Toronto Oasis, Secular Community

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions.  Our program will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social.

We will be watching and then discussing some YouTube videos about the Six Domains of Self Care.  This topic and the videos will be introduced by Tania Akon, a Toronto Oasis organizer.

This Sunday, we will also be having live music! Our guest musician will be Elizabeth Block. Elizabeth was born in New York and loves telling people, “I wuz boan in Brooklyn. You gotta PROBLEM wid dat?” She was brought up on Gilbert & Sullivan, Broadway musicals (when they were written for singers), and the songs of Arthur Block – her dad wrote songs. She went to the High School of Music and Art, where she was an art student, but was allowed to sing in the senior chorus in her last year. She was a choral singer for decades, and a church soloist for many years. She joined Toronto’s informal folk song circle in – she thinks – 1984. She knows a lot of songs, some in other languages, many satirical and/or political. She has written new words to existing tunes, and a couple of times tunes to existing words.

Elizabeth is a potter by trade. You can check out her pottery work on her website: http://www.elizabethblockpottery.com/

Please RSVP on the Meetup event page to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/304974474

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions.  Our program will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social.

Last Sunday, we got started on the topic of Sortition by watching and discussing the following YouTube videos:

A real democracy would use sortition (2015) (4:22 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12V9rV_bp_M

Revitalizing Democracy, Sortition, and Citizen Power: Roger Berkowitz (2021) (23:55 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlvuTBEM96Y

This Sunday, we will watch another YouTube video and continue our discussion on Sortition.  This topic was suggested by, and the video will be introduced by, Elka Enola, a Toronto Oasis participant.

The following is a description of our featured presentation this Sunday, Sortition Part 2, (in bold) provided by Elka:

Last Sunday, we had an introduction to sortition, a concept which is very much a concern of philosophers, social scientists, psychologists and others. I just attended a webinar on “Truth, Expertise and Democracy” where sortition was very much part of the discussion.

An excellent easy to understand one-hour conversation between Alex Guerrero and Michael Hannon on the topic can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKPO5uB2YtQ&t=2212s .

The 10-minute video we will be watching will give an overview of the actual mechanics of sortition; something that is dealt with more thoroughly in the longer video.

Some of the questions we might consider are: How to select experts. What to do when experts disagree. Some of these questions are applicable to any existing system, but in sortition they might be solved differently.

One of the hardest concepts for many people to wrap their brain around is the idea of trusting ‘ordinary people’. Firstly, parameters will be established, and some people will self-exclude. So, it won’t be just any ordinary person.

The person we now vote for is no more knowledgeable nor better informed than the ordinary person that sortition would select. They are expected to vote on a multitude of issues about which they are a hair’s breath away from ignorance. What they do know is their party’s policies and their party’s politics. They don’t have to understand anything.

But an informed citizen in a sortition assembly would be better informed and not be tied to any predetermined conclusions.

Please RSVP on the Meetup event page to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/304759829

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions.  Our program will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social.

We will be watching and then discussing some YouTube videos on the topic of Sortition.  This topic and the videos will be introduced by Elka Enola, a Toronto Oasis participant. 

The following is a description of the event (in italics) provided by Elka:

Almost certainly, everyone reading this believes that Democracy is the best form of government, especially those who have lived under Communism. And maybe it is.

But is it the best possible form of government? Nobody wanted Democracy or Communism before those concepts existed. No one sat in a cave yearning to vote.

While most people think democracy is the best form of government, it is probably true that most people also believe that democracy is not working anywhere close to where they would want it. That is probably because it was not designed to apply to any whole population.

Democracy was intended to only apply to the ‘ruling class’. It was a way to fairly distribute power among them. Even in Canada, some men and all women were once excluded. Some democracies, such as the USA, have added mechanisms (the electoral college) to ensure that.

We need something new. Something different.

Sortition just might be the answer.

Please RSVP on the Meetup event page to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/304588643

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions.  Our program will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social.

