September Meeting

It's been a while since I added a post to this blog.

We met at Symposium Cafe in the Meadowvale Town Centre on the 15th to resume our monthly HPHC meetings generally held on the third Tuesday of the month.

There was no set discussion topic and so the conversation meandered along, with the introduction of a new member, Alex Thomas, who came from a long line of devout Syrian Christians from South India. His father is a minister of their local community but Alex and his brother have deviated from the religious fervour of their ancestors. We welcomed back Cheri Cowan, all the way from Caledon, to her second meeting with HPHC, the first being a backyard barbeque at my place. The rest were HPHC stalwarts, Prof. Jackson and his brother-in-law, Bene, Mark (Devenish) our treasurer (came hoping to coax new memberships) and Elka. Ernie was unable to attend.

Cheri is a certified secular officiant although not yet with the Humanists. Her recollection of a recent secular wedding opened the door to a discussion on marriage vows and how stable can it be for non-religious. I was of the opinion that a common-law relationship was probably more likely to succeed, given that marriage is generally considered the 'graveyard of romance' though not necessarily so. From an evolutionary perspective, Homo Sapiens sapiens are considered to be opportunistically serially monogamous. As such, vows such as 'till death do us part' are artificial constraints on otherwise healthy relationships.

The conversation then centred on Alex's deconversion and the threats his family faced (of excommunication) since his defection from the faith. The community involvement of their faithful keep all under a tight wrap.

Our next meeting will be held at the Oakville Town Hall, Acorn Grill at 7:00pm on Friday, Oct. 23rd. It will be a public meeting to hold a workshop on preparing a Living Will by Dying with Dignity

DARWIN DAY CELEBRATION report by David McCamus

“Evolution in Canadian Education”

Location: Noel Ryan Auditorium, Mississauga Central Library - 7 p.m. Date: February 10, 2009, 301 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga
Present: Edgar Coxeter, Marc Devenish, Elka & Ernie Enola, John & Doreen Giesbrecht, John Jackson, Andy Krantz, Dave McCamus, Bene Pirtam, Fred Riche, Kevin & Lisette Saldanha, Shaun Lalla (new).

After an introduction by our Past-president, Elka Enola, Dr. Douglas Currie, Entomolgy Curator at the ROM, gave a preview of the new Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, which is scheduled to open in the middle of May, 2009. This all new gallery will have 7 ecosystems represented: Coral Reef, Western Alberta, Great Lakes Basin, Grasslands, Tropical Forest, Boreal Forest, and the Arctic. There will be a special section called the Earth Rangers Studio with high tech presentations as well as live birds and animals on display. Among the many other features there will be an active Leaf Cutter Ant colony. Dr. Currie indicated that they are expecting in excess of 250,000 visitors per year. It all sounded very exciting, and it does serve to illustrate the story of evolution in a way that will undoubtedly appeal to a very broad audience.

This was followed by the keynote speaker of the evening, Dr. Jason Wiles, from the University of Syracuse, who was introduced by our President, Dr. Kevin Saldanha. Dr. Wiles is also the co-director of the Evolution Education Research Centre at McGill University. He began his discourse by indicating that there appears to be a relatively high level of awareness of the theory of evolution amongst the general public and academia. By way of illustration he presented two humorous videos one entitled the “Evolution of Homer Simpson”, and a Canadian Tire commercial called “The Evolution of Need”, both suggesting that the public are generally aware of the theory of evolution, but with a very fragile grasp of the fundamental principles involved.

He went on to talk about a statement recently signed by leading senior scientific officials representing 67 countries around the world (in some cases representing more than one country) about the Theory of Evolution. They agreed that the world began 4.5 billion years ago and that life appeared 2.5 billion years ago and that, while life has taken many forms, DNA research reveals a common primordial origin.

