Welsh Marches Humanist Group

Summer Social

wmhumanists — Mon, 30 May 2011 10:30:18 +0000

Meet The Animals garden party with tea and cakes on Sunday 26 June from 3 to 5 pm at Knowbury. For details, please see “Events and Meetings”.

AGM – date changed

wmhumanists — Tue, 03 May 2011 09:51:55 +0000

The AGM date given in the newsletter (11th May) has had to be changed to Monday 9th May at 7.30 pm at the Women’s Centre.

Keeping track of news articles

wmhumanists — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:59:53 +0000

You can get an alert whenever a new article or comment is posted here. Just click on the Entries RSS and/or the Comments RSS link on the right to add this blog to a feed reader (also called an aggregator).

Google Reader is a very popular aggregator, and it’s free. You can read updates online. There are also programs that download the updates to your computer, for example, some browsers like Firefox incorporate feed readers. Your mobile phone may also have an app to read news feeds.

Don’t forget to add the feed for our neighbouring group, the Shropshire Humanist Group.

David Leeson

wmhumanists — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:00:36 +0000

Sadly I have to inform you of the death of WMHG member David Leeson. David was an erudite and staunch supporter of the Humanist cause. He was also a prominent member of a local Philosophers group. In October 2007 David gave a talk to the group on T.H. Huxley’s agnosticism. He will be much missed.
A cremation service will be held at the Hereford Crematorium, Westfaling Street, Hereford HR4 0JE Tel. 01432 383200 on Friday 12th November 1.30 pm.
For those wishing to attend see directions on http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/community_and_living/life_events/

Tony Akkermans

The God Virus: Darrel Ray talks in Birmingham

wmhumanists — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 20:02:46 +0000

Best-selling US author Dr Darrel Ray will present a talk on his ideas related to his new book ‘The God Virus’. on Saturday 30th October from 1pm-4pm at the Moseley Community Development Trust, The Post Office Building. 149-153 Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham B13 8JP.

The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture

A fast paced, humorous and engaging talk from this best-selling U.S. author. Darrel will explore “even the most sensitive areas of religious infection from sexual guilt to abstinence only, from the hypnotic techniques of ministers to music’s role in infection and how it all fits together”. Darrell will be signing copies of his book.

“Darrel Ray has made a marvelous contribution to our understanding of ourselves. The description of religion as a cultural virus is not new, Darrel is the first to put the virus on a slide and pull out the microscope. The God Virus goes beyond analogy, offering a fascinating and detailed look at the wiggling, maddening virus itself how it moves, how it survives, and how and why it continues to thrive.” Dale McGowan

Next meeting

wmhumanists — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:36:17 +0000

The group’s next event is a talk on Assisted Dying/Euthanasia and will again be held at the Women’s Centre, Church Street, Ludlow (behind the Rose & Crown pub). Convenient parking at the market square car park. Starting time 7.30 pm on Tuesday 12th October.

Last month only 8 group members came to the talk and for us to be able to continue with a successful events programme it would be very helpful to achieve worth while attendances.
Looking forward to seeing you there!

Tony

Meetings: change of venue

wmhumanists — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:35:51 +0000

We have just been informed by the Quakers that their meeting room is no longer available to us on Tuesdays. At short notice we have been able to make alternative arrangements and all meetings for the rest of the year will now be held at the Women’s Centre which is off Church Street, behind the Rose and Crown pub. Look for green double gates in Church Street, marked with a ‘Women’s Centre’ plate.

Nearby free parking is available just north of the Castle Street market square.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 14th September, starting at 7.30 pm. The theme is a discussion evening prompted by ‘Hot Potato’, humanist related topics drawn from a hat. Please come and put in your twopennyworth!

The 12th October meeting is a talk by Tony Akkermans on assisted suicide regulations in the Netherlands compared to the situation in the UK.

Looking forward to seeing you at the new venue.

