Group Discussion Guideline Reminder

The fol­low­ing group dis­cus­sion guide­lines were cre­at­ed when SHoWLE was cre­at­ed back in 2018. We thought it was a great time — espe­cial­ly with what is going on in the world con­cern­ing free speech — to remind peo­ple about them. These guide­lines are avail­able on the Things to know about SHoWLE page

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We intend to fos­ter a mem­ber­ship that is curi­ous about the world and who want to explore human solu­tions to human prob­lems with­out regard to any spe­cif­ic world view or pol­i­tics. We want to cre­ate a space that is open and hon­est about these top­ics and ideas. To that end, here are some gen­er­al best prac­tices to be used dur­ing group dis­cus­sions or “Question & Answer” peri­ods after a speak­er.

1. Discussions will be mod­er­at­ed by an offi­cer or vol­un­teer. Please raise a hand when you want to speak and allow the speak­er to fin­ish what they have to say before ask­ing to speak. The mod­er­a­tor will have the pow­er to stop a speak­er and move to the next speak­er if peo­ple are wait­ing to speak.

2. Please stay on top­ic and be as brief as pos­si­ble in mak­ing your point. Be con­sid­er­ate of oth­ers who might be wait­ing to speak. If you want to pon­tif­i­cate on a top­ic, save it for your blog or pod­cast.

3. Remember – Treat all with basic dig­ni­ty and worth even those you dis­agree with. “Attack” the idea and NOT the per­son. Name call­ing, bul­ly­ing, or harass­ment of any­one will NOT be tol­er­at­ed. Punishment for doing it may include being asked to leave the meet­ing or event and could lead to your removal as a mem­ber of the group.

*Note* Critical exam­i­na­tion of beliefs, includ­ing crit­i­cal com­men­tary on anoth­er per­son­’s views, does not, by itself, con­sti­tute bul­ly­ing or harass­ment.

4. Because we are a non-profit group we will not and can­not endorse can­di­dates for polit­i­cal office. We can advo­cate for issues such as civ­il rights, keep­ing abor­tion legal and safe, and the need for a strong and ratio­nal pub­lic edu­ca­tion sys­tem for exam­ple. Members can wear polit­i­cal shirts and but­tons at meet­ings and events. Members can also ask for peti­tion sig­na­tures but please do that before or after a meet­ing.

5.  Although all top­ics and ideas are open for dis­cus­sion at a meet­ing, there is one top­ic we won’t be dis­cussing. SHoWLE is a human­ist group and many of us are human­ists because we came to a rea­son­able con­clu­sion on the exis­tence of “god” ques­tion. Arguing reli­gious points or apolo­get­ics won’t be wel­come.  Also com­ments that unnec­es­sar­i­ly dis­par­age reli­gion are sim­ply bor­ing to those of us who have moved to sec­u­lar human­ism and won’t be wel­come.

Comments that attempt to den­i­grate whole groups of peo­ple also aren’t wel­come. We are inter­est­ed in solv­ing prob­lems not scape­goat­ing.

6. While we do want to have frank and hon­est dis­cus­sions, we acknowl­edge that in some cas­es a dis­cus­sion or top­ic will be trig­ger­ing or uncom­fort­able. We try to be clear on what the top­ic of dis­cus­sion will be and you can always reach out and ask ques­tions about it. It may hap­pen that you attend the main part of the meet­ing but don’t wish to stay for the dis­cus­sion and leav­ing at that point is up to you. The only sub­jects we will not dis­cuss are the top­ics men­tioned else­where in this doc­u­ment — Arguing reli­gious points or apolo­get­ics or com­ments that attempt to den­i­grate whole groups of peo­ple — for exam­ple.

7. If a dis­cus­sion par­tic­i­pant offends you please lim­it crit­i­cism dur­ing your turn to talk and address your con­cern not the per­son who made the com­ments and remem­ber guide­line num­ber 3 above.

8. There will not be a right to speak with­out con­se­quences. Humanists believe all ideas are open to ques­tion includ­ing our own. There is a pos­si­bil­i­ty we are wrong.