Selected Past Events


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  • Sunday, June 4, 2006, Van Nuys.
  • Dr. Gerald Larue's Farewell Address.
  • Dr Larue has been the Leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Los Angeles for 25 years.
  • This was the last time for him to address our meetings.
  • .
  • Gerald Larue is a Professor Emeritus of Religion at the University of Southern California’s College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and an Adjunct Professor of Gerontology at the University of Southern California’s Davis School of Gerontology. He has been awarded a Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award and the Leibovitz Award.
  • Gerald A. Larue was honored as Humanist of the Year in 1989 for his work on the rights of the elderly and terminally ill, for his scholarship, and as a Humanist leader and writer.
  • Dr. Larue received a Th.D. from the Pacific School of Religion (1953), and served pastorates in Canada and the United States (1945-1953). He became professor of Biblical history and archeology at the University of California in 1958...
  • He was leader of Los Angeles chapters of the AHA and Ethical Culture Society; a director of the AHA; president of the National Hemlock Society; and chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion.
  • He has authored more than ten books, including Ancient Myths and Modern Life (1988), and The Way of Ethical Humanism (1989). "Humanists are the most positive of humans. They relish their freedom to analyze, to inquire, to evaluate, and to seek conclusions that are not bound by notions generated thousands of years ago, but which may draw from the ancient past the highest and noblest and most exciting dimensions for life and living" (Larue, The Way of Positive Humanism (1989).
  • *
  • Sunday, May 21, 2006
  • Van Nuys.
  • Ethical Humanism in India
  • presentation by Nirmal Mishra
  • Sunday, May 7, 2006
  • Santa Monica (near corner of 26th Avenue and Broadway).
  • The Winter of Our Discontent
  • Dave Hernancez discussed John Steinbeck's last novel, The Winter of Our Discontent
  • Mr. Hernandez has a BA in English from Loyola Marymount Univ., L.A.; in progress an MA in Linguistics from UCLA Grad. School of Social Sciences; an Advanced Level Certificate of Education on Economics from the University of Cambridge, England; and a certificate in Management Systems & Procedures from UCLA Grad School of Business Administration. He has taught extensively in Belize and worked for the government of Belize. He is currently Field Services Representative in the Operations Dept. of So.Cal.Regional Rail Authority, Metrolink.
  • Sunday, April 16, 2006, Van Nuys.
  • Issues for the Ethical Culture Society of L.A.
  • Open discussion of ethical issues of daily life that ECSLA should be addressing.
  • Attendees were asked to bring their ethical concerns and suggestions for dealing with them.
  • Sunday, April 2, 2006, Santa Monica
  • Doubt: A History, by Prof. Jennifer Michael Hecht.
  • Book discussion led by Larry A. Taylor.
  • The full title of the book is "Doubt: A History : The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson."
  • A published poet as well as a professor of history, Jennifer Michael Hecht brings wit and personality to the history of Doubt. She explains that examining doubt is an exercise in exploring the spaces before and after the certainties of the great civilizations.
  • Doubt is an essential part of intellectual progress. The great faiths of the world deal with doubt: skepticism in the west preceeded Christianity, and the Christian insistence on belief started with the presumption that it would be doubted.
  • Hecht makes a grand march through doubt in history, going from Greece to China to India and back again. She carefully elucidates the history of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. There were great doubters in the Jewish and Muslim traditions. Hecht pauses to tell us personally about persons and events that she finds meaningful and interesting.
  • Sunday, March 19, 2006, Mission Medical Office Building,Van Nuys.
  • Medicare Part D Drug Coverage
  • Dr. Mel Kirschner gave a summary of the Drug Supplement issue
  • He also entertained us with some of his political cartoons.
  • Sunday, March 5, 2006, Santa Monica
  • "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man."
  • Carol Fitz-Gibbon led the discussion on John Perkins' book.
  • Perkins spent the 1970s working as an economic planner for an international consulting firm, helping wealthy corporations exploit developing nations.
  • Countries are encouraged to borrow funds for development. When they get in trouble, the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship.
  • Perkins writes that the whole process is a clever way for the U.S. to expand its 'empire' at the expense of Third World citizens.
  • Summary of book taken from two Amazon.com reviews.
  • Sunday, February 12, 2006, Van Nuys.
  • Crisis Facing Civilization
  • Mr. Sheldon Plotkin discussed the topic.
  • Sheldon is a consulting systems and safety engineer in private practice. He has many years experience in aerospace, and has worked for Hughes, TRW, and RAND. As a licensed Safety Engineer, his expertise is in the area of accident analysis. He is probably most noted as a co-host for the KPFK Wizard Show some years ago as well as many years of activities in the Southern California Federation of Scientists.
    .
  • Sunday, January 22, 2006, Van Nuys.
  • Literacy Mentoring Program Orientation
  • Lee Baker leads the Literacy Mentoring project of ECSLA in cooperation with Mission Community Hospital.
  • Persons interested in participating in this program should contact Lee at
  • (818) 763-8567 or by email at
  • lee.baker@adelphia.net
  • This project starts in January, 2006. Sunday afternoon sessions to be presented twice monthly.
  • Here is the project description from the Hospital Newsletter:
  • ..
  • LITERACY PROJECT
  • Mission Community Hospital has a prescription to cure Illiteracy
  • Literacy, the ability to read, is the foundation for all education. Equally important is the ability to communicate effectively. This is the foundation for success in our “information society.” Sadly, 89% of fourth graders in the Los Angeles public schools (LAUSD) are not reading at their grade level. These students struggle to keep up in school and only 56% will graduate . . . 40 to 44 million adults in the U.S. demonstrate the lowest level of literacy . . . (We can quote a lot more dismal statistics - but you get the idea).
  • A unique factor in this Literacy Project is the emphasis on parent/child partnership in learning . . . creating a bond that will be invaluable.
  • Our public schools need help from the community. Each one of us can contribute in one way or another.
  • Mission Community Hospital has joined with the Ethical Culture Society in our community to present a Literacy Program that incorporates LAUSD’s “Guidelines for Literacy in English” and personal empowerment.
  • This program is based on a system called StorytellingPLUS™ which has been designed by Lee Baker who has a Master’s Degree in Education and holds a lifetime teaching credential. She has also worked extensively with after-school enrichment programs using the StorytellingPLUS™ method - it starts with an entertaining story (with valuable “secret messages” embedded) as the springboard for a variety of learning experiences. For our Learning Project, a parent/child team learning process has been added.
  • An Orientation meeting was be held to demonstrate parent/child team learning followed by a question & answer type discussion.
  • We invite ANYONE who wishes to be a part of this project - Spanish to English translators and interpreters, mentors [no experience needed - we will train you], or . . . there are ways anyone can help. The only way that the president’s promise that “No child will be left behind” can really happen is if we all pitch in.
  • Applications for parent/child learning teams and for those who wish to be Mentors can be picked up in MCH’s Administration Office
    .
  • Sunday, January 15, 2006, Van Nuys.
  • What Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King mean to me.
  • presentation by ECSLA Member Loretta Kelley.

