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Archived Podcasts from The Ethical Society of St. Louis (2006 and earlier)
Below are Podcasts recorded in 2005 and earlier. For more recent
lectures go to our audio library.
Download any of these archived presentations by using one of the links below.
All of these podcasts were live recordings of regular Sunday
Platform addresses to the St. Louis Ethical Society.
12/12/2006
Ethics begins in the home - Curt Collier, Leader of Riverdale-Yonkers Society, 10 Dec, 2006 
The goal of ethical religion is not to instill a set of beliefs, but to foster the development of ethical personalities: people who feel connected to all of life and to others, and who strive to bring out the life-affirming qualities in others. But how does one do this? How do we elicit the best from our children? This talk explores the origin of ethics within a human heart and how to create a home environment that allows ethics to blossom.
Curt Collier is a graduate of the Humanist Institute and the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health. He is completing a Doctorate in Ministry (ABD) from Hebrew Union College. He is the founder of Just Matrimony, promoting marriage equality for gays and lesbians, and served as co-Mentor for the Humanist Institute and the Humanist in Leadership Training programs. Curt has traveled extensively promoting Ethical Culture and was credited for founding the Ethical Society of Austin, Texas. Curt is Adjunct Faculty with the University Studies Department at Hofstra University. He has served on several committees for the American Ethical Union (including the Assembly Committee and the Leadership Training Committee) and has served on faculty of the Lay Leadership Summer School. Curt enjoys traveling and his plays have appeared on several stages in the New York area. He was a recipient of a grant from the Bronx Council of the Arts for his play Yeats: Mad as the Mist and Snow, and his play Displaced Moments was performed off-off Broadway.
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12/07/2006
On solitude and community - Bob Greenwell, Leader Mid Rivers Ethical Society, 26 Nov, 2006
Americans are desperate for community. They are flocking to conservative churches that have mastered the art of providing meaningful and plentiful small groups. Meanwhile the mainstream liberal Christian denominations, tied to traditional forms of large (and anonymous) gatherings on Sunday, and each follower left to his own devices the rest of the time, have been dwindling in membership. But community is not all that a human being needs. A person needs a degree of solitude as well. However, just as there are substitute and fake forms of community that do not fulfill in the long run, so there are substitute and fake forms of solitude as well.
Bob Greenwell is Leader of our offspring Mid Rivers Ethical Society, which began accepting members in January, 2004. Their membership now stands at 40. Bob has an M.Ed. in counseling, is married to Kathleen, and is the proud grandfather of four. He has known solitude from his Catholic seminary days (eons ago!) and his Siddha Yoga meditation. He has known community from family and from the Ethical Society.
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11/16/2006
Infinite Interrelatedness - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 12 Nov, 2006
Felix Adler defined spirituality as awareness of our "infinite interrelatedness." A few weeks ago, we explored our emotional and imaginative awareness of our interdependence with each other and the natural world. This Sunday, we'll look at philosophical theories and beliefs. Ethical Culture's assertion of universal human worth grew out of a long discussion in philosophy about human nature: How are we different from other animals? Are we more than material beings? On what can we ground our beliefs in worth and dignity and human rights? Adler's struggle with these issues will lead us to perhaps the hardest question in ethics: What is our ethical responsibility to others? How do we live with that sense of responsibility and use it to inspire us?
"If men talked about only what they understood, the silence would become unbearable." - Max Lerner
"Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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11/05/2006
Parenting at the speed of the internet - Dr. John Hoad, Leader Emeritus, 5 Nov, 2006
At the request of our Leader (Kate Lovelady), John Hoad is addressing guidance on parenting. John's qualifications include raising five children and enjoying five grandchildren. But are these qualifications out of date as we move into the Age of the Internet? Just as many of us could not help with New Math when it became standard, can we help our children face the growing frontier posed by new technology? Or are they out beyond us? The American Association of Pediatrics has recently called for some good old-fashioned playtime for our kids, and less regimentation and less devotion to video games. What are the values that abide that each generation needs to learn to build an ethical world? How can we address the Confucian challenge that there be a thread of values that runs from the individual through the family, through the nation, to the laws of the universe?
