Humanist Association of Manitoba

November 2009 Meeting

Speaker: Anita-Maria Janzic

Anita-Maria Janzic is the Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre located in Morden, Manitoba. Kudos to Jake for making this happen.

• Saturday, Nov 14, 2009
• 5:30pm to 8:30
• Park West Inn, 525 Dale Blvd, Winnipeg

About Anita-Maria Janzick

Having graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a four year honours degree in Paleobiology, Anita is now working towards acquiring her Masters in Paleontology while working at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre as the Curator.

May Meeting

Speaker: Dan Falk

The May meeting is a great opportunity to get to know a bit more about the wonderous universe we inhabit. Thanks goes out to Marlene W. for bringing in Dan Falk.

• Saturday, May 9, 2009
• 5:30pm to 8:30
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave

About Dan Falk

Dan Falk has written about science for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, The Walrus, SkyNews, Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, and New Scientist, and has been a regular contributor to the CBC Radio programs Ideas and Quirks & Quarks. His awards include a Gold Medal for Radio Programming from the New York Festivals and the Science Writing Award in Physics and Astronomy from the American Institute of Physics. His first book, Universe on a T-Shirt, won the 2002 Science in Society Journalism Award from the Canadian Science Writers' Association. His latest book is In Search of Time - Journeys Along a Curious Dimension. He lives in Toronto.

April Meeting

Speaker: Prof. Arthur Schafer

Subject: End of Life Decision-Making: What can we learn from the case of Samuel Golobchuk?

• Saturday, April 11, 2009
• 5:30pm to 8:30
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave

Want to be well informed for our April meeting? Here are links to some articles that discuss last year's controversial Samuel Golobchuk case. The first is written by Arthur Schafer, and the other two quote him: http://www.ethos.ualberta.ca/?p=27 http://www.nationalreviewofmedicine.com/issue/2008/07/5_patients_practice_07.html http://canadianmedicine.blogspot.com/2008/08/golubchuk-family-drops-end-of-life.html

March Meeting

Speaker: Azin Nasseri

Azin Nasseri will be presenting on the Bahai faith.

• Saturday, March 14, 2009
• 5:30pm to 8:30
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave

Celebrating the Darwin Bicentennial

Join us for two talks, cake, prizes, drinks and discussion!

Barrie Webster, Past-president, Humanist Association of Manitoba:

Heather McDonell, Winnipeg Veterinarian:

• Saturday, February 14, 2009
• 7:00pm to 10:00pm
• Windsor Room, Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave

More Darwin Day Events
and pics of the event.

HAM Annual General Meeting

January 10, 2008

If you are a Humanist Association of Manitoba member, you can attend the AGM and:

• Vote for president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.
• Nominate someone for a position. We need nominations and suggestions for nominees - show up at our next meeting and give us a name or to.
• Let yourself stand for a position.

There are some rules associated with it. Watch this spot or check the newsletters as they come out.

The AGM is done just before our regular event.

Winter Solstice Party

December 21, 2008

We are currently looking at Mondragon Bookstore and Coffeehouse as the venue. It is situated in downtown Winnipeg so might be easier for some people to get to. They have a vegan menu, but a rich one. We may have to choose a couple of meals only, so if you have suggestions, we have a forum

November 2008 Meeting

• Saturday, November 12
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Guest speaker: Colleen Simard, journalist and columnist (working on it)
• Topic:
• Bonus: Sophie and Neil attended the American Atheists conference in Minneapolis and told us about some of the speakers.

Details times are approximate

August 2008 HAM Summer Party

July 6, 2008 Winnipeg is Not For Sale Barbeque

This is not a HAM event, but one of our people - Brian Latour - encourages HAM members (and anyone else supporting the concept) to show up. We are waiting for more information.

June 2008 FSM / Solstice Party

• Saturday, June 14
• Time - tbd
• At Silver Falls (not on online maps, but it is on a Manitoba paper map we have). We think it is near a park – clarification welcome. Start with this Google map location, and go north on hwy 59 until you see hwy 12, and follow the unmarked road or Hwy 11 up to St Georges near Pineview. Somewhere between St Georges and Great Falls is Silver Falls. See this MapQuest map for fine detail.
• Driving time: Under 2 hours.
• Featuring some Flying Spaghetti Monster favorites such a pasta, a spaghetti sauce contest, talking like pirates (come in costume and possibly win a prize for both) and other good stuff.
• More details to come.