  • Sunday, January 8, 2006, Van Nuys.
  • "Community Involvement: Los Angeles Unified School District"
  • A Forum Discussion on this topic was be led by Ms. Lee Baker.
  • Lee is a distinguished member with active involvement among atheists, humanists, and ethical unionists for several years. She has made contributions in literacy projects and community involvement in school level education. With the interests of the Mayor of Los Angeles in the Unified School District she wishes to explore our inputs on matters of school education.

  • Sunday, December 18, 2005, Van Nuys.
  • How We Celebrate Our Holidays.
  • All shared how they celebrate the December holidays and what they mean for them.

  • Sunday, December 11, 2005, Van Nuys.
  • Impending Peak Oil and its Potential Impact on Freethought.
  • Warren Felt provided the platform presentation.
  • Warren has an M.S. in Electrical Engineering, with over 40 years in Aerospace Electronics and is currently retired.
  • He has been involved with the topic of Peak Oil and considers it as the world's most pressing problem.
  • He has been a member of the American Humanist Association since 1973 and has philosophical leanings toward atheism.
  • Sunday, December 4, 2005, Santa Monica.
  • "My Journey Out of Islam."
  • Presentation by Sameer Wahaj
  • Born and raised in the US, Sameer Wahaj grew up in a strict Muslim household.
  • He talked about his journey from being a strong believer in Islam
  • to eventually a non-religious humanist.
  • He described several key events in his life, including 9-11,
  • that shaped his change of perspective.
  • "Islam has a strong grip on its followers. To break free from that required
  • me to find exact reasons for why eventually I had to let go.
  • I spent a lot of time studying Islam on my own in order to understand
  • the inconsistencies in the beliefs and hypocracy among many believers
  • because I could no longer blindly believe what was passed down to me.
  • I will go through these elements and explain step by step how I broke
  • free the the strong grip of Islam based on the facts that I found."
  • Wahaj discussed the modern American Muslim and how they are almost
  • becoming a different sect, following the footsteps of American Christians.
  • American Muslims are about 80 years behind in the trail. In the end,
  • people become Americans and Islam adapts to America. But people still
  • hold onto the core religious beliefs, which create the oxymoron "American Muslim."
  • Sameer Wahaj is a pseudonym.
  • Sunday November 20, 2005, Van Nuys.
  • "Questions People Should Ask About Organ Donation". 
  • presentation by Jerry Guon, liver transplant recipient.
  • Jerry said that his goals in speaking are four fold:
  • 1. to provide education on the policies and practices relating to organ donation and transplantation;
  • 2. to provide a forum for the discussion of organ donation and transplantation;
  • 3. to encourage people to make a choice as to whether or not they wish to be an organ donor; and, perhaps most importantly,
  • 4. to encourage people to inform their family of their choice, regardless of whether they decide to be a donor or not to be a donor.
  • A question and answer format focusED on deceased organ donation. However some discussion occurred relating to live donors.
  • The shortage of organs being donated is acute – for each person receiving a transplant, three will die for lack of an organ. Encouraging people to become organ donors is therefore vital.
  • This presentation led to a discussion of key issues such as:
  • - The current organ transplantation policy is blind to wealth, social status, intellect, achievement or anything else except who is in the greatest need for the organ. Is there a better alternative?
  • - The current organ transplantation policy is blind to how the need for the transplant occurred but is based on who has the greatest need for the organ. Is there a better alternative?
  • - Why are not people allowed to buy and sell organs?
  • - Why can not people advertise for an organ donor?
  • - Who has the right to determine whether organs of the deceased will or will not be donated?
  • Saturday, October 22, 2005, Van Nuys.
  • Mentor training for "LivingEthics" Community Literacy project.
  • Lee Baker conducted a two hour training for those interested in being mentors for the literacy project for children of the Hospital community.
  • For more information see the Past Meetings listing for October 16, 2005:
  • Public Education: What's Wrong? -- How We Can Fix IT.
  • Contact:
  • Lee Baker
  • Phone: (818) 763-8567
  • email: lee.baker@adelphia.net
  • Sunday, October 16, 2005, Van Nuys.
  • Public Education: What's Wrong? -- How We Can Fix IT.
  • presentation by Lee Baker
  • Educator Activist

