Navitus Bay Windfarm

Wednesday 25^th February 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With Navitus Bay Communications Manager Sean Parsons

With ever-increasing global energy consumption, dire warnings of potentially catastrophic climate change, and the UK becoming increasingly reliant on imported energy sources, wind farms offer a potential solution to our energy problems.

Sean Parsons from Navitus Bay Development Ltd will claim that the proposed wind farm situated approximately 10km south of Dorset and the Isle of Wight will help the UK to meet its climate change targets and contribute to security of energy supply, but the controversial project is being vigorously opposed by local councils and the National Trust who fear it will damage our region’s tourism-based economy. Wind farms have also been criticised for their intermittent output and the need for conventional energy back up.

“Join us for an informative introduction to the controversial Navitus Bay Wind Farm”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

(The Green House Hotel can also be accessed via its rear entrance in Gervis Road. The hotel has a small onsite car park, and roadside parking is also available in Gervis Road).

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

Please help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

The Difference that Darwin has Made

Thursday 12^th February 5.30pm 
Bournemouth Natural Science Society, 39 Christchurch Rd, Bournemouth BH1 3NS

A Darwin Day Celebration with Professor A. C. Grayling

Join us for a Darwin Day celebration with renowned humanist philosopher A.C.Grayling. Professor Grayling will be explaining how Darwin’s theory of evolution represented a new paradigm in human history, radically changing our understanding of our place in the universe, and that Darwin’s discoveries continue to have a huge impact on our lives due to their ongoing influence on a multitude of scientific disciplines. His talk will be followed by light refreshments.

Note that this is one of a very limited number of ticketed events organised by Dorset Humanists, so please be aware that that you will need a ticket to attend, and availability is limited.

***Update: Please note that all tickets for this event have now been sold***

Booking Information and Ticket Prices

Advanced Booking: Members: £2 per person; Non-members: £4 per person; On the door (if any seats are still available): £5 per person. To check ticket availability and/or purchase tickets please contact Lyn Glass on 01202 558763, or email lyn.glass(at)btinternet.com.

A C Grayling MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSL, FRSA is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy and other subjects; among his most recent are "The Good Book", "Ideas That Matter", "Liberty in the Age of Terror" and "To Set Prometheus Free". He is a frequent contributor to the Literary Review, Observer, Independent on Sunday, Times Literary Supplement, Index on Censorship and New Statesman, and is an equally frequent broadcaster on BBC Radios 4, 3 and the World Service. In addition he sits on the editorial boards of several academic journals, and for nearly ten years was the Honorary Secretary of the principal British philosophical association, the Aristotelian Society. He is a past chairman of June Fourth, a human rights group concerned with China, and is a representative to the UN Human Rights Council for the International Humanist and Ethical Union. He is a Vice President of the British Humanist Association, the Patron of the United Kingdom Armed Forces Humanist Association, a patron of Dignity in Dying, and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. Anthony Grayling was a Fellow of the World Economic Forum for several years, and a member of its C-100 group on relations between the West and the Islamic world. His latest books are "The God Argument" (March 2013) and "Friendship" (September 2013).    Anthony Grayling's new book, "The Challenge of Things" will be published in March 2015.

Please help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

Escaping from Mormonism

Wednesday 28^th January 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With former Mormon, Ben Taylor***

Founded in the 1820s by Joseph Smith, a gifted opportunist with a talent for creating self-serving revelations, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka ‘the Mormons’) demands strict obedience from its adherents, and controls almost every aspect of their daily lives.

Ben Taylor will be sharing his personal experiences of being raised as a devout believer in this secretive cult, revealing how he spent most of his adolescence being routinely questioned about his ‘sexual purity’ by bishops, parents and peers. He was also obliged to knock on countless doors with Mormon missionaries, tithe at least ten per cent of his income to the church, and shun ‘apostates’. At the age of nineteen he greatly expanded his horizons by joining the army, with his military duties having included the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and a tour of Afghanistan.

“Ben Taylor reveals the harsh realities of growing up inside the Mormon church”

***Update***

We regret to announce that our advertised speaker Ben Taylor has had to pull out of this event at short notice. Instead, Chair of Dorset Humanists David Warden will present key facts about the history and beliefs of Mormonism, and Dean Robertson will provide an entertaining and informative selection of video clips about Mormons and ex-Mormons. We expect this to be an interesting and lively event so please come along.

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

(The Green House Hotel can also be accessed via its rear entrance in Gervis Road. The hotel has a small onsite car park, and roadside parking is also available in Gervis Road).

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

We’d really appreciate it if you can help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

January Bulletin

Our Jane Bannister Winter Appeal raised more than £1550 - a wonderful result! Thank you so much for your generous contributions to these worthwhile charities (full details inside this month's bulletin).

We've got two great meetings coming up in January - Greg Claeys on humanism and politics, and a highly personal account of leaving Mormonism from Ben Taylor. I hope you will be able to join us.

Also, don't forget to support Holocaust Memorial Day at the Lighthouse. Details inside. Dorset Humanists have a regular slot at this event.

http://dorset.humanist.org.uk/dorset/DH-Bulletin-January-2015.pdf

We wish you a happy and prosperous 2015.
David Warden
Chair, Dorset Humanists

********* Bulletin Correction *********

Please note that the venue for January’s Sunday Assembly was changed after the bulletin went to press. The Assembly will now be held at 11:00am at Rooper Hall, 5 Victoria Park Road, Bournemouth BH9 2RB. Coffee and biscuits from 10.30am.