Dr. Hoad is a Leader Emeritus of the Ethical Society of St. Louis, having served 1980-1994. He lives in Charleston, SC, where he and his wife, Karen, have a practice based on her work as a hypnotist and his as a lifetime coach. John is a native of Barbados and previously served as a Methodist minister and seminary president in the Caribbean. After retirement from the Society, he served with Provident Counseling of St. Louis and as a visiting preacher for Emerson and Alton Unitarian churches.
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10/29/2006
Principle centered parenting: Dropping out of the new "gerbil race" - Dr. Tim Jordan, 29 Oct 2006
The rat race to "keep up with the Joneses" starting in the 1950s was about "things," i.e., homes, cars, appliances. The "gerbil" race today is about children: getting your kids in the "right" school, on the "right" select sports teams, building the perfect resume. Kids are growing up too fast, being treated as adults, and are stressed out and overextended. Dr. Jordan will lay out the costs to kids and families due to these extraordinary pressures and he will inspire parents to take control of their families' lives, parenting from the principles and values important to them.
A nationally known speaker and educator, Tim Jordan, M.D., has dedicated his career to helping children and families. As a key media consultant, he has appeared on national and local television and radio and hosted the weekly radio show "Families First."
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10/22/2006
The terrible, beautiful mess of life - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 22 Oct 2006
The strength of humanistic ethics is based in the heart as well as in the head. I'm often asked if its possible for people to live without a certainty of supernatural belief. My answer is to point to the long history of poetry, art, and music that has helped humanity develop compassion and commitment in the face of the uncertainties and pains of living. An ethical movement that rejects absolutist answers can still uplift and inspire by embracing this tradition, so this Sunday I'll be sharing some of my favorite poems that explore grief, celebration, confusion, transcendence, and other joys and challenges of being human.
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10/19/2006
AEU Leadership Certification Ceremony - Kate Lovelady, Leader, Jul 2006
Recorded at the 91st Assembly of the American Ethical Union in Chicago, Kate explains her career move from poet to Ethical Culture Leader and reads one of her favorite poems by W. H. Auden.
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10/08/2006
Stem cell research in Missouri - Dr. Gerald Magill, Saint Louis University Center for Health Care Ethics, 8 Oct 2006
The vote for or against Missouri's Amendment 2 elicits significant controversy around embryonic stem cell research. People of good will and people of faith stand on each side of the debate. The ethical dispute is not about choosing between the protection of human life and the promotion of human healing - each side makes those claims, whether by reason or by faith. Rather, the contest deals with the irresolvable controversy about when personal human life begins. And each side submits substantive moral justifications for their opposing perspectives. There is need for respect and restraint to foster a calm courteousness to help citizens prepare for the referendum.
Gerard Magill, Ph.D., is a Professor with tenure at Saint Louis University's Center for Health Care Ethics. He served as the Center's first Department Chair from 1996 to 2006 and was Executive Director of the Center from 1999 to 2006. He has secondary appointments at Saint Louis University as a Professor of Internal Medicine in the School of Medicine and as a Professor of Health Administration in the School of Public Health.
is education includes a baccalaureate degree in philosophy, a baccalaureate degree in religion, and a master's degree in religious ethics at the Gregorian University in Rome, as well as a Ph.D. degree in religious ethics at Edinburgh University, Scotland.
His areas of research specialties include: the policy and ethics implications of human genomics and stem cell research, and religious discourse in health care ethics.
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10/01/2006
Ethics: The next generation - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 1 Oct 2006
This Sunday we'll look at some of the cultural and psychological pressures on today's youth. What will influence them to be more or less ethical than the current generation? Many pundits proclaim that America is in a state of moral decline--is this true, and if so, will the next generation learn to imitate or to restore today's moral lapses? What are the current trends in ethics among the younger set, and what can sociological research teach us about how to bring up our youth to create a more ethical society?
"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings." - Hodding Carter
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09/24/2006
The fate of eminent domain - Gary Feder, 24 Sep 2006
Can the private owner of a residence or business be required, as a matter of law, to sell their property to a developer intending to use that property, along with others, to create a new comprehensive project designed to serve the general public?
