It hardly seems any time at all since the AHS launched itself into the public eye at it’s press launch and convention in 2009. Next weekend, March 12th -13th, sees the AHS hold its third annual convention at Conway Hall in London.
For those that don’t know, the AHS (or to give it its full name, the National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies) is a national umbrella organisation catering for non-religious societies within higher education in the UK.
The AHS has enjoyed high profile support during it’s relatively short history with patrons including author and academic Professor Richard Dawkins and journalist and writer Polly Toynbee. Dawkins said this of the AHS:
Public statements of non-belief are treated as threatening, an affront to the religious, while the reverse is not true. More concerning is the enduring assumption that religious belief does not have to earn respect like any other view, an approach that has caused politicians and public figures across the UK to withdraw from asking the vital question: why is religion given such special status in government, culture and the media? Why is belief in a higher power an indication of greater moral fortitude, character and acumen? The AHS says publicly that it isn’t; on the contrary, beliefs that are unsupported, bigoted or demand special privileges should always be challenged. No opinion should be protected from criticism simply by virtue of being religiously held.
With over thirty members covering the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland, the AHS is one of the fastest growing organisations of its ilk and the 2011 convention will be its biggest event to date.
Speaking about the convention, the British Humanist Association’s Chief Executive, Andrew Copson, who is speaking at the event said:
It is impressive to see how the AHS has grown over the last six months, more than doubling in size. It’ll be very exciting to see this reflected in the numbers that come to the AHS Convention, and I am very excited to be taking part in it.
The line up for the convention is a veritable who’s who with speakers including the philosopher, author and long-term supporter of the AHS Professor AC Grayling. Grayling spoke at the AHS’s first convention in 2009, saying:
As well as making the case for reason and science, it is great to know that the AHS will be standing up against religious privilege and discrimination. All people are entitled to their beliefs but we secularists (whether religious or humanist) are right in arguing that the state must be entirely neutral in these matters. A situation where the religious beliefs of a few may dictate the personal choices of everyone in abortion, for example, or assisted suicide is quite wrong. Yet some religious groups defend and even aim to expand their considerable privileges – public money for their “faith-based” schools, seats in the House of Lords, exemption from laws inconvenient to their prejudices. The AHS shows that increasing numbers of young people are unwilling to put up with it.
Other headliners include journalist and activist Johann Hari, comedian Robin Ince and politician Lord Warner. National Secular Society executive director Kieth Porteous Wood and the BHA Choir round off the set list.
All of the speakers are set to take to stage between 12pm and 6pm on the Saturday of the convention. Fringe events will be taking palce throughout the day, including exhibitions by a variety of local and national organisations. The day is also being broadcast live via the popular science and religion podcast The Pod Delusion.
The Sunday of the convention will be aimed primarily at the AHS’s member societies, with workshops running on sustainability, finances, debating and an awards ceremony.
AHS President, Richy Thompson, summed up the convention:
We’re very excited about this convention, which promises to far and away be the AHS’s biggest gathering yet. The line-up of speakers looks really great, and the events on the committee-centric day should help stimulate a new year of leaders for non-religious societies.
Tickets for the convention are avaialble from the BHA website for the Saturday, or both days. Tickets are priced at £6 (£3 students).
]]>For as long as I can remember I have hated new year celebrations. Not so much the actual celebrating – I like a drink and a party as much as the next guy – but the fact that celebration takes place at all. Wht do we celebrate the transition from 31st December to 1st January? Maybe a more improtant question, is what are we actually celebrating with this quasi-festival?
Many will answer that we are celebrating the end of one year and the start of the next – a traditional rebirth metaphor On the surface, this seems a fairly good answer, if a little pagan, as this cyclical nature of death and rebirth is so ingrained in the human psyche that it would be stranger to miss a chance to celebrate the metaphor given half a chance.
My question to those that support this view would be why this particular point in the Earth’s orbit of the sun? There is at least some demarcation in other rebirth metaphors – night into day, phases of the moon, literal life and death – but this is just one of many opportunities to celebrate the fact that the planet is still orbiting its star.
Some argue that we are celebrating the fact we are moving from one calendar year to the next. This is perhaps a little more forgivable than the first argument as there is at least some demarcation. We are ripping up the calendar for 2010 and crakcing out the calendar for 2011 (I went from a Trinity Hospice in the Fylde calendar to a Marvel one).
It is far harder for me to find fault with this argument, although it still feels an arbitrary reason. I mean the calendar we use today was invented by Pope Gregory XIII to prevent Easter having to move all the time as the previous calendar had slightly miscalculated the vernal equinox, meaning the year was 11 minutes too short.
As an atheist and veritable anti-papist, I find it a little odd that I am supposed to celebrate the continued use of a tool invented to control congregations and ensure the continued influence of the Catholic Church on modern life. Don’t get me wrong here, I am fully aware that the calendar as a popular tool today has little to do with the Catholic Church and its continuing influence. However, I find it just as difficult to celebrate Christmas with its historical ties to Christianity and that tradition is well over 1000 years old. New Year as we know it less than 300 years of tradition (Britain didn’t adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752).
