ChiCago EthiCal humanist Newsletter of the Ethical humanist sociEty of chicago novEmbEr 2016 Welcome to Our Sunday Morning Programs in November AL YELLON, editor of the blog Bleed Cubbie Blue and co-author of Cubs by the Numbers, speaks Sunday, November 6th. His topic is: “Bleed Cubbie Blue: A Diehard Look at the Cubs and Their Fans.” A longtime Chicago Cubs fan, Yellon will recount the long history of the Cubs, the story of how the blog was developed, and in- sights on this year’s winningest major league baseball team. He’ll hopefully be able to hail the Cubs as the World Series champion! STORYTOWN IMPROV pres- ents an interactive, all-ages the- atrical arts program on Sunday, November 13th. The cast will use suggestions and ideas from the au- dience to create a story just for us. We’ll help design the set, make the props, paint the backdrops, and shape the story that will be executed by creative graphic artists and accompanied by original music and lyrics. DANA SUSKIND, professor of Sur- gery and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, speaks Sunday, Novem- ber 20th, on “Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain.” Suskind will share her observations of disparities in the language development of young children. She will discuss the cascade of consequences on cognitive development, school readi- ness, academic achievement, occupational status, health, and social well-being of children born into poverty. DANIEL IVANKOVICH, noted ortho- pedic surgeon, speaks Sunday, Novem- ber 27th, on “The Bone Squad and the One-Patient Global Health Initiative.” Ivankovich will share the inspiration be- hind and the day-to-day life of the Chi- cago-based nonprofit OnePatient Global Health Initiative, which treats patients with musculoskeletal health disorders, regardless of their ability to pay. • The October kickoff of our monthly Game Night was tremendous! We’d love for you to join us at the next one, on Saturday, November 5th, 6 to 9 p.m. They’re low-key fun evenings where individuals and families enjoy a variety of games and meet new people. You can bring your own food and beverages or, if you arrive before 6:15, chip in for pizza. For more information, email [email protected]. See you! • Our next Fiction Circle is on Sunday, November 6th, at 12:15 p.m. We’ll discuss Aristophanes’ famous anti-war comedy Lysistrata and its recent remixes: Meg Wolitzer’s 2011 novel The Uncoupling and Spike Lee’s 2015 film Chi-Raq. English translations of Lysistrata are available online and in libraries, The Uncoupling in paperback and in libraries, and Chi-Raq at Amazon Prime. Contact Ken Novak to borrow an audio version of The Uncoupling and to see Chi-Raq. • Our next Second Saturday Coffeehouse, hosted by Vicki Elberfeld, is on November 12th, at 8 p.m. It features the Avanti Guitar Trio, a world-class chamber ensemble. Gui- tarists Jason Deroche, Julie Goldberg, and Wesley Hixson will blend together a repertoire that ranges from the baroque to contemporary, with newly composed music, engaging transcriptions of classical masterpieces, and an occasional rock/pop or jazz tune. The $8 donation includes refresh- ments. Come for a very enjoyable musical evening! • Our Film Discussion group, led by John Ungashick, meets on Monday, November 14th, at 7:15 p.m. We’ll again discuss two current movies. Denial is a British courtroom drama based on a notorious libel suit by a Holocaust de- nier. It was directed by Mick Jackson, with Rachel Weisz, Timothy Spall, and Tom Wilkinson. A Man Called Ove is a (Other Society Events continued on page 2) Other Society Events The meetinghouse of the Society is at 7574 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie. Sunday programs start at 10:30 a.m. A social hour fol- lows. For parking, use our lot, spaces at the adjoining store, How- ard St. or Jerome St., or the lot at the Albany Bank. If you need transportation, call the office by 1 p.m., Friday—we’ll try to get a ride for you.
Transcript
ChiCago EthiCal humanist Newsletter of the Ethical humanist sociEty of chicago
novEmbEr 2016
Welcome to Our Sunday Morning Programs in NovemberAL YELLON, editor of the blog Bleed Cubbie Blue and co-author of Cubs by the Numbers, speaks Sunday, November 6th. His topic is: “Bleed Cubbie Blue: A Diehard Look at the Cubs and Their Fans.” A longtime Chicago Cubs fan, Yellon will recount the long history of the
Cubs, the story of how the blog was developed, and in-sights on this year’s winningest major league baseball team. He’ll hopefully be able to hail the Cubs as the World Series champion!