The Supreme Court of the United States answered this question in the affirmative last summer in the landmark decision, Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut. The decision set off a firestorm of protest concerning the long established practice of "eminent domain." Eminent domain is the right of local governments, including school districts, highway departments, and some utility companies, to force the sale of certain real estate and to condemn the title thereto in consideration for payment to the owner of the property's fair market value as determined through a court determined procedure. Expansion of the process nationally over the past half century has resulted in "takings" of real estate that wind up in the hands of private development companies rather than be titled to public entities. Instead of building roads, eminent domain has increasingly been used to build stadiums, office complexes, and shopping centers. Private property rights vie with governments' desire to eradicate deteriorated or blighted areas, create new taxes/jobs, and stimulate growth. The controversial Centenne project in the heart of Clayton is just one local example of this battle. Legislative changes have already happened in Missouri. What lies ahead both national and locally?
Gary Feder is a member of the Land Use Development and Financing Practice Group in the St. Louis office of Husch and Eppenberger, LLC. His primary areas of concentration are real estate law, corporate law, and related litigation. He is a former member of the Clayton Board of Education and Clayton's City Plan Commission and Architectural Review Board. Gary is a frequent speaker on real estate development issues, such as the use of tax increment financing, transportation development districts and urban redevelopment corporations.
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09/17/2006
Saying Yes - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 17 Sep 2006
In my candidate address last fall, I argued that one of the steps in ethical development is learning to Say Yes. By that I meant cultivating optimism, being open to the possibilities of life, and being willing to stretch ourselves and to work with others in trying new things. Humanism looks for signs of ethical progress in the world, and ethical humanists try to do our part, however small or large, to help positive change occur. Growth, whether of a person or an institution, requires change. However, change also challenges our comfort zones. This year we will be taking more steps toward positive change, including an increasing emphasis in our platforms on children and families, and more opportunities for ethical action. This platform will introduce some new practices and explore the exciting and the difficult aspects of change and growth.
"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power." - Alan Cohen
"Change is inevitable, except from vending machines." - Anonymous
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09/10/2006
Authentic happiness: living brilliantly - Peggy Duffield and Lynne Michelson, 10 Sep 2006
Drawing from current research, wisdom traditions and anecdotes, they hope to inspire our community toward an experience of living more joyfully. Inspired by the work of Dr. Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive Psychology and head of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Peggy and Lynne will explore the following questions: Exactly what is authentic happiness? How is it defined? Learn practical tips for bringing happiness into your life. Positive Psychology is a new branch of psychology that focuses on the empirical study of such things as positive emotions, strengths-based character, and healthy institutions. Dr. Seligman's research has demonstrated that it is possible to be happier — to feel more satisfied, to be more engaged with life, find more meaning, have higher hopes, and probably even laugh and smile more, regardless of one's circumstances.
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09/10/2006
Reflections on September 11th - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 10 Sep 2006
As the opening of the Ethical Society of St. Louis's Fall Gathering Leader Kate Lovelady reflects on the 5th anniversary of September 11th.
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05/22/2006
Founders Day - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 14 May 2006
On May 15, 1876, in New York City, twenty-five-year-old Felix Adler delivered the founding address for Ethical Culture, laying out his argument and design for a new movement that would modernize religion, ethicize philosophy, and commit its members to affirming the infinite worth of every man, woman, and child.
For the 130th anniversary, we will revisit the Founding Address, translating it where necessary into modern understanding, and see how well it has held up and what inspiration and direction it offers our still-moving movement. This will be the inauguration of an annual Founders Day, a day on which Ethical Societies across the country recall our roots, celebrate our individual Society's history and people, and consider our legacy as the founders of the future.
"Diversity in the creed, unanimity in the deed!" Felix Adler, Founding Address
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04/30/2006
Faith In Science - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 30 Apr 2006
I chose the title "Faith in Science" for Sunday's platform to address two misuses and misunderstandings of sciencethe attempt to impose on science non-science-based beliefs (something done by both the Fundamentalist right and the New-Age left), and the belief in science itself as a type of savior. Empirical research and the scientific method are crucial to helping us learn about human nature and make ethical decisions. Yet biology and even evolution are not necessary destiny, and what is technologically possible is not always wise. What are the promises and limitations of science?
