2009 Newsletters

Letters to the Editor Humanism and Atheism As headlined in last month's issue of the Utah Humanist  the discussion of the relationship between humanists and atheists continues to be vigorous. When I make presentations to various...

Darwinism and the Meaning of Life Richard Layton's Discussion Group Report by Craig Wilkinson, MD Arthur Falk begins his article with his definition of the "meaning of life". To quote Mr. Falk, the meaning of life is: meaningfulness...

Darwin Day 2009 Lecture Professor Frank Brown Dr. Frank Brown presented impressive information of his careful geologic dating of the East African strata that has produced the most complete sequence of fossil hominids o an overflow crowd...

History is Seductive Did you know that in Utah socialists have held public office? This is just one of the juicy tidbits that history professor and historian John McCormick Ph.D., shared in his fascinating presentation at the March meeting of...

Should We Respect Religion? Richard Layton's Discussion Group Report by Craig Wilkinson, MD Barabara Smoker is the previous President of the National Secular Society of Great Britain. On May 25, 2006, she took part in the Oxford University...

Urban Pioneers At its May 14 meeting the Humanists of Utah were treated to a show by the "Urban Pioneers"--an informal name loosely applied to a group of about 30 Utah singers and musicians who participated in the Urban Folk Music Revival of...

President's Message Last month I missed the deadline for the newsletter; I try to have something ready each month but I was a little bit too busy. So I have a number of things to discuss in this issue. Recently the American Humanist Association...

- In Memoriam David Blackbird August 2009 1/5/1930 ~ 7/3/09 David Blackbird, one of the founding members of Humanists of Utah, died July 03, 2009 at the Utah State Veterans Nursing Home of causes incident to age. He had been...

Defining Humanism We humanists may know who we are and what we stand for but how do you answer someone who asks the question, "Humanism? What is that?" Even though recent surveys show that non-believers are a large and rapidly growing segment...

History of Humanism in Utah Organized Humanism began in the United States as an effort to maintain the Unitarian Church as the leading "creedless liberal religion" in this nation. Over the years since the Unitarian Church was established as...

Thomas Paine Day 2009 Bruce Daine Speaks to Humanists of Utah Starting off with a movie critique of HBO's mini series about John Adams, Associate Professor Bruce Dain said that a movie about Thomas Paine would have been a better story. Why?...

Civility in Politics Beginning his presentation with a quote from "that noted rabble-rouser Tom Paine," retired history professor Alan Coombs immediately engaged the audience. "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier...