OUR PROGRAMME IN 2008 (Meetings)

10 Jan: MEMES: The term ‘meme’ is a neologism proposed by Richard Dawkins. It is a unit of cultural transmission (like a gene), a formula to meet a human need, and examples are catchphrases, fashions, rules (driving on the left-hand side of the road), and ideas. When memes move into the unconscious, it is difficult to know the effect they have on people. The ‘God’ meme is problematic but many religious memes are valuable (e.g. the Beatitudes, love thy neighbour; the Golden Rule ‘do unto others …’ etc.). But there is a danger of people wanting to impose undesirable memes on others e.g. not finding it worthwhile educating girls. Other memes are very valuable e.g. the moral codes of religions

14 Feb: UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL DIFFERENCE: This presentation explored why people from different cultures think, behave and react differently to events. It is important to distinguish culture from human nature and personality. In his book ‘Cultures and Organisations’ Gert Hofstede identifies five different dimensions of national culture and argues that cultural differences manifest themselves through symbols, heroes, rituals and values. Hofestede’s analysis helps to explain why people behave in a certain way. He uses a grid which includes: power distance (the acceptance of hierarchy in society), individuality vs collectivism, masculinity-performance vs femininity-welfare, acceptance/non-acceptance of risk, long-termism vs short-termism.

6 Mar: FAITH SCHOOLS (including teaching of Creationism): This talk looked at the basic legislation on school foundations and governance in the UK, the current setup of faith-type schools vs regular schools, the way faith (Jewish/Catholic/CofE/Islamic) schools operate (including selection), and issues such as Creationism and Intelligent Design. Here are some points from his talk: there are two flavours of faith schools: 1) Catholic, Muslim and Jewish, and 2) Church of England, which tend to be less dogmatic. The main issues are that a) they select their entries; and b) segregated education is divisive in the community. SACREs (Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education) determine the local syllabus (RE/RS/RI is not set down in the national curriculum); SACREs often exclude the non-religious from membership; It was suggested that we should replace ‘Religion’ in schools by ‘Beliefs’ for young children, and ‘Philosophy’ for older children; Richard Dawkins sees religious indoctrination as a form of child abuse; his approach is more anti-religion than humanist; this may confuse the message for the public; France and the USA do no teach religious studies in school; the Government has said that ‘Creationism/Intelligent Design’ must not be taught in UK schools.

10 Apr: THE VALUE OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT: In this meeting we posed the question: ‘What do Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha have to say about how we should live our lives?’ The Buddha saw life as suffering and asked ‘what is the cause?’ He advocated the 8-Fold Path — right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. From Christianity, we looked at the Beatitudes and in particular ‘Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth’ (translated by Professor Barclay: ‘Oh the blissful happiness of those whose strength is in their gentleness’). We had an interesting discussion about the fact that Jesus spoke Aramaic, which is not a written language, and that much of the Bible is a later interpretation of events/happenings that had been passed on by word of mouth. Interestingly, many of this was done by story-tellers; and we speculated on the tendency to exaggerate to hold their audience — which could account for the miracles and other reported phenomenon! He noted that the Quran has many words but doesn’t say a great deal, and it is open to interpretation (hence the warring faction Sunni, Shea, etc.). Edward de Bono argues that we are constrained in our thinking and find it difficult to think ‘outside the box’. Being brought up in a religion keeps you ‘inside the box’ (which makes one feel more secure). Some argue that happiness is to be found in the constructive use of the skills we have acquired through our life.

8 May: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & HAPPINESS: A variety of philosophical, religious, psychological and biological approaches have been taken to defining happiness and identifying its sources. In the past, philosophers and religious thinkers often defined happiness in terms of living a good life, or well-being rather than simply as an emotion, ranging from contentment and pleasure to bliss and intense joy, which is how we see it today. There has been much research into happiness, and various indices have been used in an attempt to compare the happiness of different nations. One of the main researchers, Martin Seligman, argues that true happiness is achieved by acquiring skills and knowledge and applying them elegantly. Others happiness as consisting of positive emotions and positive activities. Research has identified a number of correlates with happiness. These include religious involvement, parenthood, marital status, age and income. Happiness economics suggests that measures of public happiness should be used to supplement more traditional economic measures when evaluating how successful public policy is.

12 Jun: WHY SHOULD BRITAIN GIVE TO THE POOR?: Aid is self-evidently a 'good thing'. It can encourage economic development and reduce poverty; promote democracy, social justice, freedom of speech and basic human rights; promote good government; and or promote sustainable development. However, in recent years there had been much questioning of the efficacy of aid in achieving these noble objectives, and no small degree of scepticism as it has become clear that many countries that have been receiving buckets of financial aid over the years appear to have developed little. Some economists argue that development aid over the past 50 years has not worked because it can never replicate the infinitely complex market mechanisms that make countries rich, and that "The best tonic for poverty is growth, and the growth has come where the government has de-controlled and allowed competition and enterprise to flourish". Others argue that many countries, particularly in Africa, have such poor infrastructure (for example very little irrigated agriculture) and a tropical climate which encourages devastating strains of diseases like malaria, that outside assistance will be required even if international and domestic government policies are right.

11 Sep: CRIME FROM A HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE: Most humanists agree with the Golden Rule (“do unto others …). But does this work when dealing with crime and criminals? Religions usually set some pretty firm guidelines on crime and punishment, but what would a truly secular or Humanist approach be? How should society deal with people who decide to ignore moral codes? The Christian ethic of forgiveness and turning the other cheek would, quite literally allow people to get away with murder. The Chinese philosopher Confucius seems to have got it right when asked what he thought of the principle of repaying injury with kindness. He replied, "With what then will you recompense kindness? Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness."

8 Oct: ARE VALUES UNIVERSAL?: Social values seem to be changing, so much so that it is not possible for anyone to predict what values the next generation will adopt. Even long-cherished values are being questioned, such as the meaning of 'freedom' and 'justice'. People classify and deal with values in different ways. One crucial distinction is whether values are universal i.e. exist independently of culture. Some see them as either 'desirable' or 'desired'; others prefer terms like 'intrinsic', 'instrumental' or 'terminal'. Desirable values include 'personal integrity' ('honesty' & 'truthfulness'), 'consideration for others', and 'compassion' and 'justice' (fair-play). (These are in effect moral beliefs.) Desired values include 'knowledge', 'achievement', 'wealth', 'beauty' and 'good health'. (These are characteristics, situations or things individuals value.) For instrumental values we might think of 'being cheerful', 'forgiving', 'helpful' and 'imaginative'; whereas terminal values could include, 'happiness' and 'inner harmony'.

13 Nov: RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS & CEREMONIES: Some thoughts on rituals like Christmas and Easter from a Humanist perspective.