The third argument (although I have only ever heard it once from a Catholic friend of mine) is the celebration of the circumcision of Jesus. This one I have absolutely no problems with. If people want to celebrate this then go ahead. Obviously, this defence only works for those sects of Christianity and Messianic Judaism that believe and therefore celebrate this. I don’t believe in Jesus as a god (and barely believe in him as a figure from history) and certainly would never celebrate the barbaric act of none-medical circumcision under any circumstances.
The final argument (and the one that my skeptical and atheist friends tend to fall back on) is one of opportunity. Why should we pass up on a chance to party just because the historical or traditional rationale for the party doesn’t hold up. Why can’t we celebrate an arbitrary festival for arbitrary (or no) reason?
Whilst there are idealistic flaws with this argument, these tend to come from contrarianism rather than any real evidentiary basis. This argument is clearly the hardest to refute as it basically says “who cares?” and in my experience, the answer is “very few”.
So, I continue to party at new year. I also continue to have this argument with anyone that will listen in the hope that one day someone will offer a better option than “if you can’t beat them, join them”.
Any ideas then feel free to add a comment!
]]>February was another quiet month on the blog front although I did spend a week in the Lakes and come hoem to find my house was flooded which left me without a PC for nearly a month.
March saw me foolishly making some long term plans about future living arrangements as well as celebrating Normanralph.com’s 3rd birthday. I also gave up my car to cut down on costs and get ready for city centre living.
A good friend of mine was deported in April and threatened with death on his return to his native Pakistan. Leeds Atheist Society ran Reason Week 2010 and I started following Major League Soccer.
In May I spent a lot of time preparing for my speaking engagement at CWF’s Enquiry conference in Birmingham. I also split up with my partner and moved in with Chris and George.
June was world cup month, so the less said about it the better, but I was hardly in a celebrating mood following the events of the previous month.
I spent most of July running around the country with work, really throwing myself in to my job.
Blackpool started their Premier League campaign during August and I started to really get ready for my trip of a lifetime. The month finished with a really great weekend with Sarann at Solfest.
Eurotrip 2010 took up September. In three weeks Chris, Kieran, George and I took in Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Munich, Salzburg, Venice, Verona, St Gallen, Montreux, Monte Carlo and Jard-Sur-Mer. I also turned 26.
October was a catching up month. I was working a lot to pay off Europe and to make sure that I got my best ever performance review to date.
I was off around the country again in November. Taking in an audience with Greg Epstein and a load of gigs.
December saw me celebrate the success story of Blackpool FC’s season in the Premier League so far as well as the contribution made by their manager. I also found time to go and see Tim Minchin thank god for Sam’s Mum’s Cateracts.
As you can see, it has been a mixed bag of a year. Some real highs in the form of Eurotrip and the number of gigs I’ve managed to catch, but also some real lows.
I think 2011 might be OK, there are some things that I am already really excited about seeing how they pan out as well as some concrete plans to go to Dublin, Malta and maybe even back to Verona over the summer. I also have some great work to do with some of the organisations I support i.e. the AHS and BHA as well as continuing to build up my own career and developing some projects of my own.
Here’s to you 2011.
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Linkin Park
November started with Linkin Park at the MEN Arena in Manchester. I used to love Linkin Park back when I was a youngish teenager but I have to admit that I had kind of drifted away from their music over the last few years, bar the odd scream-along at Wendy House when one of their singles came on. This meant I surprised myself as much as anyone else when I suggested to Chris that I tagged along with him to go and see them play.
The gig was pretty good all round, despite the fact we were sat at the back of the arena on the upper tier (about as far away from the stage as possible). Their new material from the album A Thousand Suns is really good, but not necessarily designed for arena tours. I felt that they blended the new stuff in pretty well with their older material. Chris posts his views on the gig here, where he disagrees with my view on this.
I had a really good time at the concert and it was fun to relive some of my angsty youth.
The second gig of the month was a freebie from work in recognition of some of the work I have been doing over the last few months. I got an email on a Thursday to say that I had been awarded two tickets to see a concert at the MEN on the Friday (as in the next day!) This was quite a shock and meant that I would have to arrange travel etc to Manchester and find someone to go with. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but for some reason whenever I get tickets to stuff from work there never seems to be anyone that wants to go.
Gorillaz
I left work on the Friday at three-thirty and headed back to my colleague’s house to grab a quick drink and then catch a train from Dewsbury to Manchester. This journey normally takes a little over an hour, however on this occasion it took nearly 4 hours, including having to change at Rochdale due to the train being too late to carry on!
