Barnes and Noble in Kingston
"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte
A highly imaginative novel of passion and hate set on the Yorkshire moors.

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February 21, Thursday, 7-9 pm at Barnes and Noble in Kingston
The Next 50 Years
Science in the 21st Century
This 2002 collection of essays by twenty-five well-known scientists was edited by "Edge Foundation" founder John Brockman, who also wrote the introduction.
Sample chapters:
Martin Rees, Cosmological Challenges: Are We Alone, and Where?
Ian Stewart, The Mathematics of 2050
Brian Goodwin, In the Shadow of Culture
Marc D. Hauser, Swappable Minds
Alison Gopnik, What Children Will Teach Scientists
Paul Bloom, Toward a Theory of Moral Development
Geoffrey Miller, The Science of Subtlety
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, The Future of Happiness
Robert M. Sapolsky, Will We Still Be Sad Fifty Years from Now?

Feb 19, Tuesday, 7:30 at Esopus Library, 128 Canal St., Port Ewen*, free
Mike Ignatowski presents:
Charles Darwin
The life, times, and impact of his ideas
Charles Darwin's birthday is Feb 12th. In honor of that event, we will be presenting a presentation of one of history's most influential personalities. Mike's presentation will cover a biography of Darwin, the history and science of evolutionary thought, and a discussion of the social and philosophical implications of his ideas which are still being debated today.

NOTE--This is a new location for a HVH event--The NEW Esopus Library. See directions at the foot of the left hand column.

Monday, Nov 5, New Paltz Village Hall 7 pm
Humanist Evolutionary Theory
Conscious decision-making and personal responsibility may be central to traditional Humanism, but they’re absent from our current evolution-based origin story. Shaun Johnston will demonstrate a new way of coming up with evolutionary theory based on the humanist self plus evolution. The goal? A unified view of our conscious selves and the world, new directions in science, merging of the Two Cultures, and a single discourse for the expression of all experience.
Shaun will begin by describing how the world looks to a self, how that self identifies other selves, what the self can infer from knowing it evolved, and what must be true of the world for selves to evolve within it. To demonstrate his method he will identify a self-like agent as the mechanism of evolution, and then show how profoundly such theories can illuminate our understanding of our selves and the world.
Pre-publication copies of Shaun's latest book, Save Our Selves From the Wrong Kind of Science, will be available for sale at the meeting. For more information visit: www.evolvedself.com.

Open discussions of Christopher Hitchens' book
       Monday Oct 29 New Paltz Village Hall 7 pm
       Thursday Nov 8 Woodstock Library 7 pm
       Tuesday Nov 13 Starr Library Rhinebeck 7pm
"God is Not Great"
Hitchens’ writing is critical of the negative influence that religion has had on human progress. He cites examples of the dangers of religion such as clerical abuse, superstition and dogmatism. At the same time, Hitchens calls for a renewed era of Enlightenment. He suggests that we draw moral and ethical lessons from art and science rather than outdated religious texts.

Friday, June 15, 7:30 at UU Congregation of the Catskills
320 Sawkill Rd., Kingston
The Children of Izieu
USA, 1992, 28 minutes, color (video)
Produced by Sheila Schwartz. Director: Tom Demenkoff
Sheila Schwartz, HVH member, author, teacher, and producer will be on hand. She will discuss the tragedy of Izieu and her experiences creating the documentary.
In April of 1944, the Gestapo in Lyon, under the command of Klaus Barbie, sent two vans to the French village of Izieu to remove the Jewish children from an orphanage known as La Maison d’Izieu. In a cold and senseless raid, forty-four children and five adult caretakers were thrown into vans like pieces of cordwood and sent to Auschwitz, where they were immediately gassed. This documentary takes the viewer on an emotionally wrenching journey through one of the most tragic untold stories of the Holocaust.

Thursday, June 21, 7-9:00 at Barnes and Noble bookstore in Kingston.
HVH Book Club
Pirates of the Caribbean- Axis of Hope
by Tariq Ali
Lead by Michael Strong
A revolution is moving across Latin America. Since 1998, the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela has brought Hugo Chávez to world attention as the foremost challenger of the neoliberal consensus and American foreign policy. Tariq Ali shows how Chávez's views have polarized Latin America and examines the aggression directed against his administration. Pirates of the Caribbean guides us through a world divided between privilege and poverty, a continent that is once again on the march. Do not have to have read book to attend.

