Lift Off For Bedford Skeptics In The Pub!

After goodness knows how much discussion over the past year, and goodness knows how many pints consumed over those discussions, it has happened. And you know what?  There does seem to be an appetite for skeptical discussion in Bedford. The advertising was extensive.  We were uncertain how many we'd reach with posters here, there and everywhere, advertising on The Pod Delusion podcast, getting on the radio, press releases to newspapers, and our Twitter account (over 150,000 retweets!) and, of course, this humble blog.  But we were fairly confident that someone would turn up.

Mind you, driving to the pub on the night, the traffic was appalling.  Were all of this cars bringing 150,000 Twitterati to our meeting? Well...er...not quite.  In the end we got about 40 people.  Which is entirely creditable for a first meeting.

Our speaker Alom Shaha, arrived on time.  He proved an entertaining and able speaker, a must for any other Skeptic groups seeking a guest.  He talked about how he'd come to write the book, and about the difficulty with self-censorship among publishers in thinking they'd be firebombed or worse for publishing it.  In the event the worst that happened was a letter regretting his book and hoping that he'd return to the path of Allah.  He dealt with his education at school and at the mosque, and how he'd become a rational person and gone into teaching, and into teaching science.  Then there was more abstract discussion, with questions from the audience triggering new avenues of exploration.  Any worries that this meeting might just be a group of people smugly agreeing with each other about the validity of their opinions were soon dismissed.  Some people didn't agree with Alom's non-confrontational approach to those of faith. Indeed, one gentleman felt that he couldn't stay as he felt he wasn't getting the answers he wanted regarding Alom's concept of 'god'.  This was a shame but certainly showed that opinions were diverse.  There were also people of religious faith in the audience which was gratifying to see.

Alom said that he identifies as an atheist for practical purposes, but actually he is a humanist, and a fully paid up member of the British Humanist Association.  He did Humanism proud in praising it as the way to be, atheism with a conscience.  He said that humanists need to be more vocal and to do more charitable work in the context of humanism.  He deplored the low memberships of the secular and humanists organisations in the UK, and there was some more discussion as to why this might be.

We had a break to recharge our glasses. The Golden Hen had already run dry, so we were forced to move on to other ales.  The publican was delighted.  The bar in the meeting room was open, but some went downstairs to spread the load.  Besides consuming beer in unanticipated quantities, we were making the bar look busy and so casual custom was dropping in just because of that.  All that makes it sound very macho and boozy.  But almost half the attendees were female, and other beverages were not only on offer but were being consumed.  All ages were present, although largely white and I would guess well educated and mostly middle class.

Alom left at 9pm to return to the station. He is a working teacher and needed to be fresh for the next day as he was starting a two day recording session in Bath creating the audiobook version of his 'Young Atheist's Handbook'.  Most people were impressed and thought it well worth coming.

Attendees were happy.  We were happy.  The publican was happy and made it clear that he wanted us back.  And we made more than it cost to put on, so this profit will feed into organising the next event 'University Shambles' on Thursday 21st November at The Fox & Hounds - 7 for 7:30pm.

So what was your take on the event?  Feel free to add a comment below.