  • The Ethical Culture Society executive board has discussed our getting involved in community outreach on the order of UNESCO’s “LivingValues” project designed to improve literacy and provide experiences in some of the arts.
  • In order to open up discussion on this subject with all the members, Lee Baker, lifelong activist in public education enrichment, with a Master’s Degree in Education and a lifetime teaching credential, was invited to share information she has gained during the past four years that she produced the Kids Kourt Stage at the NoHo Theatre & Arts Festival. To achieve her goal of showcasing children’s talent she learned a lot about our public education system and peripheral education entities: NGOs [Non Governmental Organizations].
  • Ms. Baker is currently involved with two NGO programs: KOREH (read) and StorytellingPLUS™ for a Boys & Girls Club. She assures us that there is much that has been done, but much more that needs to be done and our ethically-challenged nation needs a service we can provide.
  • Although the title of the Sunday, October 16 meeting is: “Public Education: What’s Wrong? -- How We Can Fix It” - there is much that is right that we can build on. . . and we don’t have to do it alone - the “We” is the community as a whole.
  • Your executive board scheduled this program to furnish information on which to base a decision re: an ECSLA outreach project that could enrich public education and be appropriately called “LivingEthics” with a foundation in literacy.
    "LivingEthics" community project.
  • Sunday, October 9, 2005, Mission Medical Office Building Auditorium, Van Nuys. [1 mile east of I405]
  • The Nature of Consciousness
  • Martin Ross, Ph.D. spoke on The Nature of Consciousness, which included the concept of religious thought. He asked for audience participation in his demonstrations of psychological phenomena.
  • Dr. Ross has been a practicing clinical psychologist specializing in neuropsychology in the Los Angeles area for 20 years. He holds a BA in psychology and philosophy, a Master's in Experimental psychology and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with minors in law and the philosophy of science. His practice includes phychological therapy and testing and he teaches biological psychology.
  • Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005, Colorado Center, Santa Monica.
  • Peter Kirby, Internet Infidel, presented:
  • The Empty Tomb
  • Kirby's essays appear on the internet, and in the book,
  • "The Empty Tomb: Jesus beyond the Grave", edited by Robert Price and Jeff Lowder.
  • Did Jesus rise from the dead? Although 19th- and early 20th-century biblical scholarship dismissed the resurrection narratives as late, legendary accounts, Christian apologists in the late 20th century revived historical apologetics for the resurrection of Jesus with increasingly sophisticated arguments. A few critics have directly addressed some of the new arguments, but their response has been largely muted. The Empty Tomb scrutinizes the claims of leading Christian apologists and critiques their view of the resurrection as the best historical explanation.
  • What did the authors of the New Testament mean when they said Jesus rose from the dead? What historical evidence is needed to establish the resurrection? If there is a God, why would He resurrect Jesus? Was there an empty tomb? What should we make of the appearance stories? Apart from historical evidence, is belief in the resurrection justified?
  • Peter Kirby is the moderator of the "Xianity" email list for discussing the truth or falsity of Christianity, and the webmaster of http://www.earlychristianwritings.com. The web site contains texts of sometimes forgotten early Christian writings, plus links to scholarly discussions. He also writes a blog on Christian Orgins at
  • (Above two paragraphs from the book description on Amazon.com)
  • Sunday September 18, 2005
  • Mission Medical Office Building Auditorium,Van Nuys.
  • Gerald Larue, Leader ECSLA, opened the 2005/2006 season with
  • the platform talk:
  • The Ethical Person in the 21st Century
  • Sunday, September 11, 2005, Van Nuys.
  • Forum discussion on
  • “Atheism and Social Change”.
  • The discussion went beyond the definition of “theos” and “atheos” and explored the role of atheism as an agent for social change. Nirmal Mishra initiated the debate on the effect of religious belief in society and explored the role of atheism for a progressive social change.
  • Sunday, September 4,Santa Monica
  • The California Clean Money Campaign
  • with Eric Tang.
  • The California Clean Money Campaign is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to build statewide support for full public funding of election Campaigns, a system commonly known as Clean Money. Already working Arizona and Maine, Clean Money would help create an open and accountable government that is responsive to the needs of all Californians. (www.caclean.org)
  • "As an intern for the California Clean Money Campaign, I feel that I'm working on something meaningful and that I'm gaining invaluable political experience. My commitment to restoring democracy in California and beyond is continually strengthened and renewed while working alongside such dedicated people." Eric Tang, Student Intern, Los Angeles
  • August 14, 2005, Van Nuys
  • Ronald Schaffer provided a platform presentation of
  • The Morality of Bombing Civilians in World War II:
  • What led Some Americans Responsible for Air Attacks to Think About This Issue and Others to Ignore it?
  • Dr. Ronald Schaffer is Professor Emeritus of History, California State University Northridge. His expertise are in the History of United States, specially its military history, and has contributed extensively as author of
  • "Wings of Judgment: American Bombing in World War II"
  • "America in Great War: The Rise of the War Welfare State," (both at Oxford Press) and
  • "American Military Ethics in World War II: The Bombing of German Civilians" (Journal of American History).
  • Sunday, August 7, 2005, Santa Monica.
  • Larry A. Taylor discussed Jared Diamond's book
  • "Collapse?"
  • UCLA professor Jared Diamond has written a bestseller looking at how societies have grown, then collapsed, from Easter Island to the Maya to Greenland, to modern Australia and Montana. Other societies have made choices that prevented collapse.
  • What factors will influence our future? All nations on earth are now connected in one trading system and one ecosystem.
  • What choices will we have to make to insure our future on Earth?
  • Sunday June 5, 2005
  • Mission Medical Office Building Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • The Power of Words as Reflected in Literature,
  • Political Campaigns, and the Religious Right
  • presented by D'Llle Asantewa.
  • How do writers, marketing experts, and politicians choose words that belittle, inflame or otherwise generate the reactions that they do? This presentation shows how to analyze what they are doing so you can choose your own reactions without being manipulated by anybody.
  • Asantewa's introduction to secular thinking began while attending meetings at the White Plains (NY) Ethical Culture Society many years ago. Over the past 15 years Asantewa has worked in change management with a focus on adult training and development.
    Asantewa has an M.S. degree in Applied Behavioral Science from John Hopkins University, an M.B.A. in Management of Human Resources from the City University of New York, and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. She has taught numerous courses and workshops.
  • The INGOMAR TRIO
  • * * * Beverly Emus, Violin
  • * * * Ellie Pecora, Flute
  • * * * Vera Guon, Cello,
  • opened the meeting by treating us to a few classical music selections from Schumann, Mozart and Haydn.

  • Sunday June 5, 2005
  • No meeting in Santa Monica this Sunday

  • Sunday May 15, 2005
  • Mission Medical Office Building Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • Agriculture and Related Crises, Part II
  • discussed by Warren Felt