He outlined why the study of evolution is so important:

• It provides a fundamental understanding of science and how it should work.
• It requires a basic understanding and integration of Biology, Geology, Astronomy, etc.
• Nothing in Biology makes sense without evolution.
• In the field of medicine, without the Theory of Evolution how would one explain the development of antibiotic resistant drugs? How would it be that using animals to test drugs can possibly work, if we are not related to the rest of the animal kingdom?
• In agriculture, we have a very long history of using selective breeding, or perhaps more accurately, “directed evolution”, in order to evolve stronger, larger, more disease resistant, and fertile strains of crops and animals.
• In the environmental sphere we are rightly concerned about the ability of many species to adapt to the altered reality that we humans are creating. It is essential that we gain a far better grasp of the critical issues involved before we lose more and more of world’s biodiversity.
• A basic understanding of the Theory of Evolution is essential to grasp the fundamental imperative that we as humans must continually adapt or ultimately perish. “The very future of humanity is at stake”!

Despite the high level of general awareness, approximately half of all adults in the United States do not buy into it, and most students have a very weak understanding of the Theory of Evolution. In contrast, polls show that 59% of Canadians believe in evolution. In the US, 43% of respondents in a recent poll agreed that “ dinosaurs and humans had coexisted”. This result speaks to the successful efforts of some well organized ultra-conservative churches. As an example of their activities, Dr. Wiles described the Creation Museum based on intelligent design located at the Family Discovery Center in Kentucky, with the following stated intent; “The Museum will be a wonderful alternative to the evolutionary natural museums that Satan is using to influence so many minds”. He also pointed out that Canada has a number of such museums including one located nearby the Tyrell Museum in Alberta. He noted that the intelligent design idea was not developed through any accepted scientific process, but is non-the-less being promoted by these religious organizations as an equivalent theory to that of evolution. It is his view that these efforts to equate the two as simply two alternative theories that should be taught in our schools must be actively resisted.

Dr. Wiles warned us not be complacent about the teaching of the Theory of Evolution in Canada. He stated that “it is not unusual for Canadian students to go through their entire public school career without being taught about evolution”. Indeed, it is often omitted from the curriculum, or taught by teachers with limited knowledge and/or commitment to the subject.

Dr. Wiles went on to discuss the recent controversy about the Canadian Government’s denial of a grant to the Evolution Education Research Centre at McGill to conduct a study of the teaching of evolution in Canadian schools on the basis that there was not adequate justification provided for the assumption that evolution is correct versus intelligent design, an objection which not only revealed an appalling lack of insight into the subject area, but which was also totally irrelevant to the purpose of the study. Apparently, they have found other funding for the study and are planning to proceed regardless.

His final message was:

• Learn the science of evolution well.
• Help educate the world about evolution.

Dr. Wiles’ speech was followed by a discussion period, with broad participation from the audience of forty plus people.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Darwin

Our Darwin day event went off marvelous if I may say so myself, thanks to the assistance rendered by the staff (Kathryn Franklin) of the Mississauga Library and the Mississauga Freethought Association (Tom Ulanowski).

Dr. Doug Currie gave us an overview of the upcoming Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, including the rationale behind the exhibit, which will be one of the crowning achievements of the new ROM and a leading natural history exhibit on the continent.

Dr. Jason Wiles opened our eyes to the state of affairs regarding the dissemination of evolution information via the academic system in this country. We are not as bad as our American neighbours but we aren't lagging far behind... only 3 out of every 5 Canadians 'believes' in evolution BUT 46% still think that man co-existed with dinosaurs. We all owe it to the younger generations to do everything in our power to educate them on one of the fundamental theories of biology which will, in turn, help them make educated decisions on their future.

A spirited Q&A period followed his hour-long presentation. Zak Fiddes of CFI/atheistbus.ca was at the event selling fundraising material for the campaign which has topped $40,000 in less than a month. Our congratulations to them in getting the debate into the streets, literally. Check out the atheistbus.ca website for more information.

