Hugh Taft-Morales Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society Many Americans feel there is something deeply wrong with the staggering wealth inequality in the United States. Those who seek collective solutions often promote progressive taxation and government support for those on the lower rungs of our economic ladder, but few people feel comfortable even discussing their personal wealth. [...]

Jennifer Prah Ruger Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, UPenn In a world beset by serious and unconscionable health disparities, by dangerous contagions that can circle our globalized planet in hours, and by a bewildering confusion of health actors and systems, humankind needs a new vision, a new architecture, new coordination among renewed systems [...]

Hugh Taft-Morales Leader, Philadelphia Ethical Society Hugh Taft-Morales invites members to share descriptions of “a favorite spot” in Philadelphia. It can be a spot in your home or some place in public. Spend most of your description explaining why this is a favorite spot. How does interest you, heal you, or inspire you? Has the pandemic led you to change what spots you [...]

Christy Clark-Pujara Associate Professor of History in the Department of Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison Black Americans were a tiny minority in Wisconsin territory and later the history of the state; nevertheless, the practice of race-based slavery and anxieties about Black migrants led white Wisconsinites to dispute abolition and the rights of Black residents. Enslaved [...]

Youth of Ethical Societies (YES) Every year, the teens of Ethical Societies around the country come together to discuss issues relevant to the world around them.  The weekend-long conference is entirely teen-led; they plan the theme, they plan and lead the breakout discussion groups, and they facilitate all activities during the conference. This is an [...]

Paul Shackel Professor of Anthropology, University of Maryland In 1897, immigrant coal miners from Eastern and Southern Europe went on strike in northeastern Pennsylvania. Confronted by the sheriff and his deputies, 25 miners were killed, an incident known as the Lattimer massacre. The racialization of the new immigrants made them almost subhuman, which justified their [...]

Sylvia Metzler Member, Philadelphia Ethical Society This program is for everyone – older adults, their children and grandchildren. Sylvia, who has recently moved from her home in Philadelphia to the Protestant Home for the Aged, will discuss her decision to move and her transition with the added challenge of a pandemic. Join here online at [...]

Robert Edwin Steinfort PES Member and Musician In the late 1970s, Bob began writing the Synergy Series of Worship Experiences. As a nationally recognized church musician, he wanted to encourage Christian communities to interact more horizontally (personal human relationships) than vertically (God/Jesus Christ/Holy Spirit). He is now rewriting the Synergy Series from a humanist perspective. [...]

Betsy Lightbourn PES Member and Education Committee Chair Betsy will facilitate a discussion on books read during the pandemic that our reviewers found inspirational and/or helped them through the pandemic. Join here online at the scheduled time.

Please note earlier, 10:30 am, start time With Hugh Taft-Morales, Leader, PES  Program hosted by the Baltimore Ethical Society Octavia Butler, a science fiction writer who died in 2006, presented a vision of the near future that felt prescient. Butler was one of the best known among the few African American writers in the genre. [...]