Appling Science to Theology

...is the theme running through the upcoming Spring 2013 issue of the Journal of Religious Humanism.  Papers delivered by Mark Belletini on Carl Sagan’s “Cosmic Theology,” and by Dawn Cooley on “Astrobiology” were delivered at last fall's Ohio River Group, a study gathering for UU Ministers.  Responses by their colleagues Lisa Friedman and Lisa Doege are included.

Mark Edmiston-Lange explores the extent to which evolution forms and teaches us about modern belief and religious life, and we reprise Sarah Voss’ “Matheology” - and evocation of “Cantorian Religion,” from an issue of RH about a decade ago.  Finally, since there are only two kinds of poetry that I like - the kind that rhymes and the kind that doesn’t, I included Roger Rochester’s thoughtful piece of doggerel on placing the human story in a larger context.

Volume 43, #2 will be mailed to members in July, and will be available for distribution at the General Assembly in Louisville, KY, June 19-22. Read more about "Religious Humanism" Journal – Next Issue »

Ribbons Not Walls is the title of two related Social Justice projects that will be featured at the HUUmanists General Assembly booth in Louisville this coming June.  You are invited to participate in either or both. 

A "Banned Books by Hispanic Authors" library will be created with a community group in Louisville - this is a continuation of our Banned Book SmUUggling project from the Phoenix GA.  We are collecting multiple copies of 70 plus books that were removed from Tucson classrooms by the State of Arizona (see previous blog posts from Nov 18 and August 19 for full details).   Please consider purchasing one of the books, and sending it to us well in advance of June, so that we can ship all the titles together.  Of course, if you are planning on coming to Louisville, just bring the book - but let us know which title.   The complete list of banned books is available on Ribbonsnotwalls.org, along with the address to which to send your selection.   

The Ribbon project is a large fabric arts work, consisting of two dozen or more panels created by UU and humanist artists around the country.  It will be on display at our booth in the Exhibit Hall at GA (along with other subsequent venues) and will be paraded throughout the week at major GA events.  Panels depict ongoing immigrant rights work, along with themes from several of the Banned Books.  (See the Gallery below for examples.) Applications are still being accepted from individuals and groups willing to contribute a panel, and have their work seen by hundreds of delegates.   Full details are at Ribbonsnotwalls.org.

If your question isn't answered by the website, feel free to contact Roger Brewin at 773 881 4028 or 773 551 8540, or Rabrewin@aol.com. Read more about Ribbons Not Walls »

BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS, BANNED BOOKS, BOOKS

Books are often at the center of the HUUmanists booth in the Exhibit Hall at General Assembly. A couple of dozen Humanist titles most years – part of offering to our fellow liberal religionists, a wide spectrum of thought on issues of import to us.

In June 2012, in Phoenix, at the ”Justice GA,” over 400 volumes dominated the booth – multiple copies of each of the eighty plus titles, predominantly by Hispanic authors, pulled from the classrooms of Tucson by the State of Arizona, when they banned the teaching of Ethnic Studies. In cooperation with the Librotraficante and Puente organizations, HUUmanists invited individual delegates to each “smUUggle” one of the banned books back into the state. Hundreds responded, and the resulting display was a visual highlight of General Assembly, even covered by the local Fox News station. Buttons in English and Spanish proclaiming the wearer to be a “Book SmUUggler” or “Librotraficante” were easily the most widely flaunted accessory of the gathering, thanks to co-sponsors UU Women and Religion, who arranged for a thousand of them to be available. The UUA Bookstore also pitched in, with an on-hand inventory of many of the titles, so that those who had not brought a book from home could still purchase and contribute at GA.

On the last day, dozens of delegates carried the books held aloft, in a parade through the convention center to waiting cars headed for Puente’s new community library. That evening, HUUmanists’ president John Hooper, HUUmanists' project coordinator Roger Brewin and Librotraficante’s Tony Diaz helped dedicate the library in a celebration of local food, music, and the written and spoken arts, and the importance to every culture of the freedom to write, to read and to teach without censorship. Since June, Puente librarians have also passed along requests for children’s books to supplement the original titles, and several local humanist groups and UU congregations have responded.

In addition, the booth featured the work of Pat Everett promoting the formation of humanist groups around the country jointly affiliated with HUUmanists and AHA, and Kristin Wintermute representing the ongoing educational and training efforts of the Humanist Institute. The social action theme was broadened by materials from both Women and Religion, and the Interfaith Worker Justice Group. This fall, a number of Tucson teens have committed to attending a course in Hispanic literature taught by Curtis Acosta at the Valenzuela Youth Center, studying on Sunday nights the works that are now forbidden to them through the public schools. As a follow-up to our banned book activities at GA, HUUmanists organized drives in several congregations to send copies of Louis Alberto Urrea’s “The Devil’s Highway” and Sherman Alexie’s “Ten Little Indians” to each of those students.

Responding to an appeal by Tony Diaz for events around the country during Hispanic Heritage Month, calling attention to the Arizona classroom censorship, HUUmanists also organized in September over twenty events in a dozen UU congregations and humanist meetings, featuring the books in readings, displays and discussions. With other locations, including groups in Phoenix and El Paso expressing an interest in these books, we continue to organize the collection and shipment of these symbols of humanist values – cultural independence, the power of the arts, and the freedom to read. Read more about GA Booth 2012 in Phoenix »