Community Conversations
Kit facilitates a monthly conversation for Humanists and others called Community Conversations.
This is an intentionally cross-boundary group. It is a safe space where the conversations are godless, but the participants don't have to be.
Scheduled for the first Saturday of each month (Sep-May), Community Conversations celebrates life and builds community through the lens of the Humanist life stance. Anyone interested in building community across ir/religious and a/theistic boundaries through conversation around Humanist values is encouraged to drop by.
Each meeting will include conversations on virtues or character strengths related to the theme of that month. Participants are encouraged to engage with these virtues through their own life story. The goal is to engage the whole person and inspire participants to move beyond survival and resistance and into a place where they can, at least for a while, appreciate lives of beauty, virtue, joy, and abundance.
Meetings are held on the first Saturday of each month from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at Salt City Cafe.
This is an intentionally cross-boundary group. It is a safe space where the conversations are godless, but the participants don't have to be.
Scheduled for the first Saturday of each month (Sep-May), Community Conversations celebrates life and builds community through the lens of the Humanist life stance. Anyone interested in building community across ir/religious and a/theistic boundaries through conversation around Humanist values is encouraged to drop by.
Each meeting will include conversations on virtues or character strengths related to the theme of that month. Participants are encouraged to engage with these virtues through their own life story. The goal is to engage the whole person and inspire participants to move beyond survival and resistance and into a place where they can, at least for a while, appreciate lives of beauty, virtue, joy, and abundance.
Meetings are held on the first Saturday of each month from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at Salt City Cafe.
Past Themes
- The American Labor Movement, National Hispanic Heritage Month, Latinx Humanist Alliance
- American LGBTQ Movement, The LGBTQ Humanist Alliance
- Native American History Month, The American Anti-Imperialist League
- International Human Rights Day
- The Foundation Beyond Belief, Humanist Disaster Recovery
- The Harlem Renaissance, The Black Humanist Alliance, International Darwin Day
- Women's History Month, The Feminist Humanist Alliance
- Conservation, Sustainability, and the Environment
- Humanism and Interfaith Cooperation, Interfaith Youth Corps, Interfaith Alliance, Americans United
Focusing on Virtue Ethics: for Survival, Resistance, Existence, and Abundance
Virtues for Survival: These are not virtues in the sense that they don't contribute to a flourishing existence, but they are coping skills that many people in hopeless circumstances of abusive and exploitative relationships will come to rely on. These (anti) virtues include things like: shirking, avoiding, undermining, lying, manipulating, cajoling, flattering, disassociating, distracting. While these virtues may be necessary for survival, they do not in themselves provide opportunities for a flourishing life.
Virtues for Resistance: These are burdened virtues, traits that are needed in order to challenge oppression and create a safe space for developing the virtues and building a flourishing life. They are virtues in the sense of being able to lay the groundwork for a future of flourishing, although they do not contribute to flourishing in the present. These virtues focus on delayed gratification and the sacrifice of near-term values for the opportunity of future joy. These traits are highly contextual: useful when challenging injustice, but maladaptive when moving into reconstruction and reconciliation. Without care, these traits can lead resistors to dehumanize and demonize the very people they are challenging and lead to turning the bullied into the bully. These include traits like: defiance, anger at injustice, deep feelings of empathy for those suffering injustice, fierce loyalty to the cause of overcoming oppression, a strong willingness to stand up to and challenge those in power, including a willingness to "fight the power."
Virtues for Existence: In a neutral, benevolent environment, these Virtues are the foundation for a life of flourishing. Their absence in a person's character will put them at risk or in danger or will otherwise prevent them from leading "a good life." These virtues include such traits as: Rationality, Honesty, Integrity, Independence, Productivity, Pride, and Justice.
Virtues for Abundance: For the lucky or the privileged people and communities who have the strong capacity to exercise the Virtues of Existence, the Virtues of Abundance may be available to cultivate. These are virtues that expand the heart and mind and allow people to experience life in all of its joy and abundance. These include the virtues of: Wisdom, Temperance, Justice, Humanity, Courage, and Joy.
Wherever one is on the path from Survival to Abundance, there are virtues that can be helpful in responding to the circumstances one is in. The goal, though, is not merely to succeed in surviving, resisting, or existing, but to move into abundance. Often that will mean adapting to your new circumstances. This is easier said than done; people often stay stuck in the world they find themselves in. Either they are perpetually focusing on survival, or on defiance, or on providing for themselves or others, and are not able to move into Wisdom and Joy.
Virtues for Resistance: These are burdened virtues, traits that are needed in order to challenge oppression and create a safe space for developing the virtues and building a flourishing life. They are virtues in the sense of being able to lay the groundwork for a future of flourishing, although they do not contribute to flourishing in the present. These virtues focus on delayed gratification and the sacrifice of near-term values for the opportunity of future joy. These traits are highly contextual: useful when challenging injustice, but maladaptive when moving into reconstruction and reconciliation. Without care, these traits can lead resistors to dehumanize and demonize the very people they are challenging and lead to turning the bullied into the bully. These include traits like: defiance, anger at injustice, deep feelings of empathy for those suffering injustice, fierce loyalty to the cause of overcoming oppression, a strong willingness to stand up to and challenge those in power, including a willingness to "fight the power."
Virtues for Existence: In a neutral, benevolent environment, these Virtues are the foundation for a life of flourishing. Their absence in a person's character will put them at risk or in danger or will otherwise prevent them from leading "a good life." These virtues include such traits as: Rationality, Honesty, Integrity, Independence, Productivity, Pride, and Justice.
Virtues for Abundance: For the lucky or the privileged people and communities who have the strong capacity to exercise the Virtues of Existence, the Virtues of Abundance may be available to cultivate. These are virtues that expand the heart and mind and allow people to experience life in all of its joy and abundance. These include the virtues of: Wisdom, Temperance, Justice, Humanity, Courage, and Joy.
Wherever one is on the path from Survival to Abundance, there are virtues that can be helpful in responding to the circumstances one is in. The goal, though, is not merely to succeed in surviving, resisting, or existing, but to move into abundance. Often that will mean adapting to your new circumstances. This is easier said than done; people often stay stuck in the world they find themselves in. Either they are perpetually focusing on survival, or on defiance, or on providing for themselves or others, and are not able to move into Wisdom and Joy.
Some books that frame my approach to nurturing moral community
Positive Humanism: A Primer - Bo Bennett
A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues: The Uses of Philosophy in Everyday Life - Andre Compte-Sponville
Is Nothing Sacred?: The Non-Realist Philosophy of Religion - Don Cupitt
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom - Jonathan Haidt
Ethics as a Religion - David Saville Muzzey
Burdened Virtues: Virtue Ethics for Liberatory Struggles - Lisa Tessman
The End of God Talk: An African American Humanist Theology - Anthony Pin
