So, what do we(1443 total words in this text) (7417 Reads)  The Massachusetts Humanist Association membership participates in a
wide variety of activities.
- We hold meetings on current issues
or topics of interest each month or so from Fall to Spring. These
meetings are open to the public and are stimulating and informative -
they are frequently held at Harvard University. See recent activities
listed below.
- Events such as our solstice luncheons, cultural
outings and summer picnics foster social interchange and good
times.
- A discussion group which is sometimes formed to examine
and critique Humanist related writings.
- We maintain an
extensive library and provide a broad range of services to both the
general public and the Humanist community in particular.
Check out our HAM Newsletter (get on our mail or email lists) or the
HAM Homepage for announcements
upcoming events!
SOME H.A.M. EVENTS OF 2005-6 YOU HOPEFULLY DID NOT MISS:
 HAM Film Viewing and Discussion:
'THE GOD
WHO WASN'T THERE' Harvard Science Center, Hall A, Cambridge
Ma. Sunday, September 17, 2006
1:30 p.m. Our
first program of the Fall was a remarkable documentary film on the
historicity of Jesus called "The God Who Wasn't There," produced by
Brian Flemming. It was shown on Sunday, September 17, 1:30 PM, in
Hall A of Harvard's Science Center. In little short of an hour, it
confronts the biblical claims of Christianity, and step by step
demolishes any rational basis for them. The scripture scholar, Robert
M. Price and the atheist author Sam Harris are featured, as well as a
searching debate between the film's producer and the kind but wily
Evangelical pastor of Flemming's childhood church. Mel Gibson's "The
Passion of The Christ" gets some play and the violence is extreme. At
the film's end the doctrine of the Rapture is brilliantly refuted.
The strength of the film is based on questioning the reliability of the
historical record and the influence of countless contemporary myths.
While somewhat in the style of Michael Moore, and overly harsh in
places, it provides an introduction to the long historical debate
between empirical data and wishful imaginings.
The Question and
Comment hour that follows is likely to be the liveliest of the season.
Parking will be available for this event in the Littauer lot, located
behind the Science Center, and reached by entering at the Dworkin
Building on Oxford Street, proceeding left until the drive ends at the
Law School parking area.
For more information please contact Tom
Ferrick at 617-547-1497
Humanist Association of Massachusetts and the Humanist Chaplaincy of
Harvard presented: A Conversation with the Humanist
Chaplain Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard
Sunday, April 16, 1:30pm at Phillips Brooks House, Harvard
University, Cambridge MA Greg became the second Humanist
Chaplain at Harvard after serving as Assistant Chaplain to founding
chaplain Tom Ferrick, who continues to serve as the Executive Director
of H.A.M. Greg will talk about his first year as Chaplain and outline
his ideas for expanding humanism at the University, in the community,
and nationally. This free-wheeling conversation will help us get to know
Greg better, and allow us to share ideas on humanism in the 21st Century
as we have the privilege at H.A.M. of our long association with Harvard
and the Humanist Chaplaincy.
Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard and Center for Naturalism
A Special Lecture: "Religion as a Natural Phenomenon"
Daniel Dennett
Philosopher at Tufts and 2004 Humanist of the
Year
Tuesday, April 4, 7 pm at Harvard University
Science Center Lecture Hall D, Cambridge MA Put aside for a
moment the question of whether you believe in God. Now ask: is it a
good, healthy thing to believe in God? Among most people in the world,
the answer to this second question is even more unanimous than the
first. And yet this question of whether we must "believe in belief" is
the subject of a new book by Tufts Professor Daniel Dennett, 2004
American Humanist of the Year. Dennett argues that to understand
religion as a natural phenomenon challenges the unexamined presumption
that it must be the foundation for ethics and meaning, and asks whether
an empirical, naturalistic worldview might suffice for human
flourishing. Thus it is not hard to understand why Dannett's book
(Breaking the Spell) may be the most controversial of the year so far,
at least according to the fierce debate that has been raging about it in
the New York Times and other publications in recent weeks. For more
information contact HAM at 617-547-1497 or the Humanist Chaplaincy at
617-495-5529 Harvard or the Center for Naturalism
(www.naturalism.org).
