Cancelled due to low registration. Watch this space for announcements of programs in Fall, 2008.

In families and friendships, one of the most emotionally-charged situations is when someone tries to "triangle in" someone -- tries to get another person emotionally involved in the relationship between that person and a third party. In this session, we'll look at practical ways to recognize and handle "emotional triangles" using systems thinking and ideas from Dr. Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication.

Place: Green Hedges Arts Building

Date: April 12

Time: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. (we will break for an hour for lunch -- bring your lunch or find something at the many places nearby)

Bring: a notebook and one or two situations that are on your mind

The Northern Virginia Ethical Society celebrates Spring with an annual festival. Each year we gather to welcome to warming and longer days with an event for all. Join us in our celebration, which will include music, poetry, song, and a communal meal.

Climate change has been cited as the greatest current threat to human health and to the environment. Even though one poll suggested that 70 percent of the U.S. population considers climate change to be a serious problem, relatively little has been done to mitigate its causes and future impacts. Why, John Patrick asks, haven’t we as a nation reacted to this growing problem? How can we become opinion leaders and give effective, and ethical, communications to others concerning climate change?

4 sessions (attend one, several, or all)

Early Christianity’s history, as scholars today describe it, is quite a bit different than what you might have learned in Sunday School or from earlier histories, skeptical or orthodox. The early history is rich with a variety of perspectives, most forgotten today. How the battles for what would become orthodoxy turned out has affected world history profoundly.

NoVES Leader, Jone Lewis, has long had an interest in religions and how they developed, and she’ll bring some of what she’s learned from that study, aided by some videotapes and book excerpts from today’s scholars on the subject.

Included: what The Da Vinci Code got wrong, way wrong, about Christian history.

Place: Green Hedges, Arts Building

Time: 7-9 p.m.

Dates: April 2, 23, 30, May 7

Suggested donation: $20/course (covers all 4 sessions)

Six sessions

An introduction to ethical theories and ethical thinking. Literature and philosophy have both been instruments of challenge to established systems of morality, and ways to explore the implications of ethical ideas in human life. In each session, participants will discuss selected readings drawn from literature and philosophy. All readings are from out-of-copyright sources and will be distributed to registered students.

The focus of each session will be:

1. What's ethics?

2. What is good, what is evil? And, is everything relative?

3. Utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number: pros and cons

4. Deontological ethics: Kant and his heirs and critics

5. Virtue-based ethics

6. Pragmatic ethics (Jane Addams, John Dewey, Felix Adler)

Location: Green Hedges School, Art Building

Regular board meeting of the Society. Members of the Society are welcome to attend or to make proposals. Please email the President to propose an item for the agenda or to indicate you'll attend (we would like to make sure there are enough seats for everyone).

The Northern Virginia Ethical Society honors the legacy of Jerry Ziskind, beloved teacher and President of the Northern Virginia Ethical Society. Fritz Williams, emeritus Leader of the Baltimore Ethical Society will speak on "Room to Grow." Just as Jerry created a classroom environment to educate the whole child, Fritz believes that parents should provide a home environment that encourages mutual respect, give-and-take exchanges, and moral instruction through everyday experiences.

4 sessions (attend one, several, or all)

Early Christianity’s history, as scholars today describe it, is quite a bit different than what you might have learned in Sunday School or from earlier histories, skeptical or orthodox. The early history is rich with a variety of perspectives, most forgotten today. How the battles for what would become orthodoxy turned out has affected world history profoundly.

NoVES Leader, Jone Lewis, has long had an interest in religions and how they developed, and she’ll bring some of what she’s learned from that study, aided by some videotapes and book excerpts from today’s scholars on the subject.

Included: what The Da Vinci Code got wrong, way wrong, about Christian history.

Place: Green Hedges, Arts Building

Time: 7-9 p.m.

Dates: April 2, 23, 30, May 7

Suggested donation: $20/course (covers all 4 sessions)

"Turn the World Around: Responding to Deep Human Suffering" -- Jone Johnson Lewis

Felix Adler, who founded the first Ethical Society, talked about the deep "spiritual pain" of knowing that there is so much human suffering in the world. It is, he wrote, as if we stand on the shore, watching millions drown, knowing that we cannot save them all.

Sometimes it seems that denial is the only alternative to being paralyzed. Jone will talk about some ways we can make the choice to be more in touch with human suffering yet keep ourselves from being overwhelmed.

4 sessions (attend one, several, or all)

Early Christianity’s history, as scholars today describe it, is quite a bit different than what you might have learned in Sunday School or from earlier histories, skeptical or orthodox. The early history is rich with a variety of perspectives, most forgotten today. How the battles for what would become orthodoxy turned out has affected world history profoundly.

