[Fuusm-l] What is the Today's Issues group?

[Ted Goertzel]

The Today's Issues group has been part of our church for more than ten
years. so new members may not know what the group is about, others may have
forgotten.

I would like to share a brief description written by Pat McGovern (1930 to
2013), Pat was the founding leader of the group and we miss him very much.

-------------------

*So, exactly what is the “Today’s Issues” group? *
     by L. P. McGovern

             You may have noticed “Today’s Issues” listed at 9:30 a.m. each
Sunday on the weekly schedule.  The “Today’s Issues” group meets in the
front parlor of the RE Building.

            “Today’s Issues” used to be known as Adult RE, until we gave up
that title because it no longer really applied.  Now there’s a separate
group with the Adult RE title.

            The “Today’s Issues” group only occasionally discusses strictly
religious topics.  Religion is not our sole, nor even frequent, topic.

            Nevertheless, we see ourselves as within the UU framework
because we feel we are practicing “the free and disciplined search for
truth” every Sunday (to quote our affirmation).

            This may sound like a lofty goal for a smallish Sunday morning
discussion group, and it probably is, but, nevertheless, we attempt it
every Sunday – and have a good time doing so.

            These days, our search for truth takes us to the pages of The
New York Review of Books (NYROB).  NYROB is issued on a bi-weekly schedule
and features reviews of books on a wide variety of topics. A good example
is a review the group discussed on June 6 of the book by Michael Lewis
called The Big Short.  In my opinion, this article represents the best
point-by-point explanation of the financial manipulations that led to the
recent economic collapse.  It furnished an excellent basis for discussion.

            Since the reviews deal with a wide variety of topics, we feel
that NYROB is a very good source of material.  On the other hand, we have
discussed complete books on several occasions.  We find, however, that
ideas in books can be repeated from chapter to chapter and thus spark no
new talking points.

            In a sense, the reviews in NYROB constitute a concentrated
source of ideas.  We take this approach because we feel that a discussion
needs a specific basis or the conversation gets out of hand and becomes too
centrifugal.

            Most of us view the discussion as recreational, say like a more
sedentary Sunday morning tennis match.  There is disagreement in the
discussion. We don’t feel that just sitting around, nodding our heads in
agreement would be much fun Sunday after Sunday.  But we try not to be too
disagreeable with our disagreements.  We also make room for occasional
personal anecdotes, although overuse of this privilege is discouraged.

            Occasionally, one of the NYROB articles represents a review of
an artistic event – such as a recent showing by the 20th century Russian
painter Chagall.  When we discussed the Chagall article,
member-in-good-standing Ernie Novak gave us a PowerPoint presentation of
Chagall’s works.  Ernie has presented other artists as well – much to our
delight.

            So, if you feel like recreational discussion, read the articles
that are listed ahead each week and make an appearance in the front parlor
at the appointed hour.  We’ll welcome you there.

----------------------

For this Sunday, Feb 2, 2020, the group will carry on this tradition by
discussing two essays from the New York Review of Books:

>From page 29 of the January 16 edition, David Blight, "A Doubtful Freedom,"
a review of a book called  *The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the
Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War *by Andrew
Delbanco

>From page 12 of the February 13 edition, Jessica Mathews, "Do the Democrats
Have a Foreign Policy
<https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/02/13/do-democrats-have-foreign-policy/>,"
a discussion of the foreign policy ideas (or lack of them) of the current
Democratic presidential candidates.

"Do the Democrats Have a Foreign Policy
<https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/02/13/do-democrats-have-foreign-policy/>,
can be read without a password on the NYR site, just click on the title.  A
copy of "A Doubtful Freedom" is attached.

Please do the reading and join our lively ongoing discussion!
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