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ethical outlook july/august 2014

INsIde…

Leaders’ Reports pages 2, 6, 7

Ethical Enrichment page 3

Coordinators/Greeters Needed page 5

Sunday Platforms page 8

Lunch Discussions page 12

Ethical Culture Retreat page 13

Ethical Culture Lay Leadership Summer School page 13

Our Ethical Family page 14

Ethical Sleepovers page 15

July Calendar page 18

August Calendar page 19

Andra Miller

For little kids and for older kids, growing up in the inner cities of America often can mean dealing with extreme-ly traumatic events. You have the heavy oppression of poverty around you, parents who work long hours if they can find work. Perhaps there are neighborhood bullies or

Our Televisiting Program: Connecting Familiesdrug-dealers who hassle you. Maybe your parents fight a lot, or you might have an addicted or ill parent. But at least, if you’re lucky, you’ve got a parent or parents or another steady caregiver who, along with school and friends, lends some stability to your life – it’s not all bad. But what if, for whatever

A Summer of Platform Meeting Guest Speakers

reason, your dad or mom is arrested and sent away? Then an already chaotic life gets turned upside down. If it’s your mom, she goes to jail and you are either left in your father’s care, sent to live with an aunt, uncle, or grandparent—with or with-out your brothers and sisters

Starting July 6, the New York Society will host nine weeks of guest speak-ers at the Sunday Morn-ing Platfom Meetings. A full listing is on page 8. Please keep in mind that the summer Platforms start at 11:00 am.

Continued on page 16

Top row (L-R): Hugh Taft-Morales, Lisel Burns, Gerald Ranck, Mary Herman, Paulo Ribeiro.

Bottom row (L-R): Richard Koral, Jone Johnson Lewis, Dr. Robert Berson, and Ruth Milkman.

This summer provides me with a unique opportunity. Years ago, an old and dear friend, Leonard Grob, former Professor of Philosophy at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where I had previously taught, founded a Holocaust studies program at the University. Since then, Lenny has been holding conferences every other year for Holocaust and genocide scholars. The conference brings together researchers and writers from Jew-ish, Christian, and lately, Muslim, backgrounds to engage in dialogue and exchange papers that result in the publication of a text based on the proceedings. The conference is concerned not exclusively with his-torical research but also, with the exploration of how insight into the Holocaust and other genocides has bearing on contemporary issues, for example how the effects of the Holocaust relate to the politics of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

The conference is held at Fair-leigh Dickinson’s campus outside of London, England in a place called Wroxton, the site of a 13th century abbey. For years I have been meet-ing with my friend over lunch, and conversation about his work in this important field frequently emerges. Each conference is dedicated to a particular theme, and I have been able to provide some ideas that Lenny has employed as themes for several such conferences. This year my good friend has invited me to come along as his guest, and I am very eager to attend. The conference will be held from June 28 through July, and I will have my travel and other expenses paid for. I will be joined by my wife, Linda, after which we plan to spend about two weeks in London and its sur-roundings. Once home, I am looking forward spending time with my fam-ily and engaging some reading that I have long placed on hold.

L e a d e r ’ s R e p o r t

ethIcal staffDr. Joseph Chuman, Leader, ext. 145

Curt Collier, Leader, ext. 145

Dr. Anne Klaeysen, Leader, ext. 119

Dr. Khoren Arisian, Leader Emeritus

Robert Liebeskind, Executive Director, ext. 116

Gloria Chandler, Assistant to Exec. Director, ext. 117

Deborah Foster, Administrative Assistant, ext. 115

Yalitza Garcia-Krawczyk, Assistant to the Leaders, ext. 118

Leonardo Gibson, Facilities Manager, ext. 107

David Gracia, Music Director

Yolanta Kosmaczewska, Bookkeeper, ext. 104

Jon Liechty, Associate Music Director

Moe-Swe Myint, Membership Associate, ext. 113

Maria Orraca, Rental Manager, ext. 106

Beth Zucker, Manager of Communications, ext. 144

edItorIal staffSelma Friedman, Editor

Deborah Foster, Production

New York society for ethical culture2 West 64th Street, New York, NY 10023

Phone: 212-874-5210Fax: 212-595-7258Website: http://www.nysec.org

Member of the American Ethical Union

2 EThiCAL OUTLOOK July/August 2014

W i s h i n g Y o u a n

E t h i c a l s u m m E r !

D R . J O S E P h C h U M A N

Continued on page 6

Have you ever wondered what we Leaders do during the summer? We don’t completely disappear, but we do travel a bit. As you will read below, Anne and Joe will both be in England and Curt will be in Wyoming. Fortunately, our Ethical Culture vocations allow us to combine business with pleasure. While we recharge our batteries, we also learn a great deal that we can bring back to the NY Society and share with all of you.

EThiCAL OUTLOOK July/August 2014 3

suNdaY summerPlatforms

11:00 am Ceremonial hall, Fourth Floor

JulY 6The Tree of Knowledge: Celebrating the Roots of Humanism

hugh taft-morales, leader Cheryl Gross Presides

JulY 13Place2Place Partnerships Across Inequalities: Brooklyn Bridges to Léogane Haiti 2014

lisel Burns, leader emeritaDr. Anne Klaeysen Presides

JulY 20A Tribute to our Progressive, Conservationist President

Gerald ranckPatricia Bruder Debrovner Presides

JulY 27 Painting Sunlight

mary herman, leaderDr. Anne Klaeysen Presides

auGust 3 The Children’s Garden: Ethical Culture and the Free Kindergarten Movement

Paulo ribeiro, leader-in-trainingBonnie Bean Presides

auGust 10 Got Free Will?

richard Koral, leader-in-trainingPatricia Berens Presides

auGust 17 The Ethics of Being Happy

Jone Johnson lewis, leaderMuriel Berger Presides

auGust 24 Ethics and the Emotions, 1: The Case For Compassion

dr. robert Berson, leaderDr. Anne Klaeysen Presides

auGust 31 New Labor in New York

ruth milkman, Professor of sociologyJoseph Marvel Presides

Wisdom and World AffairsJoin us on Tuesdays July 1 and 15 and augusT 5 and 19, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm, in Room 508, for a philo-sophical discussion moderated by Ken Gans. We’ll cover a variety of subjects including the fate of humanity, world affairs, Human-ism, and many others. Come, and let’s hear from you. There is no fee for this program.

