South Devon Humanists

Welcome, Marina, daughter of Plymouth member, Joanna Janes.

She was born in January and her parents are looking forward to having a Humanist Naming Ceremony for her in the near future.

From Matthew Arnold's 'Dover Beach' :

'The Sea of Faith

Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore.

Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled..

But now I only hear.

Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,

Retreating, to the breath,

Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear,

And naked shingles of the world.',

As part of South Devon’s Humanists series of discussions, local lecturer Ros Allen gave a talk on Matthew Arnold's famous poem Dover Beach.

“Dover Beach is an outstanding 19th century poem, and one that modern Humanists can easily relate to,” Ros said.

"Matthew Arnold was born in 1822, became apostate at the age of 22, and his loss of faith resounds through his best poems. 'Dover Beach', written in the same year as Darwin's 'Origin of Species', is his most famous work. We analysed the poem which is a courageous attempt to face the pain of truth.”

Dr Kevin Dixon gave a lecture to South Devon’s Humanists on The Reformation in Devon, covering how the county moved from devout Catholicism to explicit Protestantism between 1530 and 1640.

“Traditionally, debate about the Reformation focussed on the correct interpretation of the Christian Gospel”, said Kevin.

“However, as Humanists we don’t see God making man in his image, but of men and women making God in our image! Religion offers an explanation of the unknown and a means to organise ourselves – to allow us to do those things we want and need to do. As society changes, we then see religion changing.”

Therefore, in Devon, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, most Protestants were to be found in towns such as Exeter, Axminster, Chagford, Crediton, Dartmouth, Plymouth, South Molton and Totnes. These are the places where new ideas of wealth creation found an audience, and we see the development of a new moral and legal order. Meanwhile, the Catholic faith retained the allegiance of many people in rural areas.

Inevitably, there were violent conflicts and, during the 1549 Prayer Book or Western Rebellion, 4,000 traditionalist rebels died following the siege of Exeter. These two ‘constellations’ of belief would continue and contribute towards loyalties to either King or Parliament in the Civil Wars of the 1640s”.

South Devon's Humanists have joined the campaign to end Prayers at Council meetings.

"Many councils across the country have stopped insisting that Councillors say prayers at the beginning of meetings", said South Devon Humanist Kevin Dixon. "However, Devon County Council, Torbay Council, South Hams District Council and Teignbridge District Council still retain this out-dated and discriminatory practice. We call on these councils to move on".

Advice from the National Association of Local Councils states that: "... Council(s) should consider removing the saying of prayers to ensure compliance with general statutory duty set out in so. 71 (1) of the 1976 (Race Discrimination) Act and to eliminate any risk of challenge under the Human Rights Act 1998."

A national test case is being progressed to establish whether Local Authority-hosted religious activities as part of Council meetings are lawful. "Will Council taxpayers have to pick up the bill for lawyers to defend the indefensible and then pay compensation? In 2006 a recommendation was made by a Torbay Council working party to end Prayers so as to meet good practice standards regarding equality & diversity. Having publicly admitted that they are acting in a discriminatory way, Torbay is vulnerable to legal action. They can't say they were not aware", said Kevin.

The new government White Paper 'Communities in Control' states that "There has been growing disenchantment with formal political mechanisms. Turnout at elections has been declining... local people don't feel they have an adequate say in the running of local services. And a majority do not think councillors represent their views... councils should do more to promote participation" p.2-3 "We need to make our public services truly democratic and open to all", he added. "The retention of religious services is a barrier for those of other faiths - and none - from becoming involved in serving their local community. Exeter and Plymouth Authorities have already abandoned prayers, while Totnes and Bideford Councils have replaced prayers associated with a specific religion with a few minutes of silence at the beginning of meetings during which time members may gather their thoughts or pray as they so wish. There have been no negative effects in abandoning these rituals."

To encourage further public debate on the issue, Humanists have posted a thread on the Forum site of South Devon's daily paper, the Herald Express, under 'News and Local Life' called "Do we want our Councillors to pray?" The address is: www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk

Totnes archaeologist Pat Grant addressed local Humanists on the antiquity of the human species. “Palaeontologists now agree that the line that eventually led to the species Homo sapiens evolved from a species of ape living in the forests of East Africa approximately 6 to 7 million years ago”, said Pat.

“The environment in Africa at this time was changing. The lush forests containing many species of ape were becoming much drier. Forests gave way to a savannah landscape with grass and trees only in stands at intervals. It was these conditions that forced adaptation.”

“The first human feature to appear was bipedalism. This was a feature of a species called australopithecines which evolved about 4 million years ago. Primitive stone tools began to be made at approx 3.2 million years ago. There were several hominid species at this time so it is not possible to pinpoint the exact line of human descent due to the rarity of fossils. The brain size of all of these species were only marginally bigger than the brains of chimpanzees. Homo habilis evolved from one of the australopithecine species and from them Homo erectus who appeared around 2 million years ago. This species is definitely a human ancestor who was bigger brained and was the first to leave Africa. It was in Africa however that Homo erectus evolved into Archaic Homo sapiens at about 400,000 years ago. They are the ancestors of Homo sapiens, our own species, who appeared about 200,000 years ago. Our species gradually replaced the descendants of Homo erectus, although the last ones disappeared only comparatively recently. The last Neanderthals died out 30,000 years ago and the species Homo floresiensis as recently as 10,000 years ago”.

As part of South Devon Humanists' series of events, Dave Owen led a discussion on the great humanist writer Kurt Vonnegut - pictured right - at Birdwood House in Totnes.

“Kurt Vonnegut caught the imagination of a post-war generation in novels like Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle,” said Dave. ”He was a prolific and genre-bending American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction.”

“Vonnegut's experience as an American soldier and prisoner of war had a profound influence on his later work. While imprisoned in Dresden he witnessed the fire bombing of the city in February 1945, which killed 25,000 people, scenes he described as ‘utter destruction, carnage unfathomable.’ He was one of very few to survive, by sheltering in an underground meat locker of Slaughterhouse Five. This experience gave him the theme and title for one of his most famous works.”

“Vonnegut was politically active into his eighties. He disbelieved in the supernatural and considered religious doctrine to be ‘so much arbitrary, clearly invented balderdash’. He served as president of the American Humanist Association - taking over from Isaac Asimov - until his death in 2007.”