  • Sunday, May 8, 2005
  • Mission Medical Office Building Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • "Why We Need Philosophy"
  • presented by Mr. Brian Gould.
  • Mr.Gould has a B.A. in psychology and philosophy and an M.A. in psychology (statistical and experimental methods). He works as a Chemistry Lab Manager and helps teach an Emergency Medical Technician class.
  • With long-standing obsession with philosophy, he is considering entering a Philosophy Ph.D. program. He started the "Philosophy in L.A." active discussion group about two years ago.
  • Sunday, May 1, 2005
  • Colorado Center Community Room, Santa Monica
  • "Our Stealth Administration's Future Plans for Us"
  • Just who was Leo Strauss and why are so many of his students in positions of influence and power in the United States?
  • Learn about neoconservatives, the current administration, and what is in store for the rest of us.
  • Helen Colton, author of "The Gift of Touch" and many other books, explored this subject.
  • Sunday, April 17, 2005
  • Mission Medical Office Building Van Nuys
  • Open Discussion of Topical Issues
  • Sunday, April 10, 2005
  • Mission Medical Office Building Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • Open Forum
  • to discuss issues of concern to all of us.
  • Sunday, April 3, 2005
  • Colorado Center Community Room, Santa Monica
  • "Evidence-based Policies.... What a Good Idea! Discussion and Illustrations from Education, Criminology, and Health"
  • Presented by Carol Taylor Fitz-Gibbon.
  • Would you rather have faith-based policies? Or, polices that actually have some evidence that they work?
  • Professor Emeritus C.T. Fitz-Gibbon, BSc MA PhD is the Former Director of the CEM Centre. CEM stands for Curriculum, Evaluation and Management. The Centre is in the UK, our speaker having links both to Britain and to the United States.
  • Sunday, March 20, 2005
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium,Van Nuys.
  • Critical Issues for the 21st Century
  • presentation by Gerald Larue,
  • Leader, ECSLA
  • Sunday, March 13, 2005
  • Mission Medical Office Building, Van Nuys
  • "Is America Becoming a Functional Theocracy".
  • Mr. Harry Schwartzbart of Americans United for Separation of Church and State was the speaker. Mr. Schwartzbart, who has supported Americans United for Separation of Church and State since its inception in 1947, is a metallurgist by profession, a musician and Shakespeare scholar by avocation, and since 1994 an avid activist in the area of church-state relations. Mr. Schwartzbart is the Founding President of San Fernando Valley Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and is a member of the National Advisory Council.
  • Sunday, March 6, 2005
  • Colorado Center Community Room, Santa Monica
  • "Montessori Education"
  • Presented by Marilyn Saunders. Ms. Saunders is a trained Montessori teacher. She discussed the life of Maria Montessori, and the history of the movement; the theory and application of the Montessori method.
  • Marie Montessori was the first woman in Italy trained as a physician. Later, she applied her intelligence to education of children. She adopted the principle, "First the education of the senses, then the education of the intellect."
  • Studies have shown the success of Montessori education.
  • Sunday, February 20, 2005
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • Civil Liberties in Time of Crisis
  • presented by Stephen Rohde
  • Stephen F. Rohde is a constitutional lawyer, lecturer and writer. He is a past President of the ACLU of Southern California. He is co-author of Foundation of Freedom published by the Constitutional Rights Foundation and he has written numerous articles and book reviews on civil liberties and constitutional history. He is the author of a new book "American Words of Freedom" which explores the origins, history and meaning of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
  • He is First Vice President of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, Vice-President for Coalitions and Alliances for the Progressive Jewish Alliance and Vice-President in charge of Freedom of Write-Domestic for PEN Center USA West.
  • Mr. Rohde received his B.A. degree in Political Science from Northwestern University in 1966 and his J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1969. He is senior partner with the law firm of Rohde & Victoroff in Century City specializing in communications, media, intellectual property and constitutional law.
  • Link to Rohde's Then They Came for Me
  • Sunday, February 13, 2005
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • “The Coming Generational Storm”
  • Dr. Warren Bland, Professor of Geography, California State University, Northridge, discussed and critiqued elements of “The Coming Generational Storm” by Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns. Dr. Bland emphasized its significance to issues of Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare systems and its effect on future generations. Dr. Bland, though trained as a historical economic geographer at Indiana University, has extended interests in industrial location, land use, transportation, and environmental problems.
  • Sunday, February 6, 2005
  • Felicia Mahood Senior Center, West Los Angeles
  • Columbus and His Jewish Roots
  • Shirley Potash, a newcomer to our HALA group, runs several businesses, including a probate services company. She also has a subsidiary devoted to her interest in history and research, preparing reports on various subjects and book reports.
  • She brought us what she has found about Columbus, his background, and his travels. 1492 was the year Spain had three famous events: the reconquest of Granada, the last of the Moslem kingdoms; the expulsion of the Jews; and, the voyage of Columbus.
  • Shirley feels at home in both a classrom and a library. She has written a course for Anthony schools, and has been an instructor, and claims to have established the profession of paralegal.
  • Sunday, January 16, 2005
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • Fifty Years in the Ethical Movement
  • presented by Mel Sofian
  • Sunday, January 9, 2005
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • Hear O'Israel - there is no god
  • Dr. Dan Boneh, visiting from Israel, is an anthropologist (Ph.D, Brandeis University - 1985) with research experience among the Bedouin of the Negev desert as well with Ethiopian immigrants living in Israel. He is currently preparing a comprehensive atheist manuscript aimed at exposing the falsehood of the god concept - the theme of this presentation.
  • Sunday, January 2, 2005
  • Felicia Mahood Seniors Center, West Los Angeles
  • International Family Planning is Critical
  • This meeting featured a Planned Parenthood representative.
  • International family planning has huge benefits, but you do not have to consider it on the basis of the "overpopulation" standpoint. We don't want to be in the position of making judgements re who should procreate where.
  • From a health standpoint, however, international family planning is critical -- as evidenced by how it has been devasted by the Bush administration.
  • Sunday December 19, 2004
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium,Van Nuys.
  • Agriculture and Related Crises
  • Presented by Warren Felt
  • Sunday, December 12, 2004
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • "Nehru: The Invention of India"
  • Nirmal Mishra presented a book review of Shashi Tharoor's "Nehru: The Invention of India", Arcade Publishing, New York, 2003. Personal reflections on Nehru's contributions to India's secular democracy and the nonalignment movement among the Third World Nations will also be presented. Dr. Tharoor, the author, is currently the Undersecretary-General of the United Nations.
  • Sunday, December 5, 2004
  • Felicia Mahood Center, 11338 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles
  • The Real Meaning of Church State Separation
  • Edward Tabash, attorney and long-time political activist in a number of organizations including Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and People for the American Way, presented this topic at our December discussion. He has been a candidate for the California legislature, and has debated politics, creationism and the existence of God in many forums.
  • Sunday, December 5, 2004
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, 14860Roscoe Boulevard, Van Nuys.
  • Ethical Dilemmas
  • Alternate program presented by Adolph Surtshin
  • Sunday, November 21, 2004
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, 14860Roscoe Boulevard, Van Nuys.
  • Humanism As I See It
  • Presented by Peter Roberts
  • Sunday, November 14, 2004
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • The First Secular Democracy: What Went Wrong, What's Still Right, and What to Do About It
  • Presented in view of recent elections by Bobbie Kirkhart, President of the Atheist Alliance International. .
  • Bobbie is a former teacher and also a member of HALA.
  • Sunday, November 7
  • Felicia Mahood Center, West Los Angeles
  • Election Wrap-Up
  • presentesd by HALA Co-President and writer Lois Lyons. We discussed the results the first weekend after the election.
  • Sunday, October 17,
  • Mission Medical Cente, Van Nuys.
  • Ethical Consequences of U.S. Foreign Policy
  • Presented by David J. Hernandez
  • Mr. Hernandez has a BA in English from Loyola Marymount Univ., L.A.; in progress an MA in Linguistics from UCLA Grad. School of Social Sciences; an Advanced Level Certificate of Education on Economics from the University of Cambridge, England; and a certificate in Management Systems & Procedures from UCLA Grad School of Business Administration. He has taught extensively in Belize and worked for the government of Belize. He is currently Field Services Representative in the Operations Dept. of So.Cal.Regional Rail Authority, Metrolink.
  • Sunday, Oct. 3, 2004
  • Felicia Mahood Center West Los Angeles
  • Worldwide Prosperity Cult
  • Barbara Graham presented information about the secular history of a large religious organization originating in the Southland, that has spread around the world. It's you-know-who, they-might-sue, oh-yes-they-do. The current issue of The Humanist, published by the American Humanist Association, of which the Humanist Association of Los Angeles is a chapter, exposed religious teaching in California public schools disguised as a drug education program.
  • Sunday Octobe 3, 2004
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • The Development of the Church-State Relationship in the U.S.A.: Part 4.
  • Presentation by Harry Schwartzbart
  • Sunday, September 19, 2004, 11 a.m.
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, 14860 Roscoe Boulevard, Van Nuys.
  • "Ethical Culture as I See It"
  • Season opening by Adolph Surtshin.
  • Dr. Surtshin will present his view of Ethical Culture and provide a few ethical conundrums for us to consider.
  • Dr. Gerald Larue, originally scheduled for this time, was unable to be present due to illness.
  • Sunday, September 12
  • Mission Medical Center Auditorium, Van Nuys.
  • "Stem Cell Research"
  • Dr. Milton Feinberg spoke on Stem Cell Research.
    Dr. Feinberg is a pathologist who served for many years as head of the laboratory services at the Panorama Memorial Hospital, which is now known as Mission Community Hospital. He also served the L. A. County program at Olive View.
  • Dr. Feinberg is a member of the Ethical Culture Society and a friend and colleague of some of its members for more than 40 years.
  • For more information contact Nirmal K. Mishra, 818-349-5643
  • Sunday, September 5, 2004
  • Felicia Mahood Center, Santa Monica
  • "Quality Talk"
  • Coached by Amory Veritas.
    Mr. Veritas says that "Quality Talk" is a format like sports. However, everybody is on the same side. There is no score, but there is a goal: To Find the Truth.
    Not a debate, not a discussion, it is a form of interaction with a few rules. Interesting, infuriating, exhausting, illuminating, ... You can't lose at this game, but you might be asked that most embarrassing question: "What did you mean by that?"
    A former sports coach and golf pro, Mr. Veritas now blows the whistle on verbal dodgeball.

