The Human Agenda

December14, 2022, Zen and Happiness: Practical Insights and Meditations to Cultivate Joy in Everyday Life by Joshua R. Paszkiewicz
Life is filled with thrilling highs, crushing lows, and everything in between. But often, we spend too much time planning for and reacting to our experiences, rather than simply “being” in them. Zen tradition strips away all your preconceived notions of what is means “to live” and teaches you how to let go and be present so you can find bliss in the everyday. After reading a variety of books about Buddhist, I found this one to be especially refreshing and enlightening. It is a simple, yet profound, guidebook you can use in both your busy and your relaxed life. Joshua, a multireligious cleric and scholar who trained in Zen traditions in Japan, Korea and Vietnam, will be with us to share his journey and wisdom.
“Bodhidharma is widely considered to be the progenitor of the Zen tradition. His core teaching was that Zen is ‘a special transmission outside of the scriptures, that is not dependent on words or letters, but which directly points toward the true nature of mind, allowing one to become awakened.’”...”Zen is a method of holistically and meticulously examining your own life and overcoming the commonly garnered inaccurate, and often inadequate conceptions of how life works.” (2) It sounds like Zen is more about my life than about past lives and great minds and teachers. Is that accurate? Can you share steppingstones in your life that illustrate?
In the section of misconceptions of Zen, you respond to these myths: Zen is undefinable. Practicing Zen means becoming a Buddhist. Zen is a form of meditation. Zen is supposed to be difficult...Rather, the central and most universal discipline of Zen is the mutual tending to an ongoing mentored relationship between a student and a teacher.” (4-5) How do you and others find the teacher and discern she/he is the right teacher? Is having a teacher always essential?
“The Four Nobel Truths
1. Suffering exists in ways big and small
2. The Cause of Suffering – We become infatuated with impossibility because we perceive things
to be in ways others than they really are.
3. The End of Suffering – the Zen path is for people prepared to transcend the theorizing and
storytelling, to get to work on the things that can be known and that can be worked on.
4. The Eightfold Path – right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.” (8-11). Looks easy. Is it?
“Zen does not require belief as it is commonly understood nor the religiosity and metaphysics that are found in its parent and competing Buddhist traditions. Zen retains no premodern notions of biology and cosmology found in Buddhist orthodoxy, for example...Zen has freely co-opted practices from other Buddhist schools and employed them toward the aims and objectives of the Zen tradition --- namely, the full awakening of its adherents, in this very lifetime, as liberated, aware, and fully human, happy beings. Zen, in its simplest form, require only that people show up and try. In fact, the most classical instruction for the basics of entering the Zen way is simple, and perhaps a bit crassly, the ‘sit down, shut up, and pay attention.” (13) I will share my story from North America Assisi. “Do you have any questions?”

“The discipline of wearing some form of habit relating to Zen can prove both easily doable and useful to new practitioners...wear your habit to call your mind to your mindful practice throughout the day. Each time you find your attention drawn to the beads/necklace/scarf/whatever, through its weight, through adjusting its position, or even when someone asks about it, take a moment to enjoy several slow, deep breaths ---or at least the spirit of them, as circumstances might demand.” (61) I wondered why I enjoy wearing beads, now I know. Thanks!
Zen practice is almost always about awareness. The same practice regard that can manifest this self- inventory as a Zen practice can transform your present experience from a life suspended to a life embodied.” (88) What does “life suspended to a life embodied” mean? How will I recognize that I have made the transformation?
“The word SAMADHI refers to a particular variety of concentrated meditative absorption wherein time and space – and perhaps even self – seem to fall away to the eternity that underpins every moment.” (112) Have your experienced this and are you willing to talk about it?
“The great Zen Master Kyong Ho once said, ‘Don’t hope for a life without problems. An easy life results in a judgmental and lazy mind.’ He then went on to invoke the advice of sages of the distant past, who always invited practitioners to ‘accept the anxieties and difficulties of this life.’ For this exercise, regard your meditation practice less as a place to zone out and more as a place to tune in. And ultimately, a place to accept your present reality and act accordingly, with wisdom and grace.” (114) Why practice Zen then, if it does not rescue me from my brokenness?

Vital Conversations May 2022

2022 Vital Conversations
1-2:30 p.m. Second Wednesday each month
A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES, And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch 6060 N. Chestnut Ave. Gladstone, MO 64119
Zoom: Meeting ID: 832 3534 6541 Passcode: 076621

May 11, 2022, Banning Books in libraries and schools. You can attend by coming to the library or on Zoom. Instead of one book, there will be a list of a variety of books that are currently on the list for removing from school libraries. Look over the list and read one or select any book that is being identified as suspicious and come to share your insight and opinion on this current issue. The following books have been selected and will be discussed:
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History & Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
All Boys Are Not Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson Animal Farm by George Orwell
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
Book banning is the most widespread form of censorship in the United States, with children’s literature being the primary target. Advocates for banning books fear that children will be swayed by its contents, which they regard as potentially dangerous. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove them from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.
According to a new American Library Association report, there were 330 “book challenges” in the fall of 2021, an uptick from the same periods in recent years. “Parents, activists, school board officials and lawmakers around the country are challenging books at a pace not seen in decades.” New York Times
Questions: What is this book about? Give a brief synopsis. Why do some want it banned? Articulate the argument. What is your opinion?
What is the role of librarians? Parents? Library Boards? School Districts? Newspapers? Television?
How do you choose which books to read and share with others? Where do individual rights end and group rights take over?
What are our responsibilities as parents and citizens? What can we do influence others?
Future Vital Conversations
June 8, 2022, Ukraine, and Russia. With several Ukrainians and Russians present we will have a conversation about their histories, the current war and why this is important to us. To prepare for this conversation you can read, watch the news, visit with your friends, and engage with others. Below are listed three books. One is a non-fiction by a journalist. One is a novel. One is a complete history.
Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine by Sophie Pinkham.

