SOUTH WEST LONDON HUMANIST NEWSLETTER
May 2011
- 30 May: “The afterlife, what's the point? - group discussion based on a couple of stories from David Eagleman's book "Sum", preceded (at 7pm) by informal get-together
- 17-19 June: BHA Annual Conference
- 27 June: AGM and “What is Humanism?”
Contents
In the electronic version, click on the links below to jump to the section you want.
Diary
Date | Time | Place | Event |
14 | 09.30 | May Fair, Richmond Green | Charity stall |
15 | 12.30 | William Webb Ellis, Twickenham | Pub lunch |
30 | 19.00 20.00 | Old Ship, Richmond | Pre-meeting get-together* Main meeting (starts 20.00) |
June | |||
9 | 11.00 | Rose Theatre Café, Kingston | Coffee morning |
19 | 12.30 | William Webb Ellis, Twickenham | Pub lunch |
27 | 19.00 20.00 | Old Ship, Richmond | Annual General Meeting Main meeting |
July | |||
17 | 14.00 | Geraldine’s garden, Twickenham | Summer Party |
*At 7pm, before the meeting, some of us will be upstairs at The Ship for a drink and a chat (and maybe a sandwich). Do come along if you can.
Main Meetings Coming Up
Our main meetings are normally on the last Monday of each month in the upstairs room at The Old Ship, King Street, Richmond at 8pm. Anyone who is a humanist (or thinks they might be a humanist) is welcome.
- Mon 30 May (Bank Holiday) – group discussion “The afterlife, what's the point?”. We’ll start by reading and discussing the first two of the thought-provoking (very) short stories from neuroscientist David Eagleman's book "Sum". We’ll then hear and discuss his personal angle. If you’d like to read the stories in advance they are available here.
· Mon 27 Jun – “What is Humanism?” – our annual exploration of what Humanism is and how some members of the group arrived at the conclusion that they’re humanists. The main meeting will be preceded by our Annual General Meeting (see below).
· No main meeting in July – instead we have the Summer Party.
Summer Party & Plan for the Rest of the Year
This year’s Summer Party will be on Sunday 17 July in Geraldine’s garden in Twickenham from 2 to 6pm. Tickets are £7 for Group members/£10 for non-members to cover a buffet meal and drinks. Proceeds from the raffle, and any profit on the event overall, will go to Uganda Humanist Schools Trust. Get your ticket at the June meeting or direct from Geraldine on charities@swlhumanists.org.uk (email preferred, failing that, call 07973 359287).
Plan for the rest of the year:
o 29 Aug – Group discussion: “Overcoming the death taboo”.
o 26 Sep – to be advised
o 31 Oct – public meeting as part of the Think in Kingston festival (theme = Happiness): "Are religious people happier people?"
o 28 Nov – Keith Porteus-Wood, Executive Director, National Secular Society
o Dec (date to be decided)– Christmas Party
Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will take place at the Old Ship at 7.00pm on 27 June, before the main meeting. Anyone can attend, but only paid-up members of the Group can vote. Rosemary and Marilyn are standing down from the committee, though will both continue to be involved with the group. Although it now looks like we have nominations for all the places on the committee, they are all open to election if there is more than one candidate. So if you would like to stand for any of them, including the Chair, Secretary or Treasurer, or the other four committee places, then please provide your (seconded) nominations to Rosemary Taylorson (info@swlhumanists.org.uk, or phone 07946 465 701) by 20 June. Please also let Rosemary know by 20 June if you wish to propose a motion for consideration at the AGM. If you’d like to discuss any of this, please contact Rosemary or Jeremy (chair@swlhumanists.org.uk ).
Charity Selection
One of the items we’ll need to agree at the AGM is whether to retain or change the charities we support.
Currently we raise money for Practical Action at external events, such as the Richmond May Fair, and for the Uganda Humanist Schools Trust at internal events such as the Summer Party. For Practical Action we’ve raised enough money to pay for - among other things - a donkey cart (complete with donkey) to reduce the time women and children villagers have to spend fetching and carrying water. And through the Ugandan Humanist Schools Trust we’re currently sponsoring Haalima Nabwami, a 13 year old Ugandan student whose father is bedridden with AIDS and cannot pay school fees.
