By Harlan Garbell
I recently got hold of the bestselling book Educated by Tara Westover. It had been in my queue of books that I keep at the Hennepin County Library website, but something compelled me to read it at this time. Some of you no doubt have read this work or are familiar with its storyline.
By Harlan Garbell
A few years ago, the term “virtue signaling” was coined by a writer in an article in the English publication The Spectator. Essentially, it has come to mean how people communicate through language, or otherwise, to “signal” that they are virtuous. Or perhaps at the very least, more virtuous than you are. This term has caught on and has since been used in articles or discussions about social, cultural, or political issues—usually in a pejorative manner.
By Harlan Garbell
Recently I googled the term “conspiracy theory” and the first thing that popped up was a definition that states “a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for a circumstance or event.”
I have to believe that conspiracy theories have always been part of the fabric of human society.
By Harlan Garbell
As young students, Americans learn that the most consequential presidents in our history were, generally speaking, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I believe there is a good chance that Donald Trump will also become one of the most consequential presidents in our history — albeit for dramatically different reasons.
By Harlan Garbell
As some of my friends and colleagues in HumanistsMN know, I was born and raised in a Jewish household. When I was a child, my father, the son of recent Russian-Jewish immigrants, would often tell me stories of his own childhood in the mean streets of Chicago’s West Side during the 1920s and 30s. Many of these stories seemed like they came from a different world. The recurring themes were things I fortunately never experienced: poverty, violence, and pervasive racial and religious discrimination.
By Harlan Garbell
In our May newsletter, I set out my vision for the next two years should I be elected president of HumanistsMN. It was, simply, for HMN to become the leading secular organization in the metro area for “nones” — the growing number of people without religious affiliation — who are seeking a welcoming, ethically based community. This vision can only become a reality if the members of our community pull together to make it happen.
By Harlan Garbell
I first met Audrey Kingstrom at a bar in Uptown. (No, it’s not what you may be thinking.) Audrey was hosting a happy hour Meetup for Humanists of Minnesota and I overcame my inertia to go. The Humanists seemed like an interesting group and the venue wasn’t far from where I live.
By Audrey Kingstrom
Audrey Kingstrom made the following remarks at the National Day of Reason in Minnesota breakfast at the State Capitol on May 2: We are here today to reassert the narrative that our democracy, our government, is rooted in secularism. Democracy is a social contract in which the authority to govern comes from the people – not some higher power.
By Audrey Kingstrom
Hardly a day goes by when the misfortune, violence, and tragedy that befalls people around the world does not hang over me like a dark cloud. I dutifully read the Star Tribune and listen to NPR and can’t escape the grim news.
By Harlan Garbell
When Lyndon Johnson was the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, he had a notorious reputation as a deal maker who would vigorously browbeat balky senators until he got the outcome he wanted. One of his favorite sayings to these senators was ,“Don’t spit in the soup, we all gotta eat.” Essentially, what he meant was that there was plenty of government largesse for everyone as long as no one objected too much to some other senator’s wasteful pork barrel project.
By Audrey Kingstrom
The new, historic 116th U.S. Congress is in session. It is comprised of more women, more women of color, more openly LGBTQ+ members, and a lot more millennials – from just five to twenty-six. Wow! The times they are a-changin,’ to quote the iconic Bob Dylan anthem of the 1960s.
By Audrey Kingstrom
Thanks to everyone who completed the branding survey Humanists of Minnesota undertook last November with the design firm Imagehaus. The Board very much appreciates the participation of our members and friends. HofMN member Amparo Gonzalez won our participation lottery and will receive a $50 gift card.
By Harlan Garbell
The average Humanists of Minnesota member may not know that our board members have a job description. Although we are not explicitly required to proselytize, we are required to appropriately represent the organization and its values. Personally, however, I am always looking to proactively get our message out. Taking on this type of responsibility presents a dilemma for me as I am, unfortunately, a card-carrying introvert–with the test results to prove it.
By Audrey Kingstrom
How are you feeling now that the midterm elections are almost over. As I write this at the end of October, I don’t know if I’ll be cheering or grieving the morning after. However, no clairvoyance is needed to predict that the country will be awash in emotional outbursts of one sort or another. For some, it will be a great day, for others not so much.
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Onward Christian Soldiers: Christian Nationalists Are on the March
March 8, 2020
By Harlan Garbell
Many years ago when I started out as a young lawyer in Chicago, working for the state of Illinois, I had a supervisor who was always concerned that his political bosses in Springfield were seeking to replace him. He had an ironically witty saying about his predicament: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.” I remembered that saying recently after reading about Attorney General William Barr’s speech at the University of Notre Dame Law School last October. Barr’s address was noteworthy in that it was ostensibly a paean to religious liberty but, in reality, was a frontal attack on secularism.
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