We will be watching and then discussing a series of YouTube videos relating to the question of whether or not it is immoral to be a billionaire. This topic and the videos will be introduced by Ryan Zhang, a Toronto Oasis volunteer.

Please RSVP on the Meetup event page to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/304507988

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions.  Our program will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social.

We will be watching and then discussing a video by YouTuber J. Draper entitled “Would You Watch a Public Execution?”. This topic and video will be introduced by Ryan Zhang, a Toronto Oasis volunteer.

Content Warning: This video contains depictions of historical violence, suicide, and blood.

Please RSVP on the Meetup event page to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/304380366/

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions.  Our program will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social.

We will be watching and then discussing some YouTube videos on the topic of Burnout & Compassion Fatigue. This topic and videos will be introduced by Tania Akon, a Toronto Oasis organizer.

We will also be having live music! Our featured musician will be William Beauvais. He has written music for harpist Sharlene Wallace, baritone Doug MacNaughton and has performed with New Music Concerts, and Tapestry New Opera. You can check out William Beauvais’ music here: https://soundcloud.com/william-beauvais.

Please RSVP on the Meetup event page to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/304251665

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  Please RSVP on our Meetup page for this event to get access to the Zoom link.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions.  Our program will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social.

We will be watching and then discussing a TED talk by Isabel Wilkerson, an African-American journalist and the author of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. She is the first woman of African-American heritage to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. You can check out her website: https://www.isabelwilkerson.com/. This topic and the video were selected and will be introduced by Tania Akon, a Toronto Oasis organizer.

https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/304128288

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  Please RSVP on our Meetup page for this event to get access to the Zoom link.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions.  Our program will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social.

This Sunday, Elka Enola, a Toronto Oasis participant, will be leading a discussion on Determinism, Ethics and Free Will. To set us up for this discussion, Elka will provide some points of view as well as her own position.

Please RSVP on the Meetup event page to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/304008777

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This meeting has been recorded: GMT20241103-163658_Recording_1920x1080.mp4

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  Please RSVP on our Meetup page for this event to get access to the Zoom link.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. After 12:30 pm, we will also have an optional, continued discussion for half an hour, until 1:00 pm.

We will be watching and then discussing a YouTube video on ageism by YouTuber Bryony Claire.  This topic and the video were selected and will be introduced by Ryan Zhang, a Toronto Oasis organizer.

Please RSVP on Meetup to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/303884679

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

This will be an online Zoom meeting.  Please RSVP on our Meetup for this event to get access to the Zoom link.  See our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm. You can join the meeting starting at 10:45 am for our open social. After 12:30 pm, we will also have an extended discussion for half an hour, until 1:00 pm.

We will be watching and then discussing some TED talks on the topic of dance and what it can mean for us. This topic and the videos were selected and will be introduced by Tania Akon, a Toronto Oasis organizer.

We will also have a guest musician for this week! Elizabeth Block was born in New York and loves telling people, “I wuz boan in Brooklyn. You gotta PROBLEM wid dat?” She was brought up on Gilbert & Sullivan, Broadway musicals (when they were written for singers), and the songs of Arthur Block – her dad wrote songs. She went to the High School of Music and Art, where she was an art student, but was allowed to sing in the senior chorus in her last year. She was a choral singer for decades, and a church soloist for many years. She joined Toronto’s informal folk song circle in – she thinks – 1984. She knows a lot of songs, some in other languages, many satirical and/or political. She has written new words to existing tunes, and a couple of times tunes to existing words. Elizabeth is a potter by trade. You can check out her pottery work on her website: http://www.elizabethblockpottery.com/

Please RSVP on Meetup to get access to the Zoom link: https://www.meetup.com/toronto-oasis/events/303745329

By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Toronto Oasis Code of Conduct (http://torontooasis.org/code-of-conduct).

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

Our guest musician was recorded: GMT20241020-153633_Recording_640x360.mp4