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04/28/2006
Ethical Humanist of the Year - Fred Rottnek, MD, MAHCM, 23 Apr 2006
Fred Rottnek, MD, MAHCM, has been chosen to receive the 2006 Humanist of the Year award. This prestigious award was established 30 years ago by James S. McDonnell in honor of Jeff Hornback, then the Leader of the Ethical Society of St. Louis.
Dr. Rottnek's life integrates the practice of medicine with his love of teaching, commitment to social justice, spirituality, and theology. His patients are the homeless and those incarcerated in St. Louis County. Dr. Rottnek works with many local homeless shelters and nonprofit agencies, providing direct, on-site health care services to people in shelters and other locations where they go to obtain goods and services needed for their day-to-day survival. In St. Louis County, he was the first physician to utilize community volunteers to establish a hospice environment for prisoners approaching death.
In addition to his work with the incarcerated and coordinating care for as many as 50 patients in an evening at a homeless shelter, he has organized many other physicians, nurses, psychologists, and social workers to use their time and talents to deliver health care to people living outside the fringes of the work-a-day world. He inspires a myriad of professionals to understand their importance and value to the patients they serve.
An insight into what inspires and motivates our 2006 Ethical Humanist of the Year is best provided by the recipient himself. Dr. Fred Rottnek says, "The quality of all of our lives depends on the quality of the lives of those who have the least."
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04/08/2006
Is it time to grow up yet? - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 9 Apr 2006
The concept of adulthood and maturity has been changing in America, for both good and bad. Many older people are more active than ever, while many younger people are putting off responsibility, or just not finding room for themselves with all these active older folks still in charge. At the same time, America's mass-market culture is more youthoriented than ever. What does it mean to have an adolescent national culture? What are the thoughts and feelings that keep us from growing up, as individuals or as a culture? What can we do to support the positive evolution of ourselves, our kids, and our nation?
"We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice -- that is, until we stop saying 'It got lost,' and say 'I lost it.'" - Sydney J. Harris
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04/08/2006
Lessons in paying attention: Lao-Tzu and the Taoist tradition - Dr. Belden Lane, 2 Apr 2006
Dr. Lane will draw on stories from the Taoist and Buddhist traditions in talking about some of the central paradoxes in the spiritual teachings of the Tao Te Ching. These include the mystery of wordlessness, the importance of doing for the sake of doing, the power of acting as not-acting, and the effectiveness of leading without ego. The presentation will suggest how these can be lived out in practice, pointing out parallels between Lao-tzu and Jesus Christ, between the Way of the Tao and the Way of the Lilies (as Jesus speaks of this in the Sermon on the Mount).
Dr. Belden C. Lane is Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. His books include Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality (2001) and The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality (1998). He was introduced some time ago as a Presbyterian minister teaching at a Jesuit University telling Jewish stories at the Vedanta Society.
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04/02/2006
Health care for the privileged few? Why not health care for all! - Jim Hightower, 26 Mar 2006
The health care crisis in the United States affects everyone. With costs outpacing most peoples wages, only the wealthy can easily afford decent health care. Nearly 1.4 million people joined the ranks of uninsured in the last year, bringing the number of Americans without health care to 45 million. Seventy-four percent of those without insurance come from working families and 8.5 million children in the United States have no health care. Jim Hightower has spent three decades doing battle with the powers that be on behalf of just plain folks. Speaking out on behalf of consumers, working families, environmentalists and small businesses, Hightower is a leading voice for the public who find themselves living and working in an America that is vastly different than the one inhabited by politicians in Washington and the Wall Street elite. He broadcasts daily radio commentaries that are carried in more than 120 commercial and public stations, on the web, on Armed Forces Radio, Radio for Peace International, One World Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.
