Losing My Religion

Saturday 12^th September 2.00pm 
Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown Bournemouth BH9 1TW

With Clive Aruede and Lola Tibulu of London Black Atheists

For social and historical reasons black societies tend to be very religious, often socially excluding those who live their lives without belief in God. Even here in the UK, a census of church attendance in 2005 showed that black people accounted for nearly half of all churchgoers in London!

In this presentation Clive and Lola will be sharing the experiences that led to them rejecting their religious beliefs and later co-founding London Black Atheists. Their group’s mission is to encourage and enable people of all ethnicities, particularly of the African Diaspora, to ‘come out’ as atheists, and they provide support and a welcoming environment to anyone wary of receiving hostile reactions from family and friends.

Originally from Nigeria, Lola Tinubu has lived in the UK for 25 years. She is a legal representative for refugees and migrants, a human right activist and a staunch supporter of the LGBT community. She describes herself as a feminist and an unapologetic atheist. She was raised in a devout Seventh Day Adventist Church family, and has been both a street preacher and a church worship leader. She is a co-founder and one of the organisers of London Black Atheists, and has appeared on 4ThoughtTV and BBC’s The Big Questions.

Also from Nigeria, Clive Aruede came to the UK with his parents when he was around six, and was brought up as a Methodist.  As an adult he married a Catholic, converted to Roman Catholicism and practised as a Eucharistic Minister, before a journey of discovery led him to atheism. He is currently Chair of London Black Atheists.

London Black Atheists works with the British Humanist Association, London Atheist Activist Group, and Central London Humanists, and despite the name ‘Black’ welcomes atheists of all races.

Come along to hear Clive and Lola share their journeys from Christianity to atheism, along with their experiences of building a positive community for atheists in London.

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

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/

You can also 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.

Being Human

Wednesday 26^th August 7.30pm
The Green House Hotel,  4 Grove Road, Bournemouth BH1 3AX

With Dr Fiona Coward.

What does it mean to 'be human', and what is it that makes us unique as a species? Is it even possible to identify a single, critical, and universal human characteristic that explains the essence of our uniqueness?

Charles Darwin’s ground-breaking theory of evolution showed that we share common ancestry with other great apes, and the fossil record and archaeological finds clearly demonstrate that modern humans didn’t emerge from ancestral apes in a single step, so when did populations along the way become distinctively ‘human’?

In recent decades scientists have been surprised to discover that many other animals demonstrate some of the skills we once thought were exclusively 'human', such as making and using tools, living together co-operatively in large groups, communicating in highly complex ways and even using and understanding symbols. In this thought-provoking presentation Fiona Coward will discuss the implications of these findings on how we think about what it means to be human, and will explain when and how some of the most obvious characteristics and behaviours that distinguish us as a species evolved.

“Join us for a highly informative examination of what it means to be human”

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

Dr Fiona Coward is Senior Lecturer in Archaeological Sciences at Bournemouth University whose research focuses on how and why humans were able to scale up their social lives from the very small social groups we lived in for much of our prehistory to the global social networks which characterise people’s lives today.

(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/

You can also 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.

July Bulletin

This month we’re out and about at various summer festivals informing our fellow Dorset residents (and visitors) about Humanism and our activities, events and work at Dorset Humanists.

This month’s bulletin includes a report on our first attendance at Bournemouth’s Pride Festival, “Bourne Free”, which proved to be a spectacular success. Next up is the Tolpuddle Festival in the heart of Dorset. Please drop by and say hello if you’re planning on attending.

Also in this month's Bulletin, we have our own report of the British Humanist Association's excellent conference in Bristol, and details of a great line-up of events over the coming months.

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

Best wishes, and we hope to see you soon,
David Warden
Chair, Dorset Humanists

The Enigma of Nature and Nurture

Saturday 8^th August 2.00pm 
Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown Bournemouth BH9 1TW

With Emeritus Professor Norman Maclean

Eminent geneticist Norman Maclean will be exploring the dual influences of heredity and the environment on our behaviour, intelligence and personality. The nature or nurture debate is one of the oldest in psychology, and has particular relevance for topics such as crime and punishment; as whether someone has a genetic predisposition to behave in a certain way (nature) or has learned criminal behaviours (nurture) affects how much personal responsibility they should bear for their actions.

The debate also profoundly affects educational theory and practice. Should we encourage our children to study, and invest significant resources in their education, assuming that learning and intelligence is mainly nurture, or is intelligence chiefly inherited so the talented will always do well?

Rare cases of identical twins separated at birth and reared separately have helped move these debates forward, but how close are we to solving these psychological and biological mysteries? Find out in this fascinating talk! 

Norman Maclean is an Emeritus Professor of Genetics at Southampton University. His research interests and writings span genetics, genomics, fish, conservation of wildlife and molecular biology, and he has written and edited many popular books on nature and genetics. His books include: Silent Summer: the state of the wildlife in Britain and Ireland, A Less Green and Pleasant Land: Our Threatened Wildlife and Animals with novel genes.

Join us for a thought-provoking examination of the nature or nurture debate!

Free entry (donations appreciated).     Everyone welcome!

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/

You can also 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.