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<b>Sun Oct 5, 10:30 am - noon </b><strong> Movable Treats</strong>
Summer donations were down, so let’s start of the new “meeting season”
with an extra large supply of desserts. As a reminder, Moveable Feast
delivers meals to AIDS and cancer patients and their families. BES’
“Moveable Treats” programs provides individually packaged single
portions of desserts that are included in these meals.<br>
<br>
Bring your desserts with you to the meeting, and place them on the
table in the corner of our meeting room. Use sandwich bags or snack
bags to wrap your desserts in serving size portions, and label them to
indicate generally what they are. Mark your desserts if they contain
nuts or peanuts. Avoid desserts that have heavy icings or that contain
alcohol.<br>
<br>
Also <b><br>
Coffeehouse tonight, (Sat Oct 4) 7 pm</b><br>
<b>Poetry Group, Sun Oct 5 9:30 am</b> <b><br>
<br>
</b><b>Platform: Oct 5: “Spiritual Morality and Feet of Clay” By Hugh
Taft-Morales, EC Leader in Training<br>
</b><br>
Great spiritual moral leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin
Luther King Jr., are often placed on a pedestal by human society, yet
their inevitable human limitations and frailties often disappoint us.
Some people idealize such leaders because in a world darkened by
violence and greed, we seek moral heroes that can balance evil with
their unblemished goodness. At the other extreme, some take a certain
pleasure in tearing down these icons of moral purity, either to expose
hypocrisy or to relieve themselves of the burden of living up to such a
high standard. Platform question: From the perspective of the history
and philosophy of Ethical Culture, how can we acknowledge the goodness
expressed by our moral leaders, while admitting their limitations, in a
way that brings out our best as moral leaders?<br>
<br>
Hugh Taft-Morales taught philosophy and history at the Edmund Burke
School in Washington, D. C. for 19 years. He left teaching in the
summer of 2006 to train for leadership in Ethical Culture and is in a
three-year leadership certification program with the Humanist
Institute. Hugh served on the Board of the Washington Ethical Society
from 2002-2006, and for the last year was president of the Board. He
served for two three-year terms on the American Philosophical
Association Committee for Pre-College Instruction. He wrote a booklet
entitled "So You Want to Teach Pre-Collegiate Philosophy?" published by
the APA. In 1986 he earned a Masters in Philosophy from University of
Kent at Canterbury, England. He graduated Cum Laude from Yale
University in 1979. He lives in Takoma Park with his wife, Maureen, and
has three children .<br>
<br>
<b>Platform: Oct 12: “The Ethical Life and Politics: Part Two” By John
Nugent, BES Member</b><br>
<br>
The second in a series of platforms on the Ethical Life and
Politics will focus on the competing moral worldviews that form our
current political and culture war. (For a description of Part One, see
the description of the Sep 7 program.)<br>
<br>
John Nugent, a member of BES, is the President/CEO of Planned
Parenthood of Maryland and has been a health care administrator for
over 35 years. John holds an MA in ethics and a BA in philosophy and
has been an adjunct college philosophy instructor. John is Treasurer of
the Board of the Washington Area Secular Humanists and is a Certified
Humanist Celebrant. <br>
<dl>
<b>Sun Oct 12, 9:30 am </b><b> Ethical Mindfulness Meditation</b><br>
<dd>Back by request, it’s the monthly mindfulness meditation group.
Come
and sit with us for a guided meditation based on the teachings of Thich
Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk nominated by Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is a great help for “one on
one” ethical action situations, when you find it tough to respond
calmly and respectfully to negative behavior. No meditation experience
necessary. Facilitated by Karen Elliott. Want to know more? Contact
Karen at KarenSElliott at aol dot com.<br>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<b>Sun Oct 19, 9:00 am </b><strong>Ethical Action Breakfast</strong><br>
<dd>Come to the Society an hour early on Sunday and give just $5 to
eat
breakfast and support our Ethical Action projects at the same time.
Proceeds will support actions developed by the Ethical Action
Committee. Come eat your fill and have your say about what we can do to
promote sustainable transportation. Yum! For more information contact
Ben Busby. </dd>
</dl>
<b>Platform: Oct 19: “Low Carbon Diet” By Susan Lower, Educator and
Environmental Activist</b><br>
<br>
Change your Carbon Footprint and Lower Your Energy Bills! Do all
the small changes we make to lower our carbon footprint really matter?
Susan Lower's entertaining Powerpoint presentation is about low- or
no-cost changes people can easily make to help the environment. Global
climate change may be here but we can all help to lessen its impact.
Join us for this inspiring discussion!<br>
<br>
Susan Lower is a graduate from the University of Maryland, College
Park, with a B.S. degree in Biology Education and graduate classes in
Environmental Science. This is her 22nd year teaching. She has been at
her current assignment at River Hill High School for 8 years and is
other currently teaching GT Biology and AP Environmental Science. In
addition she is the sponsor of ecology club and student energy
auditors. Last year students audited 172 homes in the River Hill
community. This year Mrs. Lower will be training students from
additional schools around the county. Mrs. Lower was instrumental in
getting her school certified as a Maryland Green School and
participating in the Howard County Green Schools program.<br>
She is one of the founders of the Climate Change Initiative of
Howard County (CCIHC) which sponsors discussion groups and participates
in Environmental Advocacy. She has received various awards including
Technology teacher of the year and High School teacher of the year from
Western Maryland (now called McDaniel) college. <br>
<br>
<b>Oct 26: “Fall Festival”Facilitated by Karen Elliott, President</b><br>
<br>
We welcome the autumn—time of harvests and beautiful colours—with
our traditional Stone Salad and a celebration of families of all sorts.
Please bring an ingredient suitable for the stone salad; dressings,
bread, dessert, and drinks will be provided. Festivals at the Society
are a time to celebrate our BES family and share some laughter and
thoughtfulness as we mark the passing of time and the seasons, both in
nature an din our lives. They are interactive and usually include, as
we say at story-time, “the children and the child in us all.”<br>
<dl>
<b>Sun Oct 26, 12:30 pm </b><strong><b>N</b>ewcomers' Meeting</strong><br>
<dd> New
to the Society and interested in learning more? Thinking about joining?
Come to the Newcomers' Meeting, held following the last platform of
every month, and learn more about Ethical Culture and about our
Society—its history, its philosophy, and its organization. Meetings
last about one hour and attendance is recommended before becoming a
member. </dd>
</dl>
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