A Great Debate

I'd like to recommend this debate. Can Science tell us Right from Wrong:

http://365daysofphilosophy.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/july-21st-the-great-debate-can-science-tell-us-right-from-wrong/

The answer is Yes, provided we interpret "Science" widely enough to include Reason, perhaps as in the German concept of Wissenschaft.

The speakers are: Sam Harris, Patricia Churchland, Peter Singer, Lawrence Krauss, Simon Blackburn and Steven Pinker, with Roger Bingham in the chair. It's quite a long listen, 2 hours including the questions at the end, but well worth devoting the time to.

Simon Blackburn provides the dissenting voice, as an old-style philosopher. For instance he argues that someone living in a drugged haze, or a deluded fool's paradise, could be said to be living a happy life, so who is to say their values are wrong?

Incidentally Lawrence Krauss cites a number of books and writers who could well be added to our book list: E. O. Wilson on Sociobiology, Franz de Waal on Reciprocity in Chimpanzees, Jacob Bronowski on Science and Human Vales, Philip K. Dick on Reality, Richard Feynman on the Habit of Truth, Aldous Huxley on Brave New World.

Our Book List

The selection of books that have influenced us in our humanist views proved to be surprisingly wide ranging. I list a selection of them in alphabetical sequence of author's names and give links to other sites where more can be read about them.

Adams, Douglas: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/hhgg.html
Al-Khalili, Jim: Paradox
http://www.jimal-khalili.com/science-communication-books

Asimov, Isaac: Foundation Trilogy + Robot series
http://www.asimovonline.com/asimov_home_page.html

Aurelius, Marcus: Meditations
http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html
Brigstock, Marcus: God Collar
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/god-collar-by-marcus-brigstocke-2299554.html

Carr, J.L.: A Month in the Country
http://www.zyworld.com/albionmagazineonline/books1.htm

Conan Doyle, Arthur: The Sherlock Holmes Stories
http://www.sherlockpeoria.net/Who_is_Sherlock/SherlockTimeline.html

Coyne, Jerry: Why Evolution is True
http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/

Dawkins, Richard: The Selfish Gene + The God Delusion + many others
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins

De Botton, Alain: Religion for Atheists
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_de_Botton

Dennett, Daniel: Darwin's Dangerous Idea
http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/incbios/dennettd/dennettd.htm

Feynman, Richard: Surely You Are Joking Mr Feynman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surely_You're_Joking,_Mr._Feynman!

Fortey, Richard: Trilobite
http://resolutereader.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/richard-fortey-trilobite-eyewitness-to.html

Geldof, Bob: Is That It?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Is-That-It-Bob-Geldof/dp/0330442929

Gleick, James: Chaos
http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Chaos.html?id=upcJCIH8M_oC&redir_esc=y

Grayling, A. C.: Ideas that Matter + The God Argument + others
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ideas-That-Matter-Personal-Concepts/dp/0753826186

Harris, Sam: The Moral Landscape + The End of Faith + others
http://www.samharris.org/

Hawking, Stephen: A Brief History of Time
http://www.hawking.org.uk/

Heinlein, Robert: Stranger in a Strange Land
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/robert-heinlein/

Hitchens, Christopher: God is not Great
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hitchens
Illich, Ivan: The De-schooling of Society + others
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2002/dec/09/guardianobituaries.highereducation

Jones, R.V.: Most Secret War
http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Most_Secret_War.html?id=hkftkibM5fkC&redir_esc=y

Keenan, Brian: An Evil Cradling
http://www.skoool.ie/skoool/examcentre_sc.asp?id=339

Kingsolver, Barbara: The Poisonwood Bible
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poisonwood_Bible
Koestler, Arthur: The Sleepwalkers + Darkness at Noon
http://www.ianhopkinson.org.uk/2012/11/book-review-the-sleepwalkers-a-history-of-mans-changing-vision-of-the-universe-by-arthur-koestler/

Kumar, Manjit: Quantum - Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate ...
http://manjitkumar.blogspot.co.uk/

Lawrence, D.H.: Lady Chatterley's Lover
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._H._Lawrence#Lady_Chatterley_trial

Levi, Primo: If This is a Man
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/apr/05/rereading-if-this-is-man

Marryat, Frederick: The Children of the New Forest
http://archive.org/details/children_new_forest_0709_librivox

Michie, David: The Dalai Lama's Cat
http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=7121

Morgan, Elaine: The Descent of Woman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTADBkDRQco

Morris, Desmond: The Naked Ape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCm3RVkDBR0

Neville, Katherine: The Eight
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113310.The_Eight

Ramachandran, V.S.: The Tell-Tale Brain
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/books/review/Gottlieb-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Roberts, Alice: The Incredible Human Journey
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/incredible-human-journey/

Russell, Bertrand: History of Western Philosophy + Why I am Not a Christian + others
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/TUrussell.htm

Singh, Simon: Trick or Treatment + Fermat's Last Theorem
http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/simon-singh

Tressell, Robert: The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
http://www.1066.net/tressell/
Von Daniken, Erich: Chariots of the Gods
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QecSCOX3uM

The King James Bible
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/

Some of these titles have evidently influenced us in widening our consciousness towards what alternative views might be possible. We suspect that many Christians don't actually read the Bible, they just know bits they have been preached about.