Ethical Death CaféJoin us on sunday, July 6, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm, in Ceremo-nial Hall and sunday, augusT 3, (same time) in the Adler Study, Room 514, and on Wednesday, July 16, and Wednesday, augusT 20, from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, in Ceremonial Hall. Our moderator is Dr. Barbara Simpson, who holds a doctorate in pastoral counseling and is the Bereavement Program Community Outreach Coordina-tor at Caring Hospice Services.

The suggested donation is $5.

Get happy!!...With member and social worker Sandi Sacks. Join us on Wednes-day, July 23 and augusT 13, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, in the Adler Study, Room 514. We’ll also meet on augusT 27 in the Elliott Library, Room 507 (same time).

What is happiness? Can we learn to be happy? This life-enhancing series focuses on the factors that contribute to the experience of momentary joy and long-term sustained happiness. Participants will learn about dynamic behav-ioral, cognitive, and physiological approaches to achieve greater hap-piness. Recent significant research in the fields of positive and cogni-tive psychology and neuroscience as well as the inspiration of great philosophers are the foundation of this series.

There is no charge for members, and a $5 donation requested from nonmembers.

Great Books Discussion Group:Summer and Fall ReadingsLarry Schiff

For this summer, on Wednesday, July 9, from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, in the Elliott Library, Room 507, we will be reading The Epic of Gilgamesh in the Norton Critical Edition. Read it and join us. The reading for Wednesday, augusT 6, in Room 508, is James Joyce’s Por-trait of the Artist as a Young Man. For the school year beginning in September we will continue to meet on the first Wednesday of each month (7:30 pm-9:00 pm) and we will be using readings from the

Ethical Enrichment and Events

Great Books Foundation First Series. It contains selections from Checkov (Rothchild’s Fiddle), Aristotle (On Happi-ness), Plato (Apology), Conrad (Heart of Darkness), Kant (Conscience), Marx (Alienated Labor), The Bible (Genesis), Freud (On Civilization), Roseau (The Social Contract), Darwin (The Moral Sense of Man), Shakespeare (Othello), Hume (Of Justice and Injus-tice), Tocqueville (The Power of the Majority), Simmel (Individual Freedom), and Sophocles (Antigone). This three-volume set plus discussion guide can be pur-chased from the Great Books Foundation (go to greatbooks.org, then Book Groups and Colleges, then Reading and Discussion Series–series 1). The set currently costs $28.95 plus tax and shipping. The suggested donation is $5 per session.

Deepening Ethical CirclesJoin us on sundays, July 13 and 27, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, and Wednesdays, augusT 20 and 27, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm, in Ceremonial Hall. Dr. Anne Klaeysen will moderate. Meaningful personal development and community growth can flourish when people share in the lives of others, especially through


more Ethical Enrichment and Events…

empathetic listening and talking about matters of ulti-mate concern. Small group experiences, used at other Ethical Societies, provide an opportunity for mem-bers to explore their deepest understanding of life in com-munity. This summer we will learn this practice of sharing and form intentional groups that will continue in the fall. There is no fee for this program.

Empowering the 99 PercentJoin our Empowering the 99 Percent class with Leader Dr. Anne Klaeysen on Mondays, July 14, 21, and 28 (1:00 pm – 3:00 pm) in the Elliott Library, Room 507. We also meet on Thursdays, July 17, 24, and 31, in the Adler Study, Room 514 (6:30 pm – 8:00 pm). In September of 2011, the phenomenon known as “Occupy Wall Street” introduced new economic language: one percent of the population are wealthy, and 99 percent struggle to make a living. A report released by Oxfam in January, 2014, revealed that the 85 wealthi-est people in the world hold as much wealth as the poor-est 3.5 billion — or half the world’s population. It is clear from this report, as well as studies conducted by U.S. economists Joseph Stiglitz and

Robert Reich, among others, that we face a gross disparity. What can we do? One thing is to participate in the national campaign for a living wage. Workers across the country are standing up for their right to support themselves and their families. This workshop will provide materials to help par-ticipants understand what is at stake and connect them with local individuals and organiza-tions they can support. The class is free for mem-bers and $5 per session for nonmembers.

Readings in Deep EcologyCome on monday, July 28, from 7:15 pm to 8:15 pm. Curt Collier, Leader, will moderate our discussion as we explore works by famous envi-ronmental authors. We’ll read the selections together and then discuss the important points the writers were striv-ing to uphold. This is a great way to cover classic environ-mental literature. There is no fee for this program.

Summer Writing WorkshopElaine Berman

There will be a short summer writing workshop. “The Joy of


Personal Writing” will start on July 29, and continue through augusT, for a total of five weeks meeting on Tuesdays from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm, in the Elliott Library, Room 507; the augusT 26 session will be in Room 508. Fees for the summer session are $100 for members and $140 for nonmembers, and registra-tion in advance is required. For information and regis-tration call Dr. Anne Klaeysen at 212-874-5210, ext. 119. If you’d like to read work by current and past writers to see what we’ve been doing all this time, please look at www.nysec.org/workshop-writers-space.

Ethics in FilmChris Everett

Join us on Friday, augusT 1, 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm), in Ceremonial Hall

to see Quiz Show (1994), directed by Robert Redford. An ide-alistic young lawyer working

for a Congressional subcommittee in the late 1950s discovers that TV quiz shows are being fixed. His investiga-tion focuses on two contestants on the show “Twenty-One”: Herbert Stempel, a brash work-ing-class Jew from Queens, and Charles Van Doren, the patri-

cian scion of one of America’s leading literary families. Based on a true story. I’ll be leading the evening’s post-film discussion.

The suggested donation is $5, and includes snacks and beverages.

Poetry Workshop

How to Build a Poem – A Poetry Workshop with moderator Ishmael Islam, 2012 Youth Poet Laureate NYC, will meet on mondays, augusT 4, 18, and 25, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, in the Elliott Library, Room 507.

