Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

On Thursday I went up to Durham to speak to the Durham University Humanist and Secularist Society based there.

I delivered a talk on “Debating the Theists”, going through the common arguments and counter arguments that you often encounter when talking to believers. It was a talk I had given a few times to LAS in the past, though having lost all the notes and slides it was essentially a fresh talk with a similar theme running through it.

After a few technical problems at the start we finally got up and running and the talk went reasonably smoothly, though I missed out quite a few points I ended up kicking myself for during the question and answers afterward. Nether the less it was an enjoyable evening and I would like to thank DUHSS for inviting me up to speak.

Last Saturday I presented a talk to Leeds Skeptics on the subject of “Beating the Bookies: Can you make money from gambling?”

The talk looked at various ways it might be possible to get an edge over the bookmakers or casinos though unfortunately with a conclusion that it was fairly unlikely that you would be able to achieve this.

Never the less there were some interesting discussions after the event with people who had made a somewhat profitable attempt at it and come out with quite a lot to show for it over the years. What it comes down to though is that it is possible, but you really have to grind it out – and that’s just like having a job, so isn’t really a get rich quick scheme.

Last week I delivered a talk to the Humanist Society of West Yorkshire on the same subject I spoke at the Enquiry Conference on – my experiences with the Christian Union.

The talk itself went well enough and it was great to see that even after the summer break the group was still well attended and indeed had many new, and more importantly younger faces. If the group can sustain more of a mixed demographic, I think it will prove to be of real benefit.

I also got the chance to meet Joel, the new interfaith secretary at the Christian Union, who suggested I check out Hope City Church in Leeds – it’s much better than all the others apparently.

Last weekend saw Leeds Pride 2010, stealing many of our members of Humanist Community away for the day – but we’re not bitter or anything 😉 . The event itself was good, there were stalls and some live entertainment though I have to say I was somewhat disappointed by the parade.

Having spent time at Disneyland maybe I expect too much out of parades but Gijsbert noted the same thing – even compared to St. Lois our parade was rather low effort. Most of it was just people walking around, which is rubbish, you want to see floats and coordinated dancing, and costumes. Even the floats that were there were simply people riding around on buses.

Ultimately though it probably comes down to the apathy generated by a lack of marginalisation. Gays are simply not discriminated against in the UK, it’s perfectly normal and acceptable to be gay (as it should be too!) so we simply don’t feel the need to make as much noise as they would in the US for example.

A few things did really amuse me though.

First of all, LGBT Conservatives. Lol.

Also, the fact that there were two different Christian groups – “Christians Together at Pride” and “Some Christians are Gay – Get over it!” Even if something as niche as gay Christians (or Christians suffering from “same sex attraction” as the True Freedom Trust puts it) they still manage to splinter themselves.

You can see loads more photos from Leeds Pride on my Facebook album.

While what’s really important in any community group is really interesting and well thought through content (which I will be blogging about over on the Leeds Humanists blog), what I was most excited about this month was us rolling out our new happy humanist roller banner! Look at it sitting there behind Gijsbert, how nice 😀 .

With Mr Foley’s looking like our home for the moment, we had a great Skeptics in the Pub meeting in July with a really strong turn out despite it being in the middle of summer. Perhaps due to the excellent quality of talk delivered by Jonni on “The Mind, Illusion and the Need for Science.”

Browns played host to this year’s End of Year Ball in Leeds, with them providing us with no less than two private rooms – one for the reception and one for the dinner. As a bonus my fish came as an entire fish too.

The World Cup manages to get everywhere – and arguably so it should – though it was surprising to find that it even made it as far as the Humanist Community of Leeds with Gijsbert dressing up in all orange to support his home country, The Netherlands.

The June Skeptics in the Pub meeting was held at Mr Foley’s on The Headrow. It’s interesting that when you describe it as “opposite the art gallery” nobody really knows where you mean but as soon as you say “next door to Wildcats” everyone knows exactly where it is!

For the innocent of you, Wildcats is one of Leeds’ many strip joints.

June’s talk was by Stewart Richmond who is the man that proved magnetic bracelets are of course a load of nonsense. Good times.

Last Sunday saw the May meeting of the Humanist Community of Leeds. It was well attended and all those who spoke to me gave positive feedback – indeed a record number of people stayed on for Sunday lunch and we had to have the restaurant expand the area we are normally in!