ESWoW
2 West 64th Street
New York, NY 10023
phone: (212) 873 6500
REGISTERED USERS
SO FAR ... 325
Affiliated with the American Ethical Union
Friday 09th of May 2008
The Ethical Society Without Walls (ESWoW) - Connecting to Live More Ethical Lives
The Ethical Society Without Walls is dedicated to cultivating a community of people who support each other in:
leading a more ethical life
bringing out the best in the Human Spirit
appreciating the unique capacities in every person
raising the quality of our relationships with family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors
doing our part to create a more just, loving and sustainable world for all
Members join together to assist each other in developing ethical ideas and ideals, celebrating life's joys and supporting each other through life's crises, and working together on ethical and social action programs to improve our world and the world of our children.
The Ethical Society Without Walls needs your support. If you have enjoyed reading the blogs and Platforms on this website, joining discussions and classes and knowing that Ethical Culture is now available to everyone, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to ESWoW now. You can also make a gift in someone's honor or memory and we will be happy to inform them of your generosity.
We invite you to explore our website, join in the discussions, and consider a trial membership in the Ethical Society Without Walls.
We also invite your questions or comments. Please email the leaders.
ETHICAL ACTION RESOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN ETHICAL UNION Statement Reaffirming Its Opposition to Torture* Adopted by the 93rd Assembly of the AEU Austin, Texas, April 2008 WHEREAS:
Respect and reverence for human dignity is the foremost principle of
Ethical Culture, and the use of torture is the most heinous violation
of human dignity, and WHEREAS: The American Ethical
Union remains absolutely and unalterably opposed to the employment of
torture by the military, intelligence agencies, law enforcement
agencies, or other actors public or private, and WHEREAS:
The employment of torture in direct and willful violation of the United
Nations Convention on Torture has become a component of American policy
in its "War on terror,"
THEREFORE: The American Ethical Union calls upon the Congress and President of the United States:
To immediately and unconditionally cease the practice of torture
everywhere, including the transfer of prisoners to other jurisdictions
where torture may be employed, and
To allow unfettered access and inspection of any and all sites and facilities, and
To avow without reservation to abide by its international agreements
and honor the highest standards of human rights, and
To openly recognize and apologize for all transgressions, to allow for
due process, and, whenever and wherever possible, to make restitution
to their victims.
FURTHERMORE: We call
upon the Leaders and members of The American Ethical Union to inspire
and advocate for the end of present American policy and the “torture
debate” through Sunday addresses in accord with the National Leaders’
Council Paper in Support of the Resolution Against Torture. *
UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE (Article 1) The term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such
purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a
confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed
or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or
a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind,
when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person
acting in an official capacity.
Ethical Action Opportunity Please take a look at the press release
and share it with
your local media or other appropriate place and let us know. If you are
interested in reading the entire paper written by Joe Chuman, Leader of
the Bergen Society and backed by the National Leaders Council, please
let me know and I’ll be happy to send it to you.
Mother's Day (Blog
from the Leader) Mother's Day is coming up again, and as usual, it has
me thinking about the origins of the holiday and working for peace. It
also has me thinking about my mother and how proud she would be that I
am working for peace. What are your plans for Mother's Day?
Community Phone Call - May 4 Our next Community Phone Call will be on Sunday, May
4 at noon Pacific time, 1pm Mountain time, 2pm Central time, and 3pm
Eastern time. We'll be sharing memories of people who have been
important in our lives. Please let me
[Susan(dot)Rose(at)eswow(dot)org], or our online administrator,
[Billy(dot)Dechand(at)eswow(dot)org] if you plan to participate and
we'll send you the contact information.
Community Chatroom I've
been happy to connect with someone -- even briefly in the ESWoW
chatroom. I'll be signing in when I'm working on other ESWoW things
(such as writing this newsletter) and we'll try to set up a regular
time for chatting also. One ESWoW member has said she would be in the
chatroom when she can, mostly between 4-7 pm pacific time (5-8 pm
mountain, 6-9 pm central and 7-10 pm eastern) so come by and see if
anyone is on. Pretty soon, our webmaster has informed me, we can have
an indication on our homepage which will let us know if anyone is in
the chatroom. Please let me know if you'd like to host an ESWoW chat at
a particular time, or if you have topics you'd like to chat about. I'm
very excited about this opportunity to make ESWoW more interactive. If
you have any problems getting into the chatroom, please let us know.
Platform Address Due to technical difficulties we were not able to include Randy Best's
section from the Assembly this week. We hope to have it for you by
next week.
However, we're happy to share with you this Platform by Fritz Williams, retiring Leader of the Baltimore
Ethical Society. May 4th is Fritz's last Platform address at BES and
it seems appropriate to share some of his work with you today. The
talk was given at the New York Society for Ethical Culture and is entitled "A Life Story."
National Train Day - May 10th Just thought I'd let you know that May 10th is National Train Day –
brought to you by a proud member of the National Association of
Railroad Passengers. If you're wondering why I've
mentioned this, it is just that I like trains and especially subways.
Any other train aficionados out there?
Your Input for 2009 Assembly Dates - needed by May 5 I
received the following from the AEU office. Since there was such a
wonderful turn-out of ESWoW folks at this past Assembly, we're planning
to have more planned sessions -- even if they are all over breakfast --
for ESWoW members. Please let me know, preferably by Sunday if you have
a preference for one set of dates over the other.
"In
an attempt to accommodate as many schedules as possible, the Assembly
Committee has generated two options for dates for the 2009 AEU
Assembly. The first option is: Tuesday May 19 - Sunday May 24 (Memorial
Day weekend), 2009. Hotel rooms will cost $99 per night. The second
option is: Tuesday June 9 - Sunday June 14, 2009. The hotel room cost
would increase from $99 to $119. Please let me know, no later than the
evening of Monday, May 5, 2008, which option you (and, Presidents, your
Society) prefer. A simple majority vote, of the responses received,
will control. In the absence of any responses, the Assembly Committee
will decide, and is currently leaning towards the June date." --Jennifer
Scates, President, American Ethical Union.
Tell A Friend Who do you know who is interested in examining ideas and
might appreciate exploring living more ethical lives? Let them know
about ESWoW. Please consider forwarding this to them.