NYSEC members know Ish as an Ethical Teen Leadership Advisor and actor with Ethics and the Theater. This Brooklyn native is also a poet, musician, graphic designer and filmmaker who wants poetry to become more accessible. His workshop will focus on the process of building a poem and emphasize the writer’s choice to experi-ment with poetic tools. From building a freewrite into a form of a sonnet or sestina, observa-tion of line breaks and meter to the visual effect of a poem on page, these sessions encourage a way to understand poetry through play. The class is free for NYSEC members and it is $5 per session for guests.


Ishmael Islam

Not a memBer?

all the more reason

to attend one of our

enrichment activities.

contributions for

nonmembers are

usually only $5.

Coordinators/Greeters needed

Amy Schwarz

From July 6 through augusT 31 (nine Sundays), Ethical Culture meetings will start at 11:00 am. It also is the “vacation time” when many members will be taking long weekends, etc., including me. Thus, I am looking for people willing to replace me several Sundays during that time. A schedule will be made around each volunteer’s preference, and I will fill in the gaps. It really is easy and fun, but requires the commitment to be there.

The coordinator/greeter should arrive by 10:45 am to hand out programs and wel-come each person.

We’ll ask for a volunteer from among the attendees who will assist with gathering the collection, adding up the number of attendees, and giving the money collected to Moe-Swe Myint, NYSEC Membership Coordinator.

To volunteer, phone me at home, 212-666-5219, or email me at [email protected].


I have been busy working on sev-eral projects simultaneously. First, I’m near completion of restoring a restaurant built by Robert Moses at Jacob Riis Beach damaged by Hur-ricane Sandy and years of neglect. I’ve been teaching stone work, til-ing, sheetrock, taping and floating, painting, and general construction work to a group of area youth, our Restoration Corps, as part of a job training program we’re doing in conjunction with the National Park Service. The project was recently featured on NY1 and I’m hoping to finish the job by the 4th of July (http://queens.ny1.com/content/news/210079/students-vol-unteer-to-restore-food-venue).


c u r t c o l l i E r

Based on the success of our two-year pilot project Yellow-stone National Park has just doubled my summer youth corps program. This will allow me to bring 50 youths, instead of 25, for two weeks working in Yellow-stone National Park. I’ll be able to bring inner-city youth from across the U.S. for this nation-ally recognized program. There the youth will work alongside National Park Service person-nel on a variety of maintenance projects across Yellowstone. The program has been such a success

that Grand Teton National Park has asked me to extend the pro-gram there in 2015 and this summer I’m taking three groups of youths to Shenandoah National Park.

Curt talking with members of the Restoration Corp.

Curt (front row, second from the right) with some of the young people in his program.


d r . a n n E k l a E Y s E n


Since 2009, when I encouraged NYSEC to host a reunion for alumni of the Encampment for Citizenship (EFC), I have reported in Ethical Outlook and Sunday platform addresses on the progress this group has made. Their goals were to find a safe, secure, and accessible place to store EFC archives and to pro-vide another generation of young people with an experience similar to theirs. They succeeded! Visit encampmentforcitizenship.org to learn more. At other reunions since that first one, to which they have graciously invited me, I heard so many inspiring stories that it was difficult not to feel envi-ous. This summer I’ll spend a weekend (July 18–20) at the University of Illinois in Chi-cago with 16- and 17-year-olds who will be concluding three weeks of the Encampment and alumni who will celebrate with them. I’ll finally have my own story to tell about an experience that continues to bring together people from across the country from different backgrounds and tradition to create participatory

democracy. I can hardly wait!The next month I’ll travel

to Oxford, England, to partic-ipate in the World Humanist Congress (August 8–10) where I look forward to reconnect-ing with people I have met at conferences held in the U.S. and making new friends. This congress, held every three years, brings together Humanists from over forty countries under the auspices of the International Human-ist and Ethical Union (iheu.org), founded in Amsterdam in

1952 to represent the global Humanist movement and promote Humanist values worldwide. The theme of this summer’s congress is “Freedom of Thought and Expression,” two human rights that are most under threat today.

The image below of Eleanor Roosevelt holding a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is prominent on the congress website at http://whc2014.org.uk/.

Eleanor Roosevelt holding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


Sunday Morning Summer Platform Meetings 11:00 am

JULY 6 ThE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE: CELEBRATiNG ThE ROOTS OF hUMANiSM

Hugh Taft-Morales, Leader Cheryl Gross Presides

The roots of Humanism run deep in many written traditions — from ancient religions to ancient Greece, from the middle ages to the renaissance to the enlightenment to today. Humanists revere many books — books of faith and skepticism, knowledge, and opinion. Fearful of reason and reading, intolerant mobs have burned books and destroyed libraries in the vain hope of cutting the roots of the tree of knowledge. Join Hugh Taft-Morales as he explores this hostility towards knowledge and celebrates the liberating power of books. He served on the Board of the Washington Ethical Society from 2002 to 2006, the last year as President. In 2009 he graduated from the Humanist Institute and was certified as an Ethical Culture Leader by the American Ethical Union (AEU) in 2010. He currently is Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia and the Baltimore Ethical Society. He serves as Secretary of the National Leaders Council of the AEU and is editor of the AEU’s Ethical Action Report. Hugh lives in Takoma Park, MD, with his wife, Maureen; they have three adult children.

The shared charity is Room to Read.

JULY 13 PLACE2PLACE PARTNERShiPS ACROSS iNEqUALiTiES : BROOKLYN

BRiDGES TO LéOGANE hAiTi 2014

Lisel Burns, Leader Emerita Dr. Anne Klaeysen Presides “The entire world is a very narrow bridge” —Rabbi Nachman.

“Tout Moun Se Moun” — All People Are People” —Haitian Proverb.

