What I said to Richard Dawkins after the "We'd be better off without religion" debate

After the "We'd be better off without religion" debate (at the Grand Hall, Westminster on 27th March) Richard Dawkins was signing his book The God Delusion.

I wished Dawkins happy birthday for yesterday (26th March). I said that I was helping to organise the PR for the The God Delusion to MPs Pledge at the House of Commons on the 16th April. I asked Dawkins "would he present his pledge, in public, to Dr Evan Harris (his local MP). He said he would not. Dawkins then said that he had arranged to pledge his book to David Miliband MP. I asked Dawkins "would he present his pledge, in public, to David Miliband MP." He said he would not.

Miliband, Rt Hon David

Lab

South Shields

Taken by Anonymous (13)

I walked away but within 5 paces people were tapping me on the shoulder. I looked around and saw Dawkins standing up waving his pen at me. Had I forgot my wallet? No! Dawkins said that whilst he was unwilling to present his pledge in public to any MP - he WAS however willing to ATTEND the PR event for the book pledge. Dawkins requested I send details of the PR event to him by email for his written confirmation that he can attend.

James Christie and Peter Klaver please note!!

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2007 March 28

NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe

Explanation: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million light-years away toward the chemical constellation Fornax, NGC 1365 is a dominant member of the well-studied Fornax galaxy cluster. This impressively sharp color image shows intense star forming regions at the ends of the bar and along the spiral arms, as well as details of dust lanes cutting across the galaxy's bright core. At the core lies a supermassive black hole. Astronomers think NGC 1365's prominent bar plays a crucial role in the galaxy's evolution, drawing gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and ultimately feeding material into the central black hole.

reposted from: nasa
my: highlights / emphasis / key points / comments

We'd be better off without religion

March 27, 2007
Motion: We'd be better off without religion

For the motion: Professor Richard Dawkins, Professor A.C.Grayling, Christopher Hitchens. Against the motion: Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Professor Roger Scruton, Dr. Nigel Spivey.
Chaired by: Joan Bakewell

2200 & I attended this debate last night.

Entrance Poll: 850 (46%) FOR, 650 (35%) AGAINST, 350 (19%) UNDECIDED (total: 1850)

After the debate: 1205 (56%) FOR, 778 (36%) AGAINST, 150 (8%) UNDECIDED (total: 2133)

(figures are my approximation - does anyone have the exact figures?)

A very stimulating debate. The audience were extremely polite - no heckling whatsoever. Only one 20 second outburst from Christopher Hitchens. Each speaker had 6 minutes with a further 2 minutes summary. This was followed by 30 minutes Q & A from the floor. I hope to have links to the speeches later in the week.

Speakers for the motion:

• Professor Richard Dawkins Charles Simonyi Professor in the Public Understanding of Science, University of Oxford. Author of ‘The Selfish Gene’ and ‘The God Delusion’. He is is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
  
  
• Professor A.C.Grayling Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Author of ‘The Reason of Things: The Good Life Without God’ and ‘Among the Dead Cities’.
  
  
• Christopher Hitchens Author, journalist, columnist and contributing editor to Vanity Fair. Voted fifth out of the world’s top one hundred “public intellectuals”.

Speakers against the motion:

• Rabbi Julia Neuberger Rabbi, author, broadcaster and social reformer. Her latest book is ‘The Moral State We’re In’.
  
  
• Professor Roger Scruton Writer and philosopher. His books include ‘Philosophy: Principles and Problems’ and ‘England: An Elegy’. Runs an experimental farm in Wiltshire which turns grass into ideas and ideas into feelings.
  
  
• Dr Nigel Spivey Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he teaches Classical art and archaeology. Author and presenter of several television documentaries, including ‘How Art Made the World’ and ‘Digging for Jesus’.

The debate was chaired by Joan Bakewell Joan Bakewell’s broadcasting career spans some 35 years – first making her mark in the 60s as a presenter of BBC2’s Late Night Line Up and presenting travel programmes and Granada’s Report Action. In the 80s she was Arts Correspondent for the BBC and in the 90s she presented the award winning Heart of the Matter for BBC1. Throughout this time she has sustained a career in Radio and as a print journalist.

reposted from: http://www.intelligencesquared.com/event_future.php?d=20070327
my: highlights / emphasis / key points / comments