STORYTOWN IMPROV pres-ents an interactive, all-ages the-atrical arts program on Sunday, November 13th. The cast will use suggestions and ideas from the au-dience to create a story just for us. We’ll help design the set, make
the props, paint the backdrops, and shape the story that will be executed by creative graphic artists and accompanied by original music and lyrics.
DANA SUSKIND, professor of Sur-gery and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, speaks Sunday, Novem-ber 20th, on “Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain.” Suskind will share her observations of disparities in the language development of young children. She will discuss the cascade of consequences on cognitive development, school readi-ness, academic achievement, occupational status, health, and social well-being of children born into poverty.
DANIEL IVANKOVICH, noted ortho-pedic surgeon, speaks Sunday, Novem-ber 27th, on “The Bone Squad and the One-Patient Global Health Initiative.” Ivankovich will share the inspiration be-hind and the day-to-day life of the Chi-cago-based nonprofit OnePatient Global Health Initiative, which treats patients with musculoskeletal health disorders, regardless of their ability to pay.
• The October kickoff of our monthly Game Night was tremendous! We’d love for you to join us at the next one, on Saturday, November 5th, 6 to 9 p.m. They’re low-key fun evenings where individuals and families enjoy a variety of games and meet new people. You can bring your own food and beverages or, if you arrive before 6:15, chip in for pizza. For more information, email [email protected]. See you!• Our next Fiction Circle is on Sunday, November 6th, at 12:15 p.m. We’ll discuss Aristophanes’ famous anti-war comedy Lysistrata and its recent remixes: Meg Wolitzer’s 2011 novel The Uncoupling and Spike Lee’s 2015 film Chi-Raq. English translations of Lysistrata are available online and in libraries, The Uncoupling in paperback and in libraries, and Chi-Raq at Amazon Prime. Contact Ken Novak to borrow an audio version of The Uncoupling and to see Chi-Raq.• Our next Second Saturday Coffeehouse, hosted by Vicki Elberfeld, is on November 12th, at 8 p.m. It features the
Avanti Guitar Trio, a world-class chamber ensemble. Gui-tarists Jason Deroche, Julie Goldberg, and Wesley Hixson will blend together a repertoire that ranges from the baroque to contemporary, with newly composed music, engaging transcriptions of classical masterpieces, and an occasional rock/pop or jazz tune. The $8 donation includes refresh-ments. Come for a very enjoyable musical evening!• Our Film Discussion group, led by John Ungashick, meets on Monday, November 14th, at 7:15 p.m. We’ll again discuss two current movies. Denial is a British courtroom drama based on a notorious libel suit by a Holocaust de-nier. It was directed by Mick Jackson, with Rachel Weisz, Timothy Spall, and Tom Wilkinson. A Man Called Ove is a
(Other Society Events continued on page 2)
Other Society Events
The meetinghouse of the Society is at 7574 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie. Sunday programs start at 10:30 a.m. A social hour fol-lows. For parking, use our lot, spaces at the adjoining store, How-ard St. or Jerome St., or the lot at the Albany Bank. If you need transportation, call the office by 1 p.m., Friday—we’ll try to get a ride for you.
heartwarming black comedy about an ill-tempered Swedish widow who has given up on life. It was directed by Hannes Holm and stars Rolf Lassgard. See one or both. All film buffs are warmly welcomed!• Our Creative Writers group, led by Sue Sherman, meets on Sunday, November 20th, at 12:15 p.m. You’re most welcome to share your short, original work with us.
Recent Sunday Programs• Geoffrey Stone, professor of law at the University of Chicago, spoke September 25th on “Free Speech on Campus? Academic Freedom Vs. Safe Spaces.” Svetlana Bekman was moderator.
“Academic freedom is always vulnerable” and “not to be taken for granted,” Stone said. Though sometimes con-demned as “unpatriotic and dangerous,” freedom of inquiry and expression is “the purpose of liberal education,” he insisted. The role of the university, he added, is to expose students to new ideas and the possibility that their current views and certainties might be wrong. Yet universities fear bad publicity and loss of support from critical financial donors, he pointed out.
“We encourage argument,” Stone said. But, he asked, should we disinvite or ban speakers—or hateful, racist speech? Is it acceptable to disrupt meetings? He asked whether “trigger warnings” of controversial topics or speakers are called for or whether we should create “safe spaces” for marginalized groups. Ultimately, he insisted, universities must encourage “civility and mutual respect, not censorship.”