Lisel Burns is the Clergy Leader Emerita of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Cul-ture. She owns a small guesthouse, Communitybegood, which donates 30 percent of its fees to Haitian partners. She is a longtime community organizer and trainer who works in five world regions with grassroots women leaders in community development and their NGO partners. Continuing BSEC’s long ties with a self-help community in quake-ravaged Leogane, Haiti, Lisel travels there quarterly to work with townspeople reconstructing their lives under difficult circumstances.

Lisel is currently exploring a local-to-local partnership campaign between the interfaith social justice network in Brooklyn and the Haitian-led Neges com-munity outside Leogane (www.negesfoundation.org). She co-chairs the national Ethical Action Committee of the American Ethical Union. For more informa-tion and photos go to: www.communitybegood.com.

The shared charity is NEGES Foundation.


JULY 20 A TR iBUTE TO OUR PROGRESSivE CONSERvATiONiST PRES iDENT

Gerald Ranck Patricia Bruder Debrovner PresidesTheodore Roosevelt was the youngest man to assume the office of the presi-dency, but his experience and his passionate, unquenchable energy rendered him uniquely qualified. Born into a wealthy New York family, he nonetheless took on the ruthless “robber barons” of the Gilded Age, subjecting them to regulation and tax justice. But his greatest achievement has to lie in the area of conservation: in a stunning burst of executive brio, he established game preserves, national parks (including the Grand Canyon), and federally pro-tected lands equal to the area of Maine to Florida. His progressive ideals and immense scholarship have left an indelible mark on American life to this day. Because the problems and obstacles he faced and largely overcame are eerily similar to those we confront today, it is high time we remembered his accom-plishments, and paid tribute to his invaluable presidency.

The shared charity is Fresh Air Fund.

JULY 27 PAiNTiNG SUNLiGhT

Mary Herman, Leader Dr. Anne Klaeysen PresidesCreativity is a central source of meaning in our lives, and yet, artistic expression is often misunderstood – seen as the icing on the cake of life rather than an essential vein of human experience. The creative process requires courage, per-sistence, the ability to look at the world without blinders on, and to observe and withstand what one sees. The poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti once “asked a hundred painters and a hundred poets how to paint sunlight on the face of life.” Join us as we consider how creativity and imagination are fostered and hindered by the choices we make about how we engage with life, and how we can allow the spark of creativity to awaken us to new possibilities. As a 34-year member of the Washington Ethical Society and an AEU Leader since 2010, Mary Herman has a longstanding commitment to Ethical Culture and the future of our movement. She co-chaired the 2013 AEU Assembly in Virginia and will serve on the staff of the 2014 Summer School. She holds a master’s degree in human development and two bachelor’s degrees, one in fine arts and the other in psychology. She is a graduate of the Humanist Institute in New York. Mary lives in Silver Spring, MD, with her husband, Gene. They have two grown daughters. The shared charity is 350 NYC.

AUGUST 3 ThE ChiLDREN’S GARDEN: EThiCAL CULTURE AND ThE FREE

K iNDERGARTEN MOvEMENT

Paulo Ribeiro, Leader-in-Training Bonnie Bean PresidesFree preschool is once again a major issue in New York City. The New York Society began its mission after its founding by establishing the city’s first free kindergarten. In doing so, the Society became part of the controversial kinder-garten movement that was overturning traditional conceptions about education. Paulo Ribeiro is a Leader-in-Training with the American Ethical Union. He


is currently in his second year with the Humanist Institute and holds a bach-elor’s degree in Sociology from Montclair State University. He is a three-time recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for his work designing and implementing programming for children’s education and recreation. The shared charity is Northside Center for Child Development.

AUGUST 10 G O T F R E E W i L L ?

Richard Koral, Leader-in-Training Patricia Berens PresidesEthical Humanism, and its mandate that we improve our world, has an inher-ent assumption — that people have the power to change, improve, and try to live up to their highest aspirations. Now, new research in neuroscience shows that much of our thinking appears to be preprogrammed. In the age-old debate between free will and determinism, which side is winning? What are the implications for Humanists? Richard Koral is an Leader-in-Training. A longtime member and past Pres-ident of the Ethical Culture Society of Westchester in White Plains, NY, he is currently President of the National Board of the American Ethical Union. He is a Doctor of Ministry and practiced law for many years in NYC. The shared charity is WHIN Music Project.

AUGUST 17 T h E E T h i C S O F B E i N G h A P P Y

Jone Johnson Lewis, Leader Muriel Berger Presides

Is it ethical to be happy? An early meaning of ethics had to do with seeking to live “a good life,” which included not just a life of goodness to others, but a life in which one experienced goodness. Yet, often ethics seems to be about duty, and that begins to sound quite dreary and not at all connected with happiness. Brooklyn’s Interim Clergy Leader Jone Johnson Lewis will reflect on the role of happiness in the ethical life. She has been an Leader for 24 years. She is currently the Interim Clergy Leader at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. She is also the current President of the National Leaders Council and is on the AEU’s Membership Committee. She has degrees in business and religion, and was an information technology executive before changing her career path. She also writes for the web about women’s history. The shared charity is Million Trees NYC.

AUGUST 24 E T h i C S A N D T h E E M O T i O N S , 1 : T h E C A S E F O R C O M PA S S i O N

Dr. Robert Berson, Leader Dr. Anne Klaeysen Presides Emotions, as Martha Nussbaum asserts in her book Eruptions of Thought, are not merely “feelings” but contain evaluative cognitions about matters of importance, often outside our control, which affect our most profound sense of well-being and our most significant connections to others. Following Nussbaum’s lead, this ad-dress briefly describes her analysis of the emotional process leading to compassion and illustrates that process by telling the stories of an ancient Greek tragedy and of a contemporary sick child.


s u m m e r s h a r e d c h a r I t I e s

ROOM TO READ (literary program) partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish libraries, and create local language children’s literature.

NEGES FOUNDATION — Relief and Development in Haiti, its mission is to provide the community with a nest for educational growth and environmental safety.

FRESH AIR FUND is a not-for-profit agency that provides free summer vacations in the country to New York City children from disad-vantaged communities.

350 NYC is the local affiliate of 350.org, a grassroots network of volunteer-run campaigns in over 188 countries working to solve the climate crisis. Here in New York, it works for a cleaner, greener, better New York City for everyone.