  • Sunday, August 8th
  • Westfield Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • "The Science of Good and Evil."
  • The San Fernando Valley Outreach of HALA-ECSLA met at the Westfield Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room for our final meeting at that location.
  • Our presenter was Gary Hundertmark, who presented a review of Michael Shermer's book , "The Science of Good and Evil."
  • Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the Golden Rule
  • And I highly recommend it. Really great read!
  • My own brief comment: I see in Shermer's science and rationally biased book (this is praise not criticism)
  • 3 essential chapters.
  • PART II. A Science of Provisional Ethics
  • chap. 5. Can we be good without God?
  • chap. 6. How are we moral: Absolute, Relative, and Provisional Ethics
  • chap. 7. How are we immoral: Right and Wrong and how to tell the difference.
  • Also here is the Intro. from Encarta Encyclopedia on Ethics which breaks down into a similar tripartite approach to ethics.
  • "Depending on the social setting, the authority invoked for good conduct is the will of a deity, the pattern of nature, or the rule of reason."
  • ====
  • Ethics (Greek ethika, from ethos,"character,""custom"), principles or standards of human conduct, sometimes called morals (Latin mores,"customs"), and, by extension, the study of such principles, sometimes called moral philosophy. This article is concerned with ethics chiefly in the latter sense and is confined to that of Western civilization, although every culture has developed an ethic of its own.
  • Ethics, as a branch of philosophy, is considered a normative science, because it is concerned with norms of human conduct, as distinguished from the formal sciences, such as mathematics and logic, and the empirical sciences, such as chemistry and physics. The empirical social sciences, however, including psychology, impinge to some extent on the concerns of ethics in that they study social behaviour. For example, the social sciences frequently attempt to determine the relation of particular ethical principles to social behaviour and to investigate the cultural conditions that contribute to the formation of such principles.
  • Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
  • =========
  • and the always worthwhile online Wikipedia Encyclopedia has a good article with an outline and hyperlinks:
  • Web address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics
  • And, THIS brief summary is almost identical to the one Shermer has in the introductory to his book:
  • ===
  • MICHAEL SHERMER This is the third title in what has turned out to be a trilogy of books on the nature of belief--the first two are How We Believe and Why People Believe Weird Things. In this installment, Shermer considers whether it's in our nature to be moral and, if so, where this inclination comes from, He argues that morality and ethics have eve(red over time and that religion is merely a social institution formed to "enforce the rules of human-interactions before there were such institutions as the state or such concepts of laws and rights." Drawing on elements of evolutionary psychology, he shows that moral behaviour first emerged in individuals: hominids that sought, for instance, to protect their young. As these individuals began to band together, a need for rules of living and dealing with others became essential, Out of this need eventually grew sets of ethical principles. Shermer considers how such ethical systems have developed throughout human history and argues that the complexity of human society and culture makes it impossible for a single system to be all-compassing. He points out that these systems don't need to operate within the confines of a religion--that "forgiveness and redemption" aren't necessarily in the eye of a deity. The author concludes that we should be more cooperative than we are. Times, 2004, 350#., b&w photos/illus., hardcover, $26.00.
  • COPYRIGHT 2004 Science Service, Inc. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
  • ====
  • AUGUST 1, 2004
  • Felicia Mahood Center
  • "The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts"
  • Larry A. Taylor discussed the book by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman.


