"Biology of Self-Engineering" Presented by Tulane Philosophy Club
- When: Monday, March 16, 2015 @ 7:00 pm
- Newcomb Hall - Tulane, Room 115, 1229 Broadway Ave., New Orleans, LA view map
Ilya Dubovoy of Tulane School of Medicine will discuss problems with the Neo-Darwinian paradigm and evidence for the teleological nature of life.
All majors, people and perspectives are welcome. Snacks and refreshments will be served.
The Last Supper Dinner Club - 3rd Tuesday in March
- When: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 @ 7:00 pm
- Sugar Park, 3054 Saint Claude Avenue, New Orleans, LA view map
Since some of you might want to go to the Downtown Irish Club parade, we thought we'd pick a place that is close to the action and we'd start a little later. That is as close to being saintly as we can get, right?
This time is one hour later than our usual.... 7pm! Don't forget!
As a courtesy to the other guests and the restaurant, please make sure your RSVP is accurate. If you find out that you will or will not be attending even as late as the afternoon of the dinner, please update your RSVP, so we will be as close to the actual number as possible. Thanks for your cooperation!
Sidney Pulitzer on Repairing Washington
- When: Saturday, March 21, 2015 @ 4:00 pm
- Audubon Zoo, 6500 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA view map
Sidney Pulitzer will make a presentation on his latest book Repair Washington with the "Repair Washington Resolution" soon to be considered by the Louisiana State Legislature this April.
After over eight years of research, Pulitzer will review WHAT HAS GONE WRONG IN WASHINGTON AND WHY. Are you uncomfortable with our multi-trillion dollar debt? Do you have confidence in the Career Politicians in Congress? Are you concerned about our nation’s future?
Only a Constitutional Convention will propose amendments that Congress will never approve. Examples are: two-term limits, election reform, ethics for political servants, financial responsibility, tort reform and much more.
See Calendar for more information.
Alexei Filippenko: “Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe"
- When: Wednesday, March 25, 2015 @ 6:30 pm
- UNO University Center Ballroom, 2000 Lakeshore Dr., New Orleans, LA view map
The University of New Orleans and the Pontchartrain Astronomical Society are pleased to welcome world-renowned astrophysicist Alexei Filippenko to the University of New Orleans Lakefront Campus this month. Science lovers of all ages should take advantage of this rare opportunity to experience the tour de
force lecture style of one of the greatest astronomers of our time.
Filippenko was the only individual to work on both of the teams responsible for discovering that the universe’s expansion is actually accelerating — a discovery awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011 and lately awarded the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
His talk, which will serve as the headline event for "Einstein Week" at the University of New Orleans, will explore his teams’ findings as well as the causal agent of this acceleration, a “dark energy" that stretches space faster with time and makes up approximately 70 percent of the universe.
Considered one of the greatest mysteries of the physical world, the origin of dark energy may provide clues to a unified quantum theory of gravity.
As an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the recipient of the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization, Filippenko has made over 100 appearances in documentaries including The History Channel’s “The Universe,” “Stephen Hawking’s Universe,” “Mysteries of Deep Space” and “Exploring Time,” as well as produced five video courses with The Great Courses and co-authored the award-winning textbook, “The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millenium.”
Known for his ability to convey complex ideas in simple terms, Filippenko is a beloved professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was voted the best professor on campus a record nine times by students.
His introductory astronomy course for non-science majors received the Richard H. Emmons Award in 2010. In 2006, Filippenko was named "U.S. Professor of the Year" by the Carnegie Foundation.
See Calendar for more information.
Greer-Heard 2015 – “Christians, The Environment and Climate Change”
- When: Friday, April 10, 2015 @ 6:30 pm
- New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 3939 Gentilly Blvd, New Orleans, view map
NOBT holds the Greer-Heard event each year and changes the topic that they focus on. NOSHA members have enjoyed these keynote addresses and sometimes attend some of the weekend sessions. This evening event will have small ticket price and we'll let everyone know how to reserve their seat.
Speakers will be E. Calvin Beisner, Cornwall Alliance Founder and National Spokesman and Bill McKibben, well-known author and environmentalist.
See Calendar for more information.
A Dangerous Kind of Good: Adventures on the Northshore
03/13/2015 |
| Photo by John Stringer |
On Thursday night March 12, John Stringer and Clint Crainbecame “part-time” ambassadors for the NOSHA crowd as they accepted an invitation from a Northshore church to attend a dinner event that was proposed as an opportunity to have some dialogue with non-believers in the community. These are their stories:
John Stringer
I and one other member of NOSHA attended the “Why Does It Matter” Men’s Dinner at St. Timothy on the North Shore Methodists Church. The speaker Stuart McAllister was your basic Glasgow Scotland thug who found Jesus after dating a Christian Girl. This changed his life and now he goes around the world speaking about life with Jesus and his pseudo rational approach to the gospel for a fee.
He emphasized his personal relationship with Jesus and does not value the Bible as you would think. A question and answer session followed his speech and I got a chance at the microphone and said “25,000 children starve to death everyday on average in the world. What good is it when you have a god that doesn't answer to the dying innocents?”
Mr. McAllister did not understand my question or else he side stepped it and basically said he did not know why God would allow the evil of children starving to death. His son who was with him stood to add that such tragedies were a result of man's own evil doing and the consequences of free will and evil being in the world. I didn't ask a follow up question. Other topics that were addressed in the Q and A was “Why is god invisible” and “Is Mahatma Gandhi in heaven or hell." An interesting quote that stood out for me was the speaker said “God is a dangerous kind of good”.