Tony Akkermans

Education: the academies bill

wmhumanists — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:47:31 +0000

The Academies Bill has finished its rapid passage through the Lords and has moved to the House of Commons. Crucial secularist amendments in the Lords — such as those made by Baroness Massey of Darwin — were given short shrift.

The prelates from the Bishops Bench, on the other hand, have much to celebrate and had little need to table their usual self-interested amendments. The Bill requires faith schools converting to Academies to retain their religious character, but there is no matching provision in the Bill to prevent community schools adopting a religious character when converting. This is likely to lead to a greater proportion of faith school places, despite a decline in religious belief, putting non-religious people at an even greater disadvantage and in some cases being deleterious to cohesion. Furthermore, religious schools converting to academies will be able to retain their existing admissions arrangements even if these result in every one of the pupils being selected on the grounds of religion (or purported religion), whereas until now academies with a religious designation have had their religious selection capped at 50%.

Efforts were made by secularists in the Commons to mitigate some of the religious privileges that will flow from the Bill. Prominent among the challengers was Dr Julian Huppert, the new (LibDem) MP for Cambridge. He made several interventions and put down probing amendments addressing the likely increase in the proportion of religious places. Dr Huppert’s fair and sensible proposals did not please Dr John Pugh, who described himself as speaking for the “non-secular” wing of the LibDems, nor, more importantly, did they find favour with schools Minister Nick Gibb. In responding to Dr Huppert, Mr Gibb did however make a commitment that: “entirely new faith academies — by that I mean those that do not have a predecessor maintained school with a religious character — will be required to offer 50% of places to pupils from the community with no test of faith”.

The Government’s treatment of religious schools in the Academies Bill and its rejection of any secularist amendments whatsoever confirm fears that this Government is even less secular-friendly than its predecessor. The Bill will revolutionise the education system in this country, particularly in its relegation of the role of local authorities. The Government’s determination to push through the Bill with indecent haste has understandably led to criticism that a Bill making such sweeping and far-reaching changes requires much more examination.

Tony Akkermans

Protest the Pope march through London on day of Hyde Park mass

wmhumanists — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:32:58 +0000

The Protest the Pope campaign has announced its large-scale march through London on Saturday 18 September – the day that the Pope will be holding his outdoor mass in Hyde Park.

The protest march will assemble at 1pm at Hyde Park Corner – Piccadilly Downslip (full details will be made available nearer the time). It will then proceed through central London and arrive in the vicinity of Parliament Square (details currently being discussed with New Scotland Yard).

This is in response to Ratzinger’s first event in London, on Friday 17th September, which will be at St Mary’s University College in Twickenham, just down the road from Richmond, where he will talk about his views on Education.

A spokesperson for the Protest the Pope Campaign said: “We reject the promotion of segregated education and state funding of faith schools.

This is why the Campaign will support a local coalition of associations based in South West London that are organising protests on the 17th September in Twickenham: a day that will be themed “Education Day”. The Protest the Pope campaign’s main target is not so much the right of the Pope to visit but his conduct over priestly child abuse and the exorbitant security cost to the hard pressed British taxpayer.

Tony Akkermans

From Newsletter 57

wmhumanists — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:25:04 +0000

For coming events, please see the Events and Meetings page.

Volunteers called for

There is a vacancy on the committee for a Publicity Officer. Would any member interested in filling this position please contact Tony .

A volunteer is also required for the job of Observer/member on the Hereford SACRE (Standing Advisory Committee for Religious Education).

Donations

The group is making a £ 150 donation towards the Pakistan Floods Appeal. It serves as a reminder that members’ subscriptions and donations are always put to the best of causes.

Humanist Officiants

Details of Humanist officiants for funerals, weddings and baby namings can be obtained from the British Humanist Association. Group members who provide this service are: Sue Falder, Pauline Oram and Jano Rochefort (weddings and baby namings only). Further information from the BHA.