[BES Friends] February Program

[Steve Meskin]

With this monthly message, BES is initiating a new mail software program that will assist us in managing our email list while at the same time adding more protections to insure your privacy.  The members of BES are pleased to make our programs available to the public, but we would be even more pleased to see you and talk to you some Sunday mornig.

Unless otherwise noted, all events are held on Sundays at the Society (306 W Franklin St, Suite 102, 21201) and the number to call for more information is 410-581-2322. Platforms begin at 10:30 am and end at noon followed by coffee, snacks and chats. Details about the platform topics and speakers follow the list of other activities.

Platform Titles (details below)
Feb. 1st – "It’s Only Talk" by Fritz Williams, Leader of the Baltimore Ethical Society

Feb. 8th – "Life Partners" by Fritz Williams, Leader, Baltimore Ethical Society

Feb. 15th – "Same Sex Marriage" by Dan Furmansky, Executive Director of Equality Maryland

Feb. 22nd – "What's the Point of Spirituality?" by Dr. Michael S. Franch, Ethical Culture Leader at Large

Feb. 29th – "Iraqi People Still Under Siege" by Ellen Barfield, peace and justice activist


Other Activities

Feb. 1, 15, and 29 - 9:30 AM - Poetry Therapy Group Contact Karla Mancero at nada23_2002 at yahoo.com for more information.


Feb. 8 - 12:30 PM - Lunch and a Book Bring a bag lunch and come prepared to discuss "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich


Feb. 15 - 12:30 PM - Ethical Mindfulness Meditation – guided meditations written by Nobel peace prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh from an ethical humanist perspective; led by Karen Elliott


Saturday: Feb. 21 - evening -BES Social - Hold this date! We don't know where or what movie, but if you enjoy films, why not join us for a movie, with coffee, dessert and discussion afterwards? (Details will be distributed once we know what will be showing.)


Platform Details and Biographical Information about the speakers

Feb. 1st – "It’s Only Talk" by Fritz Williams, Leader of the Baltimore Ethical Society

A talk about talking. Fritz says, "I would like to talk less and say more. I would like to rein in my inclination to give advice so that I can devote more attention to helping people advise themselves. I would like to stop showing people how wise I am so that wisdom may speak for itself. I would like to turn arguments into a joint search for truth. My words are suffering from inflation. I would like to go on the gold standard."


Fritz Williams is Leader of the Baltimore Ethical Society and, in that capacity, serves as primary speaker, teacher, pastor, and organizational leader. To these duties, Fritz brings extensive ministerial and communications experience. He has worked as a parish priest in the Episcopal Church, and also as a writer and producer at public television stations in Harrisburg, PA, and Detroit, MI. He is especially loved for his down-to-earth narrative style of speaking and his "When I Was Kid" stories, based on his own childhood.


Feb. 8th – "Life Partners" by Fritz Williams, Leader, Baltimore Ethical Society

Marriage is a partnership that is initiated frequently by accident and undertaken without a business plan. Marriages and intimate partnerships don’t fail because of a lack of sincere good intentions. They fail because of all-to-common personal inadequacies and outright mismanagement. In this talk for BES members and friends and for couples who were married by BES officiants in the past two years, Fritz Williams talks about making life’s most challenging partnership work by approaching it as a conscious and purposeful enterprise. 


Feb. 15th – "Same Sex Marriage" by Dan Furmansky, Executive Director of Equality Maryland

The American Ethical Union, of which the Baltimore Ethical Society is a member, passed a resolution in support of same sex marriages in 1996. Come hear what Dan Furmansky of Equality Maryland (formerly Free State Justice) has to say about that subject, and form your own opinion. 


Dan Furmansky has been the Executive Director of Equality Maryland, a group working locally for rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) people since November 2003. He formerly worked at the Humans Rights Campaign, a national GLBT rights group, as a Senior Field Organizer. He has also worked as an advocate for anti-poverty and anti-hunger initiatives.


Feb. 22nd – "What's the Point of Spirituality?" by Dr. Michael S. Franch, Ethical Culture Leader at Large

To have an effective spiritual life, one needs to know where one wants to go. The point of spirituality is that it is directed to a particular end, that it has a purpose, and that it supports a particular religious view. Without a point, it's fruitless to talk about spirituality. Dr. Franch will talk about his spiritual goals as a religious humanist, and give some suggestions that might help you on your spiritual journey.


Dr. Michael S. Franch is an Ethical Culture leader and was leader of the Baltimore Ethical Society from 1975-1984. He is affiliate minister at First Unitarian Church. By academic training he is a historian, his day job is with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and in the evenings he likes to do contra and English country dancing. 


Feb. 29th – "Iraqi People Still Under Siege" by Ellen Barfield, peace and justice activist

Full-time peace and justice activist Ellen Barfield spent 5 weeks in Iraq with the Iraq Peace Team of Voices in the Wilderness in December 2002 and January 2003. She regularly receives information from Peace Team members in Iraq now, as well as other peace activist on the ground in Iraq. She will show slides of the people she met last year, and speak about what she experienced then and what she has heard about Iraq and her friends there from activists who have been there since her trip.


Ellen Barfield is the national Vice President of Veterans for Peace, and serves on the national boards of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, War Resisters League, and School of the Americas Watch. She also works with several local peace and social justice organizations, as well as her church, First Unitarian, in downtown Baltimore. She has visited Iraq four times. In her earlier life, Ellen served in the US Army from 1977 to1981, earned a degree in Animal Science from West Texas State University, and briefly attended veterinary school at Texas A&M University.

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