NORTH CENTER FOR CHILD DEVELOPMENT fosters the healthy development of children and families and seeks to empower them to respond constructively to negative societal factors including racism and its related consequences.

Dr. Robert J. Berson is Leader of the Ethical Society of Northern Westchester and a clinical psychologist with a practice in Manhattan. He is a graduate of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and of the Sunday School of the Riverdale-Yon-kers Society for Ethical Culture. He graduated from Haverford College and earned graduate degrees at Harvard University, Bank Street College of Education, Teachers College, and the City University of New York. He taught in the Ethics Department at Fieldston and has worked in the counseling services at a number of colleges and universities in the New York metropolitan area. The shared charity is Blythedale Children’s Hospital.

AUGUST 31 N E W L A B O R i N N E W Y O R K

Ruth Milkman, Professor of Sociology Joseph Marvel Presides New Labor in New York is the title of both this Sunday’s Platform and a book edited by our speaker Ruth Milkman and her colleague Ed Ott of the City University of New York. Dr. Milkman will discuss recent grassroots initia-tives aimed at organizing New York City’s low-wage and immigrant workers. Her book includes critical analyses of thirteen worker centers, unions, and community-based campaigns focused on the new “precariat.” Some organize in traditionally nonunion sectors like street vending, domestic work, and freelance “creative” fields; others focus on grocery store, retail, and restaurant workers. These case studies help us understand the future prospects of labor in the context of New York’s growing inequality, and the work of revolution-izing communities from the bottom up. Dr. Milkman is a sociologist of labor and labor movements who has writ-ten on a variety of topics involving work and organized labor in the United States, past and present. Recently she has written extensively about low-wage immigrant workers in the U.S., analyzing their employment conditions as well as the dynamics of immigrant labor organizing. She helped lead a multi-city team that produced a widely publicized 2009 study documenting the prevalence of wage theft and violations of other workplace laws in Los Ange-les, Chicago, and New York. She is currently a Professor of Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center and at the Joseph F. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies, where she also serves as Academic Director. The shared charity is Fast Food Forward.

Continued on page 13


Thursday Lunch Discussions Noon El l io t t L ib rary, Rm 507

Bring your lunch and join Leader Dr. Anne Klaeysen and Society members from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm. This month’s topic is: inequaliTy. Folders with relevant articles will be available from Yalitza Gar-cia-Krawczyk in the Leaders’ office. You can now access all of the Leader Lunch readings on our website at http://www.nysec.org/leader-lunch. Join the discussion.

JULY 3 NO DISCUSSION.

JULY 10 “TIANANMEN, FORGOTTEN” by Helen Gao, The NY Times, 6/3/14 and “THE GHOSTS OF TIANANMEN SQUARE” by Ian Johnson, The NY Review of Books, 6/5/14.

JULY 17 “CRITICS ARE QUESTIONING AMERICAN MILITARY CREDO OF LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND” by Eric Schmitt, Mark Mazzetti, and Peter Baker, The NY Times, 6/3/14; “INSIDE THE OBAMA ADMINISTRA-TION’S DEBATE OVER FREEING SGT. BOWE BERGDAHL” by Adam Goldman and Scott Wilson, The Washington Post, 6/3/14; and “AMERICA’S LAST PRISONER OF WAR” by Michael Hastings, Rolling Stone, 6/7/12.

JULY 24 “OTTOMANIA: A HIT TV SHOW REIMAGINES TURKEY’S IMPERIAL PAST” by Elif Batuman, The New Yorker, 2/17 and 2/24/14.

JULY 31 “PARENTS’ NIGHTMARE: FUTILE RACE TO STOP KILLINGS” by Adam Nagourney, 5/25/14 and “CAMPUS KILLINGS SET OFF AN-GUISHED CONVERSATION ABOUT THE TREATMENT OF WOM-EN” by Jennifer Medina, 5/26/14, The NY Times and “ELLIOT RODGER AND POISONOUS IDEALS OF MASCULINITY” by Noah Berlatsky and “CONFUSING MENTAL-HEALTH INTERVENTION AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION” by Jeff Deeney, The Atlantic, May 2014.

AUGUST 7 “THE RIGHT WAY TO CONTROL THE BANKS” by Roger E. Alcaly, The NY Review of Books, 6/5/14.

AUGUST 14 “ALAN GUTH: WHAT MADE THE BIG BANG BANG” by Neil Swidey, The Boston Globe Magazine, 5/2/14.

AUGUST 21 “THE STEALTH WAR ON ABORTION” by Janet Reitman, 1/15/14, Rolling Stone.

AUGUST 28 “STRETCH GENES” by H. Allen Orr, The NY Review of Books, 6/5/14, and “IN DEFENSE OF A TROUBLESOME INHERITANCE” by Nicholas Wade, Huffington Post, 5/29/14.



WHIN MUSIC PROJECT offers a new platform of inclusion for at-risk youth that strengthens their cognitive abilities and life skills, improves academic achievement, builds community, lifts the horizon of hope and ambition, and points them toward success.

MILLION TREE NYC one of the 132 PlaNYC, initiatives, is a citywide, public-private program with an ambitious goal: to plant and care for one million new trees across the City’s five boroughs over the next decade.

BLYTHEDALE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL is New York State’s only independent, specialty children’s hospital dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of children - to provide exceptional comprehensive care for medically complex children and support for their families.

FAST FOOD FORWARD is a movement of NYC fast food workers to raise wages and gain rights at work. It is part of the national movement of low-wage workers fighting for a better future.