Humanist Association of Massachusetts
presented: "Humanist Spirituality--An Oxymoron or an
Authentic Path to Enlightenment?" Unitarian-Universalist
Association Writer Douglas Muder Sunday, March 19,
1:30pm at Phillips Brooks House, Harvard University, Cambridge MA
Many humanists find "spirituality" to be an inherently squishy word
that has no legitimate place in their vocabulary; lacking any solid
definition, the S-word is an invitation to the worst sort of fuzzy
thinking. Others believe that "spirituality" refers to something real
and important, that can't be adequately pursued within a humanist
worldview. And so they adopt yoga, zen meditation, African tribal
drumming, or some other practice whose basic concepts can be hard to
square with either a Western cultural heritage or a humanist philosophy.
These two points of view agree that spirituality and humanism
are strangers, and differ only in whether or not the strangers should be
introduced. But can spirituality be authentically
humanist -- not borrowed, adopted, or transplanted from somewhere else?
Doug Muder's very highly regarded lecture argued that it can.
Spirituality can be cast as the solution to a problem in this world
that does not depend on any other-worldly scheme of salvation or
reincarnation. And the material to construct a spiritual practice can be
found in the roots of the Western humanist tradition itself -- the
Hellenistic schools of the Stoics, Skeptics, Cynics, and
Epicureans. Muder argues we will have to discard the stereotype
that the West is rational, the East spiritual, and the twain shall
never meet. In fact the twain met in the pre-Islamic silk road kingdom
of Gandhara (whose Greco-Buddhist artistic tradition can be seen at the
MFA), and the cross-fertilization between ancient Greece and India may
have been more important than is commonly believed. Doug Muder
is a Unitarian Universalist writer on religion and politics, focusing on
conflicts of worldview. His recent work includes the article "What's So
Scary About Freedom and Tolerance?" in the magazine UU World exploring
the differences between liberal and conservative religious mindsets. He
also wrote "Is There A Western Path to Enlightenment?" for the journal
Religious Humanism and spoke at the Needham Lyceum on "Can You Think
Like a Terrorist?" The lecture was fascinating and can be
found on Doug Muder's blog. The
Lecturer Originally trained as a mathematician, Doug Muder left
mathematical research in 1994 to pursue a career in writing. A resident
of Nashua, NH, he started political blogging under the pseudonym
Pericles when he noticed the 2004 New Hampshire Primary campaign
happening on his doorstep. His political reporting appears on the
community blog DailyKos and he writes the philosophical/religious blog
Free and Responsible Search.
...or previously...
H.A.M. with the Center for Naturalism and the Humanist Chaplaincy at
Harvard presented Philosophy Prof. Patricia Churchland
"Decisions, Responsibility, and the Brain" Wednesday November
30th, 2005 8pm It is now a commonplace for Humanists to say that
Mind is Brain. But what does this mean? How can we understand human
decisions, responsibility and ethics in light of increasing scientific
understanding of the role of genes and neural wiring of behavior?
Ordinarily we assume that most decisions are freely made and that
agents should be held accountable. On the other hand, our growing
understanding of neuropathology seems to broaden the range of allowable
excuses. This tension is reflected in public policy debates concerning
the right balance between public safety, justice, fairness and
individual freedom.
Dr. Churchland discussed these concerns from the perspective of
neuroscience. She teaches at the University of California, San Diego,
and is the author of several works, the latest being "Brain-Wise:
Studies in Neurophilosophy." She is also an Adjunct Professor at the
Salk Institute. Her talk is sponsored by the Center for
Naturalism, Tom Clark, directir, as well as the Humanist Chaplaincy at
Harvard and the Humanist Association of Massachusetts. We hope the many
members of the Humanist Community throughout Greater Boston will join
Harvard students in a very enlightening evening about the very nature of
the human being. Ours is a philosophy that especially welcomes the
scientific investigation of how the mind works. It's truly the
exploration of the soul.
Below are some posters from some of HAM's and the Harvard Humanist
Chaplaincy's events from early 2005.
For more information on
HAM events including our Summer and Winter Solstice Luncheons, please
contact us ('Contact Us' below, or email
tom_ferrick@harvard.edu).
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