2017-18 Discussion Topics - UUAA Humanist Study Group
This year the Humanist Study Group also offered and conducted a seminar for the whole congregation based on the book Humanist Voices in Unitarian Universalism. We offered a 7 week course on the same topic in the spring of 2018 as an Adult Spiritual Growth and Development class.
The group considered the following 42 topics, articles and/or books in 2017-18.
1. “Humanism” from Enlightenment Now by Pinker
2. “God” from Kauffman’s book Reinventing the Sacred
3. “The Worship of Man” from Harari’s book Homo Sapiens
4. PRRI-Religion- Report
5. “Spiritual but not religious”- inside America's rapidly growing faith group
6. “Atheism and the toxic side of online atheism”
7. “Are religious people more moral?”
8. “Freemasons And Illuminati Are Using Frequency To Change DNA to Make
People Hate Trump.”
9. HUUmanists History and Mission
10. “How Poverty Kills Wonder and What We Can Do About It.”
11. “Feeding on the Faithful.”
12. Bibliography and Writings on Humanism
13. “The Humanist Quest for Meaning.”
14. “Philosophy of Naturalism” from Wikipedia.
15. “Don’t Believe in God? Maybe You’ll Try U.F.O's.”
16. “Black Atheists Explain What It's Like to Be a 'Double Minority'”
17. “What’s so Troubling about Funding a Playground?”
18. “Is the Supreme Court Killing Secularism.”
19. “Why Are Atheists Generally Smarter Than Religious People.”
20. “Questions and Ideas about the Virtue of Fairness.”
21. “How Bad Biology is Killing the Economy.”
22. “I Worship Jesus not the Earth.”
23. “The Happiness Hypothesis” by Haidt.
24. “What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Fairness.”
25. “Right-Wing Christian Calls for a 'More Violent Christianity'.”
26. “Sources of Cohesion in a Multicultural Society.”
27. “White supremacists turn to Norse mythology vs. ‘mongrel’ Jesus.”
28. “Trump's Self-sabotage is Rooted in his Past.”
29. “Wherever You Go, There They Are.”
30. “Study finds link between brain damage and religious fundamentalism.”
31. “China is becoming hooked on the opium of the people.”
32. “Liturgy for the Nones”
33. “The Collapse of American Identity.”
34. “Meet the Modern Pagans.”35. “Douthat’s Wager—Go to Church, Even if you don’t Believe.”
36. “A Meditation On ‘Evil.’”
37. “Save the Mainline.”
38. “Where Evangelicals Came From” by Garry Wills.
39. “The Humanist Revolution.”
40. “The Religious Origins of Fake News.”
41. “Essentials of Humanism.”
42. “Humanism at 100.”
2016-17 Discussion Topics - UUAA Humanist Study Group
The following topics were discussed by the UUAA Humanist Study Group in 2016-2017.
Democrats Have a Religion Problem
Why Being “Faith Friendly” isn’t Worth it for Democrats
Costs of Racism
Disturbing Words and Humanist Alternatives
Media, Morality and the Neighbor’s Cow
National Geographic-Unlocking the Healing Power of You
A Church That Would Have You as a Member
Humanists and Words
Rising to Heaven in a Secular Rapture
Election Follow up
Six Aspects of Humanist Spirituality
Humanist Election Conversation
Spiritual Practices--What and How?
Mary's Mother in Law
Concepts of Spirituality
Breeden-Humanism: Who We Are; What We Do; Why It Matters
Breeden-One Hundred Years of Humanism
Breeden-Theology is Words
Hutcheon-A Humanist Perspective on Spirituality
What does Spiritual Growth and Development Mean?
Feeling Awe May Be the Secret to Health and Happiness
Conflict at Work
Budd Sermon-People of the Word
What Religion Would Jesus Belong To
Freethinker-Friendly Initiative
The Meaning of Make Believe
Our Heritage of Humanism
Kentucky judge refuses to marry atheist couple that wouldn’t mention God in their vows
Christian conservatives want to regulate sex—and deny it to the poor
Eight Key Polarities for Thriving Congregations
Catholicism's struggling despite Pope Francis
In Praise of Secular Church Services
Political, Religious, Social, and Party Identities
How do Christians and Atheists Compare on Muslim Tolerance
God Is a Question
What if Animals Believe in God
Brains Wired for Morality by Evolution
U.S. religious groups and their political leanings
In the Beginning was Not the Word
Where Evangelicals Came From
Enhancing Virtues-Fairness
The Humanist Revolution
Three book reviews-All Too Human
Atheism’s Dark Side
The Religious Origins of Fake News
Essentials of Humanism
Humanism at 100
Why Facts don’t Change our Minds
Why “religion or politics?” is the Wrong Question and Answer
Humanist Manifestos
UUAA History: 150th Anniversary
Spectrum Humanist Experience
What Bannon Really Wants
Healthy and Unhealthy Characteristics of Spiral Levels
Donald Trump, the Religious Right’s Trojan Horse
Humanism, Speciesism, and the Baggage of Words
Light a Candle In Berlin
Virtue Ethics
Format for Presentation of Articles in Humanist Group
Definition of a Christian
Stronger than we Look
The Evangelical Scion Who Stopped Believing
Werner, Regaining Balance