N e w Y o r K s o c I e t Y f o r e t h I c a l c u l t u r e

At the June 9 meeting the Board of Trustees elected the following Board Officers:

PrEsidEnt: MeG ChapMan

VicE PrEsidEnt: riChard van deusen trEasurEr: Law’nenCe (L) MiLLer

sEcrEtarY: terry perLin

Other Board Members are: christoPhEr EVErEtt, hEathEr gradY, John gurnEY, Jr., dr. PhYllis harrison-ross (chair of SSB), ElinorE kaPlan, hEnrYka komanska, and tom WEishaar

Please congratulate the new officers on their election and feel free to share with them and all the Board members your aspirations and concerns for our Society.

s u m m e r s h a r e d c h a r I t I e s

a m e r I c a N e t h I c a l u N I o N

A FederAtion oF ethicAl culture/

ethicAl humAnist societies

2 West 64th street neW York, nY10023 WWW.Aeu.org

ethiCaL CuLture Lay Leadership

suMMer sChooL

JuLy 12 - 19, 2014

Sponsored by the American Ethical Union

Held at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center in Highlands, North Carolina

(828-526-5838)


The following members are celebrating birthdays in July:

Larry Hurst..................7/1Amy Schwarz................7/5Joseph Horn.................7/9Beverly Newman.......7/10Debra Curtis-Green..7/12Charles Debrovner...7/12Sheila Kleinwald.......7/21Judith Graeff.............7/22William Kulok...........7/24Janice Buzby................7/25Robert Hofman.........7/26Kathleen O’Connell..7/26Monica Weiss..............7/26Florence Falk-Dickler.7/27

We welcome our newest Ethical member, rosemarie BrancaTo. Rosie is the wife of Board mem-ber Vincent Brancato and she is joining to be part of a community of like-minded people and to learn and support ethics in every-day life. She has been attending the Sunday Platforms and Ethics in Film, Ethics and the Theater, and Readings in Deep Ecology. Her interests are reading, hiking and travel.

_______

NYSEC Leader Dr. Joseph Chuman formally launched his book, Speaking of Ethics: Living a Humanist Life, on May 21. Members and nonmembers alike came to celebrate with him for this wonderful Ethical Culture resource. The book is an anthol-ogy of 26 essays modified from platform addresses given by Dr. Chuman over the past 30 years. It is divided into four topic areas: “Ethics in Private Life,” “Public Issues,” “Humanist Heroes,” and “Interpretations of Ethical Cul-ture.” The book includes a preface by Dr. Marc Bernstein, a Bergen Society member and former archivist of the American Ethical Union. The book is available for sale through the AEU.

_______

We would like to alert everyone that the dates of our Fall Ethical Retreat Weekend have changed.

It will take place a week earlier, September 12 through 14. The venue remains the same. We want to remind you that to reserve a room a deposit of $100 is required and rooms are first-come, first-served! (See flyer on page 13.)

_______

And, as of our June Board meet-ing, we have new officers for the next year (May, 2014 to May, 2015). They are: Margaret (Meg) Chapman, President; Richard (Dick) Van Deusen, Vice-Pres-ident; Law’nence (L) Miller, Treasurer; and Dr. Terry Perlin, Secretary. Andra Miller, past Pres-ident, is now an Honorary Trustee.

_______

It has been a busy year for Dr. Alice Kahn Ladas. Alice was flown by the Center for Reproductive Rights to DC to help lobby for The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2013. She appeared with her six-year-old granddaughter in a local production of The Sound of Music and played on a 3.0 USTA tennis team for women over 40. She has been invited to attend a ceremony in October hon-oring Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Center legally challenges illegal acts by hate groups. Dees repeat-edly risked his life challenging the Klu Klux Klan, neo-Nazi groups and other hate groups in the U.S. She enjoys her three grandchildren and her part-time practice as a somatic psychologist.

The following members are celebrating birthdays in August:

Susan Needles.............8/3David Lee......................8/6Nicola DeMarco........8/7John Lovelady...........8/11Lisa Smith...................8/11John Kreuttner........8/12Phyllis Harrison-Ross..8/14Janet Asimov..............8/16Carolyn Sapir...........8/18Carol Van Deusen...8/19Lily Friedman............8/20Leah Lieberman........8/22Alan Gardner...........8/26David Leiman.............8/27Sondra Stein..............8/29Jane Ungar.................8/29

m o E - s W E m Y i n t, m E m b E r s h i P a s s o c i a t E

O u r E t h i c a l F a m i l y


Leader Dr. Joseph Chuman.

On June 5 the S.O.S Ven-ezuela Concert was held at NYSEC. This was one of two concerts (the other one was in Philadelphia) organized by Venezuelan musicians for

Performers of the S.O.S Venezuela Concert.

A i D S W A L K

Dear AIDS Team,

I want to thank you for your awesome participation in the walk on Sunday, May 18. It was a beautiful day in which you could feel the collective energy of everyone working together to raise awareness and lead the fight against AIDS and HIV. Our efforts, along with the 30,000 people who participated in the event helped raise over $5.1 MILLION for GMHC and more than 40 other critically important local AIDS service organizations!!!! How incredible! There is also still time to collect donations, so please encourage friends and family to visit our group’s page on the AIDS Walk website. http://awny2014.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeam-Part.asp?ievent=1089371&team=5967736. THANK YOU AGAIN for your team morale, effort, and participation. I had a wonderful time with you all.

Amy ReidAmy Reid (left) at the AID‘s Walk.

peace and the restoration of human rights in Venezuela. We want to thank Pat Ber-ens, Beverly Newman, Amy Schwarz, Dan Hanson, and Monica Weiss for their excellent job as volunteers. Special thanks go to our Music Director David Gra-cia for coordinating this very worthy and success-ful program. (You can see photos at: http://wiseconnex.com/sos-venezuela-con-certs-nyc-june-6-2014/.)


Our Televisiting Program continued from page 1

— or you are placed in foster care. You still have to go to school, and you have to deal with the topsy-turvy life around you, but one of the main lynchpins of your stability and comfort is gone.

And what about your parent? You have served as a lynchpin of his or her life too. You are one of your parents’ most valuable connections to the next generation and to the com-munity. Small as you are, you are an anchor and you are loved. Away from you and in the inhuman place we call a prison or a rehabil-itation center, Mom or Dad or your primary caregiver is also feeling lost. Everybody’s depressed and demoralized.

This is where the wonderful work of orga-nizations like our Social Service Board comes into play – in our case, through the Televised Visiting Proj-ect, which was conceived by the chair of the SSB, Dr. Phyllis Harrison-Ross, and brought into action by the support of members of the SSB and our Society.