• Katherine Ozment, award-winning author and journalist, spoke October 2nd on “Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age.” Kara Malenfant was moderator.
Recalling her grandmother’s being comforted by her de-vout religious faith, Ozment described how her own values and beliefs have been sustained without religion, especially in raising her children. She pointed to the rapid growth in the number of religiously unaffiliated “nones,” especially among the younger generation. Noting that “the U.S. is losing religiosity,” she asked, “Where do we find a secular
alternative and a spirituality without God?” Ozment stressed the importance of our sharing personal
stories, by which we “become a story-telling community” and reveal “what we value.” She also stressed the “impor-tance of secular ritual” and of cultivating “a feeling of awe and wonder” about life and nature. Praising the “spirituality of human connection,” she declared, “We are not ‘none.’” Ozment called on us to popularize science and to “learn the religious stories” as well as “the history of non-belief.”
• Bob Creamer and Chris Robling staged their quadren-nial election duel, October 9th, on “Clinton Vs. Trump: The Battle for the Presidency.” Alan Kimmel was moderator.
Robling, a longtime Republican consultant, said he favored neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton. He ex-plained that Republican primary voters were venting their frustration with Washington and “liked Trump’s status as an outsider.” Creamer, a longtime Democratic consultant, said that Trump’s attraction “was not typical of Republican conservatism.” He compared the rise of Trump with that of nationalist, authoritarian movements in Europe and to growing economic inequality.
Robling too was concerned about the “possible rise of fascism” but he insisted that what is mainly at stake is “the need for limited government.” He added that the Repub-lican Party needs “reformation or revolution” to eliminate the corporate welfare that offends its rank and file. Calling Trump “intemperate,” “ dangerous,” and “out for himself,” Creamer hailed Clinton, who, “despite her shortcomings,” would follow “a progressive agenda as president.”
• B.C. Koh, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois in Chicago, spoke October 16th on “The Origins of the Korean Divide and North Korea Today.” Matt Cole was moderator.
Koh reviewed the history of the Korean peninsula since the ousting of the Japanese by U.S. and Soviet forces dur-ing World War II. He cited the international conferences and the elections that led to UN recognition in 1947 of a separate North Korea and South Korea. He contended that the ensuing Korean War, which involved U.S. and Chinese troops before the armistice of 1950, “clearly began with an invasion by the North.”
Koh recalled losing his parents during the war and work-ing as a houseboy for the American military. He talked about his family, his fortunate emigration to the U.S., and his academic achievements at Miami University of Ohio and Cornell University. Having visited his homeland sev-eral times in recent years, he said South Korea “is a democ-racy” but decried North Korea’s concentration camps and nuclear weapons. The North is “in terrible shape,” he said, its only hope for democratization lying in “regime change.”
(Other Society Events continued from page 1)
The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago, founded in 1882, is a chapter of the American Humanist Association.Officers & Trustees: Katherine Ross, President; Jan Kuhn, Vice
President; Ray Berg, Secretary; John Ungashick, Treasurer; Svet-lana Bekman, Matt Cole, Alan Kimmel, Sue Sherman, Ed Thomp-son.Sunday School Director: Katherine RossYES Advisors: Lisa Crowe, Sharon Appelquist Office Administrator: Sharon AppelquistNewsletter Editor: Alan Kimmel Ethical Officiants: Matt Cole, Katie Merrell
Notices and Announcements• Our Annual Pledge Drive is underway! Help keep those annoying pledge reminders to a minimum by pledging early. The Society runs on the volunteer efforts of com-mittees (join one!) and on funding from our modest rental income, the Sunday collections, and our personal pledges. The remainder comes from our Endowment interest in-come. To safeguard the Endowment, we need to reinvest as much of the interest income as possible and not spend it on operating costs. We urge members and friends to pledge generously and to do so early. We’re all very grateful!• Enjoy the coffee and social hour after our Sunday morning programs. We provide coffee and serve bite-sized snacks brought by our members, using a schedule corresponding to their last names: 1st Sunday, A–D; 2nd Sunday, E–K; 3rd Sunday, L–P; 4th Sunday, Q–Z. We also thank the volunteers who help with the setup and cleanup each Sunday. • Visiting the Society for the first time? Welcome! We hope you’ll like the wide variety of our Sunday morning programs. You may have first been with us at our secu-lar Sunday School or at one of our activities and interest groups. We hope you’ve met like-minded people and found the caring, nonsectarian humanist congregation you’re looking for. At our monthly Newcomers Chat, you can learn more about the Society and consider becoming a member. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].• Getting married? Naming your baby? Having a memo-rial service? Our trained Ethical Officiants perform wed-dings, baby namings, and memorial services. For a caring, secular ceremony, inquire at our office.• Our Tribute Fund is a way of honoring each other—like condolences on the death of a loved one and congratula-tions on a birth, wedding, or personal achievement. Each tribute is printed in the newsletter. Forms are on the litera-ture tables.• Do you need public transportation to our Sunday meet-ings? A #290 bus leaves the Howard L station at 9:30 a.m. and goes to Touhy and Cicero, a short walk to our building.