May 2008 Meeting

• Saturday, May 10
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Guest speaker: Kerem Usenmez, HAM member from Thompson Manitoba. He recently revisited his birth country Turkey.
• Topic: Changes in Turkey since the election of Prime Minister Erdogan and his Islamic party, the Justice and Development Party.

Kerem tells us that although the government on the surface appears to respect the secular rules of government required by Turkey's constitution, all is not as it seems. And yet, only one day earlier a Turkish court sentenced Harun Yahya (aka Adnan Oktor), a noted creationist, to three years in jail.

Kerem noted that although the new government would like to go further with its pro-islamic campaign, it could see some difficulty if it went too far. The Turkish military is very loyal to their constitution and its auther, Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The military's loyalties are one reason some people were willing to vote for the new government – they know it would be stopped.

A longer article will appear in the next Humanist Association of Manitoba newsletter.

April 2008 Meeting

• Saturday, April 12
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Guest speaker: Prof. Jim Silver, Professor of Politics at the University of Winnipeg (UW info - prof Silver).
• Topic: The Lord Selkirk Park project.
• Bonus: Sophie and Neil attended the American Atheists conference in Minneapolis and told us about some of the speakers.

The May 2008 newsletter has a write-up by Donna Harris on Prof. Silver's talk.

March 2008 Meeting

• Saturday, March 8
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Format: Open discussion based on the Jan 8, 2008 presentation by Jim Clark – Cultural Threats to a Rational Worldview

A format change was tested - Dinner was ordered first, with presentation / discussion taking place before dinner's arrival. It worked out well, although we have yet to try it with a formal presentation. We did find that the difference between an open discussion and a well known speaker is about 20 to 30 attendees.

For those of us present, it was a high involvement event enjoyed by all. It gave us cause to think about focus and strategy. Though not an activist organization per se, the Humanist Association of Manitoba does actively hold positions on our fundamental principles. If we are to effect some benefit to society, as opposed to being a social club, we as individuals and as an organization must reach out and both live and declare those principles.

As was pointed out, we are out there doing advocacy and activism. Barrie and Barry teach a course in Humanism at the University of Winnipeg's 55 Plus program. Jeff puts on the well-known and popular Bullshit! parties which theme skepticism. Several members are prolific and excellent writers of articles and letters for the media.

It was felt we could be doing more, and so we will. Not as strident activists of a cause, but as teachers, as sources of knowledge and insight, and as partners for causes we believe in with other organizations, secular or not. The Humanist Association of Manitoba has expanded it's activities and involvement (as well as it's membership) considerably over the past two years. Consider it only the beginning of more good things to come.

Some highlights of the discussion:

• Jeff's summarizing and making sense of much of Jim Clark's presentation,
• Female genital mutilation and Islam — We all hated this, but understand that this is a cultural artifact. Islam does not support this, and many Muslims find it abhorrent.
• Males too — Some pointed out that males are subjected to genital mutilation as well, and this has no justification. (This is usually religion based - ref Genesis 17:10, Lev 12:1-3 -ed.)
• Question: Should we do a full frontal assault on irrationalism? Answers varied from no through yes, with some maybes and it depends positions. All were stated with well reasoned backup.
• We as humanists have much in common with gays of the recent past - it is often risky to 'come out' even in this country. In much of the world, possibly a death sentence for gays or atheists.

Bullshit! Party

Jeff held yet another Bullshit! party on February 16.

Donna and I were not able to attend. If someone would supply a paragraph or two, I will drop it in here.

February 2008 Meeting

• Saturday, February 9
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Guest speaker: Donna Harris and Grant Rogerson
• Topic: Skepticism and Activism: A report from TAM 5.5

Donna upgraded the meeting to include a celebration of Charles & Darwins birthday with a cake. When we picked up the cake, it did indeed say Happy Birthday Charles & Darwin on it. Donna had them remove the offending '&'.

As Donna and I were the speakers, it would not make sense for us to write it up our own nominations for sainthood. If someone would supply a paragraph or two, I will drop them in here.