Ukraine has rebuilt itself repeatedly in the last century, plagued by corruption, poverty, and substance abuse; ravaged by ethnic clashes and Russian aggression. Sophie Pinkham saw all this and more in the course of ten years working, traveling, and reporting the Maidan revolution of 2013-14, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the current war against Russian invasion. Sophie has current articles in The New York Times.
Brisbane: A Novel by Eugene Vodolazkin. In this richly layered novel by the winner of Russia’s biggest literary prizes, a celebrated guitarist robbed of his talent by Parkinson’s disease seeks other paths to immortality. Expanding the literary universe spun in his earlies novels, Vodolazkin explores music and fame, belonging and purpose, time and eternity. At the stunning finale of Brisbane, all the carefully knit stitches unravel into a riddle: Whose story is it – the subject’s or the writer’s? Are art and love really no match for death? Is Brisbane, the city of our dreams, our only hope for the future?
The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine revised edition by Serhii Plokhy. A Ukraine is embroiled in an ongoing struggle with Russia to preserve its territorial integrity and political independence, this celebrated historian explains that today’s crisis is a case of history repeating itself: the Ukrainian conflict is only the latest in a log history of turmoil over Ukraine’s sovereignty. This revised edition includes ne material that brings this definitive history up to the present, from the election of Volodymyr Zelensky to the tole of Ukraine in Trump’s impeachment. As Ukraine once again find itself at the center of global attention, Plokhy brings its history to vivid life as he connects the nation’s past with its present and future.
July 13, 2022, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz Dante can swim, Ari can’t. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other -- and the power of their friendship – can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

The Immigrant's New Camera by Maryfrances Wagner

2022 Vital Conversations 1-2:30 p.m. Second Wednesday each month A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES, And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch Zoom: Meeting ID: 832 3534 6541 Passcode: 076621

April 13, 2022, The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection by Maryfrances Wagner National Poetry Month is a time to explore how words can explore the world in beautiful ways. Maryfrances Wagner is the Poet Laureate of Missouri and will be with us for this Vital Conversation. She will not only share some of her poetry but also reflect with us on the value of poetry for our time. She is a retired writing teacher and has published nine collections of poetry. Wagner said she wants “to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or think they like it.” If you like poetry or not, you will enjoy this conversation with Maryfrances.

Quotes and Questions written by David Nelson
Releasing Conversation: “Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly.” LiteraryTerms.net
“Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Shelley
Share your name and speak a few words about your favorite poem.

1. “Glimmering with the physical things of the world, offering a stepladder to the possible, Wagner’s fifth collection takes us back to awe and wonder.” Jo McDougall. What does that mean to you? What would you add in defining poetry and teaching poetry?

2. Maryfrances, could you tell us a few ”steppingstones” in your life that has brought you to this honor. When did you first flirt with poetry? What events have been significant in your personal and professional journey that you wish to share with those of us on this Zoom gathering? Who are some of the poets you admire? How often do you read poetry? Do you write poetry every day? Etc.

3. “The Missouri Poet Laureate enriches Missourians’ lives throughout the state by fostering the reading and writing of poetry, through public appearances, readings, workshops, and digital and social media. “As Poet Laureate,” Ms. Wagner says, “I’d like to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or even think they like it.” (Missouri Arts Council Web site). Tell us about being Missouri’s Poet Laureate. What has been different during this period of your life? What has been the response from the public? How as Covid impacted your time as Poet Laureate?

4. “Specific poetic forms have been developed by many cultures, in more developed, closed or ‘received’ poetic form, the rhyming scheme, meter and other elements of a poem are based on set of rules. Common forms widely used across languages: Sonnet, Shi, Villanelle, Limerick, Tanka, Haiku, Khlong, Ode, Ghazai…Poetry is often thought of in terms of different genres: Narrative, Lyric, Epic, Satirical, Elegy, Verse, Dramatic, Speculative, Prose, Light, Slam. (Wikipedia). Poetry has played major roles in human history. Religions have used poetry in liturgy and ritual. Revolutions have been empowered, wars have been fought, unions have been made and destroyed, life and death has been honored, humor has been embodied; all this through poetry. What is it about poetry that has made it so central to the human story?

5. “Like most poets, I’ve wanted to touch the human spirit and move the reader. That’s what I want to happen to me as well when I read a poem. Not every poem is easily accessible, and not every poem will have the same impact on a person, but poems abound out there for all of us. I want to help find those poems for people.” IN KC. How do you “find those poems for people”? Are there types of poems that appeal to different types of people? Is there a way to discover poetry that will help me “touch the human spirit and move” me?

6. In your recent book, The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection, you introduce and reflect on a unique culture, a specific family, and several interesting places. I found myself not only learning more about you but also remembering more about myself. One example is “My Mother’s White Lies”. Talk about how living a specific life unites or divides you and others from the realities of others. Can poetry be a force in reuniting a divided community?

7. Poetry, like other art, is more about what is heard and seen than what is written or pictured. That is my opinion, anyway. The “art form method” of discussion helps us to listen to more than words. While we listen, would you read out loud your poem “Raising a Hand” (page 55)? After the reading, I will ask others “What words did you hear? What did you feel? What experiences were you reminded of from your own life?