Darwin Day, 2009

We are excited to inform you that we will be hosting the 2009 Darwin Day event in the Noel Ryan auditorium of the Mississauga Central Library on February 10th at 7:00pm.

Our speaker is Dr. Jason Wiles, biology professor at the University of Syracuse and co-director of the Evolution Education Research Centre with Dr. Brian Alters at McGill University in Montreal. He will be speaking to the public on the topic of evolution in education and why this basic tenet of biological life on earth is still misunderstood and refuted by a majority of the general population.

2009 being the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, one would have thought that evolution would have been as common a concept at that of gravity or heliocentricity. However, this is not so as evidenced by current polls.

Understanding why required appropriate research, funding for which was denied by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) a major source of funding for such research. It was the focus of an issue of Humanist Perspectives and a source of major embarrasment for the Council.

Prior to Dr. Wiles presentation, we will have Dr. Douglas Currie, Entomology curator at the Royal Ontario Museum, give us a sneak preview into the new Schad Gallery of Biodiversity portraying the natural history of a planet in peril.

HPHC November meeting

Our November meeting was held in the boardroom of the Creditview Animal & Bird Hospital in Mississauga and was attended by several members.

The topic of discussion centred around our mortality as recent celebrations at the beginning of the month revered the souls of the dearly departed. Death is a topic not very often visited in daily conversations and it is an issue that all too often is swept under the rug unless confronted through reality.

The 'spirited' discussion covered much ground from dying with dignity to living wills. It was resolved that we should invite members of the Canadian group Dying with Dignity to one of our next meetings to hold a workshop on preparing a Living Will.

How Humanists celebrate seasonal and life events

This months meeting will focus on how the non-religious celebrate life events and special occasions. With Thanksgiving having just taken place and Halloween around the corner heralding the arrival of Christmas, there is a need to acknowledge the event without necessarily believing in the dogma. All these festivals have pagan origins and together with pivotal life events fulfill a human need.

We hope to have a Humanist Officiant describe some of the ceremonies they perform and discuss the origins of other universal festivals. In the spirit of the season, we will have a small 'pot-luck' with bite-sized finger-foods (or Thanksgiving leftovers ;-). However, we cannot imbibe in the spirits as this is a municipal facility.

Most religious festivals have been co-opted from previous pagan or other traditional feasts of the natives prior to introduction of religion. Typical Christian celebrations of Christmas and Easter both have secular origins.

With Halloween coming up shortly, we will again be thinking of the secular origins of this popular kids festival which is celebrated by all. By most accounts, it has several counterparts world-wide and was preceded in North America by a native Mexican festival called the Day of the Dead.

As a Community, there are certain traditional life event celebrations that do not require religious ceremonies but are never-the-less pivotal to our passage. Baby naming ceremonies, coming of age ceremonies, weddings and funerals. All these need to be appropriately marked but not necessarily blessed by a supernatural deity.

We hope to explore the need for these celebrations in our secular lives and how we can maintain a healthy relationship with all these events without going overboard.

Sept 16th Restaurant Meeting

The next meeting of the Halton Peel Humanist Community will be held at Montfort Restaurant on Iroquois Road, just south of the Oakville Town Centre in Oakville on Tuesday, Sep. 16th at 7:00pm.

The topic of discussion at this meeting will centre on how our personal dietary choices affect others, whether those be humans or animals.

This topic is becoming more important for our emotional, physical and planetary well-being as we are currently much more removed from our food sources than we have ever been in the short history of humankind. With diverging issues of health ranging from cardiac to social and environment, it is important that we discuss the implication of our personal choices.

As with everything else, whatever we do... or eat, we need to do it conciously with the ultimate goal of reducing our 'foodprint'. That involves eating locally and, whenever possible, organically.

Besides improving the quality and taste of the food, it is more healthy for our bodies as well as our environment.

Looking forward to seeing some of you at the meeting.

Kevin Saldanha
cat-herder
Halton Peel Humanist Community.