Diary
An alternative song for Christmas
Friday, Dec 18, 2009Tim Minchin sings a rather lovely alternative song for Christmas. You can buy the song on iTunes here.What climate change will mean to Suffolk
Tuesday, Dec 15, 2009As world leaders meet in Copenhagen to try to make a deal to prevent further global warming, why should East Anglians be concerned? Because what happened in 1953 could happen again. In 1953 I lived on the North West coast of England, and I didn’t hear about the floods in East Anglia. I didn’t hear of them for several years after I moved here, until I became a funeral celebrant. Then I heard stories from people who were affected by the North Sea surge.A discussion about alternative medicine
Friday, Dec 4, 200930th January – a day discussing alternative medicine. The speakers are – SIMON SINGH, author of Trick or Treatment, currently being sued by British Chiropractic Association ANDY LEWIS, runs Quackometer on the web PROFESSOR JOHN GARROW, founder member of the charity HealthWatch which promotes proper testing of the health claims of all therapies, alternative or orthodox. In conjunction with SPES. Venue: Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R 4RL Main Hall.Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London
Friday, Dec 4, 2009Home of the South Place Ethical Society.Ipswich Mayor to visit us at our AGM
Friday, Dec 4, 2009We’ll be in the usual place for our AGM in April, with an unusual guest. The Mayor of Ipswich, Cllr David Goldsmith, has been visiting the various faith groups in the town at their “places of worship”, and it’s our turn. No worshipping for his worship (sorry, couldn’t resist), but we will be able to give him a warm welcome, explain who we are and what we do, and talk about humanist and secularist interests.March meeting ethical jury
Friday, Dec 4, 2009Member Michael Imison first tried out his ethical jury idea at a 2007 meeting in Colchester. Now we’re going to do the same in Ipswich. Michael explains: It has long puzzled me that religions such as Christianity and Islam which were invented for the use of unsophisticated societies centuries ago have survived as strongly as they have into the post-Darwinian age. One possible explanation for their continued existence is that they are generally regarded as repositories of morality.February meeting Recommended Reading
Friday, Dec 4, 2009Postponed from January meeting, due to bad weather – Come prepared to tell us about one or two books that you’d recommend, whether because they’ve inspired you, amused you, informed you, or all of these things. Don’t worry about the usual Humanist stuff, like Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’ – what about something you just couldn’t put down, or you’ve read several times, or that makes you laugh? We’ll be in the usual place at the usual time.January meeting CANCELLED
Friday, Dec 4, 2009Due to the severe weather, our January meeting is cancelled. We’ll have ‘Recommended reading’ at our February meeting instead.December newsletter
Friday, Dec 4, 2009Our latest newsletter is here. [Click here to download it](http://www.suffolkhands.org.uk/files/1/SH&S News Dec 2009.pdf “December newsletter”). To open a pdf file, see our help page.BBC Radio 4 play about the 1925 Scopes Monkey trial
Wednesday, Nov 18, 2009In 1925, one of the most unusual trials ever seen in a United States courtroom took place. Earlier that year, the state of Tennessee had passed the Butler Act, which made the teaching of evolution illegal. In the stifling July heat, and in a courtroom hung with banners proclaiming ‘Read Your Bible Daily’, 24-year-old teacher John Scopes stood trial. With all the controversy about the recent British Council poll that suggested that 54% of British people want creationism covered in school science lessons, this is a lesson from history.