8. Amanda Gorman in her poem “The Hill We Climb” at Joe Biden’s inauguration brought tears of hope to many in this nation and the world. The nation paused for a moment and for many we felt like a united and special people. Where else have you witnessed poetry serve to heal, motivate, empower, challenge, or inspire?

We are hoping that beginning in May we will meet both at the library and by Zoom. I have been thrilled to have participants from outside the greater Kansas City area who attend and do not want to lose them.

May 11, 2022, Banning Books in libraries and schools. Instead of one book, there will be a list of a variety of books that are currently on the list for removing from school libraries. Look over the list and read one or select any book that is being identified as suspicious and come to share your insight and opinion on this current issue. The following books will be available at the library (ask for Vital Conversations or David Nelson): To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Lord of the Flies by Willian Golding, Animal Farm by George Orwell, 1984 by George Orwell, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Several librarians will join our conversation.

June 8, 2022, Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine by Sophie Pinkham.
Ukraine has rebuilt itself repeatedly in the last century, plagued by corruption, poverty, and substance abuse; ravaged by ethnic clashes and Russian aggression. Sophie Pinkham saw all this and more in the course of ten years working, traveling, and reporting the Maidan revolution of 2013-14, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the current war against Russian invasion. Sophie has current articles in The New York Times.

July 13, 2022, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
Dante can swim, Ari can’t. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other -- and the power of their friendship – can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

Gunfight - Vital Conversations March 9, 2022

2022 Vital Conversations 1-2:30 p.m. Second Wednesday each month A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES, And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch Zoom: Meeting ID: 832 3534 6541 Passcode: 076621

March 9, 2022, Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America by Ryan Busse “Ryan Busse presents a fascinating, clear-eyed account of the gun industry’s slide into extremism. I was left with a sense of hope that there is a path forward; one where the majority of Americans, including the majority of gun owners, stand up to the gun lobby bullying and demand lasting change.” --Gabby Giffords “Gunfight reveals the truth about the roots of our national division, and many people will see themselves in Busse’s resistance to extremism.” Jon Tester, three-term Montana Senator

Releasing conversation: Share your name and list an organization you support.
Quotes and Questions
Selected by David Nelson

1. “I came to understand that for my dad and me, like many gun owners, guns like this were more than tools. They were symbols of our hopes and of our relationship to each other. They represented things that we wanted to be true. Unlike a hammer or a shovel, we had a deep emotional connection to these tools.” 24-25. Say a bit more about guns as symbols of hopes and of your relationship to each other. Why are guns central to this deep emotional connection?

2. “I brought to Kalispell (Montana) all of the work ethic my parents taught me…and my limited view of politics. I was busy chasing success and didn’t give politics much consideration other than to know I was a hardworking, red-blooded, gunrunning American. In other words, I thought of myself as Republican.” 36. Describe the journey of your career. Why were you so successful?

3. “During the whole debate, as I cut my teeth in this industry, manufacturers, dealers, and consumers went into a frenzy. All the uncertainty and attention, plus a strong fear and distrust of Bill and Hillary Clinton, meant that consumers rushed to buy any guns that might be banned, and gun sales exploded.” 63 Why were mass shootings good for the gun industry? Some of us think that such tragic events would result in stricter legislation against guns.

4. “I became a prominent player in the gun industry. No one could deny I played a key role in helping the NRA (National Rifle Association) build the foundation for a new brand of national politics that demanded almost religious devotion. There was only one unwritten but clearly understood line of scripture in this new political church: ‘100 percent loyalty and no one steps out of line. Period. The organization had learned to be unforgiving. 117 How was the NRA different from other member organizations? Can you illustrate what that means?

5. “The Blackfeet called this part of what is now Montana the Badger-Two Medicine, named for the nearby Badger and the Two Medicine River. They believed that the ‘Sky People’ the Sun, the Moon, and the Morning Star – looked over the people who were created here. On that day, with tears still in my eyes, I knew that in a very important way I too had been born in this place…I adopted the Badger-Two Medicine as my own sacred home.” 154-155 In your chapter “Rescued by the Sky People” you describe your move to Montana, “the Last Best Place” and your very important companion “Ruark”. In reading your book I almost felt I was starting a different book. Geography plays a major role in your life. Can you share why it is so important?

6. “After 9/11 and George W. Bush’s wars, the industry’s annual sales would shoot up to between thirteen million and sixteen mission units per year between 2013 and 2016. The Bush-era cultural shift meant that the components for this sales explosion were in place. Now all we needed for final detonation was a pinch of Sharia law conspiracy theory and a Black president with a Muslim-sounding name.” 187 Politics and gun sales seemed a strange mix. When did you realize how toxic that had become? When did you first feel like the “frog in the boiling water”?

7. “Of course, contrary to LaPierre’s (Head of NRA) promises the country did not crumble under Obama’s presidency, nor did gun sales suffer. Nobody took any guns away. I was not forced to give up hunting, and my job did not evaporate. Instead, I sat back and watched an industry capitalize on a long-simmering pot of racism…For more than a decade it had been slowly steaming but when a Black man finally rose to power, the NRA racism pot boiled over.” 208 How did racism get into the mix of politics and gun sales?

8. “And I’d do it while enduring thousands of people who took me to be something I was not anymore. I could not blame them, I suppose. Sameness, solidarity, unanimity, lockstep, freedom, patriotism, us versus them, stand and fight, God and guns, good verses evil. These were powerful verses in hymns that were written here, and they were catching on across the country…I’m just a ranch kid trying to make a living.” 219 How did you survive during the period you had intellectually separated from the mentality of the gun industry while remaining a major player in it?

