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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT
size=3></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT size=3>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.</FONT><BR><BR><U><FONT size=3>Platform Titles (details
below)</DIV>
<DIV></U>
<P align=left>Feb. 1st – "It’s Only Talk" by Fritz Williams, Leader of the
Baltimore Ethical Society</P>
<P align=left>Feb. 8<SUP>th</SUP> – "Life Partners" by Fritz Williams, Leader,
Baltimore Ethical Society</P>
<P align=left>Feb. 15<SUP>th</SUP> – "Same Sex Marriage" by Dan Furmansky,
Executive Director of Equality Maryland</P>
<P align=left>Feb. 22<SUP>nd</SUP> </FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=3>–
</FONT><FONT size=3>"What's the Point of Spirituality?" by Dr. Michael S.
Franch, Ethical Culture Leader at Large</P>
<P align=left>Feb. 29<SUP>th</SUP> </FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=3>–
</FONT><FONT size=3>"Iraqi People Still Under Siege" by Ellen Barfield, peace
and justice activist</P></FONT>
<P align=left></P><U><FONT size=3>
<P align=left>Other Activities</P></U>
<P align=left>Feb. 1, 15, and 29 - 9:30 AM - <U>Poetry Therapy Group</U> Contact
Karla Mancero at nada23_2002@yahoo.com for more information.</P>
<P align=left></P>
<P align=left>Feb. 8 - 12:30 PM - <U>Lunch and a Book</U> Bring a bag lunch and
come prepared to discuss "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by
Barbara Ehrenreich</P>
<P align=left></P>
<P align=left>Feb. 15 - 12:30 PM - <U>Ethical Mindfulness Meditation</U> –
guided meditations written by Nobel peace prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh from an
ethical humanist perspective; led by Karen Elliott</P>
<P align=left></P>
<P align=left>Saturday: Feb. 21 - evening -<U>BES Social</U> - 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.)</P></FONT>
<P align=left></P><U><FONT size=3>
<P align=left>Platform Details and Biographical Information about the
speakers</P></U>
<P align=left>Feb. 1st – "It’s Only Talk" by Fritz Williams, Leader of the
Baltimore Ethical Society</P>
<P align=left>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."</P>
<P align=left></P><U>
<P align=left>Fritz Williams</U> 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.</P>
<P align=left></P>
<P align=left>Feb. 8<SUP>th</SUP> – "Life Partners" by Fritz Williams, Leader,
Baltimore Ethical Society</P>
<P align=left>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, <U>Fritz Williams</U> talks about making life’s most
challenging partnership work by approaching it as a conscious and purposeful
enterprise. </P>
<P align=left></P>
<P align=left>Feb. 15<SUP>th</SUP> – "Same Sex Marriage" by Dan Furmansky,
Executive Director of Equality Maryland</P>
<P align=left>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 <U>Dan Furmansky</U> of Equality Maryland (formerly Free State
Justice) has to say about that subject, and form your own opinion. </P>
<P align=left></P><U>
<P align=left>Dan Furmansky</U> 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.</P>
<P align=left></P>
<P align=left>Feb. 22<SUP>nd</SUP> – "What's the Point of Spirituality?" by Dr.
Michael S. Franch, Ethical Culture Leader at Large</P>
<P align=left>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. <U>Dr. Franch</U>
will talk about his spiritual goals as a religious humanist, and give some
suggestions that might help you on your spiritual journey.</P>
<P align=left></P><U>
<P align=left>Dr. Michael S. Franch</U> 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. </P>
<P align=left></P>
<P align=left>Feb. 29<SUP>th</SUP> – "Iraqi People Still Under Siege" by Ellen
Barfield, peace and justice activist</P>
<P align=left>Full-time peace and justice activist <U>Ellen Barfield</U> 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.</P>
<P align=left></P><U>
<P align=left>Ellen Barfield</U> 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.</P></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>