Anyway, we eventually made it to the gig about 2 hours later than expected and got into the arena just in time to see that last couple of songs by the support act, De La Soul, who were really rather good. Chris showed up just as Gorillaz started (see his story here) and we enjoyed a fantastic show. The event was made even sweeter by the realisation that all our drinks and food were on expenses.
The Gorillaz themselves were really good. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect as I struggled to work out how an animated band would translate to real life performance, but Damon Albarn really pulled it off with his high energy style and fantastic animation of the band on the giant screen on stage.
I am not a huge Gorillaz fan beyond a few of their singles, but the concert was really good (the free beer helped no doubt) and I would recommend them to anyone who wants a really fun, live band who don’t take themselves too seriously!
Kevin Bridges
I went with some friends from work and we enjoyed a few beverages on the train and then in York, which is always a nice palce to go drinking, before heading to the theatre. The support act was a young Scot whose name escapes me now, but he was funny enough and a good warm-up act using plenty of crowd interaction to get us in the mood. Kevin’s set was fairly long and had me in stitches quite a few times. The funniest part of the night was when he learned (from a member of the audience) that suit pockets are really pockets and if he undid the temporary stitching he could use them. They say everyday’s a school day!
Again, an act I would recommend to those that like some not too mainstream comedy but also not too alternative. A good laugh.
]]>Having said all that, I do have a couple of articles I want to put up as soon as I have finished them inspired by the Harvard University humanist chaplain, Greg Epstein (author of Good Without God) whom I got to go and see courtesy of the BHA last month. The focus of these articles are similar to a couple of articles I have published in the past on marketing the humanist brand and developing the non-religious “product”.
I also have the article series I promised back in January to post which was delayed for a number of reasons, not least some issues over the leaking of my blog’s existence to the powers that be as well as the break-up of my relationship.
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Dr. Shaukat Aman Ullah became heavily involved with local atheist and humanist groups while studying for his doctorate at the University of Leeds. Dr. Ullah was in the UK on a student visa and applied for asylum on the completion of his Ph.D. His application was rejected in March; he is currently appealing the ruling.
Chris Worfolk, trustee of the National Federation of Atheist, Humanist & Secular Student Societies said:
This is exactly what our asylum laws were set up for. Here is an individual who faces genuine persecution for his beliefs in his own country. If we truly value freedom of expression and the right to your own beliefs we must grant asylum.
Sophie Stringfellow, president of Leeds Atheist Society said:
Being part of the Atheist Society has really opened my eyes as to how some people view non-belivers, even in modern society. If we encounter this attitude in a secular country such as the UK, I fear what attitudes may be encountered in Parkistan.
Parkistan has no separation of church and state and 95% of the population are Muslim. Apostasy is punishable by death, as is speaking out against Islam (as this is considered blasphemy).
Since the decision a coalition of Leeds community groups, led by Leeds Atheist Society have come together in order to raise awareness of Dr. Ullah’s case. Dr. Richard Parker of the Leeds-based Humanist Action Group commented:
It’s amazing to see how many people have volunteered to help spread the word. I would strongly urge everyone to sign the petition and show their support.
Arslan is a personal friend of mine and is already receiving death threats from people who wish to punish him for his decision to reject Islam. Support this campaign and sign the petition. If you have any messages of support or would like to get involved with the campiagn then either contact me or join the Facebook group and leave a message there.
]]>I have really enjoyed living in Seacroft. The house is beautiful to look at and when the weather is nice, it is actually a realy comfortable place to live. The problem is that the weather is rarely nice for long periods of time in this country and the waterproofing issues the hosue faces when it rains/snows/hails are just too depressing.
When the landlord called me to suggest whe was thinking of putting the place up for sale I pretty much made up my mind that we should move on. The problem is where?
The practical part of my brain says we should move to within waling distance of either my or Liz’s place of work so that we can eliminate one of our travel expense budgets. This means picking one of Roundhay or Morley. Liz on the other hand has her heart set on modern city living, looking primarily at appartments in the city centre and just to the south of the river and canal.
There are good arguments to make for both. I mean, O2 do a free bus service from town to the office so actually city living would meet my cost reducing requirements as well as keeping the missus happy. However, I do like my space, particularly in my office/home entertainment room. I have lived and worked out of poky rooms for the past few years and I really want to treat myself to a decent workspace. A good sized second bedroom would probabyl suffice, as we really only need a spare bed for people to stay over in, rather that a fully functioning spare room.
So the search will begin in earnest over the coming weeks, so any thoughts or ideas then feel free to contact me.
]]>In my defence, I have been busy working (I am currently working on a project that means I have to work long hours and travel a lot) and doing my best to spend time with Liz and my friends (something that I am equally as bad at).
I have about 15 articles/posts in draft format and I am probbaly going to start posting them unfinished/unedited because it seems I am incapable of finishing anything before starting something else and rather than have you sit here reading Twitter updates ad infinitum, you might as well get some unpolished work to read and maybe comment on!
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