January 2008 AGM and GeneralMeeting

• Saturday, January 12
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Guest speaker: Jim Clark, Professor of Psychology at the University of Winnipeg.
• Topic: Cultural Threats to a Rational Worldview

Read a report on Jim Clark's presentation.

Details to be in the February newletter.

December 2007 Solstice Party

• Saturday, December 22, 4:30 to 9:00pm
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Viscount Room
• Entertainment: Village Green Morris Men dancers
• Charity: Sexuality Education Resource Centre (SERC)
  Donations accepted and charitable receipts available
• Fun, games and prizes.

See the writeup (with pics). Everybody had a great time, and here's hoping it will be as good next year!

November 2007 Meeting

• Saturday, November 10
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Time: 5:30pm
• Guest Speaker: Prof. Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, University of Manitoba.
• Topic: Enhancing Evolution: The Ethical Case for Making Better Humans.

The meeting was well attended with about 26 to 29 people, some new, showing up. Professor Schafer gave us plenty to think about and involved us in a discussion after his talk. A detailed writeup will appear in the December newsletter. He is a believer in taking care of oneself with a healthy lifestyle. He bicycles everywhere, including to the HAM meeting. Below is a pic of Prof. Schafer (left) and Barrie Webster.

October 2007 Meeting

• Saturday, October 13
• Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Ave
• Time: 5:30pm
• Guest Speaker: Wendy Jerome, interim minister of the First Unitarian Church in Winnipeg and a member of the Humanist First Unitarian Church in Minneapolis. Her topic is 'As persistent as green grass'.

This time, 36 people showed up. We had a large enough room to accomodate everyone (September's meeting was packed into a small room).

A short take on Wendy Jerome's talk - Grant Rogerson

Wendy presented a reasoned case for saying that under religion is a humanist sensibility. She quoted sources including both people (Spinoza, Tecumseh and others) and books such as the Bible and the Qu'ran and is clearly well-informed on her subject. If we focus on what people do regardless of their religious (or non-religious) backgrounds, we find people do good acts because they are people first, not because of a fear some Flying Spaghetti Monster might punish them if they do not. This makes religion a humanist enterprise.

She talked at length on definitions of humanism, and this was quite interesting. Humanism as a formally defined thing has only existed since 1853. Yet true humanists have been around a very long time. She quoted Confucius (6th century bce) for example. In summing up, she folded god-believers in with atheists as humanists if their motives were based apparently on humanist principles.

Not everyone agreed with her, and some were quite vocal in their objections. Keep in mind that Unitarian Universalists are still deists and in some cases theists [1]. Put their warm and fuzzy opinions against people with knowledge of the other side of religion, and in some cases direct experience, and some disagreement is a certainty. In particular, humanists as believers was a definite no-go. To quote from the Humanist Association of Canada's definition from the IHEU, "... It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality."

Wendy said at one point that even atheists act through faith, implyng there is more than rationalism. I personally disagree with this although one could quibble over the definition of the term 'faith'. As a product of evolution, I am a member of a very social species that has a huge capacity for communication and from that, such things as reciprocal altruism and empathy. Where is faith, when in doing some good act I am merely being human?

But is she wrong? About supernatural entities, as a strong atheist I say yes (which is not relevant to her as a person). But about all the rest, I find her enlightened and rich in a knowledge of how people are and can be. I think we all gained something from her talk and can take away that even if she is not a Humanist in the technical definition, she is certainly welcome at any time and can add a lot to any discussion.

September 2007 Meeting

Saturday, September 15

We had an outstanding turnout with 32 people showing up. Thanks to the efforts of Sophie, many were there for the first time.

The guest speaker was Dr Asad Khan, president of the Islamic Education Foundation of Manitoba. He spoke on the issues of Muslims in the West and the problems faced by them in adapting to Western ways.

August 2007 Summer Party

On August 25, HAM members gathered at Barrie and Phyllis Webster's home.
 

June 2007
Solstice Party – June 16

 

March 10 Meeting

Talk by students from Students Without Borders Afrique 2007 Project

 

April 14 Meeting

Speaker: Chris Tait Lawyer and originator of the challenge to the Lord’s Prayer in his high school.

 

Monthly Meeting February 10, 2007

Discussion Topics: Winnipeg Harvest, Religion in the Schools, HAM’s affiliation with the Humanist Association of Canada