  • Sunday, June 13th
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • The Caste War of the Yucatan
  • or
  • "Those damned Indians just won't disappear."
  • Talk presented by David Hernandez.
  • Mr. Hernandez has a BA in English from Loyola Marymount Univ., L.A.; in progress an MA in Linguistics from UCLA Grad. School of Social Sciences; an Advanced Level Certificate of Education on Economics from the University of Cambridge, England; and a certificate in Management Systems & Procedures from UCLA Grad School of Business Administration. He has taught extensively in Belize and worked for the government of Belize. He is currently Field Services Representative in the Operations Dept. of So.Cal.Regional Rail Authority, Metrolink.
  • Sunday June 6, 2004
  • Mission Hospital Office Building Auditorium, Panorama City.
  • "Understanding Creationism"
  • presented by Gerry Larue
  • Gerald A. Larue is Emeritus Professor of Religion and Adjunct Professor of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. He is a Humanist Laureate serving on the Secretariat of the International Academy of Humanism (Academie Internationale d'Humnaisme) which is limited to 70 members including, among others, Nobel Laureates (Murray Gell-Mann, Octavio Paz, Gerbert Hauptman, Wole Soyinka), authors (Gore Vidal, Kurt Vonnegut, Sir Peter Usinov), researchers (Francis Crick, Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, George Klein, Jose M.R. Delgado), human rights advocates (Elena Bonner), anthropologists (Donald Johanson), etc.
    Dr. Larue teaches courses on "The Social and Psychological Aspects of Death and Dying" and "Ethical Issues in Geriatric Health Care. " His most recent books, published in 1996, are Playing God: 50 Religions Views on Your Right to Die (Moyer/Bell) and Freethought Across the Centuries (Humanist Press).
  • Sunday May 16, 2004, 11a.m.
  • Mission Hospital Office Building Auditorium, 14860 Roscoe Blvd., Panorama City.
  • Ethics in Colleges, is this an Oxymoron?
  • Prented by Mona Fields, president Board of Trustees, Los Angeles Community College District.
  • Ms. Field is a professor of political science and sociology at Glendale Community College. She has written extensively on a variety of subjects relating to social, education and government issues, including a best-selling college textbook, California Government and Politics Today
  • Sunday, May 9, 10:30 a.m.
  • Community Room of Westfield Sherman Oaks Fashion Square
  • "Quality Talk."
  • Amori Veritas presented a program which he previously presented on Public Access Cable Television
  • His presentation dealt with interpersonal relations, especially those based upon verbal ones, and he included audience participation in applying his concepts.
  • Sunday, May 2, 2004, 11 a.m.
  • Felicia Mahood Seniors Center, 11338 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles.
  • David J. Hernandez discussed
  • "Slavery in Belize and the United States: A Comparison."
  • Mr. Hernandez has lectured on Belize in the Central American Studies program at CSUN. He was the investment officer in the Ministry of Economic Development, Belmopan, Belize (1986-87).
  • He has first-hand knowledge of the conditions in the country of Belize and has made a study of slavery in that country, and highlights the differences in the institution in that country and its history in the United States.
  • May 1
  • Los Angeles River / Sepulveda Basin
  • Los Angeles River cleanup.
  • Ethical Culture Society and Atheist United members joined in the Los Angeles River Clean-up in the Balboa Lake/Sepulveda Basin section of the River. Pictured from left to right are: Mike, Mark, Beverly, Lillian and Henry.
  • A free concert by the LA Chamber Orch was scheduled on the north side of the lake following the cleanup.
  • The event was coordinated by Friends of the Los Angeles River (FOLAR) http://www.folar.org
  • Sunday April 18, 2004
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, Panorama City.
  • “What is the Alliance for Democracy”
  • Presented by Dolly Arond, president of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the Alliance for Democracy.
  • Sunday April 4, 2004
  • Felicia Mahood Center,West Los Angeles.
  • "Health Care for All Californians"
  • was the topic discussed by Dr. Mel Kirschner
  • Dr Kirschner is a medical ethicist and activist, as well as a practicing physician in Southern California. He discussed state and national health coverage. He is an advocate of single-payer health coverage, and in particular the "Healthcare for All Californians Act" introduced by state legislator Sheila Kuhl.
  • Why do we pay so much for health care in this country?
  • Do Canada and nearly all other industrial countries have better systems and more fair distribution of health care?
  • We *do* have rationing of health care in the United States. It is rationing based on cost. If you can't afford it, you can't get treatment.
  • A short video was shown on healthcare, which features the advice of Dr. Kirschner and other physicians.
  • Dr. Kirschner is a long-time member of the Ethical Culture Society of Los Angeles, which holds joint meetings with the Humanist Association of Los Angeles. He is a member of the the board of the California Physicians Alliance, and a member of the Physicians for National Health Programs
  • Sunday March 21, 2004
  • Mission Hospital Office Building Auditorium,Panorama City.
  • Ethical Issues Encountered by a Hospital Administrator
  • presented by Mr. William Daniels, Administrator of Mission Community Hospital
  • Sunday, March 14, 2004
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • "Do we have Free Will?"
  • The discussion of how Critical Thinking develops in the brain continued with Lois Lyons, Co-president of HALA. Lois discussed whether our decisions are made consciously and whether we have Free Will in decision making.
  • Sunday March 7, 2004
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, Panorama City.
  • “The Development of Church/State Relationship in the U.S., Part 3”
  • Part three of a four-part presentation by Harry Schwartzbart, President of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
  • Sunday March 7, 2004
  • Westside Pavilion Barnes and Noble Book Store
  • "Jefferson."
  • Dr. Joyce Appleby, professor of history at UCLA, discussed her book, Jefferson, a portrait of our most controversial Founding Father as a genuine radical possessed of dangerous, frightening ideas about human nature and government.
  • Thomas Jefferson was alone among his revolutionary peers in anticipating the advent of American democracy and striving to assure its peaceful birth, the author writes: "He resisted the notion that political equality was a chimera and strove to root out the last monarchical remnants from American culture," a project that set him in constant opposition to his privileged peers and particularly in opposition to the Federalist Party, the political organ of their class.
  • Few presidents embody the American spirit as fully as Thomas Jefferson.
  • He was possessed of an unrivaled political imagination, and his vision accounts for the almost utopian zeal of his two administrations. Jefferson alone among his American peers anticipated the age of democracy and bent every effort toward hastening its peaceful, consensual arrival.
  • Sunday February 15, 2004
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, Panorama City.
  • Daniel Wiseman, M.D., spoke on
  • “The Ethics of Neighborhood Councils”
  • Dr. Wiseman is a member of the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council and is interested in becoming a Commissioner on the City Ethics Commission.
  • Sunday February 1, 2004
  • Felicia Mahood Center, West Los Angeles.
  • Milt Timmons discussed his book:
  • "Everything About the Bible You Never Had Time to Look Up."
  • Author, professor, and researcher Milt Timmons writes a brief history of the Bible. The Mensa Bulletin calls his book "A Cliff's Notes for Biblical Literature."
  • Included in the book are discussions of each work now extant: both in the canon and outside of it, "old" testament and "new", orthodox and those works considered heretical. Timmons gives the answers to what is known about who wrote what, when, and why.
  • Learn how Protestant Bibles differ from Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles; how many works, exterminated centuries ago for their dangerous ideas, have now come to light. Dr. Timmons has a Ph.D. in Mass Communications from the University of Southern California, and, for balance, an MA from UCLA.
  • Sunday January 18, 2004
  • Mission Hospital Office Building Auditorium, Panorama City.
  • “Ethical Dilemmas Facing an Everyday Engineer”
  • was the topic presented by Kirsten Stahl, Engineer.
  • Sunday, January 11, 2004
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War"
  • A DVD version of the documentary film, which a recent LA TIMES article described as having been shown at house parties across the U.S.A., was shown.
  • Sunday January 4, 2004
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, Auditorium 14860 Roscoe Blvd., Panorama City.
  • “The Development of Church/State Relationship in the U.S.: "The Last Half of the 20th Century”
  • Part two of a four-part presentation by Harry Schwartzbart, President of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
  • Sunday January 4, 2004
  • at the Felicia Mahood Senior Center, 11338 W. Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles
  • Ronald C. Spriesterbach led a discussion on:
  • "Organizing a Humanist Student Group."
  • Treasurer and a founder of the Humanists student group at California State University, Los Angeles, Ron Spriesterbach will discuss his experiences with organizing, and running a student freethought group.
  • Now retired for a number of years, Mr. Spriesterbach joined the Humanist movement fifty-five years ago when he was active in the First Unitarian Church in downtown Los Angeles. Born in Pueblo, Colorado, he came to California and acquired BA and MA degrees in physics from UCLA. He worked for Librascope, then for twenty-six years was a computer Engineer at JPL. He worked on several projects exploring the planets, such and Voyager, Mariner and Galileo.
  • Now studying languages in his retirement, he is earning an MA in French from Cal. State L. A. He has received a masters in computer science from the University of Southern California; multiple master degrees from Cal. State in math, business administration, and Spanish. His current course of study will result in his sixth masters level degree.
  • Sunday December 21, 2003
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, Panorama City.
  • Is “Lawyers’ Ethics” an Oxymoron?
  • presented by Richard D. Marks, Attorney at Law
  • Sunday, December 14, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • Developing Your Mind with Freethought
  • was presented by Lois Lyons, Co-President HALA.
  • Sunday December 7, 2003
  • Felicia Mahood Center, West Los Angeles.
  • "Tonic Talk, Toxic Talk: How Conversation Affects our Health."
  • Presented by Helen Colton.
    Author and family counselor Helen Colton is a long time member of the Humanist Association of Los Angeles. She is a pioneer in sex education for families, and a teacher of family relations. Her books include “Sex After the Sexual Revolution,” and “The Gift of Touch.”
    "Tonic Talk, Toxic Talk" tells how we communicate affects us for good or ill.
  • Sunday November 16, 2003
  • Mission Hospital Office Building Auditorium, Panorama City.
  • “What May Children in the LAUSD expect in the Future?”
  • Presentation by Jon Lauritzen., recently elected School Board member.
    Jon Lauritzen is a lifelong Valley school teacher, education reformer and neighborhood leader, who has dedicated his life to improving the quality of education for children.
  • Sunday, November 9, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • “Humanism in India and the Subcontinent”
  • presented by Nirmal Mishra
  • November 2, 2003
  • Mission Hospital Office Building,
  • “The Development of Church and State Relationship in the U.S.: The Colonial Period”
  • Part one of a four part presented by Harry Schwartzbart, President of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State





