***NOTE LOCATION CHANGE***
Tuesday, 3 January 2012, 7:00pm – 9:30pm
Room 7, 6th Floor, Stanley A Milner Library, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, Alberta.
Turner Valley Room, Westin Hotel, 10135-100th Street NW, Edmonton AB T5J 0N7
It’s the Society of Edmonton Atheists monthly roundtable, first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m! We will start at 7:00 pm with a VERY brief general meeting.
January’s meeting will look back at the legacy of Christopher Hitchens, nicknamed “Hitch”, (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011), British-American author, journalist, debater and all-around contrarian, whose books, essays, and journalistic career spanned more than four decades.
From Wikipedia:
“Identified as a champion of the “New Atheism” movement, Hitchens described himself as an antitheist and a believer in the philosophical values of the Enlightenment. … According to Hitchens, the concept of a god or a supreme being is a totalitarian belief that destroys individual freedom… free expression and scientific discovery should replace religion as a means of teaching ethics and defining human civilization. He wrote at length on atheism and the nature of religion in his 2007 book God Is Not Great.”
We will start at 7:00 pm with a VERY brief general meeting, specifically to address two points:
1. Electing a new director to fill a vacancy. If you’d like to contribute to the direction of the SEA and help us organize events, please consider running for this position.
2. Voting on a proposal to increase the membership fee to $20/yr. effective immediately after the meeting. Memberships purchased in the last few months and until the end of this meeting(at $10) will be valid until the end of 2012.
You must be a member in good standing (that means you’ve purchased a membership for $10 this year) in order to vote. You may purchase a membership at the meeting itself. Members may vote by proxy, provided that the secretary is informed at least 48 hours in advance.
We are now in the Turner Valley room at the Westin Hotel. After you enter the Westin from 100 Street., turn to your left and go up the small escalator.
Round table discussion will start shortly after 7:00 pm once our business is concluded .
Drinks at Elephant and Castle afterwards at 9:00 pm-ish
All are welcome to both events.
Topic Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens
http://www.dailyhitchens.com/
Articles on his death – there are many. Here is an assortment for review prior to the meeting if you wish:
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/12/In-Memoriam-Christopher-Hitchens-19492011
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2075133/Christopher-Hitchens-death-In-Memoriam-courageous-sibling-Peter-Hitchens.html
http://mirandaceleste.net/2011/12/16/today-it-is-okay-to-drown-at-least-for-a-little-while/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/elizabeth-renzetti/beseech-not-your-gods-for-the-atheist-hitch/article1702677/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/christopher-hitchens-atheism-was-a-gift-to-believers/2011/12/16/gIQA2CD3yO_story.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/richard-dawkins-illness-made-hitchens-a-symbol-of-the-honesty-and-dignity-of-atheism-6278298.html
Of course not all articles were praising the man:
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3737110.html
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Fine+service+plain+hatred/5885191/story.html
(but see these responses: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/12/25/paul-russell-even-in-death-christopher-hitchens-divides-our-readership/)
The worst, perhaps, are the supposedly well-meaning who just got Hitch completely wrong:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marilyn-sewell/was-christopher-hitchens-religious_b_1155592.html
All are welcome to both events! See you there!
Facebook RSVP here