His monthly populist newsletter, "The Hightower Lowdown", is the fastest growing political publication in America with more that 100,000 subscribers and his newspaper column is carried in more than 75 independent newspapers, magazines, and other publications. He also writes a monthly column for The Nation, Americas leading progressive journal.
Hightower is the best-selling author of Thieves In High Places: They've Stolen Our Country And Its Time To Take It Back (Viking Press). His previous books are If The Gods Had Meant Us To Vote, They Would Have Given Us Candidates; Theres Nothing In the Middle of the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos; Eat Your Heart Out; and Hard Tomatoes, Hard Times.
Jim Hightower's appearance is part of Health Care Weekend and sponsored by Missourians for Single Payer (MOSP) and the Ethical Society. MOSP is a coalition of diverse organzations and individuals working to promote universal health care through a single payer system. For more information about their mission and activities, please visit http://mosp.missouri.org/ .
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04/08/2006
How many earths? Eco-ethics - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 19 Mar 2006
March 20 is the first day of spring, Earth Day as celebrated by the U.N. (April 22 is also celebrated as Earth Day by other groups). As a community that seeks to “act with reverence and commitment toward the natural world,†we will take this Sunday to mark the Spring Equinox and renew our promise to protect our environment. Last year, at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, I saw a road show by former Vice President Al Gore about global warming. I'll share some information from that experience, and also explore how we educate ourselves and others about ecological ethical issues. What are the barriers to our understanding and action? Can we overcome some of those barriers by approaching the issues differently? How can we talk about the environment so that people listen, and how do we get beyond the false choice of “the environment vs. the economy�
As a precursor to this platform, I invite those of you with internet access to take the short quiz at www.myfootprint.org, to see how sustainable your current lifestyle is. You can email me your results, if you wish. All information will be kept strictly confidential!.
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04/05/2006
Wal-Mart: Good, bad, or just there? - Bill Brighoff, 12 Mar 2006
That is not a rhetorical question, but one that every thinking person should answer. It has been answered widely by many people, but seldom is there an in-depth analysis of the wide variety of factors that should be considered. Tens of thousands of Americans have lost good jobs - but tens of millions of Chinese have escaped starvation. Your values, experiences, and philosophies will determine your answers, but have you asked all the questions?
Bill Brighoff has been a member of the Ethical Society of St. Louis for more than a dozen years. Presently, he is an officiant and a board member, but mostly he is known for being the husband of Carol Bartell. In past lives, he has been a carpenter and a lawyer, but now he ekes out a living as a high school teacher in the St. Louis Public Schools.
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02/27/2006
The Religious Left and Civil Rights - Kate Lovelady, Leader, 26 Feb 2006
This Sunday we'll look at the basic differences in attitudes and beliefs that lead those on the religious right and left to embrace their respective values and to translate those values into specific social positions. Given that this weekend St. Louis is hosting an anti-gay conference by religious right groups, we'll also examine the real-life consequences of religious beliefs on people's lives, as well as why the religious right is so threatened by the women's and gay rights movements, and how Ethical Culture as part of the religious left can respond to the critical civil rights issues of our time.
There are two visions of America. One precedes our founding fathers and finds its roots in the harshness of our puritan past. It is very suspicious of freedom, uncomfortable with diversity, hostile to science, unfriendly to reason, contemptuous of personal autonomy. It sees America as a religious nation. It views patriotism as allegiance to God. It secretly adores coercion and conformity. Despite our constitution, despite the legacy of the Enlightenment, it appeals to millions of Americans and threatens our freedom.
The other vision finds its roots in the spirit of our founding revolution and in the leaders of this nation who embraced the age of reason. It loves freedom, encourages diversity, embraces science and affirms the dignity and rights of every individual. It sees America as a moral nation, neither completely religious nor completely secular. It defines patriotism as love of country and of the people who make it strong. It defends all citizens against unjust coercion and irrational conformity. - Rabbi Sherwin Wine
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02/21/2006
Lincoln's Legacy: Our Logs - Joanne Kelly, Ann Ruger, Ruth Ann Cioci and Barbara Finch, Women's Voices Raised For Social Justice 12-Feb-06
Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice http://womensvoicesraised.org is a new St. Louis organization founded by four women discouraged and fearful for their country, who decided to quit complaining and do something about it. They will discuss their struggles to overcome fears and frustrations and to summon the courage, self-confidence and energy to move forward and found Women's Voices. They will explain what the organization has accomplished, some of their hopes for its future and the impact of the experience on one of them as an individual.