9. “’I met a guy I think will be our next US senator,’ I told Sara that evening. ‘This guy Tester – he’s got something I can’t quite put my finger on.’ …Luckily for me, and for Tester, my Hail Mary promise of a victory came to pass.” 236-237. Politics is very hard. Tell us about your friend Senator Tester.

10. “I often talked through it all with Sara, and on the night of our twentieth wedding anniversary, the subject of my exit came up again…Sara locked the door and then turned to me. ‘We are not leaving this room until we decide on the plan,’ she said, tossing me a small notepad from our hotel room.” 300 Tell us about Sara and others who have been allies in your journey from farm boy in Kansas, gunrunner in the US, and now consultant to progressive organizations aiming to undo the country’s dangerous radicalization.

April 13, 2022, The Immigrants’ New Camera: A Family Collection by Maryfrances Wagner
National Poetry Month is a time to explore how words can explore the world is beautiful ways. Maryfrances Wagner is the Poet Laureate of Missouri and will be with us for this Vital Conversation. She will not only share some of her poetry but also reflect with us on the value of poetry for our time. She is a retired writing teacher and has published nine collections of poetry. Wagner said she wants “to find ways to reach out to people who don’t usually read poetry or think they like it.” If you like poetry or not, you will enjoy this conversation with Maryfrances.

May 11, 2022, Banning Books in libraries and schools. Instead of one book, there will be a list of a variety of books that are currently on the list for removing from school libraries. Look over the list and read one or several and come to share your insight and opinion on this current issue. Several librarians will join our conversation.

Alvin Brooks as guest at Vital Conversations Dec. 8th, 2021. 1-2:30 p.m. CT

2021 Vital Conversations A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES, And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86339405520?pwd=aUdWblVVVU9ES1Z3dU1xOFI1UGxuQT09

December 8, 2021, Binding Us Together: A Civil Rights Activists Reflects on a Lifetime of Community and Public Service by Alvin L. Brooks. Many of us know and love Alvin Brooks and have stories we can share about his presence in Kansas City and this nation. But we will do more listening as Alvin joins us to share his past, present and hope for a better tomorrow. Few people have faced adversity like Alvin Brooks. He was born into an impoverished family, he nearly lost his adoptive father to the justice system of the South, and he barely survived a health crisis in infancy. And that is just the beginning.
Contents of Binding Us Together
1. My Origins and Youth
2. My Son, Ronall
3. My Police Career
4. Schoolwork – and The Riot
5. City Hall Appointments
6. ADHOC Begins and Flourishes
7. Recognized by the President
8. My Political Career
9. ADHOC Renewed
10. Carol’s Transition
11. A Family Adventure
12. Recent Activities
13. A Final Prayer
Photo Credits
List of Awards
If you have a question for Alvin, please keep it short and specific so we can enjoy his storytelling. The contents in the list above will give you possible topics to choose from.

Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers

Vital Conversations August 11 at 1 pm Central Time.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86339405520?pwd=aUdWblVVVU9ES1Z3dU1xOFI1UGxuQT09

Meeting ID: 863 3940 5520
Passcode: 009557

“Happiness, the scientist says, is not a reward for virtue. Happiness is the virtue.” (321)
August 11, 2021. Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers
What will happen to life when science identifies the genetic basis of happiness? Who will own the patent? Do we dare revise our own temperaments? Funny, fast, and magical, Generosity celebrates both science and the freed imagination. Richard Powers asks us to consider the big questions facing humankind as we begin to rewrite our own existence. Generosity tells the story of Thassadit “Thassa” Amzwer, an Algerian refugee who seemingly has overwhelming happiness (hyperthymia) written in her genes, and the confounding effects she has on those around her, both sincere and exploitive. Characters in the novel include Russell Stone, a minor magazine editor, moonlighting as a writing instructor, Thomas Kurton, a charismatic entrepreneur behind Truecyte, a genetics lab, Candace Weld, a school psychologist and Tonia Schiff, the host of a popular science show called “Over The Limit”.
Plot summary: Thassa is taking a class in creative non-fiction writing taught by Russell Stone. Her boundless happiness leads the class to dub her “Miss Generosity”, but puzzles and disturbs Stone, who discusses Thassa with a college counselor Candace Weld.

1. “I want you to think and feel, not sell. Your writing should be an intimate meal not dinner theater.” (10) Do you write your down your thoughts and feelings? What journal techniques have you discovered to be helpful in your life? I wrote a “Top Ten Reasons I Journal” and it is posted on my blog under “journal resources” in “categories”, if you are interested.

2. “Happiness is probably the most highly heritable component of personality. From 50-80 percent of the variation in people’s average happiness may be accounted for by genes. People display an affective set point in infancy that doesn’t change much over a lifetime. For true contentment, the trick is to choose your parents wisely.” (49). How did you do in the birth lottery? Did you have a happy childhood?

3. “Yet the conflicted book insists on a role for nurture. Joyousness, it says, is like perfect pitch: a little early training in elation can bring out a trait that might otherwise wither.” (49). What is the difference between happiness and joy? Can you share a story of one or the other?

4. “The book says happiness is a moving target, a trick of evolution, a bait and switch to keep us running. The doses must keep increasing, just to break even. True contentment demands that we wean ourselves from all desire. The pursuit of happiness will make us miserable. Our only hope is to break the habit.” (71) Buddhism teaches that the pursuit of happiness adds to our unhappiness. Would you agree? Why was “the pursuit of happiness” included in our nation’s founding documents?

5. “Hyperthymia, a rare condition that programs a person for unusual levels of elation.” (117). Do you anyone who has this condition? What is it like to be around this person?

