Rationalists of East Tennessee Newsletter

January 2008

(Text Version)

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Jan. 6, 2008 10:30 am - 12:30

Roundtable Sunday: Freethought Communities and Resources

Carl Westman, Discussion Leader

Pellissippi State Technical Community College (cafeteria annex)

January 6th, 2008; 10:30 a.m. (Come early for fellowship and coffee.)

Being part of a community that shares your values can be a great source of emotional support and intellectual stimulation. For many, RET serves in that capacity, but it only meets 3 times a month for two hours each time. Are there other freethought communities to which you belong, that either meet in person or online? Do you subscribe to certain freethought publications that have enriched your understanding of the world, or helped you become part of a larger group that hopes to make a positive difference? Come and share with us some of your favorite freethought groups and resources, and why you enjoy them.

Carl Westman will lead the discussion, and share with the group excerpts from The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe (SGU), a weekly podcast on science and skepticism. Fun fact: former RET Board member Massimo Pigliucci had the honor of being the first interviewee for the SGU podcast (June 7, 2005, episode 3). More information about SGU can be found at:

http://www.theskepticsguide.org/index.asp

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Book Club

Jan. 13, 2008 4:00 PM Barnes and Nobel

Stumbling on Happiness

Author: Daniel Gilbert

Discussion led by Carl Westman

This a fascinating book about how the human mind remembers and predicts its own happiness. Well researched, clearly written and also entertaining. For instance, the author states in the forward, "No one can say how you will feel when you get to the end of this book, and that includes the you who is about to start it. But if your future self is not satisfied when it arrives at the last page, it will at least understand why you mistakenly thought it would be."

Next Book: Feb. Economics as Religion by Robert Nelson

March Atheist Universe by David Mills

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Annual Business Meeting

Remember our Annual Business Meeting on Sunday, January 20th, 2008, when we will review the past year, discuss programs for the coming year, and elect officers. Visitors are welcome, but you must be a member to vote (if you have not paid your 2008 dues, you may pay at this meeting, before voting).

Coffee and refreshments at 10:00 a.m.

Pellissippi State Technical Community College; Cafeteria Annex in the back of the Goins Administration Bldg.

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RET Annual Public Meeting Feb. 3 ,2008, 10:30 AM Pellissippi State

Susan Jacoby will be speaking to RET

The topic will be: The Ages of American Unreason: Past and Present

Please try to get as many people to attend as you can. RET will be spending considerable time and money to promote this speaker. This is our annual big speaker event and we hope to attract not only all existing and many former members, but also as many new people as possible.

Here is what Wikapedia has to say about her.

Susan Jacoby, program director of the Center for Inquiry-Metro New York, a rationalist think tank with offices at 1 Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 2700, New York, NY 10020.

Susan Jacoby is the author of "Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism," in its tenth hardcover printing (Metropolitan Books) and just out in paperback. Freethinkers was hailed in the New York Times as an "ardent and insightful work" that "seeks to rescue a proud tradition from the indifference of posterity."

Her new book, "The Age of American Unreason," is slated for publication in early 2008.

Named a notable nonfiction book of 2004 by The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, Freethinkers was cited in England as one of the outstanding international books of 2004 by the Times Literary Supplement and The Guardian.

The author began her writing career as a reporter for The Washington Post. She is the author of six previous books, including Wild Justice: The Evolution of Revenge (Harper & Row), a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1984, and Half-Jew: A Daughter's Search for Her Family's Buried Past (Scribner, 2000). A generalist in an era of specialization, Jacoby has been a contributor for more than 25 years, on topics including law, religion, medicine, women's rights, and Russian literature, to a wide range of periodicals and newspapers. Her articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Book World, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Newsday, Harper's, The Nation, Vogue, and the AARP Magazine, among other publications. They have been reprinted in numerous anthologies of columns and magazine articles.

Susan Jacoby has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and Ford Foundations, as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2001-2002, she was named a fellow of the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.

Since the publication of Freethinkers, Susan Jacoby has been interviewed on NOW with Bill Moyers, The O'Reilly Factor, and the Dennis Miller Show. She has been a guest on numerous National Public Radio programs, including the Diane Rehm and Tavis Smiley shows, as well as regional NPR programs broadcast from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, and Madison, WIS.

Susan Jacoby lives in New York City.

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Movie Review

The Golden Compass

Recently I attended a party and one of the guests was a writer for a major Hollywood documentary. I won't drop any names, especially since I did little more than listen.

The Golden Compass came up in conversation and the writer and his wife were both very critical of the movie, saying that it looked staged, especially compared to Lord of the Rings. I discovered later that he and his wife are atheists so the criticism was not related to the ideas presented in the movie just some finer points about the settings.

So much for picky insider reviews. As a general public movie goer, I found it to be very good. If I were a more vocal emotional type I would have yelled out, "Go get them, girl." at the end when Lyra pledges to go after the Magisterium (the religious authorities).

I also have never been to a movie that actually had characters that were so much like the ones I imagined when reading the books. Others have noted having the same experience. Perhaps some of the scenes may have appeared staged, but the ideas and characters, including the great acting by the girl who played Lyra, made it unnecessary to spend a few million more on technical perfection in creating the other universe in which the story is set. It it led me in an enjoyable “willing suspension of disbelief” watching a movie attacking the suspension of disbelief.

The books are great and I highly recommend the movie. Carl

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RET Newsletter submissions

Feel free to submit news of interest. Submissions are welcomed but may be limited by space and topic relevance. The format may vary depending on the amount of information submitted. Short submissions are preferred but longer ones may be accepted if they can be published as a series over two or more issues. Text or Word format are best for submission. Text may also be included in an E-mail. CarlLedendecker at: (ledendecker@earthlink.net <mailto:ledendecker@earthlink.net> ) 2123 Stonybrook Rd., Louisville, TN 3777 982-8687 evenings.

The Newsletter can also be found online at our Web site: www.rationalists.org <http://www.rationalists.org> . Scheduling: Philosophy (Michael Lance) lancem@ornl.gov; Round tables (Carl Westman; Book Club (John McCaffrey) jkmccaffreytn@yahoo.com Newsletter: (Carl Ledendecker) ledendecker@earthlink.net <mailto:ledendecker@earthlink.net> , 982-8687 Material published in The RET Newsletter represents the views of the individual authors. Publication does not constitute an endorsement by the Rationalists of East Tennessee or its members.