June 2010

by Lisa Miller

Utah Humanists vs. A Seceding State

The results of our poll on who will be staying in the hypothetical case of Utah seceding from the federally governed nation:

4 are outta here (29%)

1 feels it will probably have no effect and will be staying on (7%)

7 are staying and taking on the cause of reason (50%)

2 are already beyond Utah's borders (14%)

Of course, the fact that 2 are no longer in this state (or possibly have never been in this state) is coincidental to this poll and does not, necessarily, show a worrying trend that "people are already getting out".

When I sent out the poll I was thinking the group would lean more to A, so you surprised me. But then again, it didn't surprise me. Thinking about this brings the same questioning when I think about break-ups of other countries. How, and why, did they dare to go it on their own? Aren't you stronger commercially and defensively as a bigger nation? Like in the break-up of Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia. I've traveled to Slovenia (formerly part of Yugoslavia) and they're doing very well. Bosnia, not so good. The Czech Republic is faring far better than The Slovak Republic. Of course, many of these irreconcilable differences were from artificially created countries, people thrown together as political powers redrew country borders. We're not in quite the same boat, right? Or is liberal and traditional-conservative the new ethnicity? Are we going to end up being irreconcilable? I guess we still have hope when rational humanists are willing even to stay in a seceded conservative state!

The Conversation for June:

If you could invite anyone, living or dead, to come speak to us at an upcoming humanist meeting, who would that be? I'm leaning towards Hypatia. She was a pagan Greek scholar, sought after for her wisdom. And a Christian mob killed her. I would love to hear her take on the rising "Christian" sect, as seen from her vantage point. I also really want to hear her opinions on how women fit in the world.

And who would you invite? Send your responses to Lisa@HumanistsofUtah.org for next month's newsletter. The deadline is June 26.

--Lisa Miller