Berkeley Meeting

Sunday, June 21, 1:30 - 3:30 PM

Berkeley Main Library, 3rd Floor Meeting Room

2090 Kittredge St.

One Block From Downtown Berkeley BART

This month we watch a video of Andy Thomson’s talk, ‘Why We Believe in Gods,’ given at the American Atheist 2009 convention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Thomson works with the Richard Dawkins’ Foundation. Dawkins provided tremendous insight into the validity of, and indeed the need for, Atheism. But one can still ponder just why humans are so inclined toward religion. For many theists, this inclination seems to be one of the primary reasons they believe. God must have instilled this religious sense in our consciousness, just as he gave us morality, they argue.

Of course an argument from tradition or intuition is an obvious logical fallacy, but without such arguments, the case for theism simply does not exist.

Modern evolutionary biology has explained this religious inclination in ways that make total sense, but leave one with an understanding that theism is on an intellectual par with the fear of invisible evil creatures in the darkness. Thomson documents the many propensities of human consciousness that are at the root of religion, and then he explains their background in evolutionary theory.

This is a masterful talk, and watching it as a group, followed by a discussion, will help all of us expand our understanding of our species’ tendency to be religious. Please join us.

BART Access: From the downtown Berkeley BART Station, walk 1.5 blocks south on Shattuck Avenue, then turn right on Kittredge. The library is a half block down the street on the left.

Parking: The city parking lot at Allston & Harold Way, a short block from the library, is $5 for the entire day on Sunday. If you don’t mind walking, take University to MLK, turn right and then instead of proceeding left on Allston to the parking lot, turn right. In several blocks you will see parking on the side streets.

Information: Larry Hicok, Coordinator: 510-222-7580 \ Ski Grabowski, Treasurer: 510-652-8350

Our July meeting will take place on Sunday, July 19. Details next month.

This page is updated approximately two weeks before the upcoming meeting.