The four founders of Women's Voices Raised for Social Justice, now retired, have various backgrounds: Joanne Kelly was a teacher, counselor and administrator in several St. Louis County school districts. Ann Ruger was a project director, grant writer and editor for several St. Louis-based child advocacy organizations. Ruth Ann Cioci was Kirkwood's office manager and vice president of Laura McCarthy, Inc. Realtors Barbara Finch is a retired public relations consultant who taught creative writing for Springboard to Learning for three years.
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02/21/2006
Yet, Miles To Go Before I Sleep - Norman R. Seay 2-Feb-06
Borrowing a line from a Robert Frost poem, Norman Seay will reflect upon some earlier relationships between the Ethical Society and segments of the black community during the days of overt and transitional discrimination and segregation. He will also identify some current issues of exclusion.
A challenge will be presented for people of good will to again promote the philosophy and implement practices of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others as the quest to achieve justice, peace and fair play continues in the current sophisticated and capitalistic environment.
Norman R. Seay, a prominent civil rights activist, is a founding member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in St. Louis and a former president of the NAACP of Montgomery County, Maryland. In the 1960s, CORE was instrumental in forcing places of public accommodations to serve and employ blacks in greater St. Louis. In 1963 he spent 90 days in jail as part of the effort to force banking and other financial institutions to employ African Americans in white-collar positions. Mr. Seay is President of the Federation of Block Units of Metropolitan St. Louis, Director Emeritus of the Office of Equal Opportunity at the University of Missouri - St. Louis and on the Executive Committee of the St. Louis NAACP.
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02/03/2006
Imagining abundance: Ethical giving and growing - Kate Lovelady, Leader 29-Jan-06
One thing that separates successful institutions and movements from unsuccessful ones is the ability to talk straight about money. We often feel confused, conflicted, and guilty about how and how much we make and spend. Our discomfort with the topic keeps us from looking squarely at how we're spending and what we're really getting for our money. But if we're unclear about the role of money in our lives, we're easily manipulated into a cycle of unsatisfying purchases and equally unsatisfying charity. How can we move away from a defensive view that emphasizes scarcity and competition, and toward a view that recognizes the unprecedented abundance that now exists, and the power each of us has to make a difference?
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02/03/2006
Truthiness: the Vatican and the gay response - Sam Sinnett, DignityUSA 22-Jan-06
A panel of linguists recently decided that the word that best describes 2005 is "truthiness" -- the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts. While some Americans would relate that to current U.S. political issues and the war in Iraq it also describes the increasingly virulent statements of the Vatican, the pope and many US Roman Catholic bishops related to Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender (GLBT) issues. The Roman Catholic hierarchy may well be the most powerful anti-GLBT voice in the world with religious and political influence far beyond just Catholics. DignityUSA has long offered a counterbalancing voice must sought after and respected in the media, particularly in the USA but in other English speaking countries as well. DignityUSA, its local chapters and members publicly dissent from Catholic Church teaching that homosexual sexual orientation is objectively disordered and that gay and lesbian relationships are inherently evil. For this public dissent DignityUSA is in exile, not officially allowed to meet on Catholic Church property.
Sam Sinnett is a native Saint Louisan who is currently the national president of DignityUSA, www.DignityUSA.org - one of the oldest national gay and lesbian organizations - for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Catholics. DignityUSA works for respect and justice for all GLBT persons in the Catholic Church and the world through education, advocacy and support. Sam grew up in Saint Louis, attended high school here and is a graduate of the Catholic Jesuit College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. He was married for over 18 years, has 3 children, came out as a gay man late in life, is currently divorced / single. He has recently appeared on or been quoted in our local press and media on Channels 2 and 4 and KMOX radio.
