Speaker: Anne Klaeysen, Ethical Culture Leader.

Leader Anne Klaeysen's summer reading included essays from Ethical Culture's Fiftieth Anniversary collections. She shares with us lessons from the past to enlighten our future.

In addition to her work at NYSEC, Dr. Anne Klaeysen was the first Humanist Chaplain at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY and now serves the Columbia University – Barnard College community as Humanist Religious Life Advisor. A graduate of the Humanist Institute (Class X), she also co-mentored of class XV and is now co-Dean of the institute. Dr, Klaeysen was Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island from 2002 to 2008. She holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Hebrew Union College, Master’s degrees in Business Administration from New York University and in German from the State University of New York at Albany, and studied at the University of Wuerzburg in Germany. Complete bio can be found here: nysec.org/leaders

Speaker: Dr. Joseph Chuman

The highest purpose of Ethical Culture is not to provide merely a compatible community of like-minded individuals or to serve as fertile ground for social justice work, though it certainly does this. Its reason for being is to inspire its adherents to a sense of greater meaning centered on striving to live an ethical life. In this sense, its mission legitimately can be understood as religious.

Dr. Joseph Chuman has been the leader of The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County for over 35 years. He holds a Ph.D. in religion from Columbia University, where he is adjunct professor of religion and an academic advisor in the human rights curriculum. Dr. Chuman lectures frequently to public audiences on philosophy, social issues and humanist thought.

Ethical Culture celebrates Mothers' Day as a member panel shares lessons, thoughts and feelings about the impact of mothers and motherhood on their lives. The panel comprises Linda B, David B, Any P and Samantha S.

Matthew LaClair is a college sophomore attending the New School in New York City. In September of 2006, when a high school student, his U.S. History teacher was preaching his religion during class, telling the students that if they reject the Lord's salvation, they belong in hell. He also dismissed the theory of evolution and the big bang theory, saying that they are not scientific, and made many other inappropriate statements. Matthew challenged the teacher and school board who refused to deal with the situation in any manner. The story has generated five articles and two editorials in the New York Times, along with a flurry of print, television and radio coverage. Matthew LaClair will talk about this, as well as his experience challenging an American Government textbook for presenting inaccurate and biased information, and how these two situations are examples of problems occurring all around the country.

Matthew has served as a board member of the Secular Student Alliance and as president of Center for Inquiry's Student Initiative Program. He has appeared on Anderson Cooper 360, Air America, Brian Lehrer, BBC international radio and several others. He has also been awarded the James Madison Religious Liberty Award from the Center for Inquiry, the Ethical Hero Award from the American Ethical Union, the Ethical Humanist Award from the New York Society for Ethical Culture and several others. He is a co-host of the radio program Equal Time for Freethought on WBAI 99.5FM. Matthew attended the Sunday school at the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County.

Introduced by Scott Harris.

Haiti 101: An historical perspective on the creation of the western hemisphere's poorest country) An introduction to Haiti, the western hemisphere's poorest country, including an overview of its history (focusing on European domination/slavery), demographics, politics, religion, culture and economy. Jim will blend in his in-country observations during the past two Julys and will offer a prognosis for the future.

Jim Delia, a new member of EC, was born and raised in Bergen County, growing up in Waldwick. He attended St Joseph Regional High School in Montvale and St Joseph University in Philadelphia, where he earned in B.A. degree in political science. He went on to Seton Hall School of Law, graduating in 1987 with a Juris Doctorate degree. Jim has served as law secretary to Superior Court Judge James Murphy; and in the Bergen County Prosecutor's office, as assistant prosecutor, chief of the White Collar Crime Division and deputy chief of the Criminal Investigation Squad. He led a Grand Jury investigation into allegations of guard brutality committed at the Meadowlands. In 1993, Jim entered private practice as a partner in the firm of Wells, Jaworski and Liebman in Paramus. He is a member of the Ridgewood YMCA and Paramus Chamber of Commerce Boards of Directors.

Jim also has history as a soccer player and coach, playing all the way through college and coaching children from the age of 5 through 18. It is this experience with soccer that gave him the entree to coach in Haiti in 2008. He ventured to Haiti for the first time to run a one week soccer camp for 70 youths from the YMCA d'Haiti . He returned this past July for two weeks and helped establish the first YMCA d'Haiti National Team.