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Freethought Association of West Michigan,

Meeting #41, for February 17, 1999.

Among books shared @ this meeting, The Dark Side of Christianity by

Helen Ellerby; publshed by Morningstar Books, was offered for our

perusal.

Charley M. passed around a sign up sheet for anyone interested in doing

some highway clean-up this year under our group name. He needs support

in making calls as well as the roadwork itself. He has made the initial

contact.

Don H. called our attention to the availablility of the book, The Best

of Ingersoll, by Unitarian People's Church minister and Ingersoll

biographer, Roger Greeley. Many will recall Geeley's excellent

presentation on Robert Green Ingersoll in the auditorium @ the UICA on

Nov. 18th of last year. Greeley is offering this book on the great

debator, orator and leading light of his time for equality and

freethought @ the reduced price of 15.00 per copy to our group. Contact

Don H. if you are interested in obtaining a copy.

We will be relocating to the Wyoming Public Library for our meetings,

beginning on March 31st. Our last meeting @ the

UICA will be March 17.

A member of the local branch of Dignity-- Eric- attended our meeting and

passed around information sheets pertaining to this support, social and

information-sharing group for gay and lesbian individuals. While it is

officially linked with the Catholic faith, no such connection is

necessay and indeed, he said many members are non-theistic. We discussed

exchanges between FAOWM and Dignity.

Our topic this meeting was presented by Grand Valley State University

professor of evolutionary biology, Carl Bajema on Richard Dawkins and

his contributions to the field and the popular understanding of

evolution and animal behavior. Dawkins holds the first Charles Simonyi

Professorship @ Oxford in the Public Understanding of Science.

Carl handed out additional materials on Dawkins and his writings, to

those he passed out @ our last meeting. Dawkins has authored such books

as The Blind Watchmaker and Climbing Mount Improbable; both countering

the arguments against evolution masterfully; The Extended Phenotype and

The Selfish Gene; where he takes a gene's eye view of survival and

propogation via successful adaptations of its "survival machines" (i.e.

bodies). He also coined the term "memes" dealing with the way ideas and

cultural information is spread. Dawkins believes that cultural ideas are

on a genetic leash.

He has made significant contributions in computer modeling to simulate

evoltionary processes as well as in explaining via computer metaphor,

the process of information spread as it relates to living organisms. He

is a gifted poularizer of difficult animal behvior concepts and never

shies away the role of sex, propogation, and sexual selection as the

basis for survival via evolutionary adaptation. It was mentioned how

other animals ensure through extreme measures the survival and

propogation of only their own genetic legacy and this was compared with

the alarming statistic of children of non-biologically related parents

being about 10 times more likely to be killed by this step parent.

Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins were contrasted in their differing

views of the relative importance of differing factors in evolution. In

his most recent book; Unweaving the Rainbow, Dawkins acknowledges

Gould's literary gifts but accuses him of using these poetic skills to

lead his readership astray from evolutionary truths.

Dawkins is very outspoken in his views of science and religion and is

considered by many "dangerous" for these. One very memorable line as to

God's creation of life forms is: "god seems to know his Darwinism."

Unweaving the Rainbow; Science, Delusion and the Appetite For Wonder is

his argument for how investigating the deep truths of our world and

universe does not negate the beauty and awe--the stuff of poetry and

wonder. He also takes on "bad poetry" (that lulls lay readers down false

scientific paths), the paranormal and New Age mythologies; encouaging

critical thinking skills instead of pat answers that may provide comfort

but reveal nothing.

Our hoped for chance to hear R. Dawkins on the Allendale campus of GVSU,

as a stop on his American tour, didn't occur due to personal reasons.

Some of our group attended a "commiseration party" on the scheduled day

of that event in lieu of it.

Upcoming meetings/ topics are: March 17: "Reality Therapy", moderated by

Walt Van Dam, March 31st- at the Wyoming Pub. Library- Charles LaRue

will moderate "Fundamentalism and Abuse", April 14th: Ben Ingerbretson

will moderate "Civil Discourse in the Age of Road Rage." For more

information, suggestions and comments e-mail us:

http://members.aol.com/faowm, or by postal mail to: PO Box 649, Jenison,

MI 49429-0649. We will be joining our discussion group list with the

Great Lakes Humanist Society's soon. This will occur automaticaly for

those already on the list, unless they unsubscribe.

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"How is it that hardly any majorreligion has looked science and

concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The universe is much bigger

than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?' Instead

they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay

that way.' A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificece of the

Universe as revealed by modern sciece might be able to draw forth from

reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by conventional faiths."

>From Pale Blue Dot ('95), by Carl Sagan.

recorder: C. LaRue