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 celebrates Winter Festival, borrowing from many traditions willingly and lovingly. As the cold weather drapes our shoulders, we nevertheless feel the warmth of the holiday season.

Ours is a festival of festivals -- a sharing of traditions and joy. All are welcome!

The Northern Virginia Ethical Society wishes you a happy holiday season!

Empathy is a critical attitude and skill for developing more ethical relationships in personal life, in politics, at work, in every venue of life – how do we learn empathy as a skill and nurture empathy as an attitude?

In 1922, Langston Hughes wrote that, “Tomorrow, I'll be at the table, when company comes nobody'll dare say to me, ‘Eat in the kitchen,’ then. Besides, they'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed.”

Eighty-five years later, while diversity in the White House holds promise for America, there are still few African Americans at the table. Corporate leadership is still predominantly white, a disproportionately high rate of black men are in prison, and people of color suffer disproportionately from poverty and unemployment.  As an inheritor of invisible racial privilege and liberal guilt, Hugh Taft-Morales will share his insights about moving towards an empowering multicultural perspective.

Monthly practice of connection-building communication. Held in Alexandria. Open to members of NoVES and others who've attended meetings at the Society. We're using the book Nonviolent Communication Workbook available on Sundays at the book table or at http://www.noves.org/nvc/

Please use the contact form to indicate interest if you'd like to join this group.

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).

Religion in American is a sensitive topic.  Some people demand that it be part of the public square and even preferred by the government over secular or rational views. In such a culture, practically any declaration by Humanists can be construed as offensive by someone.   But if we believe our philosophy benefits humanity, isn't it important for others to hear our views? Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, will discuss how to grow Humanism in our faith-based society. 

The outgoing Administration's treatment of terror suspects caused national and international dismay.  The American Ethical Union and other religious and secular groups condemned torture and so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" as immoral, debasing, and ineffective for gathering intelligence.  During his campaign, the President-elect condemned torture as a betrayal of American values.

Monthly practice of connection-building communication. Held in Alexandria. Open to members of NoVES and others who've attended meetings at the Society. We're using the book Nonviolent Communication Workbook available on Sundays at the book table or at http://www.noves.org/nvc/

Please use the contact form to indicate interest if you'd like to join this group.

Time: January 31, 2009 7:00 pm

Place: Home of the Stanton's (directions upon request)

Join a viewing and discussion of the award-winning movie "Watermarks" which tells the story of a reunion of a Jewish girls' swim team separated by the Holocaust. After 60 years the group reunites for an inspiring team swim. Greta Stanton, mother of NoVES member Andy Stanton, was a member of the team. Greta will be participating in a speakerphone discussion.

Suggested donation: $5.00

A recent study showed that teens pledging to remain virgins were as likely to have sexual encounters as those who made no pledge.  Children pledging to remain celibate not only were as likely to have sex as other children, they were less likely to take the necessary precautions to prevent pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases.  Despite these sobering facts, some parents continue to oppose comprehensive sex education, and instead insist on "abstinence only" sex education.

Date: February 7, 2009 9:00 am to 3:00 pm (Snow date February 21)

Place: Green Hedges Arts Building

This engaging interactive workshop led by Leader-in-training Hugh Taft-Morales, promotes white anti-racist activism and multicultural fluency in the lives of participants, their families, and their friends. Anyone, of any racial and ethnic background, is welcome to attend. Within an environment of safety and integrity, the class explores how to transform roadblocks to multicultural agency and anti-racist activism in ways that bring out the best. The values and ideas of Ethical Culture will inform our discussions. As we learn how to become more multiculturally fluent, we will have some fun and do some real work.

Suggested donation: $25

In honor of the bicentenniel of the birth of both Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln on February 12, NoVES Leader Jone Johnson Lewis will highlight the ethical concerns of these two Americans who, each in their own way, had enormous impact of the world we live in today.

Monthly practice of connection-building communication. Held in Alexandria. Open to members of NoVES and others who've attended meetings at the Society. We're using the book Nonviolent Communication Workbook available on Sundays at the book table or at http://www.noves.org/nvc/

Please use the contact form to indicate interest if you'd like to join this group.

Many parents hope that their children will learn to make the right moral decisions.  But our children are bombarded with conflicting messages from the internet, friends, family, and society.  How should they respond to peer pressure, to violence, to dishonesty and to material temptation?  They get different answers from all sides. 

In response, some parents end up taking their children to church or temple -- even when they don't believe the dogma -- in hopes that their children will learn, somehow, how to be good. But religious doctrine often is rule and punishment-based.  Rules help when the issues are simple and clear. But in our complex world, children need tools that can help them decide on the right course even in the most confusing situation.  

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).

Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, the nation's first Congressional lobbying organization representing nontheistic Americans posits that every struggle for minority rights has relied on allies from the majority.  With nontheistic Americans representing an estimated 10 to 16 percent of the population, humanists, atheists, agnostics and other nontheists in our society are encouraging our theistic allies to join the fight for fair treatment for all.  Together we can fight to protect our government's secular character, which has served to pr

Monthly practice of connection-building communication. Held in Alexandria. Open to members of NoVES and others who've attended meetings at the Society. We're using the book Nonviolent Communication Workbook available on Sundays at the book table or at http://www.noves.org/nvc/

Please use the contact form to indicate interest if you'd like to join this group.

Meet the Sunday School staff, volunteers, and children, and learn more about the curriculum of the Northern Virginia Ethical Society's Sunday School. See if the Sunday School is a good fit for your family!

Monthly practice of connection-building communication. Held in Alexandria. Open to members of NoVES and others who've attended meetings at the Society. We're using the book Nonviolent Communication Workbook available on Sundays at the book table or at http://www.noves.org/nvc/

Please use the contact form to indicate interest if you'd like to join this group.

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).

Monthly practice of connection-building communication. Held in Alexandria. Open to members of NoVES and others who've attended meetings at the Society. We're using the book Nonviolent Communication Workbook available on Sundays at the book table or at http://www.noves.org/nvc/

Please use the contact form to indicate interest if you'd like to join this group.

Monthly practice of connection-building communication. Held in Alexandria. Open to members of NoVES and others who've attended meetings at the Society. We're using the book Nonviolent Communication Workbook available on Sundays at the book table or at http://www.noves.org/nvc/

Please use the contact form to indicate interest if you'd like to join this group.

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).