NoVES Leader, Jone Lewis, has long had an interest in religions and how they developed, and she’ll bring some of what she’s learned from that study, aided by some videotapes and book excerpts from today’s scholars on the subject.

Included: what The Da Vinci Code got wrong, way wrong, about Christian history.

Place: Green Hedges, Arts Building

Time: 7-9 p.m.

Dates: April 2, 23, 30, May 7

Suggested donation: $20/course (covers all 4 sessions)

Six sessions

An introduction to ethical theories and ethical thinking. Literature and philosophy have both been instruments of challenge to established systems of morality, and ways to explore the implications of ethical ideas in human life. In each session, participants will discuss selected readings drawn from literature and philosophy. All readings are from out-of-copyright sources and will be distributed to registered students.

The focus of each session will be:

1. What's ethics?

2. What is good, what is evil? And, is everything relative?

3. Utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number: pros and cons

4. Deontological ethics: Kant and his heirs and critics

5. Virtue-based ethics

6. Pragmatic ethics (Jane Addams, John Dewey, Felix Adler)

Location: Green Hedges School, Art Building

Many citizens accept their racial label as easily as they accept their gender label. But should we? Recent scholarship shows us that the effect of using labels like Italian- American, Black, or Asian has rarely been benign. Karen Helm will trace the ideology that underlies our use of racial terminology and discuss how it shapes our understanding of history, events and behavior. She will explore the information that we actually convey when we use it and suggest ways to ensure we are saying what we mean.

Regular board meeting of the Society. Members of the Society are welcome to attend or to make proposals. Please email the President to propose an item for the agenda or to indicate you'll attend (we would like to make sure there are enough seats for everyone).

"Ethical Hero: Frederick Douglass" - Jone Johnson Lewis, NoVES Leader

Jone will introduce us to the life and activism of Frederick Douglass, born a slave in Maryland, and a lifelong advocate for racial justice, women's rights, education, and religious freedom -- someone who's life embodies many of the principles of Ethical Culture.

Founder's Day is usually celebrated near May 15, the anniversary of the first meeting of the first Ethical Society in 1876 in New York.

Six sessions

An introduction to ethical theories and ethical thinking. Literature and philosophy have both been instruments of challenge to established systems of morality, and ways to explore the implications of ethical ideas in human life. In each session, participants will discuss selected readings drawn from literature and philosophy. All readings are from out-of-copyright sources and will be distributed to registered students.

The focus of each session will be:

1. What's ethics?

2. What is good, what is evil? And, is everything relative?

3. Utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number: pros and cons

4. Deontological ethics: Kant and his heirs and critics

5. Virtue-based ethics

6. Pragmatic ethics (Jane Addams, John Dewey, Felix Adler)

Location: Green Hedges School, Art Building

In honor of Memorial Day, our Leader, Jone Johnson Lewis, and several members of the Society will share some special memories of people and events who helped shape our lives.

Allison Rutland Soulen of Just Neighbors will lead a discussion on current immigration law. The goal will be to provide a context to better understand both the immigrants in our community and the immigrant debate we hear in the daily news.

Six sessions

An introduction to ethical theories and ethical thinking. Literature and philosophy have both been instruments of challenge to established systems of morality, and ways to explore the implications of ethical ideas in human life. In each session, participants will discuss selected readings drawn from literature and philosophy. All readings are from out-of-copyright sources and will be distributed to registered students.

The focus of each session will be:

1. What's ethics?

2. What is good, what is evil? And, is everything relative?

3. Utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number: pros and cons

4. Deontological ethics: Kant and his heirs and critics

5. Virtue-based ethics

6. Pragmatic ethics (Jane Addams, John Dewey, Felix Adler)

Location: Green Hedges School, Art Building

NoVES' annual retreat is June 13-June 15.  For more information, stop at our Welcome Table on a Sunday.

NoVES' annual retreat is June 13-June 15.  For more information, stop at our Welcome Table on a Sunday.

NoVES' annual retreat is June 13-June 15.  For more information, stop at our Welcome Table on a Sunday.

Regular board meeting of the Society. Members of the Society are welcome to attend or to make proposals. Please email the President to propose an item for the agenda or to indicate you'll attend (we would like to make sure there are enough seats for everyone).

We'll be meeting at the Stanton's.

Mary Ellen Stanton, chair -- please contact Mary Ellen if you'd like to participate or if you have ideas to offer.

NoVES provides officiants for weddings, commitment ceremonies, and other life passage ceremonies. This session is for NoVES members -- with a few invited guests from other Societies -- to explore and learn about the process and commitment of being an Ethical Culture Officiant.

Contact Jone Lewis, Leader, if you have questions, are interested in attending, or are planning to attend.