6. “The novelist’s argument is clear enough: a genetic enhancement represents the end of human nature. Take control of fate, and you destroy everything that joins us to one another and dignifies life.” (149). Do you agree that without an unknown future life would be lessened? Is mystery and the unknown part of what makes human life exciting and an adventure?

7. “The Alzheimer’s gene, that alcoholism gene, the homosexuality gene, the aggressive gene, the novelty gene, the fear gene, the stress gene, the xenophobia gene, the criminal-impulse gene, and the fidelity gene have all come and gone. Bu the time the happiness gene rolls around, even journalists should have long ago learned to hedge their bets. But traits are hard to shake, and writers have been waiting for this particular secret to come to market since Sumer.” (197). Would you be open to the idea of selecting and rejecting certain genes for your offspring? How would you make the choice?

8. “In the last lines of the profile, the scientist says, ‘I don’t believe in God, but I do believe that it’s humanity’s job to bring God about.’” (206) What does that mean to you?

9. “If Jen truly is without sadness, then she’s missing out on something profound, mysterious, and essentially human.” (212) Share your thoughts about sadness as profound, mysterious, and essentially human. Can you share a time of sadness that is important to you?

10. “The day may come when we will choose our children as carefully as we now choose our mates. We may select our natures the way we screen for a career. All the larger, qualifying, problematical follow-up had been clipped away.” (279) We now have lots of dating sites on the web. Can you imagine the day we can pick and choose the traits we want in our children? Create in your imagination the child you would like to parent.

Waking Up White by Debby Irving

“Racism demands an artificial and divisive construction of humanity,
in terms of how I make sense of others and also how I envision myself” (246)

David Nelson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86339405520?pwd=aUdWblVVVU9ES1Z3dU1xOFI1UGxuQT09

Meeting ID: 863 3940 5520
Passcode: 009557

Download 53AA1DF8-A317-4CBD-A659-EC271F632574
July 14, 2021. Waking Up White And Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debbie Irvin. This is the book Irving wishes someone had handed her decades ago. By sharing her sometimes cringe-worthy struggle to understand racism and racial tensions, she offers a fresh perspective on bias, stereotypes, manners, and tolerance.

1. “No one alive today created this mess, but everyone alive today has the power to work on undoing it. Four hundred years since its inception, American racism is all twisted up in our cultural fabric. But there’s a loophole; people are not born racist. Racism is taught, and racism is learned. Understanding how and why our beliefs developed along racial line holds the promise of healing, liberation, and the unleashing of America’s vast human potential.” (xviii). Do you agree? Are you ready to study, ponder, discuss, and be open to ways of making this a better country?

2. “Racism wasn’t about this person or that, this upset or that, this community or that; racism is, and always has been, the way America has sorted and ranked its people in a bitterly divisive, humanity-robbing system.” (31) Share illustrations that reinforce this point.

3. “I’ve learned that the chances are high that I have more in common genetically with a darker-skinned person on the others side of the world than I do with the white woman who lives next door. Whiteness, it turns out, is but a pigment of the imagination.” (44). Why has color placed such a divisive role in the United States? What can we do to liberate us from such distortion?

4. “Skin color symbolism+favoritism+power = systemic racism.” (p.54) “The racially divisive belief barrier shows up in all American institutions: in medical policy, in emergency rooms, in education reform, in classrooms, in federal policies, and in municipal policies. Racism lives in individuals’ hearts and minds; those in power embed it into institutional policies and practices. System racism touches every aspect of every American life, and skin color determines how.” Discuss the chart and meaning as it applies in your community.

5. “The story of race is at the center of racism’s entanglement. The very idea that the world’s many peoples could be categorized by something called ‘race’ is a story, one that created a system of dominance for its storytellers.” (84) Can we start telling a different story? What could be some of the parts of a new narrative about the human family?
6. “Color-blindness, a philosophy that denies the way lives play out differently along racial lines, actually maintains the very cycle of silence, ignorance, and denial that needs to be broken for racism to be dismantled.” (102) How can we see another person if we are “color-blind”?

7. Q Have you tried to form relationships across racial lines? How have they worked out? If they didn’t get very far, how did you explain that to yourself? (123)

8. “The phrase ‘INTENT VERSES IMPACT’ had been stressed at nearly every conference and conversation about racism I’d been a part of.” (159) Can you share an illustration from your own life experience?

9. “I think about the angry-black-man stereotype and my old thought, if only they weren’t so angry! What an ignorant and inhuman mindset that was. People aren’t born angry. People don’t choose arbitrarily to be angry. People become angry for a reason, and they deserve to be heard.” (175) Tell about a time you were angry. How did you discharge and/or process your anger? Can you listen to an angry person with love and not judgement?

10. “Understanding my internal tendencies as a white person is just a start. The ultimate goal is to interrupt, advocate, and educate without doing more harm than good --- something I am in danger of doing every day. As a racial justice advocate, I need to become aware of my own racialized tendencies as well as find ways to interrupt racism when I see it in the world around me. I’ve learned that when it comes to race, there’s no such thing as neutral: either I’m intentionally and strategically working against it, or I’m aiding and abetting the system. As historian and activist Howard Zinn said, ‘You can’t be neutral on a moving train.’” (219) “The white ally role is a supporting one, not a leading one.” (221) What steps have you taken in the past and what steps will you take now to move from a bystander to an ally?