This was an all men's group. The women of the church cooked the food, fixed our plates and brought it to us, but we had to get our own tea. I did detect a small, very small amount of reaching out for honest dialogue. I imagine this is coming from the hierarchy of the church who realize a great shift is taking place in Americatoward secularism and they must prepare their flock for exposure to the coming storm of reason.
There were very few young people at the meeting, which was encouraging. The 25 and under crowd don't seem to be buying into the Christian myth. McAllister's answer was life can't really have full meaning unless a person finds Jesus and can plan on living in heaven for eternity. Nothing really new there, but it was fun. The food gets 3.5 stars. The preaching gets a 1/2 star and Q and A session gets 1.5 stars. There will be another meeting like this next year.
Clint Crain
This was kind of a shot in the dark for me. Going into the event, I had hopes of a more intimate gathering with a little more back and forth interaction. I know of the church, but really had no idea of the number of people that would be present. I did know that I was going to be in the minority as a religious skeptic.
After arriving, all hope for direct interaction was lost. The room was laid out in a manner that reminded me of a high school talent show. The crowd was made up of men and a small number of women working as coordinators. It wasn't long after arriving that the dinner was brought out and the main speaker took to the stage. He began by talking about his childhood of being brought up in a “nonreligious” home in Irelandand by the age of twenty he became a faithful Christian.
Moving on chronologically, he began to speak about his journey to find reason in his life. At this point, he spoke about thinking of Islam and Judaism, but did not give a reason for his rejection of those ideologies. Pushing to find meaning and purpose became to central topic as he started a PowerPoint of biblical verses mostly from the Old Testament and philosophical quotation.
I found myself at this point looking for the answer to the title question as I interpreted it. What does it matter? This question was ‘what does faith matter’ in my mind, but he was alluding to what does life matter? Faith gave him purpose, but I keep asking why one needs that “purpose” to begin with. We all struggle with finding a self-identity, but to think that there must be some greater plot to abide by seems beyond me.
The Q and A was a high point. The question, “Why doesn't God help the starving children throughout the world?” was quickly swatted with, “I don’t know why there is suffering.” My two questions were about the quality of the biblical God’s character. “How can a book that condones mass slaughter, slavery, and rape be seen as a book of guidance?” was answered with “God changed in the New Testament area.” Then, “If God is a jealous god (Deuteronomy 4:24) and jealousy is a sin (Galatians 5:20), then isn’t god a sinner?” was answered by “God’s jealousy is different.”
All and all it was a nice event.
Thoughts on Darwin Day By Marty Banks
03/01/2015After a long hiatus, NOSHA teamed up with the
Department of Anthropology at Tulane University under the direction of NOSHA Vice President and Tulane Adjunct Instructor
Jim Dugan to return the annual tribute to the work and legacy of Charles Darwin to the Tulane campus this year. Each year similar gatherings take place virtually worldwide, with most organizers using Darwin’s birthday, February 12, as the date to plan around. In New Orleans, the timing more often than not conflicts with Mardi Gras festivities and is usually scheduled weeks or even a month after the “official” day.
...continue reading
Total Eclipse of the Heart and Mind By John Patrick Lestrade, Ph.D.
02/24/2015During our January meeting for NOSHA, member
John Patrick Lestrade, Ph.D., did a reading that we'd like to share for everyone who couldn't attend that day.Please enjoy!
We all know that there are basically two types of eclipses: The lunar eclipse, when the Moon is behind the Earth and slips into the Earth’s dark shadow, and the better known solar eclipse, when the Moon blocks the Sun from our view. I thought that you might enjoy an intellectual gem for each of these celestial events.
Lunar Eclipses and the Heart. (We’re talking about real romance here, so you will want to take notes.)
Some of you may have never experienced a lunar eclipse. During this event, when the Moon finds itself in presumably total blackness behind the Earth, the Moon can still be visible to us. It shines with a deep red color. The first question is “Why is there light shining on it?”
...continue reading
New Episodes - The New Orleans Humanist Perspective
Program #182: Proof of God
03/14/2015
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Host Harry Greenberger talks with Dr. Frank Tipler, Professor of Physics at Tulane University. Topic: Proof of God.
http://nosha.info/ |
Views:
4
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ratings |
| Time:
28:31 |
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Education |
Program #181: Same-Sex Marriage
03/14/2015
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Host Harry Greenberger talks with Rev. Page Brooks of the Canal Street Church and Sarah Jane Brady of the Forum for Equality. Topic: Same-Sex Marriage.
http://nosha.info/ |
Views:
6
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| Time:
28:53 |
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Program #180: Sidney Pulitzer #2
03/14/2015
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Host Harry Greenberger talks with Sidney Pulitzer, Professor of Enterpreneurship at Tulane University. Topic: "Repair Washington: What to Do."
http://nosha.info/ |
Views:
1
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| Time:
28:32 |
More in
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Program #179: Sidney Pulitzer
03/14/2015
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Host Harry Greenberger talks with Sidney Pulitzer, Professor of Enterpreneurship at Tulane University. Topic: "Repair Washington: What's Wrong."
http://nosha.info/ |
Views:
0
0
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| Time:
27:49 |
More in
Education |
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What is Humanism?
Humanists reject superstitious beliefs.
Instead, we can make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared values.
We can make the best of life by creating meaning and purpose for ourselves, and choosing to take responsibility for our actions.
It is important to act morally towards others, not because of a divine imperative, but because people have inherent dignity.
We have only one life, it is our responsibility to make it a good life, and to live it well.
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All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. - Galileo Galilei
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Read previous issues of Nosha News, the official newsletter for the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association.
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2012 American Humanist Association Convention
ricky-125 has added a photo to the pool:
Kathleen Thach,Charlotte Klasson ,Rose J. Mort, and Laura Midgett, at the 2012 American Humanist Association Convention.
