Category: Board Commentary

Notes from the AHA Conference: Cultivating a Nationwide Community

By Ellie Haylund

Earlier this month, I and several other HumanistsMN members descended on Denver for the American Humanist Association’s annual conference. This year’s theme was “Crossroads and Collective Futures.” I’d never attended the conference before and was eager to connect with other humanists from across the country.

The program sessions were wide-ranging. Topics included …

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Avoiding Meat: Just a Short Journey from Humanism

It is no surprise to me that many humanists are vegetarians. Preserving the lives of animals feels like a natural byproduct of a worldview that values compassion and ethics. Even outside of humanism, avoiding meat is becoming increasingly common. According to studies done by the sustainable lifestyle app abillion, “In the past two years, we’ve…seen the growing prominence of flexitarians, pescatarians and omnivores in the plant-based market. These consumer groups are called reducetarians. In simple terms, they are people who actively reduce their intake of meat and animal-based products, but do not completely give up meat or dairy.”

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Free Speech Cases Highlight Dangers of Catering to Religious Sensitivities

Given its location and relevance, you’ve probably heard of the January debacle at Hamline University. You probably haven’t heard as much about the album poster censored across the pond, but we’ll tackle that after the rundown of this first case. For those unfamiliar with why Hamline is in the news, or for those interested in reviewing the timeline with some more detail, here’s a  summary of what happened:

Back in September, adjunct Art History Professor Erika López Prater disseminated an 11-page syllabus warning students that she would show historical art depicting religious figures, including the Prophet Muhammad, and offering to work with students should they feel uncomfortable with viewing these images.

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A Time of Momentum for HMN and Secularism

Happy New Year! I’d like to enthusiastically thank you all — dues-paying members, event goers, volunteers, generous donors, the Board, committee chairs and participants, fellow humanists, and newsletter readers. You not only help to make our organization thrive, but each play an important role in raising awareness about spreading our values into the community and the world. I cannot wait for 2023. We are seeing unprecedented momentum in HumanistsMN and in secularism overall.

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Yes, We Are ‘Star Stuff.’ But Remember the Spirit of Love.

From time to time, a powerful series of quotes by Carl Sagan pass through my mind:

“As long as there have been humans, we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Where are we? Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.”

“All of the rocks we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star. We are made of star stuff.”

“For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.”

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Are Armchair Activists Really So Bad?

Marie sees that Roe v. Wade was overturned. She heads to Instagram and posts about her outrage. Her post gets dozens of “likes,” but within a day, it has become buried in people’s feeds and minds. Carl also finds out about Roe v. Wade and springs into action behind his phone screen. He finds a reputable organization to donate to and posts a link on Facebook. Friends and acquaintances see this post and are inspired. They donate a cumulative $500 via his link.

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My Goals as President: Increase Awareness of Humanism, Attract More Young People

I’m honored to be writing my first column as president of HumanistsMN. I first want to thank my predecessor, Harlan Garbell, for his steadfast leadership. It’s been an honor to serve as his vice president and observe his dedication to our organization, encouragement of new ideas, and commitment to the mission of growing the humanist community. I’m inspired by how he has empowered people to grow, get involved, and help us reach new heights. I aim to carry the momentum maintained by presidents past with enthusiasm, creativity, and a profound belief in the tenets of humanism.

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Winning the Lottery

There is a genre of fiction called “alternate history” (sometimes referred to as “alternative history”). You no doubt have either read a novel or watched a movie or television program based on an alternate history of events. Some of these books or programs are very good, some not. But they all challenge us to see the world as it might have been had someone made a different choice, or had chance intervened to change the trajectory of human events. As I have aged and looked back on my own life, I have often marveled at how things could have been so different had I made just one different choice.

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The Strongman Cometh

Like many of you, I have been closely following the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine these past few weeks. The world has indeed been outraged by the unjust and extreme level of violence targeted at a people who just want a country of their own. What kind of person could unleash such death and destruction to so many people without remorse? Perhaps the following vignettes will give you an insight on the character of the man who unleashed this carnage on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin.

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Contemplating Non-Existence

Many years ago I had an existential crisis — literally. It dawned on me that I would actually die. Maybe not the next day, or the next year, but I would certainly die. Of course, part of growing up is learning that every living being has to eventually die. But, strangely, on some level, I thought that death would not apply to me. (This is different from thanatophobia, which is fear of death.) Psychologists will tell you this is not an uncommon experience. After all, the only reality that I had ever known, or could comprehend, was my own existence through conscious awareness. I couldn’t really comprehend non-existence. Nor did I really want to.

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My Pal, the Gremlin

When I was in my 20s I used to pay for everything I needed by cash or check.  Every month my bank would send me a thick letter containing not only all of my cancelled checks, but also a computerized statement listing every transaction made during that period, including any deposits. It then calculated my final monthly balance which appeared at the bottom of the statement. Even though the statement included all of my monthly transactions, I had an obsessive habit of reconciling the bank statement with the handwritten entries in my checkbook register to make sure the final figures matched.

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Sea Turtles and Straws: Easy Questions, Wrong Answers

By John Walker

In late 2015, a video was circulated of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nose. Conscientious fast-food consumers and iced-coffee drinkers all over the Western world were emotionally moved and began demanding new straw “technologies” to replace this single-use plastic product — compostable paper straws, cleanable metal straws, …

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The Real Plague of the 21st Century Is Fear

By Harlan Garbell

Do you remember where you were on December 31, 1999? I do. Glenna and I were invited to a New Year’s Eve party hosted by friends of ours. Our host, a middle-aged physician who was born in Japan, made a sumptuous feast for his invited guests. The Japanese delicacies he made were outstanding. Life was indeed good. Looking back, the 90s were relatively free of anxiety and fear. After all, the Cold War was history.

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When Your Political Tribe and the Facts Collide

By Harlan Garbell

Unfortunately, one of the scariest developments in American politics over the past several years has been the ascendance of the far right in the Republican Party. I don’t need to go into too much detail here. This has been well documented and we have all recently witnessed how a major American political party has now degenerated into a fantasy world where climate change is a hoax, Covid vaccines are dangerous, and Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

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‘Big Lies’: Humanity’s Enduring Legacy

By Harlan Garbell

For those of you who do not follow politics, or current events, the term the “Big Lie” is now being reserved for the fact-free narrative espoused by our former president, and his minions, that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” by the Democratic Party in critical states that he lost. The Democrats are alleged to have accomplished this through massive voter fraud. This false narrative has now morphed into a full-blown conspiracy theory where additional fabricated information (e.g., Arizona used ballots originating from Communist China) can be added at will to invigorate and sustain the narrative via the vector of social media.

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