Why America Needs Socialism by G.S.Griffin

2021 Vital Conversations A Program of the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, CRES, And Mid-Continent Public Library - The Antioch Branch Quotes and Questions selected by David Nelson ZOOM #816 896 3836

May 12, 2021 Why America Needs Socialism: The Argument from Martin Luther King, Helen Keller, Albert Einstein, and Other Great Thinkers by G.S. Griffin
This book presents a contemporary case for socialism built on the words and ideas of history’s greatest leaders, thinkers, and artists. Exploring their views and connecting them to present day struggles, Griffin is crucial reading for anyone seeking to learn from the past to change today’s world in revolutionary ways. G.S. Griffin is an activist writer in Kansas City, cofounder of the Kansas City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, co-founder of a cooperative to support progressive causes and candidates and works in political advocacy at Communities Creating Opportunity. He will be with us for this Vital Conversation.

1. “Capitalism is an economic system characterized by the private ownership of business and industry, where earning a profit by selling a good or service is each owner’s basic and necessary goal.” (p. 16)
“Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.” (New Oxford American Dictionary)
What would you add to these two definitions to enhance a conversation about socialism in America?

2. “Many readers of faith believe that higher powers created humanity to be sinful by nature. Thus, it makes sense to many that capitalism is natural, and the way things must remain.” (p. 15) Do you agree that humanity is sinful by nature? How do you defend your opinion?

3.“Not only is it possible, but Einstein saw it as the true purpose of socialism; to keep growing, to keep bettering ourselves. Likewise, Mahatma Gandhi disbelieved in the supposed ‘essential selfishness of human nature’ because man can ‘rise superior to the passions that he owns in common with the brute and, therefore, superior to selfishness and violence.’” (p. 19). Do you see hope for change in human behavior? What is your suggestion for bettering ourselves?

4.“For near 200,000 years – most of human existence – people survived on cooperative economics and a more classless society, where the life, wealth, and work of the ruler or leader was not significantly different than any other member of the group.” (p.20). “Studies indicate that modern adults are not instinctively selfish—our first impulse is typically to cooperate and care for others.” (p. 21). What happened to us to change and tolerate the divided and oppressive system we have today?

5.“Now that we know society largely determines human nature, rather than the reverse, there is only one logical question to ask: what kind of society should we create? (p. 23) What kind of a society would you like to create? What do you need to move in that direction?

6.“Harriet Beecher Stowe, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, wrote that ‘capitalists’ and slave owners alike were ‘appropriating’ the lower class, ‘body and bone, soul and spirit, to their use and convenience’. The rich man believed ‘there can be no high civilization without enslavement of the masses, either nominal or real.” (p. 30). Do you agree that racism and capitalism work together? Can we eliminate racism without addressing capitalism?

7. “Over ninety percent of our nation’s existence has been marked by war, and surveys indicate people around the world view the United States as the single greatest threat to world peace.” (p. 111). Do you agree? Make that case for or against the US being the greatest threat to world peace. Talk about Vietnam, Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines. (see p. 111)

8. “Socialism also eliminates capitalism from the bottom-up…Under socialism, the exploitation of labor and authoritarian power are consigned to the dustbin of history, replaced by cooperation, equity, and democracy…In the socialist model, work cooperatives are the humane alternative to capitalist businesses. In a cooperative, all workers share equal ownership of the firm. This translates to equality in power and in wealth…Elizabeth Blackwell wrote that Christian socialism would mean labor receiving a fair and increasing share in the profits it helps to create.” (p. 120-122) Can you imagine our country with cooperation, equity, and democracy? How would that be different from the country you experience today?

9. “In truth, the mechanisms and incentives that drive technological, systematic, and other forms of change remain in place in co-ops. Outside inventors can still sell or license their creations to cooperative businesses; start-up founders, while sacrificing total power and wealth hoarding, can still bring their creations to the world, doing what they love and making money off it…Co-ops are also more stable that capitalist firms, even during economic crisis.” (p. 125-126). Have you invested in or participated in a co-op of some form? Describe the experience. What worked for you and what did not work for you?

10. “Imagine living in an America like this…Might we grow, collectively, less greedy and more caring? Less individualistic and more attuned to the needs of all, the common good? (p. 129). When have you experienced life in a less greedy and more caring way? Describe the situation and the benefits of such an arrangement. What can you do to make this happen more often in your life and in your community?
Some examples of this are:
• UBI (Universal Basic Income) p. 145f.
• Guaranteed work through public works projects - p. 149f. “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” Nelson Mandela said. (p.155)
• Universal Health Care p 156f. “This does not mean the State will own the hospitals and employ the doctors. Instead, the reverse would be true –the doctors, nurses, receptions, and janitors (the workers) would own the clinics and hospitals.” (p. 156)
• Universal Education p. 164f “A socialist society would include free K through 12 education, pre-school and college…democracy would enter education. Teachers, paraprofessionals, librarians, janitors, and other workers would own their schools…Public schools will remain ta-funded and neighborhood-based, following a democratically determined national curriculum.” (p. 164-165)

June 9, 2021 Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief, David Kessler
In 1969, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross first identified the stages of dying in her transformative book On Dead and Dying, and decades later, she and David Kessler wrote the classic On Grief and Grieving, introducing the stages of grief.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - Vital Conversations April 14, 2021

April 14, 2021 The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.
This 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878–1968). The novel portrays the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States.

Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for Governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres. Sinclair's work was well known and popular in the first half of the 20th century, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943. Very few works of literature have actually changed the course of history, but The Jungle is just such a work. It touched this nation and the world, and it contributed enormously to the landmark passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. This book is said to have decreased America’s meat consumption for decades.

