Please join us at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 for a presentation entitled “Affecting Public Policy and Protecting Our Secular Democracy: How it Works and How You Can Influence the Process” by Toni Van Pelt. She is the Public Policy Director for the Institute for Science and Human Values.
Scientific thinking is being challenged in the United States culture today as never before.
One of the major strengths of any lobbying effort lies in its grassroots participation. There are a variety of tactics that are useful, and each is employed at strategic times. How does our government work? Why is it important for you to participate? Please attend for an interactive discussion that is sure to be both enlightening and galvanizing.
Toni Van Pelt is the Public Policy Director of the Institute for Science and Human Values, founded by Paul Kurtz. As former vice president of the Center for Inquiry and as a congressional lobbyist, she organized and directed one of the first public policy offices of the secular humanist movement in Washington, DC focusing on the importance of science, separation of church and state, women’s and LGBT rights. She also serves on the board of the National Organization for Women as the Southeast Regional Director.
The ISHV mission statement, from their website, includes these statements: “We are committed to the enhancement of human values and scientific inquiry. This combines both compassion and reason in realizing ethical wisdom. It focuses on the principles of personal integrity: individual freedom and responsibility. It includes a commitment to social justice, planetary ethics, and developing shared values for the human family.
It is apparent that everyone in the US. and other countries of the world face a moral crisis. In a rapidly changing global community there are conflicting religious, ideological and nationalist value systems. Neo-humanists affirm we need to discover values and principles, which can be shared by all sectors of humankind. These need to transcend the ancient dogmas and ideologies of the past.
We submit these principles as a basis for finding some common ground in the planetary civilization that is emerging. We offer these recommendations in the hope that they will inspire individuals to find meaning and integrity in their own lives. We aim to be inclusive of all, regardless of gender, ethnicity or background to work together to achieve a better life for themselves and all of humankind.”
You can read the full mission statement, and learn more about ISHV here: http://instituteforscienceandhumanvalues.com/articles/mission%20statement.htm
The presentation will take place at the Ludington Library in the large meeting room located on the main level. The library address is 5 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. A SEPTA stop is located across the street from the library.
RSVP via Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/Freethought-Society-Meetup/events/118753202/ or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/649342115081958/
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