If you have a view on whether to maintain our support for these charities, or change to something else, please email Geraldine on charities@swlhumanists.org.uk (email preferred, failing that, call 07973 359287). That will help the committee in deciding what to recommend to the AGM.
Pub Lunches & Coffee Mornings
Pub lunches are on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 12.30pm (15 May, 19 June) at the William Webb Ellis, London Road, Twickenham (between Twickenham railway station and the centre of the town). Look for the “Happy Human” sign on the table – we’ll aim to sit near the front or back windows.
Coffee mornings are on the 2nd Thursday of each month (12 May, 9 June) at 11.00am at the café at the Rose Theatre, 24-26 High Street Kingston KT1 1HL. Look for the “Happy Human” sign on the table.
Look Back: What’s happening in our schools?
An introduction from Marilyn and Jeremy giving the background to the role of local Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) in setting RE syllabus, the current types of schools in the state system, the radical changes now taking place and the likely growth in the number of faith schools led to a lively discussion on both the general issues and the specific campaign we’re supporting locally (see below).
Marilyn, who’s the humanist representative on both the Kingston and Richmond SACREs, (and former BHA Education Officer) has provided these links:
· BHA policies on education: http://www.humanism.org.uk/education/education-policy
· Government guidance on RE: http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/subjects/religious-education/index.aspx
· Kingston RE syllabus: http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/education/schools/information_for_school_staff/sacre/syllabus.htm
· Richmond RE syllabus: http://schools.richmond.gov.uk/home/curriculum_resources/sacre.htm
Richmond Inclusive School Campaign
Richmond Council continues to progress with its scheme for a new Catholic secondary school as part of the provision of additional places equivalent to two new schools, which will be needed in the borough by 2015. (The remainder may be provided by either a second new school or expansions and reconfigurations of existing facilities.) We’re leading supporters of the campaign for an inclusive school instead of a Catholic school. The campaign is neither party political nor anti-religious, and new people from all sorts of backgrounds are signing up to it, including some school governors. We know that all SWLH members and supporters have concerns about faith schools and in principle support the campaign. But if you’d like to go on the mailing list for more detailed updates, please sign up at www.richmondinclusiveschools.org.uk
What you can do: If you live in the borough of Richmond, then please contact all your Ward Councillors to ask for their personal views on the issue of the Catholic school. If you do that, please bcc your email and forward their reply to communications@richmondinclusiveschools.org.uk . We’re particularly interested to see how many Conservative Councillors are only backing the school because it was in their party manifesto, and not because they personally think it’s a good idea.
Links & Info
An Evangelical preacher from “Creation Ministries International” was recently invited into a school in Exeter where he was introduced to 16 year-olds in an RE lesson as a “scientist” and then spent an hour and a half presenting Young Earth Creationist claims as scientific theory. Fortunately one of the parents was a geologist and made a complaint. Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is ‘crystal clear’ that Creationism has no scientific validity and should not be taught as science. Yet in this case it was presented as a valid scientific position under the guise of Religious Education. It seems that the controls to ensure the ban on Creationism as science are not working. This was at a state-maintained Church of England school, and controls over the new Free Schools and Academies are even weaker. A petition has been set up to “demand that creationism should not be presented as a valid scientific position, nor creationist websites and resources be promoted, in publicly funded schools or in any youth activities run on publicly funded school premises”. To sign, click here [Not sure what good it will do, but it made me feel better - Ed.]
You may recall the visit we had from Maryam Namazie from the One Law for All Campaign, which opposes Sharia and other faith-based laws from a human rights perspective. They are now active in various countries round the world. To mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, they recently held a major conference on Sharia Law, Women’s Rights, and Secularism. You can see a conference report and video footage here. [Thanks to Geraldine for this.]