It was Phyllis’s obser-vation that the family connection needs to be maintained. It is extremely difficult and traumatic for

children to visit incarcerated parents. It takes hours to get to the prisons upstate, and even a trip to Rikers Island is no picnic. Once there, the security checks and the waiting are exhausting and demeaning for every visitor, but especially for children. With all that time and expense involved; you can see why regular, on-site, physical visits are not the norm. And so our never-flagging SSB chair, long aware of the use of television for medical and mental health care in prisons, envisioned visits through the medium of television. Through the SSB, she hired Dr. Frank Corigliano, whose training is in clinical psychology and background includes using technology to address clinical issues. Partnering with the Osbourne Association as it established a television-visiting program for a women’s prison upstate, we established such a program for several jails and correctional facilities right in our SSB office, Room 505. It is just a tiny sliver of an office, but in it we have a small television studio with a video hook-up that can connect to a corresponding video in pris-ons such as Rikers Island and some of the upstate correc-tional institutions. There’s a

compact library of books to read along with the televised parent, and there’s a comfy couch and stuffed animals and toys to make the place cozy and child-friendly.

Birthdays are celebrated there – a cupcake with a candle is presented in a darkened room, and the child blows out the flame while the parent sings “Happy Birthday” via television. Frank hides Easter eggs for parents who celebrate Easter with their kids – and the parent says “You’re getting warm” or “Oh, now you’re getting cold,” as the child or children collect the eggs in baskets. A kid does a break-dance routine from the school talent show. Grades on school-work are discussed. But that’s not all. Because of Phyllis’s 20-year service on the Chil-dren’s Television Workshop Board she got CTW, through the Sesame Workshop, to create their special contribu-tion to the project – a Muppets English and Spanish DVD for children with incarcerated parents that includes a song to reassure them, “You’re Not Alone.” It comes in a packet with In My Family, a story book about “Jada” and “Uncle George” as they attend a family night at school, and a booklet, Little Children Big Challenges:


the institutions involved and our televisiting studio. Integrating reading together into the “vis-its,” has served to bring a closer connection to the young studio guests and their faraway parents.

How wonderful it is that the Social Service Board was lucky enough to find such a resourceful and creative director as Dr. Frank Corigliano to develop and direct

this project!But eventually, the sentence is

served, your parent is released and finally returned to the commu-nity. If all goes well, the family is reunited. Without the community attachment, a returning parent can feel unanchored. However, thanks to our Televisiting Project, we’ll help some to make that reconnection.

A parent in prison is way too common an event in the U.S. In New York State prisons nearly 62 percent of women and 51 per-cent of men have children under 18. And often it is more than one child. In New York State the percentage is 64 percent of women and 46 percent of men who lived with their kids before incarcera-

tion. One in five children witnessed their mother’s arrest. Nearly 80,000 children have parents in New York’s prisons and jails, on probation or parole – 5,240 of them women. For African-American children the likelihood of having a parent in prison is 7.5 times greater than for white chil-dren. For Latino children it is 2.5 times greater. And 58 percent of mothers and

59 percent of fathers report not seeing their

children while in prison.

Hooray for our SSB Televised

Visiting Project, Dr. Frank Corigliano, Dr.

Phyllis Harrison-Ross, and the Social Service Board!

Please consider making a tax-deductible financial contribution to this program by sending your donation to the Social Service Board or contributing through the web-site: www.socialserviceboard.org. “Donations to SSB” is near the bottom of the blue stripe on the left.

We’ll tell you more about this and other exciting aspects of this program in our next issue of Ethical Outlook.

Incarceration, for parents and caregivers on how to help chil-dren feel secure in such insecure times. CTW will continue its involvement with the program.

Since Frank knew that children and parents reading together gives the kids a great advantage — it even closes up the “word gap” between well-off and disadvantaged children — he felt that establishing a read-together program would be productive in making a child/parent link and adding a positive into the incarcer-ated-parent negative. He contacted Nick Higgins, of the Correctional Ser-vices Program at the New York Public Library, and learned that the library already has “Daddy & Me” and “Mommy & Me” early literary workshops in the city jails. Nick and Frank saw the wonderful possibili-ties of collaboration -- parents and children reading together through television connection.

Of course that required books for our studio – and through working with the kids, the parents, librarians, psychologists and therapists, correctional officers and staff, a book list was developed; and the books were donated by New York Public Libraries to


July Calendar Office hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Shelter: Monday – Thursday, 7:30 pm

SUNDAY MORNING PLATFORMS 11:00 am – Ceremonial Hall, 4th floor WISDOM AND WORLD AFFAIRS Tuesdays, July 1 and 15, 6:00 pm Room 508 SENIOR EXERCISE CLASS Wednesdays, 1:00 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 LUNCH DISCUSSIONS Thursdays, 12:00 pm (no class July 3) Elliott Library, Room 507 SOCIETY OFFICES CLOSED Friday, July 4 – observance of Independence Day ETHICAL DEATH CAFÉ Sunday, July 6, 1:30 pm Ceremonial Hall

Wednesday, July 16, 2:30 pm Ceremonial Hall SUNDAY ASSEMBLY MEETING Sunday, July 6, 2:00 pm Adler Study, Room 514 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Monday, July 7, 6:30 pm Adler Study, Room 514 GET HAPPY Wednesday, July 23, 2:00 pm Adler Study, Room 514

GREAT BOOKS READING DISCUSSION Wednesday, July 9, 7:30 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 LAY LEADERSHIP SUMMER SCHOOL July 12 – 19, at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center in Highlands, NC ETHICS FOR CHILDREN SLEEPOVERS Saturday, July 12, 5:00 pm Saturday, July 26, 5:00 pm DEEPENING ETHICAL CIRCLES Sundays July 13 and 27, 1:00 pm Ceremonial Hall EMPOWERING THE 99 PERCENT Mondays, July 14, 21 and 28, 1:00 pm Elliott Library, Room 507