  • Sunday November 2, 2003,
  • Felicia Mahood Center, 11338 W. Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles.
  • “Religious Dissenters in America”
  • Presented by Larry A. Taylor
  • It takes courage to reject the dominant religion, religion which enjoys the power of the state. American religious tolerance grew out of the competition of dozens of sects and traditions. Finally, a wall of separation between Church and State was erected with the Bill of Rights.
  • Sunday, October 19, 2003
  • Mission Hospital Office Building,
  • “Ethical Problems in the Classroom”,
  • presented by Gerald Larue, Leader ECSLA, Adjunct Professor of Gerontology and Emeritus Professor of Religion at USC.
  • Dr. Larue teaches courses on "The Social and Psychological Aspects of Death and Dying" and "Ethical Issues in Geriatric Health Care. " His most recent books, published in 1996, are Playing God: 50 Religions' Views on Your Right to Die (Moyer/Bell) and Freethought Across the Centuries (Humanist Press).


  • Sunday, October 12, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • "How to Debate with Religious People"
  • presentation by Jonathan Nelson, of Atheists United Los Angeles
  • Discussion followed the presentation.


  • Sunday, October 5, 2003
  • at the Felicia Mahood Senior Center,
    11338 W. Santa Monica Blvd
  • "The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad"
  • Gary Hundertmark discussed the book by Fareed Zakaria.
  • "With elegance and insight, Fareed Zakaria sets forth for our times a fundamental truth previously articulated by Aristotle and Tocqueville: unregulated democracy undermines liberty and the rule of law. The Future of Freedom is one of the most important books on global political trends to appear in the past decade. Its sobering analysis has vital lessons for all of us concerned with freedom's future in the world." --Samuel Huntington
  • Sunday, September 21, 2003
  • Mission Medical Building, 14860 Roscoe Blvd., Van Nuys
  • "Humanism's Future: Where do we want to be and how can we get there?"
  • Mel Lipman is president of the American Humanist Association. He is a frequent speaker on church/state separation issues and has appeared frequently on radio and TV talk show todiscuss Humanist-related issues. He is a former board member of the Nevada Civil Liberties Union and remains active in many ACLU efforts. A Humanist Minister, he is a member of the Las Vegas Interfaith Council and is a former president of the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation in Las Vegas. Lipman is a lawyer, and, although retired from his full-time legal practice, he continues to work as an arbitrator and mediator while teaching Constitutional Law, US History, and Business Law at the Nevada campus of University of Phoenix and at Nevada State College.
  • Sunday, September 14, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • “The Bill of Rights”
  • We played a 1941 tape recording of a radio program by Norman Corwin in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. Discussion followed. Norman Corwin was the premiere writer and producer of radio theater in the 1940's.
  • Norman Corwin's and other Audio Theater recordings are available from LodesTone.
  • Sunday, September 7, 2003
  • Barnes and noble Bookseller, Westside Pavilion, West Los Angeles
  • "The Mystery of the Treatise of the Three Impostors"
  • UCLA Professor of History Margaret Jacob gave a short lecture and signed copies of her book:
  • The Enlightenment: A Brief History with Documents.
  • "The Treatise of the Three Impostors."
  • First appearing in 1719, this anonymous document was circulated underground in Europe for decades, being translated into different languages and published in several editions. The "Three Impostors" of the title are Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. The document is seen as a key to the entire Enlightenment movement, and early Freethought.

  • Sunday, August 10, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square
  • "The Rescue of Jerusalem: The Alliance Between Hebrews and Africans in 701 B.C."
  • Peter Roberts, Co-President of HALA, led a review and discussion of the book, by Henry T. Aubin (Soho Press)
  • The Charlotte Observer: "Aubin sheds fresh and persuasive light on matters ranging from the development of monotheism, to the forgotten civilizations of ancient Africa, to the racial makeup of Egyptians, to the racism that blighted 19th-century scholarship and which continues to influence scholars today, even though most aren't racist themselves."
  • Sunday, August 3rd 2003
  • Borders Books,Westwood
  • The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
  • Review and discussion of Steven Pinker's book, led by Peter Roberts, Co-President of HALA.
  • Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly:
  • "In his last outing, How the Mind Works, the author of the well-received The Language Instinct made a case for evolutionary psychology or the view that human beings have a hard-wired nature that evolved over time. This book returns to that still-controversial territory in order to shore it up in the public sphere. Drawing on decades of research in the "sciences of human nature," Pinker, a chaired professor of psychology at MIT, attacks the notion that an infant's mind is a blank slate, arguing instead that human beings have an inherited universal structure shaped by the demands made upon the species for survival, albeit with plenty of room for cultural and individual variation."