1. Have you ever been in a meat packing plant? What was it like? The Jungle is considered “agitation rather than art”, according to Morris Dickstein. Sinclair himself insisted that his book was intended not as an expose of the meat industry but as an argument for socialism, to which he had recently been converted. Much socialist activity was happening in the US. Upton Sinclair was sent in 1904, by the publisher of “Appeal to Reason” in Girard, Kansas to examine conditions in the stockyards of Chicago. The resulting novel, based on seven weeks of intensive research, was serialized and achieved great notoriety even before it came out as a book.
The book begins with a Lithuanian wedding of Jurgis Rudkis and Ona Likoszaite, who become characters in the novel. They spend more than a year’s income on the wedding day feast (the veselija). “The veselija has come down to them from a far-off time; and the meaning of it was that one might dwell within the cave and gaze upon shadows, provided only that once in his lifetime he could break his chains, and feel his wings, and behold the sun…Thus having known himself for the master of things, a man could go back to his toil and live upon the memory all his days.” (p. 12).
2. Why would people spend so much on a wedding? Why do you think the author begins the story with a wedding?

“The stench was almost overpowering, but to Jurgis it was nothing. His whole soul dancing with joy – he was at work at last. He was at work and earning money!” (p. 44)
3. Have you experienced joy in a job? When and where? Did it last?

This is a story of human challenge and tragedy. Jurgis buys and loses a house, his wife and children die, he confronts injustice in a variety of places and yet he presses on, even before discovering hope in politics. “Marija, who takes to prostitution to support the family and educate children, shows considerable growth, and our respect for her is enhanced. Elzbieta is the picture of the all-suffering, all-sacrificing, all-forgiving mother who, undaunted by the heavy odds against her, fights back.” (p. 83 Mookerjee)
4. Where does courage and persistence come from? How do you hang in there when the world seems against you?

“He went on, tearing up all the flowers from the garden of his soul, and setting his heel upon them. The train thundered deafeningly, and a storm of dust blew in his face; but though it stopped now and then through the night, he clung where he was – he would cling there until he was driven off, for every mile that he got from Packingtown meant another load from his mind.” (p. 214)
5. Did Jurgis find a better life in the country? Why did he return to Chicago? How did you discover “your place” in the world?

“The voice of the poor, demanding that poverty shall cease! The voice of the oppressed, pronouncing the doom of oppression! The voice of power, wrought out of suffering – of resolution, crushed out of weakness – of joy and courage, born in the bottomless pit of anguish and despair! The voice of Labor, despised and outraged; a mighty giant, lying prostrate – mountainous, colossal, but blinded, bound and ignorant of his strength. And now a dream of resistance haunts him, hope battling with fear; until suddenly he stirs, and a fetter snaps – and a thrill shoots through him, to the farthest ends of his huge body, and the banks are shattered, the burdens roll off him – he rises – towering, gigantic; he springs to his feet, he shouts in his newborn exultation---". (p. 307)
6. Have you experienced a “discovery” of such magnitude? Is this a “born again” experience?

“The Socialist movement was a world movement, an organization of all mankind to establish liberty and fraternity. It was the new religion of humanity – or you might say it was the fulfillment of the old religion, since it implied but the literal application of all the teachings of Christ.” (p. 315) “A Socialist believes in the common ownership and democratic management of the means of producing the necessities of life and a Socialist believes that the means by which this is to be brought about is the class-conscious political organizations of the wage-earners.” (p. 336-337). “I would seriously maintain that all the medical and surgical discoveries that science can make in the future will be of less importance than the application of the knowledge we already possess, when the disinherited of the earth have established their right to a human existence.” (p. 3440
7. How convincing is this novel and especially the speeches of the final chapters on your thinking about socialism?

May 12, 2021 Why America Needs Socialism: The Argument from Martin Luther King, Helen Keller, Albert Einstein, and Other Great Thinkers by G.S. Griffin
This book presents a contemporary case for socialism built on the words and ideas of history’s greatest leaders, thinkers, and artists. Exploring their views and connecting them to present day struggles, Griffin is crucial reading for anyone seeking to learn from the past in order to change today’s world in revolutionary ways.

Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Never Caught: The Washington’s Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar. This is the story not only of the powerful lure of liberty but also of George Washington’s determination to recapture his property by whatever means necessary. Never Caught is an important new work on one of the world’s most celebrated families and is the only book that examines the life of an eighteenth-century fugitive woman in intricate detail. It is a must read for anyone interest in American history. At the end of the book are 11 Reading Group Questions. Possible releasing conversation: Share your name and say something about slavery.

“Was this not the time for Ona Judge to seize the day, leave the Washingtons, and never look back? Could she find the bravery, the grit, and the power to leave everyone and everything that she knew? Several factors influenced her decision and tipped the balance sheet in one direction over the other.” (p 93). What have you learned in recent months about the history of slavery in the USA? How is it different than other countries? How did it come to be so “normal” and acceptable for such a long time?

“Rape and forced breeding torturously enlarged the institution of slavery, reminding every enslaved woman that she was never safe from sexual attack.” (p. 97). Why does the author, Erica Armstrong Dunbar, prefer the term “enslavement” and “enslaved” over just the word “slave”? What is the impact of centuries of enslavement on both the Blacks who were slaves and the whites who were slave owners? Describe the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 and make the case for and against it.

“Ona Staines (Judge) looked the president’s nephew in his eyes. Righteous indignation and a belief in her right to be free prompted her final and fierce response to Bassett, telling him, ‘I am free now and choose to remain so.’” (p. 166). Where does such courage come from? What other examples of strength can you recall from the news or from your own life?

“With the death of George Washington, 123 slaves who lived and toiled at Mount Vernon learned that Washington’s final will would eventually emancipate them from bondage, an indication that the president had indeed struggles with the concept of slavery.” (p.173). Why do you think Washington was unable to emancipate his slaves while he was alive?

