Diary
Introduction to the Cosmos
Friday, Jul 17, 2009On Tuesday 14th July I offered Suffolk Humanists & Secularists an “Introduction to the Cosmos”. I’m from Coddenham Astronomical Observatory, and I used images from the Hubble Space Telescope and other space and ground based telescopes to describe the Universe in which we live. The talk began in our local neighbourhood and introduced the sizes and distances of the planets in our own solar system. As the Earth shrunk in relative size the journey took us out from the rocky inner planets to the cold gas giants most distant from the Sun.Eye
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2009New Humanist Blog: Blasphemy law passed in Ireland
Wednesday, Jul 8, 2009Ireland goes backwards. The Dil has just voted to make “blasphemous libel” a crime which carries a fine of up to €25,000, as part of the new Defamation Act. Causing “outrage” will be a criminal offence. It’s not that long since we scrapped the blasphemy law this side of the Irish Sea. Wonder what would happen if Ireland’s freethinkers blasphemed en masse?US fundamentalists are boring bigots
Wednesday, Jul 8, 2009Fort Lauderdale Christian fundamentalists have been demanding the removal of a billboard message that affirms you can be good without God. In Fort Lauderdale, the Florida Atheist and Secular Humanist Society has paid for a billboard stating: “Being a good person doesn’t require God. Don’t believe in God? You’re not alone.” Local “community activist” Big Mama said, “Nothing else matters, but that sign needs to come down. In the name of Jesus.Free Dawkins DVD for all secondary schools
Wednesday, Jul 8, 2009Brilliant news from the BHA – Every school in England and Wales is to receive a free DVD of ‘Growing Up in the Universe’, Professor Richard Dawkins’ 1991 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for children. The DVD is being distributed by the British Humanist Association with funding from the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species’, which both fall in 2009.What every creationist must deny
Monday, Jul 6, 2009Camp Quest UK not the Sunday Times version
Friday, Jul 3, 2009The Sunday Times recently wrote about the new summer camp for kids in the most misleading, prejudiced fashion. According to the paper, it’s all a part of Richard Dawkins’ evil plan to indoctrinate children. Couldn’t be more wrong if they tried – and they are very trying. For the truth, see the Camp Quest website. Richard Dawkins has asked (politely as ever) for an apology from the newspaper.Lets have an Age of Consent for Religion
Friday, Jul 3, 2009I missed this programme but will listen now, via this clip. On Mark Thomas’s BBC Radio 4 Manifesto programme, audience member Laura proposed, to enthusiastic applause: There should be a minimum age of consent before anyone joins a religion, because the vast majority of religions’ members were put through ceremonies by their parents when they were far too young to know what was going on. And while many of them renounce their faith when they are older, indoctrinating children allows religions to claim more members and more influence than is actually justified.More from the web
Monday, Jun 22, 2009![Cat in a box](/wp-content/uploads/Cat in a box.jpg) I’ve been trying to declutter. Amongst other things, I’ve been adding more and more tabs to my browser, thinking, “Oh, I’ll include that in a news update on our site,” and it’s got to the stage where I really, really have to clear up all the clutter. So here you are. If you remember that we were concerned about the possibility of Holywells High School in Ipswich being taken over by the Church of England, then things went very quiet, there’s been a development.June newsletter out now
Friday, Jun 5, 2009Here it is, for you to download, our latest newsletter, with details of our next meetings and reports on “community cohesion” consultations in our area. File Attachment: 2009 SH&S News June.pdf (317 KB) Not familiar with pdf files? Click here.