A Discussion on Dignity in Death

Our next meeting on the 14^th March at the normal time of 7.00pm at the White Rock

The subject is : Dignity in Death

Death is the one common experience that we cannot avoid and which perhaps defines our humanity. It can be hard to give up the instinct that comes from a lifetime of struggle to survive and accept the inevitable when it arrives.

My personal position is that while death holds absolutely no fear, the process of dying is one that fills me with dread. I therefore advocate that

“Where possible it should be our inalienable right to choose a death that is dignified, at a time of our choosing, and is both certain and painless”

This is a subject in which many of our members have strong views.

I will introduce it, but will then ask members of the audience to share their experiences of death and dying with the rest of the group. We want to hear both the good and bad experiences.

The debate that follows will, I am sure, be as intense as always – but duly mindful of the sensitivity of the issues being discussed.

Best Regards

 

Stephen Milton

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As promised at the meeting, here are a couple of websites of relevant organisations.

http://www.dyingmatters.org/

(the govt body aimed at getting people planning their end of life arrangements)

http://www.friends-at-the-end.org.uk/

A pro assisted dying group with a fair amount of info on their site.

Humans without Humanity

Our next meeting is at 7pm on Thursday the 14^th Feb.

The evening will be introduced by Leonard Sterling and be followed by our normal discussions.

If you have any thoughts on what drives people to become monsters and how we as a society can prevent them from exercising their malevolent influence on the rest of us; this will be the place to talk about it.

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A Freudian look at Nazism and the Suicide Bomber

The talk attempts to gain some insight into the mental forces of the situations which enable human beings, who are not insane, to behave with such barbarity, overcoming natural emotions of empathy or pity.

Where do these factions differ? What do they have in common?

By Leonard Sterling

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We look forward to seeing you at the White Rock Hotel.

 

Do We Need Religious Leaders?

Andrew Copson on 4thoughtTV is worth listening to:

http://www.4thought.tv/themes/do-we-still-need-religious-leaders/andrew-copson

On twitter he says "they make you talk for an hour and then edit it down".
Also, respondng to Jim Al-Khalili: "they goad you for an hour in a totally white room
until you snap and that is the 80 seconds they use. It's a bit like torture."

Optimism or Pessimism in the New Year?

Our next meeting is at 7pm on Thursday the 10^th Jan. This will be the first debate of the year and I look forward to it being a good one so bring a friend.

Happy New Year to one and all. -- from Stephen Milton

“This House believes that we will be better off in 50 years time”

 

In these times of enormous uncertainty should we be optimistic or pessimistic about the future our children will face?

Will the future see us enjoying an ongoing march of progress, delivering unimaginable benefits that will transform our world in the same way that we have seen it transformed in the period since the beginning of the industrial revolution? Or will we succumb to the disasters that threaten us, global warming, raw materials shortages, economic decline?

The very future of the world is the issue. Everybody is welcome to come and listen or participate in the debate which promises to be extremely lively, whatever you point of view.

Making the case for the proposition will be Steve Milton.

Making the case against, will be Duncan Cleverley

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Result of the Debate:
The initial vote was 8 for, 12 against, 3 abstentions
The final vote was 8 for, 16 against, 3 abstentions
There were 24 present at the start and 28 at the end, and 1 didn't vote.
So the motion was defeated, but the attendance was excellent,
and the presenters put forward good contrasting arguments,
and there were excellent exchanges from the floor.
Thanks to everyone who participated. 

Is the 'Geek Movement' bad for Science?

There's a big debate on the blog linked to below that's well worth a read:

http://sci2pol.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/why-the-geek-movement-is-bad-for-science/

There are responses in the comments from a number of big hitters!
There has also been quite a lot of exchanges on twitter.
For those who may not know, Steve Fuller, the first of the commentators, is a sociologist who has postmodern views on science, and gave a somewhat comic turn at the famous Dover Creationist (or Intelligent Design) trial. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District

David Colquhoun is a Professor at UCL who campaigns against homeopathy and has a blog here:

http://www.dcscience.net/

He tweeted: "If Fuller approves, it must be wrong!" to which I responded "Yes that's usually a good rule of thumb." and got retweeted by the author of the sci2pol blog Haralambos Dayantis.

December Five Minutes of Fame

As for last year our December meeting will be open to anyone to make a five or ten minute presentation to the group on any topic on which you may have something interesting to say. This can be a rant or a silly story or a carefully considered argument or a portrait of someone from history or indeed anything, maybe only slightly related to Humanism.

Those who wish to become members for the next year should note that the annual membership fee is now £6. This is additional to the £2 per meeting to cover the cost of room hire.

Minutes of 2012 AGM

1. Ten members were present and five members sent apologies for absence.

The Minutes of the 2011 AGM (http://hastingshumanists.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/decisions-at-our-agm.html) were read and agreed to be correct.

2. The Secreary and Treasurer gave reports on the year's events.

The Secretary reviewed the year's meetings, but expressed disappointment at the turn-out of supporters to the two featuring outside speakers.

The meeting endorsed a vote of thanks to Stephen Milton for all the work he has done to enhance the meetings with his computer and projector and technical expertise.

The Secretary reported that Hastings Humanists had become a member of Hastings Voluntary Action (HVA), and indicated that other members might wish to receive HVA bulletins or attend the HVA AGM and Conference on 29 November (http://www.hastingsvoluntaryaction.org/).

The Treasurer's report revealed that our income is just covering the cost of room hire, but we would be in deficit if not for the generosity of certain members. The view was expressed that such payments ought to be explicit in the accounts in future.

3. Organisation of the group.

It was decided to stay with the present Thursday meetings and not change to Wednesday or Tuesday (since the change might suit some but would cause difficulty for others).

New rules for the annual subscription, proposed by the Treasurer and Deputy Chair were agreed after some discussion. It was decided that:
1) The payment for members at each meeting would remain at £2, but be increased to £3 for non-members, although this could be waived for a first ‘taster’ meeting.
2) The membership fee would increase to £6, and become renewable after the AGM in November.
3) There would be no reduction in the fee for a new member joining late in the year.

It was decided not to renew payment of our Affiliation fee to the BHA for next year unless communications with them improve.

It was decided to keep to the present name of the group, rather than change to Hastings and Bexhill Humanists or Hastings and Rother Humanists.

Ideas for a "strap line" to go beneath "Hastings Humanists" on our blog and other publicity are invited. Please email your ideas to: george . jelliss @ virgin . net (close spaces).

4. PROGRAMME
The Secretary revealed that two outside speakers had already been approached for next year, though they were not yet definite. Three members had also offered talks. One of these was provisionally approved. It was noted that another joint meeting with Hastings Inter-Faith Forum might be possible, given a suitable subject. Ideas for other subjects were only briefly considered due to lack of time.

Stephen Milton kindly offered to take on the extra task of Programme Secretary for next year.

5. CAMPAIGNS.
There was no time to discuss campaigns.

6. ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The following modified division of labour was agreed:
Stephen Milton: Chair and Programme Secretary
Duncan Cleverley: Treasurer and Twittermaster
Lesley Arnold-Hopkins: Deputy Chair and Assistant Treasurer
Mike Lynott and/or Hillary Randall: Publicity Assistants
Steve Berks: Social Secretary
George Jelliss: Secretary and Blogger (but with less involvement in Programme and Publicity).