-Thursday, March 22, 7-9:00 at Barnes and Noble bookstore in Kingston.
HVH Book Club
The Rubiayat of Omar Khayyam
translated by Edward Fitzgerald.
Lead by Michael Strong

Tuesday, March 13, 7:30
at UU Fellowship of Poughkeepsie, 67 S. Randolph Ave.
Sustainability or Apocalypse?
Join this interesting discussion of critical environmental issues and the future lead by Michael Ignatowski.
     In the next few decades humankind is facing a "perfect storm" of challenges. These includes dealing with "peak oil", global climate change, major resource depletion, demographic changes, and the potential for a major economic disruption brought on by an unsustainable American national debt and trade imbalance. While this is happening we will also be experiencing an exponential growth in technology that could produce more profound changes than anything we experienced in the last century.
     These next few decades will likely be some of the most important in human history. Depending on how we manage them we could usher in a long term era of increased prosperity and sustainability - or face an environmental collapse and major social disruption. Which outcome will happen is uncertain, but we will influence our direction by what we do starting now.
     Sponsored by the Hudson Valley Humanists and open to the general public. $4 ($3 members) includes refreshments. (845) 247-0098, hvhumans@yahoo.com.

Friday, Feb. 16, 7:30 at UU Congregation of the Catskills
Let's Talk About... B. F. Skinner!
Presented by Ed Poll. Skinner was one of the 20th century's most outspoken psychologists, the prime proponent of Behaviorist Psychology and a dedicated Humanist. Meeting features a videotaped interview of Skinner from "The Humanist Perspective" series hosted by Paul Kurtz (then of American Humanist Association). Group activities and discussion follow. $4, $3 members, under 30 free. Includes food and drink. UU Congregation of the Catskills is at 320 Sawkill Rd. Kingston. Note--will be canceled if Kingston schools are closed on that day.

Thursday, Feb. 15, 7-9:00 at Barnes and Noble bookstore in Kingston.
HVH Book Club
Tales of Power by Carlos Casteneda
The Meso-American shamanism of Don Juan. Michael Strong leads.

Thursday, October 26, at 7:30 PM, New Paltz Village Hall
Intelligent Design Without God
Shaun Johnston, writer of books under the imprint Evolved Self Publishing, asks, are secularists bound to side with science in political controversies? The issue is forced on us by science's aggressive promotion of natural selection. A close look at natural selection shows it to be bad science, with a checkered history. Secularists should hold out for a more convincing account of human origins, Shaun says, that can account for our intelligence, creativity and conscious decision-making. He'll end by pointing out where such a mechanism of evolution is likely to lie. Open to the public and free. For information about the meeting, call 247-0098.
Download a copy of the presentation text from
http://hudsonvalley.humanists.net/writing/intelligentdesignsansgod.doc.

Monday, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist
Congregation of the Catskills, 320 Sawkill Rd., Kingston.
Staying Secular and Sane!
Come join fellow humanists for a thought provoking and fun evening! We will commiserate on the ups and downs of being a non-religious person in a world gone god-crazy! How can/do we cope with the madness of King George II, the religious right (almost always wrong) of every creed, and constant warfare in the name of fictional thunder daddies? Is it possible to live, survive and thrive as a Humanist in today’s world? Join this workshop and answer these questions and more. $3, $2 members, under 30 free!

Sunday, June 4, at 11 a.m. at the Saugerties Sr. Center
at corner of Market and Robinson Streets
Bagels and The Times Brunch
Last year we ate bagels and read tabloids, this year we'll get closer to reality (arguably) by reading the New York Times as we talk, munch bagels and drink coffee. Let's get into the news of the day! HV Humanists invite everyone to join in a New York tradition. Papers provided or bring your own. $5 donation, $3 members, under 18 free. Call 247-0098 for information.