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02/03/2006
Where do we go from here? - Malik Ahmed, of Better Family Life, Inc. 15-Jan-06
Malik Ahmed will develop the theme, "Where Do We Go From Here?", an address delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967. His presentation will examine how today's African American community is still challenged by many of the same menacing forces that were highlighted by Dr. King over 38 years ago.
Mr. Ahmed will highlight the inequality that persists in keeping many members of the African American community oppressed, evidenced by rising health costs, unemployment, poor education and racist institutional practices. He will conclude his address by urging the need for the continuation of the civil rights struggle. In Mr. Ahmed's opinion, the new focus of the movement should be on the internal development of the African American family. Mr. Ahmed passionately believes the organization he founded in 1983 - Better Family Life, Inc. - offers a new and progressive initiative in the goal of uplifting the Black masses. BFL's job training program for the chronically unemployed has graduated over 2,000 adults and has a 12-month job retention rate of 80%. The program received the Governor's Award for the Most Innovative Training/Workforce Program in 2000 and the Cultural Competency Award in 2001, both from the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council of Governments. In 2002, BFL opened its third job training site. Under Mr. Ahmed's leadership, BFL has developed youth, cultural arts and housing down payment assistance programs to serve low to moderate income residents throughout the metropolitan community. In 2005, BFL purchased the former Ralph Waldo Emerson School in St. Louis. The organization is currently in a capital campaign to raise $4 million for renovating the site as a cultural center and museum.
Malik Ahmed holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's degree in Public Administration/Policy Analysis. Prior to his involvement with BFL, he was a registered representative of The Moneta Group, a financial planning firm. He serves on several community and civic boards of directors.
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01/13/2006
It's not easy bein' green - Kate Lovelady, Leader St. Louis Ethical Society 8-Jan-06
"Bein' Green" was sung by Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street when I was young. The message of the song is that we should resist those outside voices telling us whom we should be, and instead develop the unique gifts we each have to offer. One of the first steps in ethical development is becoming comfortable with ourselves, so that we can be active participants in society and so that we don't feel threatened by those who are different. Since I started following a vegan diet a couple of years ago, however, the phrase "It's not easy being green" has developed yet another meaning for me. For my installation Sunday, I'd like to share some of the personal experiences and lessons I've learned from becoming vegan—particularly, what it teaches me about becoming comfortable with ethical choices, and what being different from many of my friends and family teaches me about "bringing out the best in others" when you disagree. Many folks join Ethical Societies seeking the fellowship of like-minded individuals, yet we can only be a vital Ethical Society if we also recognize, respect, and welcome the many ways in which we are different.
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10/09/2005
Ethics Lost to Fear - Redditt Hudson 9-Oct-05
Where ethics provide a guideline that is eminently humane regarding our decisions about how we will live with ourselves and others, adherence to this guideline requires, at some point, an inventory of self, an inventory of community, and ever larger groupings relative to the ethics of each and our individual contribution to the ethical fabric of them. To some extent we have forsaken a commitment to ethical living in the following way – we have allowed fear, for too long, to make us hesitate to act on our ethics, and our inaction has hurt us all.
Redditt Hudson is the Racial Justice Associate for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri. A former St. Louis police officer, he left the force in 1999 and devoted himself to addressing issues of police misconduct and to searching for ways to improve police-community relations. He has a significant history of work on issues critical to the social, cultural, and economic well-being of African-American communities and is especially concerned with the well-being of youths. In the past, he worked with serious juvenile offenders at the Hogan Youth Correctional Facility and provided them with alternative constructive choices to help them modify their behavior prior to community reentry. Redditt Hudson has held positions with the St. Louis Emergency Children's Home and Better Family Life Incorporated. In 2000, he founded Project Peace, an organization which addresses issues of accountability and responsibility for students in high schools and in communities.
Mr. Hudson attended University City High School and graduated from St. Louis University where he also played basketball. He is currently enrolled in the Criminology program at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. He is married and the father of four.