Thursdays, July 17, 24 and 31, 6:30 pm Adler Study, Room 514 EMPOWERING ETHICAL ELDERS (EEE) Thursdays, July 17 and 31, 6:00 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 READINGS IN DEEP ECOLOGY Monday, July 28, 7:15 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 SUMMER WRITING CLASS Tuesday, July 29, 12:30 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 SOCIAL SERVICE BOARD Tuesday, July 29, 6:00 pm Elliott Library, Room 507


August Calendar Office hours for the month are Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Shelter: Monday – Thursday, 7:30 pm

SUNDAY MORNING PLATFORMS Sundays, 11:00 am — Ceremonial Hall, 4th floor SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER DEADLINE Friday, August 1 ETHICS IN FILM Friday, August 1, 7:00 pm (doors open 6:30 pm) The Quiz Show (1994) Ceremonial Hall SUNDAY ASSEMBLY MEETING Sunday, August 3, 1:00 pm Ceremonial Hall ETHICAL DEATH CAFÉ Sunday, August 3, 1:30 pm Adler Study, Room 514

Wednesday, August 20, 2:30 pm Ceremonial Hall BOARD OF TRUSTEES Monday, August 4, 6:30 pm Adler Study, Room 514 POETRY WORKSHOP Mondays, August 4, 18 and 25, 6:30 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 SUMMER WRITING CLASS Tuesdays, August 5, 12, 19, 26*, 12:30 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 *8/26 — Room 508

WISDOM AND WORLD AFFAIRS Tuesdays, August 5 and 19, 6:00 pm Room 508 SENIOR EXERCISE CLASS Wednesdays, 1:00 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 GREAT BOOKS READING DISCUSSION Wednesday, August 6, 7:30 pm Room 508 LUNCH DISCUSSIONS Thursdays, 12:00 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 EMPOWERING ETHICAL ELDERS (EEE) Thursdays, August 7 and 21, 6:00 pm Elliott Library, Room 507 GET HAPPY Wednesdays, August 13 and 27, 2:00 pm 8/13 — Adler Study, Room 514 8/27 — Elliott Library, Room 507 DEEPENING ETHICAL CIRCLES Wednesdays August 20 and 27, 6:30 pm Ceremonial Hall

N e w Y o r k S o c i e t Y f o r e t h i c a l c u l t u r eB l a c k • w h i t e • B r o w n • m a n • w o m a n • t r a n s g e n d e r • g a y • s t r a i g h t • l e s B i a n • B i • c h r i s t i a n • j e w • m u s l i m • h i n d u B u d d h i s t • s i k h • h u m a n i s t • d e m o c r a t • r e p u B l i c a n • l i B e r a l • c o n s e r v a t i v e • p r o g r e s s i v e • i n d e p e n d e n t • r i g h t • l e f t • c e n t r i s t • c o n f o r m i s tr e a l i s t • i d e a l i s t • a s i a n • e u r o p e a n • a f r i c a n • a m e r i c a n • n a t i v e • i m m i g r a n t • y o u n g • o l d • t a l l • s h o r t • l a r g e • s m a l l • B l a c kw h i t e • B r o w n • m a n • w o m a n • t a n s g e n d e r • g a y s t r a i g h t • l e s B i a n • B i • c h r i s t i a n • j e w • m u s l i m • h i n d u • B u d d a h i s t • h u m a n i s td e m o c r a t • r e p u B l i c a n • l i B e r a l • c o n s e r v a t i v e • p r o g r e s s i v e • i n d e p e n d e n t • r i g h t • l e f t • c e n t r i s t • c o n f o r m i s tB l a c k • w h i t e • B r o w n • m a n • w o m a n • t r a n s g e n d e r • g a y • s t r a i g h t • l e s B i a n • B i • c h r i s t i a n • j e w • m u s l i m • h i n d u B u d d h i s t • s i k h • h u m a n i s t • d e m o c r a t • r e p u B l i c a n • l i B e r a l • c o n s e r v a t i v e • p r o g r e s s i v e • i n d e p e n d e n t • r i g h t • l e f t • c e n t r i s t • c o n f o r m i s tr e a l i s t • i d e a l i s t • a s i a n • e u r o p e a n • a f r i c a n • a m e r i c a n • n a t i v e • i m m i g r a n t • y o u n g • o l d • t a l l • s h o r t • l a r g e • s m a l l • B l a c kw h i t e • B r o w n • m a n • w o m a n • t a n s g e n d e r • g a y s t r a i g h t • l e s B i a n • B i • c h r i s t i a n • j e w • m u s l i m • h i n d u • B u d d a h i s t • h u m a n i s td e m o c r a t • r e p u B l i c a n • l i B e r a l • c o n s e r v a t i v e • p r o g r e s s i v e • i n d e p e n d e n t • r i g h t • l e f t • c e n t r i s t • c o n f o r m i s tB l a c k • w h i t e • B r o w n • m a n • w o m a n • t r a n s g e n d e r • g a y • s t r a i g h t • l e s B i a n • B i • c h r i s t i a n • j e w • m u s l i m • h i n d u B u d d h i s t • s i k h • h u m a n i s t • d e m o c r a t • r e p u B l i c a n • l i B e r a l • c o n s e r v a t i v e • p r o g r e s s i v e • i n d e p e n d e n t • r i g h t • l e f t • c e n t r i s t • c o n f o r m i s t

2 w 6 4 s t • n e w y o r k , n y 1 0 0 2 3 • 2 1 2 . 8 7 4 . 5 2 1 0 • o f f i c e @ n y s e c . o r g • w w w . n y s e c . o r g

ethical outlook july/august 2014

ethicalWe are ethical culture,

a community that believes all individuals have inherent worth and

dignity, and a responsibility to strive for ethical growth.

ours is a nontheistic religion in which deeds and their results matter more than ideology.

we believe that leaving the world better than we found it is the highest good.

learn more about us at our website — or, better still, visit with us.

you’re always welcome.

New York Societ Y for ethical culture

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Ne w Y ork Socie tY for e thic al culture ethical outlook - Aug. 2014... · Ne w Y ork Socie tY for e thic al culture ... in the Adler Study, Room 514, and on Wednesday, ... Fiddle),