Here’s a link to a discussion between two major figures: James Lovelock, climate-scientist and originator of the Gaia hypothesis – and at the doomsday end of the climate change debate - and John Gray, the political philosopher and author, who’s pretty much an atheist but also doesn’t approve of Humanism. The event is The Artangel Longplayer Conversation 2011 and they’re talking about “the philosophical implications of long time”: http://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/lovelock-gray-artangel
The Charity Tribunal has ruled for the second time that Catholic Care, a Leeds-based charity that facilitates about five adoptions a year, cannot change its objectives to exclude gay couples from using its adoption service. It had argued that it would otherwise have to close its adoption service because its supporters would stop donating money, and that restricting its service to heterosexual couples was in line with section 193 of the Equality Act 2010, which allows discrimination on the grounds of sexuality if this is "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim". However, the charity tribunal ruled that the discrimination would cause same-sex couples to suffer a "significant detriment". The tribunal found that there must be "particularly weighty" reasons to justify discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and said the charity had not demonstrated that its donors would stop supporting it if it allowed same-sex couples to use its adoption service, nor explored all the alternatives to closure, and that expert evidence contradicted the charity's argument that if it were to close, fewer children would be adopted. The Charity Commission decided in November 2008 that the charity could not change its objectives to exclude gay couples, a decision upheld by the charity tribunal in June 2009. The High Court ruled in March 2010 that the commission must reconsider its verdict, but in August it reaffirmed its decision. The charity's latest appeal was against the commission's August ruling. It could now appeal to the “Upper Tribunal”. [Thanks to Ian for this one.]
This is the type of issue that Cardinal Keith O-Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, had in mind when he marked Easter with a strong attack on secularism: "Perhaps more than ever before there is that 'aggressive secularism' and there are those who would indeed try to destroy our Christian heritage and culture and take God from the public square. Religion must not be taken from the public square. Recently, various Christians in our society were marginalised and prevented from acting in accordance with their beliefs because they were not willing to publicly endorse a particular lifestyle. Yes - Christians must work toward that full unity for which Christ prayed - but even at this present time Christians must be united in their common awareness of the enemies of the Christian faith in our country, of the power that they are at present exerting, and the need for us to be aware of that right to equality which so many others cry out for." He went on to remind his congregation of the plea by the Pope that Christians of different denominations should rediscover their common ancestry to unite in resisting the sidelining of religion.
It’s interesting that politely asking that the state should be religiously neutral in a plural society is characterised as “aggressive secularism”. And it’s not quite clear where “love thine enemy” or “turn the other cheek” fit here. It’s also interesting that this aggressive line seems to be at odds with the more moderate image that Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of English Catholicism, seems to be trying to cultivate.
It’s interesting that politely asking that the state should be religiously neutral in a plural society is characterised as “aggressive secularism”. And it’s not quite clear where “love thine enemy” or “turn the other cheek” fit here. It’s also interesting that this aggressive line seems to be at odds with the more moderate image that Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of English Catholicism, seems to be trying to cultivate.
In case you missed it, here’s a link to a recent Channel 4 programme "Miracles for Sale" in which Derren Brown selects and trains an ordinary person (actually a diving instructor) to become a “faith healer” using a mixture of suggestibility and plain trickery. He then takes him over to Dallas in Texas where he demonstrates how this money-making fakery can work. The programme could probably be about half its actual length, but the point is persuasively made. [It’s available on-line until 25th May.]
Just when you thought that the core battles for sex equality had been won, Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has introduced a new Sex Education Bill, which wants schools to ensure that sex education for girls includes ‘information and advice on the benefits of abstinence from sexual activity’, but doesn’t say the same about boys. As the BHA says: “Regardless of questions over the effectiveness of abstinence education, the wording of the Bill implies that responsibility for ensuring sexual relationships are safe, fulfilling and consensual lies solely with women and girls. This is not only demeaning but woefully misguided - a message that can lead to victimisation, victim-blaming and dangerous stereotyping.” Fortunately, the likelihood of it becoming law is very low.
