University of Melbourne Secular Society [UMSS]

UMSS will be leading a coalition of secular student university groups from across Victoria in response to to the state-sponsored Catholic pilgrimage for so-called World Youth Day.

See the website for details and to sign up for email announcements.

Hey all,

Things will be pretty quiet for UMSS over the exam/semester break period, but watch this space for future updates. Keep an eye out for details of our Annual General Meeting, scheduled for early next semester (date/time TBA).

For those who suffer them, good luck with your exams!

UMSS

Like what your Secular Society has been up to? Then come along and help keep the club alive!

All UMSS members are welcome along to this brief meeting to discuss ideas and plan events for the remainder of the semester.

Can’t find us? Look for the large print-out of the UMSS fish logo.

Time: Wednesday, 14 May, 12.30 - 1.30 pm

Location: Quiet Discussion Area, 1st Floor, Baillieu Library

Parkville Campus, The University of Melbourne

Want to help bring down the cult that is SCIENTOLOGY?
‘Anonymous’ are holding their fourth consecutive world wide protest against Scientology this weekend, titled Operation: FairGameStop - Sat May 10th.
For info about the Melbourne protest, visit:
http://phobicmedia.com
While you’re at it, check out:
http://xenu.net
http://whyaretheydead.net
http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/

Members are invited to a night out at the Corkman for drinks, and a bit of healthy conversation. This is also a great opporunity to bring along any of your secular minded friends from outside UNI (feel free to use the invite function to the right of the page). Our meetup coincides with the monthly Melbourne Atheist Pub meetup, that starts a bit later on in the night, so there will be a whole variety of freethinkers of various ages from all over Melbourne to mingle with if you want to stick around (for more details see http://atheists.meetup.com/485/)

The Corkman is located at 160 Leicester St (cnr Pelham St) which is opposite University Square (near the Law Building).

To find us, simply look for the large print-out of our UMSS-fish logo.

Come and see this great debate, as we screen it over two days in the Kimpton Theatre, Land Food & Resources Building. Part one on the 31st of April, and part two on the 1st of May - both from 1pm - 2:15pm. Make sure you’re there on time, as we’ll have to start right on 1pm.

RSVP to this event on Facebook: Part 1 | Part 2

“The event had been sold out for weeks. Tickets were being offered on the black market for three times their face value. With 30 minutes to show time, the crowds were forming outside, some wolfing down sandwiches in the parking lot. For this much excitement, people around here generally expect some serious football. Tonight, though, the buzz is over a debate between biologist Richard Dawkins and mathematician John Lennox. The subject, which may be even more important to this audience than whether Alabama can beat Auburn at the Iron Bowl this year: Does God exist?” – Wall Street Journal

Oxford Professor Richard Dawkins, voted by Europe’s Prospect Magazine as one the 3 most prominent intellectuals in the world, is the author of numerous best-sellers, most notably, The God Delusion which has sold over 1.5 million copies in the English language alone, and has been translated into 31 different languages. He is regarded by many as the spokesperson for the ‘New Atheism’.
(more info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins)

Also from Oxford, Dr. John Lennox is a Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy and Chaplain at Green College Oxford and Senior Fellow of the Whitefield Institute. Dr. Lennox is interested in the frontier areas of Science, Philosophy, and Theology and has lectured on Christian apologetics (particularly on the Science-Religion debate) in many universities and Academies of Science. He has also written articles on such topics for the secular press, particularly in Russia. He is co-author of a number of books, his latest being God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? which has been published in a number of languages.
(more info at http://www.ttf.org/index/about/lennox/)

The debate was held at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. It centres on Dawkins’ views as expressed in his best-seller, The God Delusion and their validity over and against the Christian faith. This was the first significant discussion on this issue ever held in the “Bible Belt”.

We’ve had some great submissions for the official “UMSS Membership Card”, and here are the finalists. Please cast your vote, and choose your favorite design. The winning design will be printed and given to all UMSS members to show their loyalty (and, of course, to get free stuff!)

You can click on any of the images below to see a larger version of the card.

The choices are:

1. UMMS with Melbourne Uni Logo

2. UMSS - Blue with Spinoza Quote

3. UMSS Blue - Plain

4. UMSS White - Harris Quote

5. UMSS - Flying Spaghetti Monster - WWFSMD?

6. UMSS - Flying Spaghetti Monster - Touched by his noodly appendage…

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Come and hang out with us on the SOUTH LAWN. The BBQ is free for UMSS members, and there will be a space for new members to sign up. At the BBQ you will also be able to pick up your UMSS membership card!

RSVP on Facebook, or just turn up!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter, and remember: “Christ died on the cross so that we might have Eternal Chocolate”!

The executive will meet at the entrance to the Baillieu library, after which we will proceed to the 1st floor discussion area. All UMSS members are welcome to attend this meeting, though it is not essential. Come along if you wish to contribute to UMSS events/planning, etc. Look for the UMSS logo on the table.

Hope to see you there!

P.S.  If you’re on Facebook, you can RSVP at:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8640209587