  • Remarks by Larry Taylor:
    Pinker first of all apologizes to his fellow scientists for appearing to write another book on nature and nurture. Those in the field consider the matter settled: it's both, genetics and environment interact in a complex manner to produce us. He writes about three ideas that seem to refuse to die.
    The Blank Slate: humans are born without any ideas, and indeed can know nothing except put there by the senses. In an extreme form, it is denied that humans are born with any human nature at all: everything is a social construction.
    (The original blank slate idea was used to show that we weren't born with ideas, such as God or mathmatics. Certainly humans have to learn language, for instance, and all humans seem capable to learn all languages. Are people the same or different?)
    The Ghost in the Machine: the idea, mostly associated with religious systems, that we aren't just a physical body. A soul, or whatever, inhabits the body and is blamed or credited for moral actions, thinking, etc.
    The Noble Savage: humans are naturally noble and peaceful, and it is the corruptions and habits of civilization that make them warlike, etc.
    Pinker deals with some of the fears of people who think they need these ideas for morals and the basis of social relationships. He summarizes these fears, and deals with them in separate chapters:
    "If people are innately different, oppression and discrimination would be justified.
    "If people are innately immoral, hopes to improve the human condition would be futile.
    "If people are products of biology, free will would be a myth and we could no longer hold people responsible for their actions.
    "If people are products of biology, life would have no higher meaning and purpose." (p. 139)
    I'm sure you recognize several themes important to freethinkers (and brights).
    Larry A. Taylor, Ph.D.
  • Sunday, July 13, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Center
  • Cartoons relating to Freedom.
  • Presentation by Dr. Melvin Kirschner, M.D. of some political cartoons from his collection
  • Sunday July 6, 2003
  • Border's Books 1360 Westwood Blvd, Westwood
  • "What does Society Owe Us?"
  • Lecture and discussion by Philip Tan, Ph.D. Department of Social Work, Cal. State Long Beach
  • Some today take the attitude that we have come to a welfare society just lately in human history. Some seem to think that we are weak when we decide to take care of the poor -- and that welfare is a late and debilitating invention of liberals.
    Dr. Tan's discussion is rooted in history. He has provided a short, but detailed, history of social welfare in continental Europe, in England, and in the American colonies. The Poor Laws, periodically revised, date back hundreds of years.
  • Sunday, June 8, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • Marge Farber presented
  • "Velikovsky Revisited"
  • There was also be a visitation of the vocal group
  • "Voices of Reason"
  • with an all new program.
  • Sunday June 1, 2003
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, 14860 Roscoe Blvd., Panorama City.
  • Gerald A. Larue, Leader ECSLA presented part 2 of
  • "What Do Children Owe to Parents?"
  • As an additional treat, a string duet interlude of selections from Robert Fuchs was performed by Rita Lorenz, violin and Beverly Emus, viola.
  • Sunday May 18, 2003
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, 14860 Roscoe Blvd., Panorama City.
  • "A Two Party System and Human Rights"
  • presented by Jonathan Hall, Human Rights Researcher
  • Sunday, May 11, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • "Ghosts Never Die"
  • Milt Timmons presented a video of a class he conducted at Valley College performing a modernization of Henrik Ibsen's "Ghosts." From its original locus at the coast of Norway in the 1870s, the play is transported to the Gulf Coast of Texas in the 1970s. Re-titled, "Ghosts Never Die," the play is condensed into 90 minutes.
  • Sunday May 4, 2003
  • Border's Books, 1360 Westwood Blvd, Westwood
  • "The Perfect Heresy: The Revolutionary Life and Death of the Medieval Cathars"
  • by Stephen O'Shea. Book discussion, Led by Larry A. Taylor, MA in History.
  • April 20, 2003
  • Van Nuys
  • "Treating Mentally Ill Patients Ethically, under Managed Care"
  • Maurice Zeitlin, M.D., Psychiatrist in private practice
  • April 6, 2003
  • Westwood
  • "Rocks of Ages" by Stephen Gould
  • Presenter: Ernst Ghermann
  • March 16, 2003
  • Van Nuys
  • "Is America a Functioning Theocracy"
  • Harry Schwartzbart, Founding President of the San Fernando Valley Chapter, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
  • Meeting Summary
  • March 9, 2003
  • Sherman Oaks
  • "Henrik Ibsen, Father of Protest Theater"
  • Bob Lees
  • March 2, 2003
  • Van Nuys
  • Slide Show, Cartoonist's View of Society's Ethics
  • Melvin Kirschner
  • February 16, 2003
  • Van Nuys
  • "What do Children owe to Parents"
  • Gerald A Larue, Leader ECSLA
  • January 19, 2003
  • Van Nuys
  • "Liberty and Truth Are The First Casualties of War"
  • Stephen F. Rode, Lawyer, Immediate Past President of ACLU of Southern California
  • December 15, 2002
  • Van Nuys
  • "The Value of Waste: A Triumph of Technology"
  • Gary Peterson, Businessman, Entrepreneur, Developer
  • Meeting Summary
  • November 17, 2002
  • Van Nuys
  • "The Baha'i Faith: Its Beliefs and Views of the World of Today and Tomorrow"
  • Michael Heister, Author, Educator
  • October 20, 2002
  • Van Nuys
  • "Cityhood for the San Fernando Valley: Some Ethical Considerations"
  • Richard Leyner, Realtor, Immediate Past President United Chamber of Commerce
  • September 15,2002
  • Van Nuys
  • "What do Children owe Parents"
  • Gerald A. Larue, Leader ECSLA
  • September 8, 2002
  • Sherman Oaks
  • "The Patriot Act vs. the Bill of Rights"
  • Ernst Ghermann
  • June 16, 2002
  • Van Nuys
  • "Ethical Issues Affecting the Aged"
  • Gerald A. Larue, Leader ECSLA
  • June 9, 2002, 10:30AM
  • Sherman Oaks
  • “Medical Frauds?”
    Alternative and Complementary Medicine, one physician's viewpoint
  • Melvin Kirschner, MD
  • June 2, 2002
  • Borders Books, Westwood
  • The Future of the First Amendment
  • Presenter: John Suarez, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
  • 5/19/2002
  • Van Nuys
  • "Ethics in Islam"
  • Armen A. Saginian, Engineer, Author
  • 5/5/2002
  • Santa Monica Library Auditorium
  • "Ethical Problems Encountered by Persons With Mental Illness and Those who Care for Them."
  • Presenter: Tod Lipka, Chief Executive Officer, Step up on Second, a Santa Monica-based charitable organization serving community residents and the homeless who are recovering from mental illness.
  • 4/21/2002
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, Panorama City,
  • "Language as an Instrument of Propaganda."
  • Presenter: Margriet Lacy, Professor, Butler University, Indianapolis.
  • 4/14/2002
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square
  • "Ur-Fascism",
  • based on the essay by Novelist Umberto Eco. Presenter: Peter Roberts, Co-President of HALA.
  • April 7, 2002
  • Santa Monica Library Auditorium
  • Humanism in Art
  • Presenter: Bob Richert, professional artist.
  • March 17, 2002
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, Panorama City
  • "The Study of Cityhood: The Right of Self Determination"
  • Presenter: Richard Leyner, Real Estate Broker
  • 3/10/2002
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square
  • "Political Cartoonists View the Medical Establishment."
  • Presenter: Melvin Kirschner, M.D., Ethical Culture Society Board Member.
  • 3/3/2002
  • Santa Monica Library Auditorium
  • "Religion and Spirituality in the U.S."
  • Presenter: Crerar Douglas, Department of Religious Studies, California State University at Northridge.
  • 2/17/2002
  • Panorama city
  • "Ethical Issues Affecting Persons with Disabilities and the Professionals who serve them"
  • Harry Rizer, Director, Center on Disabilities, CSUN
  • 2/3/2002
  • Santa Monica
  • "Church and State separation after 9/11"
  • Eddie Tabash
  • 1/20/2002 & 12/16/2001
  • Panorama City
  • "Philosophy for Children: Creating a Caring Community of Inquiry"
  • Janet Horrigan
  • 1/13/2002
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square
  • "The Indo-Pakistan-Afghan Scenario," the conflicts between religious absolutists and Humanism in that area.
  • Nirmal Mishra, Professor Emeritus, California State University at Northridge (CSUN)
  • 11/18/2001
  • Mission Hospital Office Building, Panorama City
  • "The History, Development, and post World War II Story of the Nuremberg Law Documents."
  • Presenter: David Welch, Docent, Skirbal Cultural Center
  • Meeting Summary
  • 11/11/2001
  • Sherman Oaks Fashion Square Community Room
  • "There is no Science in Scientology"
  • Presenter: Cynthia Conover
  • 11/4/2001
  • Santa Monica Library Auditorium
  • "Ethics of Human Enhancement."
  • Presenter: Sara Goering, Professor of Philosophy, California State University at Long Beach
  • Meeting Summary