Monday, May22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Congregation
of the Catskills, 320 Sawkill Rd., Kingston.
Let's Talk About... Daniel Dennett
Hudson Valley Humanists, lead by Mike Ferrell, look at one of humanism's strongest contemporary voices. The subject of our discussion, Dennett, a biologist and philosopher at Tuft's University, has authored several acclaimed books including: Darwin's Dangerous Idea (1995) and his latest Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. Dennet won the American Humanist Association's 2004 Humanist of the Year honors. $5, $3 members, refreshments. Call (845) 247-0098.

Thursday, April 27, 7 p.m.
Lecture Center Room 102, SUNY New Paltz
Ernest Becker
"Ernest Becker's Charismatic Role in the Sixties: Revisiting the Enlightenment Tradition at Berkeley," lecture by Dr. Irwin Sperber of the Sociology Department, SUNY at New Paltz. Dr. Sperber will talk about the radical humanism in the early work of Ernest Becker (1924-1974). In an era of academic compartmentalization and fragmentation, Becker inspired a generation of students to unify the social sciences to bring about social justice and the realization of creative potential. Although Becker was formally trained as an anthropologist, his scholarship and teaching orientation readily crossed the boundaries of sociology, philosophy, political science, history, psychology, psychiatry as well as anthropology. He also inspired, but did not participate in the student activism of that era.
For directions and parking information visit www.newpaltz.edu

Thursday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the New Paltzx Village Hall
Apocryphal Science
Hudson Valley Humanist, Neil DeRosa, will be talking about his book: Apocryphal Science: Creative Genius and Modern Heresies. DeRosa proposes that big science, particularly government-funded science, discourages radical new ideas because of the huge sums of money that went into establishing the current dogma. There are discussions of intelligent design, the possibility that AIDS and the HIV virus are not related, panspermia and the possibility that we are overmedicating ourselves with psychiatric drugs. Neil states that, the ideal of free enquiry seems to be losing its vitality. New discoveries and reasonable theories are being withheld or rejected without a hearing.

Friday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills (house).
Let’s Talk about...
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
The next installmen in our "Let's Talk about." series will focus on the famed social activist and atheist leader. You'll be surprised to learn of the many causes O'Hair championed. Video clips from a Phil Donahue program will illustrate her ability to argue the points of secularism as she takes on an Evangelical preacher! We'll discuss her contributions, her problems (within and without the atheist movement), and her kidnapping and death.
$3 members, $5 public.

February 11, at 2:00 p.m. at the New Paltz Village Hall
Annual "Darwin Day for Kids!"
Proff. Bill Robinson will bring live raptors to demonstrate this years theme— adaptations. Bring children, and adults are welcome too. We need volunteers to help. Call 247-0098 for more info.

Sunday, January 14, at 2:00 p.m. at the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills.
Let’s Talk about... Sartre
The next installment in our “Let’s Talk about…” series will focus on the existentialist novelist, philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre. This special event will feature the enactment of a scene from Sartre’s play NO EXIT. Michael Strong and Christina Starobin will perform and lead the discussion.
2 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Catskills, Sawkill Rd. Kingston (not in the farmhouse, but in the larger building). $3 members, $5 public.

Thursday, November 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Woodstock Library.
Fulfillment Without Religion
The program includes a brief video featuring Dr. Paul Kurtz, philosopher and leader of the secular humanist movement, who answers the question, "How can one lead an authentic and meaningful life as a non-theist”. The public is warmly welcomed. Admission is free.
Call 247-0098 for more information.

Sunday, August 21, at 10 a.m. Saugerties Senior Center, Market St.
Tabloids and Bagels Brunch!
The Hudson Valley Humanists invite everyone to delve into some outlandish “news articles” found in tabloid papers. Enjoy the New York tradition of bagels for brunch, but take a break from the Times and the “real news.” It’ll be more fun finding out about Elvis sightings and UFOs, and who knows, maybe the next headline will read, “Bigfoot Ate My Bagel!”
$4 donation, $3 members and children. E-mail back or call 247-0098 for reservations, information and to offer help.

