Event Report - Prophecy and the Experience of Time

We were excited to welcome Jason Dittmer of UCL Geography, who gave a fascinating and entertaining talk on perceptions of time and prophecies of the end of the world. He began by summarising historical theories on the nature of time. Nietzsche thought of time as cyclical 'the eternal return of the same'. This attitude could be attributed to the closeness of people at the time to the changing of the seasons and how plants come and go with time. In contrast, Einstein described time as a quantitative entity, which could be measured with a number and conformed to our travel through space. Bergson took a more personal approach, emphasising that time goes in one direction only, and memories are the conjuring of the past into the present in a kind of virtual reality. He referenced the subjective nature of time: time seems to travel faster as we grow older, and can seem to go by incredibly slowly if we are experiencing something unpleasant.

Dittmer then moved onto the subject of prophecy. The problem solving technique of 'mythos' can explain how prophecy watchers come to their conclusions. If a person fits the information they receive into a narrative that they are comfortable with, this is mythos. The mythos of a prophecy watching Christian is based on the narrative of the 7 dispensations, taken from the bible. This is a constant pattern of humans making mistakes, being punished and then god's forgiveness. Dittmer postulated that since the bible is a fixed entity that cannot be updated, it becomes increasingly hard to address modern problems with its teachings. This means that confabulations happen, making the narrative more resilient.

Some Christians believe that we are currently living in the 6th dispensation. This period began with the appearance of Christ, and will end with the appearance of an Antichrist. As he rises to political power the earth will suffer natural disasters and he will eventually rule for three and a half years. After this, faithful Christians will defeat the Antichrist and there will be a thousand years of peace and happiness.

This mythos has led to many people watching out for signs of the Antichrist's rise to power, in anticipation of the end times. The internet has enabled them to share their ideas and gain comfort and encouragement (this can be compared to conspiracy theorists). This is especially common in America, as it could be said that its citizens can see the country as having a privileged role in the world, meaning that any important cosmic events will take place there.

Online prophecy watchers collected relevant information and found numerical patterns to justify the theory that Barack Obama was the Antichrist, during his campaign in 2008. Obama's race encouraged these assertions, as well as the belief that he was a Muslim. His seeming appearance from nowhere, his 'otherness' and his charismatic character made him a target.

Dittmer invited us to consider how we would experience time if we believed that the world was soon coming to an end. Would time seem slower as the date approached? He emphasised the bodily impact of this belief by the fact that Harold Camping died of a stroke three days after the 'rapture' he predicted did not happen. Also, people often die after Christmas, as if their bodies felt the significance of this special time.

Dittmer concluded his talk by suggesting that instead of people being divided into 'believers' and 'non-believers', they should be considered as either looking to the future with hope, or looking into the past.

Event Report - Survivor's Voice Europe

Sue Cox began her talk with the moving and inspiring story of her life so far. Born in rural Lincolnshire, she experienced a strict Catholic upbringing. She was taught that practically everything was sinful, and the family household revolved around the church. At the age of 5, she had to take part in praying for her cousin to die, since he was going to marry a divorcee. Cox described the brainwashing of confessions, guilt and ritual, such as sleeping with your arms across your chest, as touching your body was sinful. 

As her parish was poor, there was no vicarage, meaning that the priest lodged at the family’s house. The neighbourhood’s attitude to the clergy was that they could do no wrong: as they were so close to god, their hands were sacred, meaning that they could do no work and should be served by everyone. The local priest was often ill and was replaced temporarily with others, one of which abused Cox from the ages of 10 to 13. 

Cox described her horrendous experiences and the effect they had on her later life. The death of her father, the Catholic environment and the abuse by a priest led to her becoming disturbed: self-harming, suffering from an eating disorder and an alcoholic. After a violent first marriage Cox found herself with six children. Remembering the inaction that followed her rape, she slowly distanced herself from the church, and began her recovery with the help of support from her friends, education and a job in counselling. 

As well as a successful career as an addiction councellor, Cox became involved in telling her story as part of the campaign to expose the damaging actions of the Catholic church. A documentary appearance led to a speech at a rally, and making links with the Italian anti-clerical Radicali Party. At a party meeting, the stories told by fellow survivors inspired Cox to co-found her organisation Survivor's Voice.

Survivor's Voice aims to empower survivors with information and support, rather than being involved in fundraising and campaigning against the church. 

Check out their website for more information: http://survivorsvoice-europe.org/ and thanks to everyone who came!

Event Report - The Young Atheist's Handbook

Alom Shaha gave an interesting and personal talk about his book the Young Atheist's Handbook and his insights on the matter of religion. He wanted to write a book that would be accessible for young teenagers and answer their questions about atheism, but the idea of incorporating his own story and experiences made the book more personal. Shaha stressed that the book is not anti-religious, but that it aims to make people think about what they believe. However, at the heart of belief is a feeling rather than an intellectual argument - even in the case of atheists. Belief may come from a human need to find patterns and meanings in a meaningless universe.

Many school students have accused Shaha: 'you don't believe in anything!' He counters that he believes in finding your own morality based on justice, equality and empathy. Humans can live as if they have purpose - with the help of love and work they can accept the pointlessness of life.

Shaha stated that he doesn't like debating whether god exists or not, but only has a problem with the concept  of god if it is used to excuse oppression and prejudice.

