Humanist Association of Orange County - Newsletter for
July 2005
Issue #92 ( HTML format )
Editor: Benito Franqui
Associate Editor: Dave Silva
Send submissions and membership renewals to:
HAOC
2609 Fernside St.
Orange, CA 92865
benfranq@earthlink.net
Articles submitted for publication in the newsletter
must
be received no later than 10 days before the
next
HAOC meeting.
The Humanist Association of Orange County ( HAOC) is a
chapter of the American Humanist Association.
Please visit our website at http://www.ochumanists.org
HAOC Board
President: Pete Anderson
Vice President: Dave Silva
Treasurer:.Harry Becker
Secretary: Jerry Parks
Member at large: Carl Mariz
Member at large: Benito Franqui
NEXT HAOC MEETING Sunday, July 17, 1:30 P.M.
Native American
Spirituality
By Adrian Novotny
Native American spirituality is as varied as the 500-some nations that
comprise indigenous North American cultures.
From small family-sized hunting and gathering bands to state-level,
complex societies, natives developed and maintained a rich inventory of
concepts, beliefs and practices regarding the supernatural world.
Currently, one of the most wide-spread belief systems is centered in the
Northern Plains region of the U.S. The so-called Sioux (Lakota, Dakota, and
Nakota language speakers) have maintained their belief system
far longer than most aboriginal North American groups.
As a result, their spirituality is, to a large extent, viable and
functional, different from most other native cultures which have succumbed to
several hundred years of missionization and largely converted to foreign (and
alien) belief systems. This
presentation will summarize the core elements of Northern Plains spirituality as
presented in the literature, as maintained by native oral traditions, and as
experienced by the presenter, as a practitioner-researcher of Native
spirituality for the past ten years.
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Also at this meeting: additional
nominations of new candidates
for HAOC board positions will be accepted. Current
nominees are the same as present position holders.
DAVE SILVA NAMED DEMOCRAT OF THE YEAR
HAOC member Dave Silva has
been named Democrat of the Year by the Leisure World Democratic Club of Seal
Beach. The Leisure World Club, which is the 2nd largest Democratic club in the
state, presents this annual award for service to the Democratic Party in Orange
County. All profits go to support
local Democratic candidates.
The event will be held at
Clubhouse 4 in Leisure World, Seal Beach, at the corner of Northwood and St.
Andrews, on Saturday, July 23rd, at 7:00 p.m.
The special guest speaker will be Tom Umberg, Assemblyman in the 69th
District.
There will be round tables
with no reserved seating. Desserts,
fruit, snacks, wine and beverages will be served.
After the awards and speeches there will be quality entertainment by
comedian Archie Borkan and vocalist Cynthia Snyder.
Tickets for this fund-raiser
are only $12 and can be purchased by mailing checks to Leisure World Democratic
Club at 13260 El Dorado, #188-E, Seal Beach, CA 90740.
For information call Dave at 562-493-8812
NEXT CFI-WEST MEETING ( Costa Mesa )
Sunday, July 17, 4:30 p.m.
( $6.00 or free for Friends of the Center )
On the Origins and Future of Islam
Reza Aslan, author of No god
but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, will discuss aspects of
his book as part of the Sunday lecture series. Aslan, born in Iran and now
living in Santa Barbara and New Orleans, is currently a Doctoral Candidate in
History of Religions at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He
received a B.A. in Religion from Santa Clara University, a Master of Theological
Studies from Harvard University, and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa.
Aslan has taught at the
University of Iowa, received a fellowship in fiction at the Iowa Writers’
Workshop, and served as president of Harvard’s Chapter of the World Conference
on Religion and Peace – a U.N. organization committed to solving religious
conflicts. He has written numerous articles in periodicals, including The Nation
and Los Angeles Times and has appeared on NPR, “The Dennis Miller Show,” and
“The Daily Show,” and spoken to organizations overseas and in the U.S.,
including the World Bank, Royal Commonwealth Society of London, and, most
recently, the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, where he participated in
a panel that included Henry Kissinger.
Copies of his Random House
book will be available at both sites.
CLARENCE DARROW -
THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE
By
fortunate coincidence, the July/August issue of "The Humanist"
features Clarence Darrow in its Humanist Profile. While we are all aware
of Darrow's part in the Scopes trial, the extent of his influence is not so well
known.
On
Saturday, August 6, you can be entertained and inspired by a skilled
impersonator of Darrow. He will present excerpts from many of
Darrow's courtroom and other speeches on civil rights, legal ethics, the death
penalty, free speech and more.
There will be performances at 2:00 and 7:30 pm, at the Orange Coast UU Church,
1259 Victoria St., Costa Mesa. Tickets are priced at $15, advance sales,
and $20 at the door. They may be purchased at the July HAOC meeting from
Gene Barmore, or by phone(714-842-8406), or email (eebar88@aol.com).
The event is being arranged by a UU Church Working Group on Prison Reform
and Criminal Justice. Among co-sponsors are local chapters of Amnesty
International, the ACLU, and Americans for Separation of Church and State.
Proceeds will be shared among sponsors in furtherance of their human rights
causes.