A return #290 bus to Howard leaves Touhy and Cicero at 1:20 p.m. The Skokie Swift’s Oakton St. station is nearby.• Renting space in our building—for a party, meeting, class, concert, ceremony, or special event—is easy. One room or several. Reasonable prices. Contact our office for details. • Join one of our hard-working committees—like Ethi-cal Action, Sunday Program, Hospitality, Fund Raising, Building, Membership, Publicity, Audio-Visual, Adult Education, and Caring. Are you interested? Call Sharon Appelquist at the office.• Get a weekly e-mail update on future programs and activities. Subscribe to our website: www.EthicalHumanist-Society.org. For our monthly printed newsletter, a subscrip-tion is $20 per year if you’re not a member, a contributing friend, or new on our mailing list.
Sunday School Scoop . . . We had an action packed October! We began with a new
service project, planting indigenous plants at Emily Oaks. We’ll check on them in the spring and maybe in next fall’s bug walk. That same day, we also squeezed in lunch pack-ing for the Lincoln Park Community Shelter. The following weekend we discussed Altruism, then took up a collection for the Foundation Beyond Belief’s Hurricane Matthew Haiti Relief Fund, quickly raising $176 in just one day.
The last weeks of October were filled with parties, be-ginning with our Fall Children’s Fair—a big hit, with fun games, hot dogs, the amazing balloon creations by Ryan of RC Juggles, cake walks, and raffle baskets. It was followed by our Halloween Party, which included creating an ofrenda to commemorate the lives of all the loved ones we’ve lost.
In November we’ll pick up our focus on Ethical Human-ism, with an exploration of Ethics, the land, and indigenous peoples. On the 13th well have our first intergenerational program, featuring the Storytown Improv Group, who promise to take us on an interactive, fully improvised adventure! Don’t miss it! The following Sunday, Novem-ber 20th, we’ll gather at 9:30 a.m. for our Potluck Parent Breakfast.
—Katherine Ross, Director
Our People . . . • Jessica Kramer, daughter of members Jan Kuhn and Jeff Kramer, and a graduate of our Sunday School, is a new mother. Her baby son, Sean Jacob Halpin, was born on October 4th. The family is all smiles. Congratulations to Jessica and her husband Kevin!• Rick and Andrea Guthman are new members. They live on Chicago’s Northwest Side. Rick is a family physician and Andrea is a free-lance journalist. One of their children is in our Sunday School while their two teenagers enjoy the Sunday morning programs with them. Welcome, everyone!
Who We Are
The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago is a self-governing, inclusive, caring community—providing a home to those who seek a rational, compassionate philosophy of life without regard to belief or non-belief in a supreme being.We focus on the ethical values that bring people together, not
on the beliefs that keep people apart. We celebrate births, conduct wedding ceremonies, and host
memorial services. We provide for the ethical education of our children, based on rational, critical thinking. We believe in working together for a better world, and strive to
act so as to bring out the best in others and thereby in ourselves.
Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago
7574 N. Lincoln Avenue, Skokie, IL 60077-3335Phone: (847) 677-3334; Fax: (847) 677-3335Web Site: www.ethicalhuman.orgE-mail: [email protected]
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NOVEMBER 2016 CALENDARThe office of the Society is openevery weekday - 10 am to 2 pm.
Call 847-677-3334 with any questions.
10:30 Al Yellon “Bleed Cubbie Blue: A Diehard Look at the Cubs and Their Fans” 12:15 - Fiction Circle: Lysistrata
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