Conversations New York

 
 
 

This event is brought to you by the Free Thinker Institute (FTI), a not-for-profit looking to support and empower personal development for its members. The FTI focuses on transformational development for anyone interested, both personally and professionally, organizing a free event every Tuesday to discuss ways to transform wisdom into practical applications that benefit our lives, covering topics widely ranging from professional subjects to spiritual ones. (http://freethinkerinstitute.org)

Free Thinker Institute Presents:

An Introduction to the Baha’i Faith

Presented by: May Akhtarkhavari Ru

The Baha’i Faith, the world’s newest independent religion, teaches the oneness of God, the unity of humanity, and the essential harmony of religion. It is the world’s second-most widespread religion, after
Christianity, spanning the globe and working to unite it.

The Baha’i teachings promote the agreement of science and religion, gender equality, and the elimination of all prejudice and racism. Baha’is accepts the validity of each of the founders and prophets of the major world religions and believes in progressive revelation. This unique Baha’i principle views every great Faith as a link in a single, spiritual system, progressively revealed by God to humanity.

At this meetup, you will be introduced to the Baha’i Faith and its fundamental teachings. We will cover the key tenets and beliefs of all Baha’is as well as current activities occurring around the world. There
will be time for discussion and questions.

Format: Lecture and discussion
Note: social time for our communities 15 minutes before the presentation.

Presenter:
May Akhtarkhavari Ru was born in Jordan to Persian Baha’i parents. May moved to the US to attend university, and completed a degree in Chemical Engineering. She is married and has three children.

May worked in various positions in Environmental and Electrical Engineering. She has been involved in many community development programs including virtue classes for children, junior youth empowerment programs, as well as various environmental awareness programs for schools and non-profit organizations. In addition, May moved with her family to Haifa, Israel, for 7 years to serve at the Baha’i World Center as a senior engineer for various projects and served as technical advisor for a water and energy conservation committee. She is currently working as a director of engineering for a consultant firm.

Co-host:
Nabil Fanaian is a member of the Baha’i Faith, currently living outside of Atlanta, GA with his wife and two children. Born in the US but raised abroad, Nabil enjoys exploring and experiencing new places, cultures and food. By trade, Nabil is a technologist and works on ways technology can have a positive and meaningful impact on our society.

Co-host:
Melanie Danch-Powell grew up in Northern VA and as a youth was active in the Presbyterian Church. Having taken a course in world religions, she noticed strong commonalities within these different faiths. The Baha’i Faith answered the many questions she had concerning these various religions.
Melanie has traveled to many countries in the world furthering her understanding of the concept of unity. She was an educator and private school director by profession.

Melanie hosts discussions using short selections from the Bahá'í teachings as a starting point on meetup - Meaningful Conversations Milton:
https://www.meetup.com/meaningfulconversationsmilton/

Co-host:
Garrett is a programmer turned award-winning software inventor turned entrepreneur (PlateRate.com is his company). His hobby is writing and discussing practical philosophy, and he does life coaching on request to help people live happy, moral lives. He is also the executive director of The Free Thinker Institute (http://freethinkerinstitute.org/), which aims to create a community that helps members increase happiness and decrease harm for themselves and those they can influence.

To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zg

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctdumvqD0pGdwrfItiS7nD_nDTjsYcjOz6
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

By attending this event, I allow Free Thinker Institute (FTI) to use all Zoom recordings for educational and business purposes and in addition agree not to sue the FTI for any claims or liability.

 
 
 

What Does It Mean to be a Good Citizen, Now?
Socrates Salon On-line
Conversation hosted by Ron Gross and Peter Gross, via Zoom
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
3:00 sharp – 4:15 pm
Zoom link to join the meeting: https://tinyurl.com/2p927yut

RSVP to Eventbrite at to receive Zoom link to the session: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-good-citizen-now-tickets-583345781937

Do we need to complement our vaunted Bill of Rights with a Bill of Obligationsfor citizens today?
YES, contends the distinguished constitutional scholar Richard Haas in his new book The Bill of Obligations: Ten Habits of Good Citizens. He invites us to consider some attitudes and actions needed to uphold democracy and counter the growing apathy, anger, selfishness, division, disinformation, and violence that threaten us all.
Below are Haas’ ten “habits” What do you think of them? Which do you find most compelling? Are there other ways you would propose to strengthen our democracy?

