HUMANIST SOCIETY OF WEST YORKSHIRE
Affiliated to the British Humanist Association

NEWSLETTER (113), JANUARY 2009

 A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS

“The Religions of Pre-Christian Britain”
Paul Dean, (Leeds University and member of this Society) Tuesday 13th January 7.30 to 9.00pm
( coffee from 7.00 in the Café) in Room 2, Swarthmore Centre, 2-7 Woodhouse Square, Leeds

Paul gave a short illustrated talk on “Early Religion: The beliefs and Monuments of Neolithic and Bronze-age Britain” at the last AGM.  This was very well received by members, many of whom expressed the wish for a full-length talk by Paul on a similar theme.  Well, this is it, so we know we are in for a treat!

            December meeting “Humanism and the Search for Meaning in the Post-modern World”             Professor Colin Campbell, Dept of Sociology, York University.

The ink blot test has shown that humans tend to see patterns in random images.  Similarly they have a need to see meaning in life; how did it originate and what is the Universe made of?  This was satisfied by religions with their creation myths.
The cognitive meaning (1) is the regular meaning provided by science, but there are other meanings.  The emotional meaning (2)is not the answer to “What is it?” but to “How should we feel about it?” and “How should we relate to it?”.  This has been answered by religions, e.g. Buddhism teaches acceptance, mediaeval Christianity taught Hell-fire and thus fear whereas today’s born-again Christians are optimistic and hopeful of a heavenly after-life.  There is also a moral meaning (3) dealing with fairness and justice.  The common question when some misfortune befalls is “Why me?”  God is thought omnipotent yet we have all this suffering and injustice. Children have a great sense of ’fairness’. 
Science explains natural events and so is brilliant on (1) but not on (2) and (3).  It does not answer the mother who asks why it was her child who was run over but not his/her playmate.  Someone leads a blameless life and yet gets cancer.   Religion provides explanations such as ‘part of God’s plan’ or consult a witch-doctor to discover who has put a spell on you!  ’Luck’ is not an explanation.
Another type of meaning (4) is the want for ones life  to have ‘significance’, a worthwhile outcome.  Religion gives the concept of  ‘vocation’, being called by God. There are secular forms, e.g. committed communists, the idealism of the C.N.D. marchers  and green protesters.
With ’The Enlightenment’ science and reason replaced religion for meaning(1) but it cannot fulfil the same function for the other meanings.  Many still turn to religion: the tsunami and the floods of 2007 were claimed to be God’s judgement on the immorality of society, particularly same-sex relationships, yet the areas affected were not hotbeds of homosexuality.  Most people look elsewhere, superstition and magic(witchcraft) were suppressed by the Church, now secularism has given superstition space to expand.  Astrology has become pervasive since the 1930s. “Horoscopes sell newspapers”; many take them seriously, e,g. Adolf Hitler, Ronald Reagan and even some banks.  20,00 neo-pagans were identified in the latest census, wickens put spells on people.  Exorcism is not only practised by African churches.
Superstitions are common, particularly among gamblers and sportsmen with their ‘lucky’ mascots and items of clothing.  “Touch wood”, coming from touching part of the cross. is universal, though for most it is a knee-jerk reaction ingrained from childhood. Similarly, complementary medicine has expanded greatly, it now has more therapists than there are G.P.s!  Though some, such as osteopathy, may have some scientific credibility, most, such as homeopathy, are purely based on faith and their placebo effect. 
Conspiracy theories, another way of seeing a pattern to events, are very popular; examples are Al Fayed on Diana’s death, Kennedy’s assassination,  the moon landing, the Vinci Code, even climate change.  People like to believe there is a pattern to events, they do not happen by chance.
Another manifestation is the search for identity; some gain their meaning in life by feeling important.  Identity used to be linked to ones place and occupation. With today’s fluid multicultural society identity that is less fixed, so many search their genealogy to find who they are.  The second most visited web site in the U.S.A. is that on genealogy.  Similarly the ‘New Age’ movement, including the ‘Human Potential Movement’ encourages the belief that we ere all perfect beings inside but society id oppressing us.  Thus everything is connected to everything else, you are a perfect being and everybody has their own truth.
What does this all mean for humanists?  We recognise the basic arbitrariness of life and so do not fall for any of these ‘meaning ’ tricks.
The discussion that followed included the belief when in love that the lovers were ‘fated’ to meet, the effect of the Virtual World, science fiction has now become science fantasy and, because we have problems accepting the reality of death, belief in re-incarnation has grown beyond the Buddhist faith.  The expression of such a belief, that disabled people are being punished for misdemeanours in a past life,  brought about the dismissal of Glen Hoddle the manager of the England football team.
From the ‘buzz’ at the end, one could tell that the talk was greatly enjoyed and appreciated!     
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The AGM will be in the same format as last year, at Swarthmore with the formal meeting followed by drinks and nibbles in the café.  We would like to finish with  a talk by a member on some relevant but possibly lighter subject for the last half-hour. Any volunteers?

Quote of the Month
"In the Bombay I grew up in, your religion was a personal eccentricity, like a hairstyle. In my school, you were denominated by which cricketer or Bollywood star you worshiped, not which prophet. In today's Mumbai, things have changed. Hindu and Muslim demagogues want the mobs to come out again in the streets, and slaughter one another in the name of God. They want India and Pakistan to go to war. They want Indian Muslims to be expelled. They want India to get out of Kashmir. They want mosques torn down. They want temples bombed."
(Suketu Mehta, New York Times)

Diary; all meetings at 7.30 (coffee from 7.00), Rm 2, Swarthmore, 2-7 Woodhouse Sq LS3 1AD         Tue. 10th Feb.  “Neo-Darwinism - Darwinism Plus Genetics”  Richard Parker
Tue. 10th Mar.  “Ashley Montagu as Humanist Critic of Darwin” Gregory Radick
 Tue. 21st Apr. AGM