“It was her faith in God that carried Ona Staines through the most difficult times in her life. In her later years, Staines reminisced about her sojourn to Christianity and literacy, two silos that she encountered once she fled north.” (p. 184) What is it about Christianity and literacy that gives power and hope for formerly enslaved people and for you?

“On February 25, 1848, eleven days after the doctor’s visit, Ona Maria Staines was carried away not by slave catchers, but by her God.” (p. 186)

SPEAK A NOVEL by Louise Hall - Vital Conversations

September 9, 2020
Vital Conversations
Speak: A Novel by Louisa Hall

This creative work is woven from a varied series of first-person narratives: Mary, a 17th‑century Puritan girl emigrating to America; Alan Turing pre and postwar; Karl Dettman, a 1960s scientist working on artificial intelligence (a character based on real-life computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum); Gaby, a young girl in 2035 suffering from a trauma-induced “lock-in” syndrome after her beloved robot doll was snatched from her; and Stephen R Chinn, who is in a Texas prison in 2040. Chinn is a Steve Jobs-style genius and entrepreneur who made billions designing and selling intelligent “babybots”, who fell from grace when his invention proved too successful. Shy kids bonded with their bots to the exclusion of actual humans. Convinced their development was being impaired, the authorities confiscated them, and a psychological epidemic of stuttering, fitting and freezing swept through the child population. Chinn looks back on his life: from school nerd, via a stint as obnoxious pickup artist, to lonely billionaire prone to dating shallow supermodels who, in a narrative knight’s move that is genuinely affecting, unexpectedly finds happiness with his physically unprepossessing cleaning lady – for a time, at any rate.

Download C66A909D-EA48-4927-BCC6-D52BE266D619

Possible releasing conversation: Share your name and in one sentence say something about “artificial intelligence.”

1. Karl Dettman. “…one day that machine will remember your words, but it won’t ever feel them. It won’t understand them. It will only throw them back in your face.” (page 30). What does it mean to you to both understand and feel the words that are spoken?
2. Alan Turing. “It is our goal, as you know, to describe the actual sequences by which human beings develop their mind-sets…We are even now reopening our investigation into the Fibonacci sequence, in the hopes that it will reveal to us new secrets about cellular growth.” Page 66). What is the Fibonacci sequence and how might it help understand human reality?
3. Stephen R Chinn. “And what if these bots (AI Babies) took over? What if they relieved us of power? We tend to assume that sentient machines would be inevitably demonic…They would govern the world according to functions, and the axioms their programmers gave them.” (page 86). What are sentient machines? Could they do a better job in many areas? Are there things they could not do better than humans?
4. Karl Dettman. “Like it or not, the programs we invent will be used in battle and despite your aversion to watching the news there’s no way you haven’t seen the battles this country fights; the scorched peasant villages, napalm bombs, naked children running out of the smoke.” (page 112) Is it inevitable that computers will be used more for evil than good? What can we do now to avoid that today?
5. Alan Turing. “I’ve begun to imagine a near future when we might read poetry and play music for our machines, when they would appreciate such beauty with the same subtlety as a live human brain. When this happens, I feel that we shall be obligated to regard the machine as showing real intelligence…you’ve always remained open to the possibility that my science and your religion might coexist. After all, we’re both after the same things.” (page 156). Can we say a machine has intelligence? Can science and religions coexist? Are we after the same thing?
6. MARY3 (an artificial babybot). “But who are you, other than the person you’ve selected this morning to be? Isn’t that what humans do when they try to be liked. Select the right kind of voice, learned after years of listening in? The only difference between you and me is that I have more voices to select from.” (page 176-177). Are human beings as good at relationships as a well programed artificial babybot?
7. Alan Turing. “I find it hard to believe that a machine, programmed for equanimity and rational synthesis could ever act as maleficent as we humans have already proven ourselves capable of acting. I fail to summon the specter of a machine more harmful that Hitler or Mussolini.” (page188). Is our “humanness” a gift or a problem in today’s world? Would artificial intelligence make better choices in elections, problem solving, global survival and living in peace with justice?
8. “Some theorists argue that all our words are dishonest, given that we can’t actually mean them. Others have argued with less success that as long as we have the words for emotions, it must be assumed that we have the emotions.” (page 241). Think and talk about the relationship between our thoughts, feelings and the words we use in writing and speaking. When you speak, do you want others to listen or to hear? What is the difference?
9. Stephen Chinn. “It’s difficult to overstate the euphoria one feels while programming a mind, even if you’re tinkering with someone else’s outdated code. The engineer who builds whole cities isn’t so powerful. The computer programmer alone is the creator of a universe in which he dictates all laws.” (page 257). When do you feel the most powerful and creative? How can you participate in “creating a universe”?
10. Ruth Dettman. “Surrounded by such alien creatures, I found myself yearning for the comforts provided by our computer. I longed for its cool, unchangeable body, sitting still on the desk. For its total lack of vanity, just questions, bright green on the gray screen, and the careful absorption of each of my answers.” (page 274). Do you long to be asked serious questions and be listened to without “the other” interrupting? Would an intelligent computer make a better friend and ally than a person with prejudices and ego?
11. What is a Turing Test? Do you know a superior method of measuring humanity?

October 14th Never Caught: The Washington’s Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar. This is the story not only of the powerful lure of liberty but also of George Washington’s determination to recapture his property by whatever means necessary. Never Caught is an important new work on one of the world’s most celebrated families, and is the only book that examines the life of an eighteenth-century fugitive woman in intricate detail. It is a must read for anyone interest in American history.

David E. Nelson
816.896.3835
[email protected]