Our Favourite Books

Our next meeting is on the 11^th July at the normal time of 7.00pm at the White Rock Hotel

The subject this month is:  Book Reviews

I am sure that all of you have a few books that have been really influential in making you take up the cause of Humanism. Our object is to create a list of good reads that we can post on the Blog. The books may be novels that illustrate the best of being human, or more polemical or philosophical, or scientific, or historical ....

What we would like is  for everybody coming to let us know (in advance if possible) a list of their top 3 or 4 books. Include both the Title and the Author. And for a few to also volunteer to make a 5 - 10 minute introduction to one of their chosen books. Explaining some of the background, what it’s about and why you like it so much (and perhaps read an extract). This to be followed by a short group discussion.

This is another experiment and I am looking forward to seeing what comes out.

Thank you for your support. Stephen Milton (chair).

Thomas Paine at Conway Hall

This one-man performance by Ian Ruskin at Conway Hall on 7 July looks as though it could be good:

To Begin the World Over Again: The Life of Thomas Paine
http://www.conwayhall.org.uk/thomas-paine-2

This series of seven short videos by Ian Ruskin about Thomas Paine is well worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Hvs9rBLyQ&list=UUVFYZ0c-oyXN9vt9PB5zOFw

If you don't know much about Tom Paine and his ideas, you could try my short biography of him: http://www.mayhematics.com/e/paine.htm
which has links to other sites where you can read his actual words.

Hastings Humanists and Skeptics?

First a reminder that our next meeting on Thursday 13 June is an "Any Questions" style debate.

One of the panellists will be Simon Clare of the South East Skeptics Society who are organising a Skeptics Road Show throughout Kent and now extending to Hastings on 26 September. He is also known as the Atheist Street Preacher! It is proposed by our Secretary, George Jelliss, that Hastings Humanists get together with SESS to organise regular Skeptics in the Pub style meetings, perhaps in alternate months with specifically Humanist meetings. This will need to be discussed among our members, and put to a motion at the AGM in November, but it would probably be better to combine forces rather than have a competing Hastings Skeptics organisation. Input from members on these developments would be appreciated.

Marriage and Humanism

I've been getting confused messages about Humanist attitudes to Marriage recently, so thought I would put together some links to different views here.

On 13 May I received a message from BHA signed by Jim Al-Khalili: "On Monday and Tuesday next week, MPs will be debating the Marriage Bill currently before Parliament. Its main purpose is to extend marriage to same-sex couples but also being debated will be an amendment to give legal recognition to humanist marriages in England and Wales. This asked one to contact your local MP and urge them to vote for the amendment.

 

I did this, since it seemed a good thing. Humanist Marriages have been possible in Scotland since 2005. However I later learnt that this Humanist amendment was part of a series of amendments designed to derail the Gay Marriage bill, or delay its implementation. This strikes me as political naivety on the part of the BHA. (Jim Al-Khalili has also shown naivety on Twitter by reacting to an Onion magazine sketch, apparently not realising it was satire.)

 

Margaret Nelson of Suffolk Humanists has expressed a dissenting view about Humanist marriage here:

http://www.theanswers42.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/marriage

I find her arguments quite convincing. Her solution is: "Remove the right of anyone other than a registrar to conduct a marriage ceremony in the UK, but make same-sex marriage equal to opposite sex marriage. If you want any other form of marriage - religious, humanist, Jedi Knight - you can have a ceremony however and wherever you want, but it would have no legal validity. This would be like the systems that they have in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, where only civil wedding ceremonies are recognised. But that would be too simple and sensible, wouldn't it?"
 

Also having seen the formulation of the amendment it now seems to have been worded so as to give privileges to Humanists similar to those for the churches, to the exclusion of other groups. This is criticised here:

http://www.atheismuk.com/2013/05/23/news/challenging-humanist-privilege/ 

(Proposed Humanist Marriage Law Discriminatory). They observe: "So the proposal does not abolish religious privilege; it merely enshrines in law humanist privilege as well; it is discriminatory in favour of humanist and religious organisations against others."

 

I also got a lengthy reply from Amber Rudd the local MP. She made the point that "A fundamental change to marriage law of this nature would undermine the religious protections within the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, and would risk delaying implementation of same sex marriage ..." She also made a point similar to that expressed on the Atheist UK site.

 

 I feel that I have been let down and misled by the messages from the BHA on this.

 

Any Questions for Humanists?

Our next meeting is on the 13th June at the normal time of 7.00pm at the White Rock Hotel.

The subject this month is:  Any Questions for Humanists?

For any who are not familiar with this long standing radio programme, you can listen to the latest  episode on http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sdw2s

Our variation on the standard format is that the questions will be put to the panel for an initial discussion in the normal way, but then it will be opened up to all for a general debate. I will act as chairman.

The questions can be on any subject from the purely local – ‘what is the value of the by-pass?’ – to the political – ‘should we vote to stay in Europe?’ – to the existential “What makes you happy?” but are best when they have some topical interest.

This is a bit of an experiment and I hope it will be a lot of fun..!!

Stephen Milton