You may have heard that AC Grayling, the philosopher and next President of the British Humanism Association, has recently published “The Good Book: A Secular Bible” in which he combines inputs from a wide range of humanistic sources to create something that looks and reads a bit like the King James Bible. There’s an in-depth interview with him here in New Humanist in which he answers the obvious question about this being a rather hubristic exercise by saying: “There’s a card my wife sent me, which had a picture of a rather self-satisfied looking individual on it, and a legend which read: ‘I used to be an atheist until I realised that I am God.’ But, to coin a phrase: God forbid that should ever happen. I certainly hope not, because the message of this is that we are each responsible for ourselves. We’ve got to think for ourselves. And I say, in fact, in the last Book, that we’ve got to go beyond our teachers and beyond our texts.”
If The Good Book sounds a bit too heavy for you, how about a copy of the “Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster”, now available from Amazon?
BHA Annual Conference
This year’s BHA Annual Conference, at the Hilton Deansgate, Manchester from 17-19 June, has a stellar cast of speakers including Peter Atkins, Julian Baggini, Natalie Haynes, Stephen Law, Mark Vernon, Chris French, Richard Norman, outgoing BHA President Polly Toynbee, incoming President AC Grayling and author Phillip Pullman. Tickets are £156 including all the sessions, lunch and a gala dinner. Click here to buy a ticket on line, or call 020 7079 3580 to pay with a credit or debit card. Or you can buy tickets in instalments - call 020 7079 3580 from 9am-5pm Mon-Fri and ask to pay in three monthly instalments. More details at: http://bhaconference.org.uk/
Other upcoming events
· Sat 14 May - 12noon – 5pm - Anglo-French Conference “Towards A Freethought International” a prelude to refounding the International Association of Freethinkers. Conway Hall, 25, Red Lion Square, London, WC1. Free entry, with collection. More details from Freethought History Research Group.
· Wed 25 May - 7:30pm public meeting Big Climate Connection with Zac Goldsmith MP; Vince Cable MP; Colin Butfield, Head of Campaigns, WWF; Paul Cook, Advocacy & Media Director, Tearfund; Craig Bennet, Campaigns Director, Friends of the Earth. Duke St Baptist Church, Duke Street Richmond TW9 1DH. Click here for more information.
· Sat 11 June –7.30pm - debate “Is a secular society a more tolerant society?” with Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, and Rev. David Robertson Minister of St. Peter’s Free Church in Dundee, author of 'The Dawkins Letters', a Christian response to 'The God Delusion'. Gunnersbury Baptist Church, Wellesley Road, Chiswick, W4 4BE. Admission free. Doors open 7.00pm.
Membership, Ceremonies & Committee
Anyone who’s vaguely humanist is welcome to our meetings and events. But if you’re a “regular”, please join the majority of us in paying a small annual sub to help fund our activities and campaigns. Ask Ian or Jeremy (see below) for a membership form.
Although we’re affiliated to the British Humanist Association (BHA), the two organisations have separate membership. The BHA is the largest and most powerful voice promoting Humanism nationally. To join the BHA click here: http://www.humanism.org.uk/support-us/join-us or call 020 7079 3580.
For information about Naming, Wedding or Funeral ceremonies, contact local Humanist Celebrants Rosemary Taylorson (020 8943 2941) or Jim Trimmer (020 8974 5929).
· Jeremy Rodell – Chair/Newsletter Editor (chair@swlhumanists.org.uk, newsletter@swlhumanists.org.uk 020 8892 5077)
· Rosemary Taylorson – Secretary & Social Network Focal Point (info@swlhumanists.org.uk 07946 465 701)
· Ian Bruce – Treasurer & Membership Secretary (treasurer@swlhumanists.org.uk)
· Marilyn Mason – Education Focal Point (education@swlhumanists.org.uk)
· Geraldine Mitchell – Charities (charities@swlhumanists.org.uk);
· Tony Charlesworth – Committee Member
If you would like to unsubscribe from our mailing list please email newsletter@swlhumanists.org.uk or phone 07798 935569.