Tibor Machan on Corporations: A Rejoinder
by Paul
Ricci June 25, 2005
Though Professor Machan didn't
reply specifically to my accusations against his libertarian philosophy in the
May, HAOC newsletter, he did make an effort to defend a particular relation
between market capitalism and federal governments in the June newsletter of the
HAOC.
He points out, quite
correctly, how academia, a large section of writers, journalists, artists and
entertainers have taken for granted that large corporations are a threat to our
democracy and the well-being of our citizens. He claims these sectors of society
(mainly in New York City and in Hollywood!) who criticize corporate malfeasance
believe those opposed are simply deluded: that would include libertarians.
Professor Machan points out, without qualification, that "Champions of the
free society hold . . . that the answer to this problem (that corporations have
an advantage when it comes to influencing the government) isn't to abolish . .
.or regulate big business but to refashion the legal system to ban favors to any
sector of society." He uses as an example the separation of church and
state which, he claims, has remained independent of church control because of
this legal separation.
Well, I find that argument
rather interesting, but fallacious, for two reasons. First, there are sectors in
society where if we were to "ban favors" for them through legislation,
there would be no way their rights could be instituted. I have in mind various
minority groups such as Native Americans, African Americans, Gays and Lesbians,
women, children and many other groups. One of the main roles of our government
is to insure favors for these minority groups. So, a complete separation between
the government and certain interest groups would be to their detriment. Churches
and large corporations on the other hand, do not need governmental favors, they
already have plenty of influence in society in other ways. I would suggest that
favoring disadvantaged sectors of society is part of what democracy means.
Second, despite the fact that
church and state have been separated legally and--it is true, no one church has
gotten control of our government, yet -- the strength and influence of churches
has not abated and are gaining more and more control each day. There is no
guarantee that wealthy corporations can be "kept at bay." If there is
I would like to know how, other than through government intervention.
One other way to prevent
corporate exploitation (a word not in the vocabulary of libertarians I have
noticed) would be to strip them of their rights as "persons" so they
can't use the law in this way to protect and advance their economic interests.
That they are persons, of course, is a legal fiction but used since 1886 to
their advantage. Here, however, I'm not sure the culprit is the
government--which, I presume, Professor Machan would blame-- but rather the
market capitalists who managed to unduly influence a few lawmakers and judges.
Machan claims that the answer
to "corporate malfeasance" is not through government intervention, as
most of us would choose, but to divorce corporate commerce from government. He
claims there are two reasons why we should not want to control this exploitation
(its real name) by government. One is that "if corporations have powerful
albeit wrongheaded influence on government, why would government have the
ability to set them right? That is a preposterous idea." Perhaps its my
shortcoming, but I fail to see the import of this argument. Who or what else is
going to set them right? They obviously can't do it themselves so we are left
with a strong government to do so and hope the government won't give in to the
corporate interests as seems to be happening today. Also, how does one separate
big business from government as Machan suggests? Eliminate all lobbyists who
represent corporations? I doubt that that would do it. If not, then how do we
determine which lobbyists will be allowed and which not?
The second reason Machan
opposes government intervention is that such intervention,". . . even apart
from clearly often serving corporate interests, is so susceptible to corruption,
to misuse, that placing one's hope in more and more of it is flat out
incredible." Well, clearly governments are not perfect but placing more
faith in corporations who clearly can't police themselves, than in government
which has plenty of internal checks and balances, is what seems incredible to
me! Speaking of being deluded . . .!
Lastly, it isn't clear to me
how a " . . .slow, vigilant process of divorcing corporate commerce from
government" will resolve the problem. Just how this "divorcing"
is supposed to occur, without government intervention, is a mystery to me and
appears to be a cover-up for the irrational, inherent hatred libertarians have
of all governments at almost any level.
ON THE LIGHT SIDE
Murphy's Other Laws
1. Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.
2. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
3. A day without sunshine is like, well, night.
4. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
5. Back up my hard drive? How do I put it in reverse?
6. I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.
7. When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.
8. Seen it all, done it all. Can't remember most of it.
9. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
10. I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
11. He's not dead, he's electroencephalographically challenged.
12. She's always late, in fact, her ancestors arrived on the Juneflower
13. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted and
used against you.
14. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.
15. Honk if you love peace and quiet. 16. Pardon my driving, I'm reloading
17. Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how it remains so popular?
18. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
19. It is hard to understand how a cemetery can raise its burial costs and blame
it on the higher cost of living.
20. Just remember ... if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.
21. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something
right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
22. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end to end, someone
would be stupid enough to try and pass them.
23. You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
24. The latest survey shows that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world
population
25. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it.
26. The things that come to those that wait may be the things left by those who
got there first.
27. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will
sit in a boat all day drinking beer.
28. FLASHLIGHT: A case for holding dead batteries.
29. The shinbone is a device for finding furniture.
30. A FINE is a tax for doing wrong. A TAX is a fine for doing well.
31. It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats.
32. Everybody lies, but it doesn't matter since nobody listens.
33. I wish the buck stopped here, as I could use a few.
34. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.
35. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of 12 people
that weren't smart enough to get out of Jury Duty.
36. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until
you hear them speak.