[From nobody Mon Aug 14 11:02:20 2023
Message-ID: <416B2BD7.60603@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 20:56:55 -0400
From: Stephen Meskin <actuary@comcast.net>
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To: bes-members <Members@baltimoreethicalsociety.org>
Subject: BES Platforms in October
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I just received this folks and rather than holding it up any longer by 
reformating and editing, I'm sending it out as is. (Steve)

Note for City Paper calendar editor:
Please include besides the topic and speaker’s name (and any details you 
can) that the talk begins at 10:30 AM and is held at the Society (306 W 
Franklin St, Suite 102; 21201-4517) and the number to call for more 
information is 410-581-2322. Our web address is 
www.baltimoreethicalsociety.org . If you need more information, call 
Karen Elliott at 410-254-5928. Thanks.

Oct. 3rd – "The Bible for Skeptics” by Fritz Williams, Leader of the 
Baltimore Ethical Society
Subtitle for ad: none
Full information: The Bible is arguably the most influential book ever 
written. And because people disagree so vehemently when it comes to 
interpreting it, it is also one of the most controversial. In this 
prelude to a series of workshops on the Bible in modern scholarship, 
Fritz Williams reflects on the evolution of his relationship with the 
Bible, and he uses his own experience to examine different ways of 
reading the Bible.
Speaker bio: 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.

Oct. 10th – “Democracy or Paperless Electronic Voting?” by Robert 
Ferraro, Co-Director of The Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland
Subtitle for ad: none
Full information: This November, will your vote count? Maybe not! How 
will we even know? By their nature, computers are inherently vulnerable 
to programming error, equipment malfunction, and malicious tampering. To 
ensure transparent, fair elections and to ensure voter confidence, our 
voting system must provide a voter-verified paper audit trail.
Speaker bio: The Campaign for Verifiable Voting in Maryland 
(www.TrueVoteMD.org) is a grassroots, non-partisan group of citizens 
devoted to restoring integrity to our election system. Robert Ferraro is 
a volunteer Co-Director and founding member of the Campaign. In addition 
to his paying job and his work with TrueVoteMD.org, he is also President 
of Eyes of Paint Branch, a local grassroots environmental organization.

October 17th – “Artist as Activists” by Gregg Mosson (editor of Poems 
Against War: A Journal of Poetry), Matt Hohner (editor of the Pasta 
Poetics anthologies), and Guenet Abraham (Asst. Prof. of Visual Arts at 
UMBC)
Subtitle for ad: none
Full information: Artists have long used their work as a means for 
social change. In this panel discussion, three artist activists share 
their experiences and their views of the role of the artist activist in 
our society.
Speaker bio: Gregg Mosson is a poet, teaches at Johns Hopkins 
University, and is the editor of Poems Against War: A Journal of Poetry. 
Matt Hohner is editor of three Pasta Poetics anthologies, whose proceeds 
were used to benefit Beans and Bread. He is a poet and a graduate of the 
Naropa Institute. Guenet Abraham is an Assistant Professor of Visual 
Arts at University of Maryland Baltimore County.

October 24th – “Are American Elections Democratic?” by Richard Katz, 
Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University
Subtitle for ad: none
Full information: Many features of the American elections, including the 
Electoral college and equal representation of the states in the Senate, 
seem to some people to be undemocratic – and if democracy simply means 
majority rule, then they are. But democracy is far more complicated than 
that. How do American elections stack up? And by what standards?
Speaker bio: Richard (Dick) Katz is a Professor of Political Science at 
Johns Hopkins University and is past-president of the Baltimore Ethical 
Society. He has explored these issues ad nauseum, in his book, 
“Democracy and Elections.”

October 31st – “The Ethics of George Bush and the Crisis of Democracy” 
by Bob Berson, Leader of the Northern Westchester Society
Subtitle for ad: none
Full information: In a book entitled “The President of Good and Evil,” 
Peter Sinder proposes that, if President Bush thinks of himself as 
American’s foremost moralist, then it behooves professional philosophers 
and moral teachers to examine the ethical posture of the President. In 
Moyers on America, Bill Moyers says that an increasingly oligarchical 
and corporate mentality is creating a crisis for democracy. Using these 
works as his point of departure, Bob Berson takes his own look at the 
ethical stance of George Bush and its implications for America’s democracy.
Speaker bio: Bob Berson is Leader of the Northern Westchester Ethical 
Society and a clinical psychologist with a private practice in New York 
City. He is also a home-grown Ethical Culturist – a graduate of the 
Riverdale Ethical Society Sunday School and the Fieldston Ethical 
Culture High School.

]