1. Be Informed
2. Get Involved
3. Stay Open to Compromise
4. Remain Civil
5. Reject Violence
6. Value Norms
7. Promote the Common Good
8. Respect Government Service
9. Support the Teaching of Civics
10. Put Country First.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: 5-minute interview with Richard Haas: https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/tougher-good-democracy-richard-haass-97595449
For further information: Ron Gross at [masked]

 
 
 

This event is brought to you by the Free Thinker Institute (FTI), a not-for-profit looking to support and empower personal development for its members. The FTI focuses on transformational development for anyone interested, both personally and professionally, organizing a free event every Tuesday to discuss ways to transform wisdom into practical applications that benefit our lives, covering topics widely ranging from professional subjects to spiritual ones. (http://freethinkerinstitute.org)

Gun violence is a big problem, here are some statistics showing this:

1. Mass shootings in the US increased from 18 in 2000 to 729 in 2021 (Gun Violence Archive).
2. Homicides committed with firearms increased from 10,801 in 2001 to 19,380 in 2020 (FBI Uniform Crime Report).

The number of unnecessary deaths from gun violence from people struggling with mental health challenges who resort to violence as an outlet for their health issues is at an all-time high.

When this started, as usual, I listened to arguments on both sides of the isle. Democrats wanted to limit gun magazine sizes, create a gun registry so we could keep people accountable for their violence. While these may be common sense ways to reduce the damage done, it’s not solving the problem at the root cause. Some republicans proposed arming teachers with guns so they could shoot school shooters, but this seems to assume all teachers are emotionally capable of shooting a human being, which is probably not true.

But an area that republicans and democrats seem to agree is one that resonates most with me, solving the problem at the root cause by getting mental health help to children in schools. Unfortunately, it seems like the government has been unable to craft a solution that both democrats and republicans can agree on that addresses mental health issues.

Since we’re a politically diverse community, let’s try to do the government a favor and come up with a solution that addresses gun violence that would be agreeable to both democrats and republicans.

Format: Lecture and discussion
Note: social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation.

Host:
Garrett is a programmer turned award-winning software inventor turned entrepreneur (PlateRate.com is his company). His hobby is writing and discussing practical philosophy, and he does life coaching on request to help people live happy, moral lives. He is also the executive director of The Free Thinker Institute (http://freethinkerinstitute.org/), which aims to create a community that helps members increase happiness and decrease harm for themselves and those they can influence.

To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zg

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctdumvqD0pGdwrfItiS7nD_nDTjsYcjOz6
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

By attending this event, I allow Free Thinker Institute (FTI) to use all Zoom recordings for educational and business purposes and in addition agree not to sue the FTI for any claims or liability.

 
 
 

This event is brought to you by the Free Thinker Institute (FTI), a not-for-profit looking to support and empower personal development for its members. The FTI focuses on transformational development for anyone interested, both personally and professionally, organizing a free event every Tuesday to discuss ways to transform wisdom into practical applications that benefit our lives, covering topics widely ranging from professional subjects to spiritual ones. (http://freethinkerinstitute.org)

Is immigration a good thing or a bad thing?

I’ve heard people say democrats are calling for open borders, which would mean an end to all immigration law. I haven’t heard any democrats actually supporting this.

Let’s try to understand the actual views of republicans and democrats, and see if one the other or both offer solutions we should consider embracing or admonishing.

Are immigrants taking the jobs of US citizens? Or are they filling jobs that would otherwise be vacant without the immigrants being present? Let’s find the answer to these questions together.

Format: Lecture and discussion
Note: social time for our community 15 minutes before the presentation.

Host:
Garrett is a programmer turned award-winning software inventor turned entrepreneur (PlateRate.com is his company). His hobby is writing and discussing practical philosophy, and he does life coaching on request to help people live happy, moral lives. He is also the executive director of The Free Thinker Institute (http://freethinkerinstitute.org/), which aims to create a community that helps members increase happiness and decrease harm for themselves and those they can influence.

To get familiar with our past events, feel free to check out our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmixGB9GdrptyEWovEj80zg

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctdumvqD0pGdwrfItiS7nD_nDTjsYcjOz6
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

By attending this event, I allow Free Thinker Institute (FTI) to use all Zoom recordings for educational and business purposes and in addition agree not to sue the FTI for any claims or liability.