Volume 5, Issue 2, February 1, 2013

FEBRUARY 3

EHST Lunch!
Red Lotus Asian Kitchen
237 S. Elliott Road
Chapel Hill

We are meeting before today's program for an informal lunch. Those who are interested can join the group at the Red Lotus at noon. The restaurant is in the shopping center opposite our meeting place on Elliott Road, close to the 15-501 bypass. www.redlotusasiankitchen.com.

Please let Jan Broughton know by 10:00 a.m. this Sunday if you plan to attend so she can tell them how many to expect. Everyone is welcome to enjoy good food and conversation. jlbroughton@nc.rr.com

EHST Platform
"Strengthening Home and School Environments for Minorities"
Group Discussion

Geraldine Alshamy's presentation covered various policies that push children out of school and hasten their entry into the juvenile, and eventually the criminal, justice system, where prison is the end of the road. Historical inequities, such as segregated education, concentrated poverty, and racial disparities in law enforcement, all feed this pipeline. Unfortunately, even if legislative actions were undertaken to ameliorate each of these inequities, they won't break this vicious cycle; the underlying causes must be explored and resolved.

A primary cause of this deplorable situation is environmental influences that create disdain or disinterest in learning and promote low self-esteem, traits shared by most juvenile offenders regardless of family income or race. One proven strategy to combat is altering the structure and support systems of home and school environments. In the home a child needs opportunities for active learning, a high level of choice and self-direction, to view mistakes and errors as learning tools, frequent mixed-age contact to develop a sense of community, and to develop high self-expectation and regard and low fear and anxiety. Schools provide support when they help families with parenting skills, assure effective communication about school programs and students' progress, organize volunteers and provide volunteer opportunities, involve families in working with their children at home, include families in school decisions, and collaborate with the community by coordinating resources and services.

Our discussion will focus on these environmental issues and how as individuals and as a society we can best address the problems.

IFC Food Pantry

We will be collecting food and sundry items this Sunday for IFC. Following is a list of current needs:

Canned meats Canned vegetables (hold off on corn for now) Pasta and pasta sauce Soup Dried Beans Canned fruit Rice Cereal Grits/Oatmeal packets Paper Bags with handles Blankets, washed (cold months)

Personal Care Products: toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss deodorant razors and shaving cream soap and shampoo lotion washcloths feminine products diapers Space Heaters in good shape (cold months)

The economic recession has resulted in a loss of donations to this important social service agency, and it relies on organizations like ours to help its clients. Please contribute generously.

FEBRUARY 10

Kate Lovelady, Leader
Ethical Society of Saint Louis

Workshop - Mindfulness Meditation
Ralph Balzac and Eva Harrington, Hosts
10:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m

Mindfulness Meditation is a simple but powerful practice that can help improve both physical health and the ability to bring out the best in others and in ourselves. "Ethical mindfulness" is a growing part of the Ethical Humanist movement. This workshop will give participants an opportunity to experience different forms of mindfulness meditation in order to develop a personal practice and/or an ongoing meditation group. No previous meditation experience necessary.

"Ethical Humanism and Secular Humanism: What We Have in Common and How We Differ"
Extraordinary Ventures
1:30 - 3:00 p.m.

IFC SPECIAL COLLECTION

This Sunday we will have a special collection to go toward the Inter-Faith Council to support their efforts to feed and house the needy in our community. Those writing checks can make them out to the IFC directly. Thanks for a generous spirit.

FEBRUARY 17

"Reducing the Prison Population | Racial Bias in Sentencing"
Gene Nichol, Boyd Tinsley Distinguished Professor
UNC Law School
Director, UNC Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity

Professor Nichol will speak about reducing our prison population and lessening the racial bias in sentencing. In a recent article The News & Observer published ("Filling the Cells," 12/2012), he noted that the results from expansive incarceration create permanent barriers to employment, housing, public benefits, and education. These deprivations spill over to families, neighborhoods and towns and drives up child poverty in 100 North Carolina counties.

Why are these conditions allowed to exist in a country that is committed to equal justice for all?

The difficulty is our inability to successfully challenge systemic injustices in American courts. Individual claims sometimes prevail, but changing hardcore institutional structures and attitudes is exceedingly difficult. Evidence of built-in, long-term bias must be used to prove broad-ranging bias and its distorting impact. This requires objective, valid statistical measurements compiled over several years. Individuals fare slightly better but are faced with an equivalent problem. Much of the evidence they garner to substantiate racial bias is at best hearsay and inadmissible in court.

In recent debates over North Carolina's path-breaking Racial Justice Act, it is evident that even though both prosecutors and juries manipulate results to accommodate racial predisposition, this once again is deemed beside the point. ". . . sometimes you have to look at the forest to actually grasp the nature of the trees. Otherwise, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that we know our vaunted criminal justice system is radicalized, we just don't care."

FEBRUARY 24

"Commonalities of Humanism and Christian Ethics"
Amy Laura Hall, Professor of Christian Ethics
Duke Divinity School

Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong. Some strains of Humanism are compatible with some religions and are even incorporated into several religious schools of thought. Humanism can be considered the process by which truth and morality is sought through human investigation. Humanism is similar to Christianity in that both seek to that affirm the dignity and worth of all people and both seek to establish truth and morality. Humanism rejects the validity of transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on belief without reason, the supernatural, or texts of allegedly divine origin. Humanism rejects supernatural beliefs in resolving human affairs but not necessarily the beliefs themselves. It is generally compatible with atheism and agnosticism but does not require either of these.

Humanism and Christian ethics share commonalities, and Amy Laura Hall will explore their tenets and interconnections, what brings them together and sets them apart. Amy brings a wealth of knowledge about theological and medical ethics, She is the author of Kierkegaard and the Treachery of Love (Cambridge University Press, 2002), Conceiving Parenthood:The Protestant Spirit of Biotechnological Reproduction (Eerdmans, 2008), and numerous scholarly articles. Hall was named a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology for 2004-2005 and has received funding from the Lilly Foundation, the Josiah Trent Memorial Foundation, the American Theological Library Association, the Child in Religion and Ethics Project, and the Pew Foundation.

FEBRUARY 28

IFC Cook and Serve

Our scheduled cook and serve project is held on the fourth Thursday each month from 4:00 to 7:15 p.m. Contact Amy Piersma to sign up. The food is donated from the community and anyone who is hungry can eat. Our entire membership participates. It's great fun and a worthy endeavor!

DEEPENING CIRCLES - Date and Time TBA

The group has been formed to create more intimate, personal relationships. The meetings are taking place once a mouth outside our usual meeting times, focus on a given topic, and allow everyone to speak. The purpose is to be able to listen to each other and share experiences, not to discuss or debate. Participants gain insight into other group members and increase common understanding. We encourage you to attend.

Questions? rsbest@fastmail.fm