Friday, July 1, 7:30 PM. Unitarian Universalist Congrn, Kingston.
Myth and Magic in "The Twilight Zone"
Enjoy three thought provoking and spine chilling episodes of Rod Serling’s classis television series. Following each show there will be a brief discussion. If you’re a science-fiction enthusiast, a fan of the Twilight Zone, or just looking for Friday night fun, come join us. Program includes refreshments. $3 donation. Being hosted by the Hudson Valley Humanists at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, Sawkill Rd., Kingston. Call HV Humanists at 247-0098 for information.

Wednesday, June 15, Weds, 7:30 pm
Humanism, Religion and the Future
HV Humanists join Unitarians at Unitarian Universalists of the Catskills, Sawkill Rd., Kingston.
Mike Ignatowski will host this program, tackling questions like: Is humanism a type of religion, an alternative to religion, or compatible with (some) religions?; How well does humanism function as a source of ethical values? Is the humanistic approach to ethics winning, and what is the long term trend?
Free. 247-0098

Sunday, May 1 Sun 2:00, New Paltz Village Hall, 25 Platekill Ave.,
“Secular Ethics and the Gay Community”
Conrad Claborn, Pres. Secular Humanist Society of NY Free.
Sponsored by the Hudson Valley Humanists (845) 247-0098
“There is a home in humanism. I’m a member of the Stonewall Generation, growing up in Southern California. But wherever one lived in those years, there was no one to help in the coming-out process. Like all gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people then, I was surrounded by societal and religious dictates that said that people like me were sick or evil. I knew that was lie, so I began a search to find a community in which to make a home. The philosophy of Secular Humanism extended welcoming arms. Now wherever I live, I am at home under the humanist umbrella.”

Friday, April 15, at 7:30 PM, New Paltz Village Hall
“Let’s Talk About…”
Leonardo DaVinci
Lead by life-long DaVinci fan Joe Snap, we’ll discuss the life of the ultimate “Renaissance Man” Leonardo DaVinci. Seldom does a person so talented in the arts and the sciences come along. We’ll discuss his paintings, inventions and philosophy. Call 247-0098 or email hvhumans@yahoo.com for details. $3 with refreshments.
Unitarian Congregation of the Catskills, 320 Sawkill Rd. Kingston.

Wednesday, April 6, at 7:30 PM. New Paltz Village Hall
“What do we really believe”--A workshop

Popular presenter Shaun Johnston will ask, what are the implications of our humanist beliefs? Are they compatible with one another? Do they achieve what we want? Can they lead us astray? "Human life is precious"--Compared to what? Who says?

Monday, April 4, at 7:30 PM, Ulster Town Building
Business Meeting
Open to all HVH members. Call for directions 247-0098

Friday, February 25, at 7:30 PM, Unitarian Fellowship, PKPC.
“Intelligent Design--God in the Gaps?”
An evolution workshop
A “Darwin Day” program presented by the Hudson Valley Humanists in celebration of Charles Darwin’s birthday on February, 12.
Humanist Mike Ferrel will offer a description of Intelligent Design as an "explanation" of natural living phenomena and the personalities promoting it. He’ll present the arguments for and against Intelligent Design, which proposes that an intelligence (a god) has created this complex universe including all organisms. Intelligent Design will be contrasted with scientific Evolution. Ferrel promises to explain both sides accurately and fairly, but not pull any punches!
Unitarian Fellowship, 67 S. Randolph Avenue, Poughkeepsie.

Saturday, February 12, 2 PM, New Paltz Village Hall
“Darwin Day for Kids!”

Science teacher, Ed Poll, is the guide for a children’s discovery activity about the evolution of our bones over the ages "Your Evolving Bones!" Children will compare their skeletons to that of Tyrannosaurus Rex! During another activity we'll construct "The Primate Family Tree" full of monkeys, apes and a diversity of primate species. There will a birthday cake commemorating Charles Darwin's birthday, February 12. Games, prizes,snacks and a visit from the puppet, Charlie the Chimp will add to the fun.
Presented by the Hudson Valley Humanists features science activities for children ages 4-12 on at the New Paltz Village Hall, 25 Plattekill Ave. Free, call 247-0098 for details.