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10/02/2005
Translating Jesus for Today - John Hoad 2-Oct-05
Several Ethical Leaders have given high praise to the Jesus of history. Among these are Felix Adler himself, David Muzzey, and Horace Bridges. What they did, and what John Hoad proposes to do, is to get back past the ecclesiastical Jesus and the evangelical Jesus, and attempt to describe what it must have been like to meet with the historical Jesus and feel the impact of his revolutionary teaching, and then to translate that into modern language and concepts. John has been a student of the Gospel story for over fifty years, and will crystallize out the essentials, as he sees them, of the impact of Jesus. This is a vision of the Humanist Jesus.
Dr. John Hoad is a native of Barbados. He studied in England and Europe to become a British Methodist minister. He served in Guyana and Jamaica. In Jamaica, he became President of the United Theological College of the West Indies, from 1968 to 1972, when he came to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. in counseling at Princeton Theological Seminary. He was a professional counselor in Princeton and then in Saint Louis. From 1980 to 1994, John was the Leader of our Ethical Society. He and his wife Karen moved to Charleston, South Carolina, in 2002.
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09/18/2005
Truth is the holy grail - James Hoggard 18-Sep-05
Knowledge is important. More knowledge is available to us than to any previous generation. What is the best way to sort fact from fiction? Why is that important?
Rational thinking and observation help us learn the nature of reality. Sadly, this is not always the approach taken, even though the application of science is so obvious in almost everything that distinguishes our modern age. Many people believe that certain propositions that were decided in more primitive times should not be subject to reexamination. The speaker believes truth is paramount, that it is always tentative and the best means at our disposal should be employed in its pursuit.
James Hoggard received degrees from college and seminary in pursuit of the career of Christian minister. After serving in that capacity for 13 years, he left the ministry and turned his hobby of tinkering with automobiles into a new career. He operated Hoggard's Car Place in St. Louis for 25 years, before retiring in 1998. He joined the Ethical Society of St. Louis in 1976.
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07/15/2005
Rememberance: The anatomy of a memory - Don Johnson, Leader (12-June-05)
Individual memory and collective memory are necessary for our individual and cultural identity. To re-member is to bring alive again the past, as well as move us toward a future. To re-member is to re-participate. If our lives are to have a coherent meaning, memory will be at work in us. With no sense of personal or social history, the fabric of our lives unwinds and disintegrates.
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05/12/2005
The Dance Of Relationships - Don Johnson, Leader (8-May-05)
Relationships of all kinds are like a dance. Some faith traditions, such as Hinduism, emphasize the interrelationship, richness and beauty of all of life. We must have within us the knowledge of what makes relationships succeed, be attentive to the movements of the other persons and fill our relationships with spontaneity and richness.
"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust
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05/12/2005
How much is good enough? - Anne Klaeysen, Leader Long Island Ethical Society (24-Apr-05)
Ethical Culture founder Felix Adler's early idealism was, to a large extent, superceded in the following century by philosophies of naturalism and pragmatism. What does that transition really mean to most of us? Some faith traditions root their authenticity, and base their practices, on authoritative tests. Ethical culture faith rests on a combined study of philosophy, ethics and science. From whence come our religious authenticity and authority? On what basis do we form our traditions and practices? Leader Anne Klaeysen examines the shift from an ideal or perfectibility to a concept of wholeness and asks the question: "How much is good enough?"
Anne Klaeysen is Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island. She is a graduate of the Humanist Institute and holds Masters degree in German from the State University of New York at Albany and Business Administration from New York University. This spring Anne will complete work towards a Doctor of Ministry from Hebrew Union College in New York City.
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04/13/2005
Ecology: Toward a Continuous Harmony - Don Johnson, Leader (10-Apr-05)
The guiding religious and ethical principle in ancient Egypt was centered around the role of harmony. The issue of ecology is essentially an ethical and religious issue of creating and maintaining a harmonious relationship with all of life. Reinhold Niebuhr defined evil as “the assertion of some self-interest without regard to the whole, whether the whole be conceived as the immediate community or the total community of humankind, or the total order of the worldâ€. In ancient Egypt it was the people's role to keep the world harmonious. What demand is the earth making on us today, what principles might guide us in fulfilling our role as stewards, and what benefits might come to us by being our best selves in relation to the earth?
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