The fact that he comes from a Muslim background gave Shaha problems when publishing the book. Publishers thought that this combined with atheism would cause controversy and backlash. Shaha believes that this is a reflection of how Muslims are viewed by society - as fundamentalist and all the same. This may be because people don't mix with Muslims enough, as people do not have diverse social circles.

Thanks to everyone who attended! Don't forget to buy society membership to enjoy future events:
http://uclu.org/clubs-societies/atheist-secularist-and-humanist-society

Event Report - Climate Change, Gossip and the Evolution of Our Big Brains

We continued our events this term with a talk from Mark Maslin, UCL climatology professor and researcher. Maslin gave a fascinating and fun exploration of how modern humans have evolved – through processes not quite involving ribs, clay and evil snakes.

Our oldest ancestor is around 6-7 million years old, and our defining characteristic was in fact upright walking rather than a large brain. The importance of this trait can be seen by the fact that it takes a human infant a whole year to learn to walk. Walking is a good travel solution as humans can walk upright all day without tiring too much. Maslin explained how modern humans developed in the East African Rift system, a rift valley with open landscape that helped development. Changes in brain sizes can be charted through the discovery of skulls in this area.

Maslin’s research in East Africa is concerned with finding the explanation for primitive humans’ leap in brain capacity. The solution may be in the frequently appearing and disappearing lakes along the rift. Rapid shifts from wet to arid conditions may stimulate competition and evolution. Other human species developed large jaws to eat more types of food, whereas we developed larger brains.

But how did this help us survive? Larger skull sizes can hugely impede survival as birth is so difficult and dangerous. Maslin postulated that our brains are tools for dealing with the complex social situations arising from a tribe of around 150 individuals. Keeping track of other individuals’ activities (gossip) is an advanced task which allows the creation of valuable affiliations. These alliances can help protection against predators and the accumulation of resources.

This enlightening talk was followed by questions from the audience which prompted whole new areas of discussion, continuing in the pub. Join our facebook page to keep track of further events, we’ve got lots of great things planned for this term! 

Event Report - Three Approaches to Activism

The first lecture event of the term presented not one but three speakers, chosen to represent the three themes of our society. Alex Gabriel, journalist and blogger for The Heresy Club, represented the viewpoint of atheism. Elizabeth O'Casey, a vice-president of the NSS represented secularism and Richard Norman, vice-president of the BHA spoke for humanism.

Each speaker began by introducing their ideas on the definition and purpose of their stance. Richard Norman began by asking the question, if someone is an atheist, where do they go from there? He explained that humanism can be seen as a belief in the possibility of a good life without religion. The values of humanism are grounded in fundamental human values rather than being an imitation of religion. Norman described humans as empathic beings with a shared faculty for reason. From these bases come about respect, justice and the framework for a positive society. Humanists recognise the common ground between non-believers and the religious, as well as challenging the prejudice and oppression which can stem from religious baggage.

Elizabeth O'Casey sought to differentiate secularism as a political aim rather than a philosophical system. Secularism aims to promote equality between citizens through the separation of religion and state. England is not a secular state - however France's model of a disinterest from the state in religion (viewing it as a private matter) is one that the NSS is more eager to follow. Secularism can also get rid of interference from the state in religious matters, as these individuals have a right to freedom of belief. Some of the political system seen as a problem by the NSS include the fact that the queen and church are intertwined, bishops have a moral priority in the house of lords and faith schools constitute one third of schools which are publicly funded.

Representing atheism, Alex Gabriel proposed that problems focused upon by secular activists are the tip of the iceberg in terms of how religion can negatively affect society. He stated that less than half of people in the UK believe in evolution, religion perpetuates a stereotypical view of gender which causes repression, people rely upon prayer for healing and go to the clergy for advice on mental health. In addition, children brought up in religious homes are taught to believe lies and are threatened with divine punishment. Gabriel believes that a secular state is not enough - there should be less religious belief among the population. This means that his activism includes educating the religious and provoking them to defend their position with reason. The fact that non-belief is increasing is proof of the fact that people can change their minds.

After these three speeches, the speakers took questions from the audience and discussed the ways in which their positions were compatible as well as different.

Thanks to everyone who came, we hope you learned something and had a chance to express your opinion!

Post Welcome Week Reflections

We had a busy Welcome Week! We had the first social of the year; an atheist pub crawl, which had a fantastic turnout of both old and prospective members. Thankfully we avoided the Bentham freshers' rush in the Gordon's Cafe. 

It was definitely fun handing out our shiny godless condoms at Welcome Fair - even if every freebie didn't bring a new member at least it made Welcome Week safer for everyone. 

The Grant Museum kindly welcomed us to explore in our Life of Brian film screening, with free wine for everyone. 

Hi to any freshers, post-grads or newly interested people, it's great to have you at our events! Read our newsletters or keep track of our facebook or Twitter for updates on everything that's going on. 

Announcement - Safe Sex Freebies from the ASHS

We've been wanting to give out freebies which convey the message of the society and have an actual use, so we came up with the idea of atheist condoms (if JLS can pull it off, why can't we?) We couldn't decide on a slogan so left it to members of our facebook group to suggest and vote for the final design. They've arrived in time for Welcome Week so we're unveiling them now, come grab one at the Welcome Fair or at one of our weekly pub socials. We hope you like them!