NOSHA Social Aid & Pleasure Club.....Historic Cemetery Clean-up
When: Saturday, May 19, 2012 - 9:00am until 12:00pm
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
420 Basin Street
New Orleans, LA
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We're gonna try this again and hope the weather holds out this time!
It's a project to help Save Our Cemeteries clean Marie Laveau's tomb and a section of the wall vaults in the back of the cemetery in St. Louis 1.
An opportunity for heathens and voodoo to join forces for a worthwhile project? You be the judge!
Bring a hat, sunscreen, water and wear comfortable clothing for a sweaty, outdoor activity.
Dr. Lawrence Powell and "The Accidental City" - May 2012
When: Saturday, May 19, 2012, 4:00 PM
Where: Audubon Zoo, Dominion Learning Center
6500 Magazine St, New Orleans, (504)581-4629
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Our speaker for May will be Tulane professor and historian, Dr. Lawrence Powell, whose new book, "The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans," about which the Times Picayune writes: "Lawrence Powells acclaimed history of New Orleans reads like colorful fiction, but explains why the city is important."
His books will be available for purchase and autographing.
James Conrad, a member of NOSHA, is bringing in his collection of books on atheism for free distribution at the meeting also.
BEADS! In preparation for the NOSHA reception at the AHA Conference, June 7-9, we want to give it a New Orleans flavor, part of which will be the distribution of beads to the 400 attendees.
We ask that you bring to this meeting any beads you are willing to donate. We will have other expenditures for this Conference and will appreciate your contribution toward those costs in any amount. Checks payable to NOSHA.
See Calendar for more information.
NOSHA Welcome Reception for AHA 2012
The American Humanist Association selected New Orleans for its American Humanist Associations 71st Annual Conference after considering several other possible cities. NOSHA assured them that we wanted to be their local hosts and enlisted the help of the New Orleans Tourist and Visitor Bureau to convince them to be the first national secular organization to hold its annual event here.
We feel it is imperative that we infuse the event with as much New Orleans flavor and support as we can and will co-finance (with AHA) a Welcome Reception at the Sheraton for their anticipated 400 attendees. Wed like to provide a Second Line, Mardi Gras beads and other souvenirs at that event. We also plan a welcome sign on a digital billboard near the Superdome. Additional welcoming activities will depend upon our available financing.
As you know, NOSHA has provided speakers for meetings, social events, annual banquets, newsletters and other benefits to members and non-members for over twelve years, financed solely by dues and donations. We have always kept our expenditures within our budgeted income expectations.
WE ARE NOW SEEKING SPECIAL DONATIONS TO FINANCE OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THIS IMPORTANT NEW ORLEANS CONFERENCE.
All donations are appreciated that go towards this very special event!
- Harry Greenberger, President
FOR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
1 April 2012
The latest from Sam Harris is Free Will, a title that is self-explanatory. From his
perspective as a neuroscientist, Harris examines the latest evidence regarding free will,
and considers some of its social and political implications. This book is quite short,
serving mostly as an introduction to a complex question that still needs a great deal of
work.
Harris' key point is based on empirical tests. These show that the decisions we make
moment by moment are registered in the brain slightly before we are consciously aware
that we've made them. The conclusion drawn from this is that we make most of our
decisions at some unconscious level. Our perception that we are consciously aware of
and in control of our decision-making processes is a fiction that the conscious mind
creates to explain what has already been completed in some hidden way. The
conscious mind experiences more than it leads.
Harris cautions that this does not reduce human beings to mere automatons. We do
have an ability to think reflectively and analytically, to apply reason and reach
conclusions that are more or less defensible by logic and evidence. Yet the choice to
invoke such reasoning is itself constrained by mental processes that are inscrutable to
the conscious mind. Harris begins here to develop a fascinating idea about "the choice
to choose," but doesn't go far enough in defining it, and this is probably the book's most
serious weakness.
The implications of unconscious control run deep. For one thing, Harris feels it makes
the question of a soul irrelevant. Whether there is a soul of spirit, or we are entirely
made of matter and energy, the fact that our will exists more unconsciously than
consciously radically alters our understanding of ethical and criminal responsibility. It
shifts responsibility for many problems away from the individual and more toward
society as a whole, generally undermining the "conservative" world-view that
emphasizes rugged individualism, and pushing more toward a "liberal" and social
perspective.
Free Will by Sam Harris was published in 2012 by Free Press, ISBN 978-1451683400,
96 pages, available in paperback and Ebook editions. Sam Harris has also authored
The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, and The Moral Landscape.?
- Jim Dugan
Jesus, what a tetchy little Son of a God you are.
Or why not buy a book or two?
water
2 May 2012 | 6:24 am
