OUR PROGRAMME IN 2009 (Meetings)

We've had a rich programme of events this year. You will get a flavour from the following note, but to get the REAL THING -- and have some serious fun -- you will need to come along to one of our regular (2nd Thursday in the Month) meetings and join in the discussion!
 
12 Nov: HUMAN RIGHTS: The liberties we enjoy today ― from the right to vote to freedom of conscience ― were won in a series of hard fought and bloody struggles over five hundred years. And yet these very liberties are now being chipped away by Western governments, in the spurious hope of achieving ‘security’ against terrorism and from religious fundamentalists. In this presentation we explored some of the dilemmas raised when basic rights and freedoms ― and public order or state security ― are directly threatened by specific religious beliefs or cultural practices. We looked in particular at: a parent’s right to educate (indoctrinate?) their children into their religion; a school’s right to teach Creationism as science (fact); the right to criticise or satirise people’s religious beliefs; the right to wear the Bourke in public places; and the right to equality under the law in the context of calls for the imposition of Sharia Law in Britain.
 
8 Oct: UTOPIA & PARADISE IN THE NOVEL: Utopia is a name for an ideal society. It is taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempted to create an ideal society and fictional societies portrayed in literature. Paradise is generally identified with the Garden of Eden or with Heaven, although some ancient philosophers made a distinction between the two. One has described Paradise as the earthly school for souls of the righteous dead, preparing them for their ascent through the celestial spheres to heaven. Muslims have an equivalent word (Firous), the ultimate pleasurable place after death, accessible by those who pray, donate to charity and read the Qur’an.
 
10 Sep: SPIRITUALITY: NATURAL OR SUPERNATURAL? Spirituality is not the soul (sic) preserve of the religious. It is something natural and human, which virtually anyone can experience regardless of a belief in supernatural forces. Andrea will argue that, as Humanists, we ignore at our peril our innate spiritual needs; and if we focus too much on the intellectual we risk being seen as elitist and remote. We need to understand, value and work with our rich culture and secular tradition to forge a style of Humanism that offers the same kinds of fulfillment, communion and enjoyment that people of faith get from their religion ― but without the threats of Hellfire and damnation beloved of fundamentalist bigots.
 
2 Aug: SUMMER SOLSTICE GARDEN PARTY (a little late!) 9 Jul: RITUALS & HUMANISM: Ritual is important. It provides us with a sense of security, stability, comfort, connectedness and belonging. It must not be confused with habit (mindless behaviour). Ritual is intentional, focused action; it is participatory, not passive. Observing ritual adds depth, dimension, drama and distinction to our lives, making the ordinary seem special. But many rituals are associated with religion. What can Humanists do to replace religious ritual with something that has meaning to those who do not believe?
 
11 Jun 09: THOMAS PAINE: Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809) was an English revolutionary, radical, inventor and intellectual. Born in England, he migrated to the American colonies just in time to take part in the American Revolution. His main contribution was as the author of the powerful, widely read series of pamphlets advocating independence for the American Colonies, notably Common Sense. Later, Paine was a big influence on the French Revolution. He wrote the Rights of Man (1791) as a guide to the ideas of the Enlightenment. He became notorious with his book, The Age of Reason (1794), which advocated deism and took issue with Christian doctrines.
 
14 May: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & TALK ON DEISM: Deism is the belief that a supreme god exists and created the physical universe, but does not intervene in its normal operation. It takes no position on what God may do outside the universe. This is in contrast to fideism which holds that religion relies on revelation in sacred scriptures or the testimony of other people as well as reasoning. Deists typically reject most supernatural events (prophecy, miracles) and tend to assert that God does not intervene with the affairs of human life and the natural laws of the universe. Deists believe that God's greatest gift to humanity is not religion, but the ability to reason.
 
9 Apr: THE ATHEIST TAPES: We ran two short videos, one of Jonathan Miller interviewing Pascal Boyer; the other, Jonathan Miller interviewing Daniel Dennett, about Darwin’s dangerous idea. Boyers talks about the characteristics of major religions (the presence of unseen agents; notions of spirits or ghosts; not, interestingly, ‘who created the world?’). Dennett speculates whether atheism would ever have ‘lifted off’ without Darwin. He makes some interesting observations about the nature of the mind (the Soul?) The purpose of our brains, he said, is to see the future, to plan for the future, and to anticipate the future.
 
12 Mar: FREE WILL & DETERMINISM: The question of free will is whether, and in what sense, rational agents exercise control over their actions and decisions. This has been a central issue since the beginning of philosophical thought. It has religious, ethical, and scientific implications. In the religious realm, free will may imply that an omnipotent divinity does not assert its power over individual will and choices. In ethics, it may imply that individuals can be held morally accountable for their actions. In the scientific realm, it may imply that the actions of the body, including the brain and the mind, are not wholly determined by physical causality. Julian will ask whether the concept of free will can survive the existence of an omniscient being.
 
20 Feb: CHARLES DARWIN: it’s 200 years since Darwin was born. The mission of Darwin Day Celebration is to promote public education about science and encourage the celebration of Science and Humanity throughout the global community.
 
8 Jan: HITCHENS vs HITCHENS on God: debate between two remarkable brothers, Christopher and Peter, who have very different views on, well, virtually everything. Christopher is a darling of the left, Peter, the right. They debated ‘God’ at a public meeting on 11 Apr 08. I plan to show the video (downloaded from Reasonable Doubts).