We have a series of joint interests that have always been many and varied from reading to walking, music to dancing, and theatre to the cinema. We enjoy social and community activity but also like solitude and time to think. We understand the power of the Internet and the way it can bring people, communities and cultures closer together. We love history and philosophy, literature, psychology and biographies. We are interested in other peoples behaviour..The sense of freedom and if the mood takes us to dance wherever we are and say whatever we feel.but alas, unless we wish to be sectioned we have to limit that..but one day......
I'd like to meet:
Join
21st Century Network!
We would love you to join our meetup site 21st Century
Network.It is here that you will get up to date information, be able
to join in on our discussion boards and help us develop the idea. It is free
to join and all you have to do is sign up and give us your support.
So we would welcome you there as a member.
We would like to meet others who like us believe that we need
to develop a new form of humanism that includes people of all religions and
none but who embrace humanistic values as the basis of their actions. These
are values of global compassion, personal self-discovery, shared development,
planetary concern and a love of community
September Meeting - Islam & The Modern World
The September meeting of 21st Century Network turned out to be very successful.
Barbara Zollner a lecturer in Islamic Studies at Birkbeck College led a discussion
on the debate presently going on in Islam between the currents of traditionalism,
modernisation and humanism. She particularly looked at the development of the
progressive tradition in Islam and introduced us to some of the key thinkers.
The meeting was the largest so far with 23 attending. There were people from
different backgrounds there, Moslem, Christian Buddhist and Secular Humanist.
What was striking was the desire of all there to understand each other's background
and then to find a common language of discussion that crossed the barriers of
cultural and philosophical divide.
Some felt the discussion could have gone on much longer and that there was
much to explore but the hope is that this was the beginning of future ventures
of this kind.
Future Meetings
October Meeting -
21st
Century Schools.
The September meeting inlcuded Gerard MacDonald who with his colleague (David
Hursh) published a book on the subject: Twenty-first Century Schools. He led
a discussion on humanism and 21st Century Schools at our meeting on October
25th.
What should schools be like in the 21st century? What is the role of religion
in schools? What is citizenship and how does that relate to human rights? Are
schools institutions that develop human commodities for the market or try to
develop the whole person? What has happened to equality of opportunity?
These and other areas were discussed including that perhaps for the first time
now in the 21st Century the needs of the economy are aligned with the human
need for equality of educational opportunity, and for education in the truest
sense of the word. But is it happening in reality?
See
article on 21st Century Schools .
November Meeting - Human Trafficking.
21st Century Network’s November meeting will be on Human Trafficking
and it will take place in the Wilson Room in Portcullis House at the House of
Commons on Wednesday November 21st at 6.30 pm. If you would
like to attend then we need to know your full name so that we can add you to
the list. This meeting has already over 30 people wishing to attend so it is
best if you let us know as soon as possible in order that we can reserve a place
for you.
The speakers are,
David Burrowes MP - an opposition spokesman on Justice and
an MP with an interest in Human Rights who will host the meeting for us and
speak together with
Klara Skrivankova, from Anti-Slavery International and
Simon Chorley from Stop the Traffik Campaign.
There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions from our members.
The meeting will be finish with a discussion on what social action we can take,
and Helen Atkins from the Poppy Project will lead this. The
Poppy Project was set up in 2003 by Eaves Housing for Women with funding from
the Home Office, and they only work with women trafficked into prostitution.
It is a well-established and internationally respected model of good practice.
They were commissioned in August 2007 to undertake a small piece of research
for Enfield Council, to map the incidence of human trafficking in the borough.
Please note – attendance is by invitation only, so please contact
us if you want to attend.
Watch this video on human trafficking .....
Human Trafficking - Ahava Kids - Raymond Bechard
This is a very powerful video that will change the way you see our world. More
at AhavaKids.org. It shows all the way children are being used as slaves right
now. It was produced by Raymond Bechard, Director of Ahava Kids, an organization
that saves young people from trafficking across the globe. They have an amazing
website at AhavaKids.org.
January Meeting - Global Warming.
This is now one of the most serious issues of our age and
will almost certainly be a larger problem facing the globe than terrorism. We
have organised a meeting on this in the House of Commons and Adrian Sanders,
the MP for Torbay, will host it. This and will take place in the Wilson Room
in Portcullis House at the House of Commons on Wednesday January 23rd at 6.30
pm
We will also invite one or two representatives from Voluntary groups involved
in this area of concern and there will be ample time for discussion from the
floor.
Music:
We have a number of areas of musical interest. For Francis they are are classical music, jazz, the rock and roll era of the 1950's and the explosion of liberated music in the 1960's. For Christina then Van morrison..David grey..Tracy chapman..some classical, blues and jazz..all depending on my mood.
Movies:
Love old black and white movies but also the social realism of the 1960’s and on. Casablanca, and Citizen Kane, are still two of the best. The colour purple..Cry freedom..Beloved..Bitter Moon and Christina says she is so sorry to have to confess..Doris day's Pillow talk and some like it hot..a throwback from my younger years and sunday afternoons!!
Television:
We both tend to love Drama, factual documentaries and educational programmes. Francis admits to admit to one area of escapism and it is, Eastenders, but no one is perfect!
Books:
Many books help us understand ourselves and the humanity within us. Destructive
Emotions,.Emotional intelligence..Forgotten voices of the holocaust..Vital lies
and simple truths,
From the bestselling author of EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE comes
SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE. Author Daniel Goleman uncovers new science, revealing that
human minds are made to connect with one another during any interaction
.
Eric Fromm’s, To Have Or To Be, John Gray,s book, Straw Dogs, questions the
direction of humanism and challenges us, novels like Michael Houllenbeq’s, Atomised,
raises questions of our sense of purpose and classics like, War & Peace, and
the novels of Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens sets human relations in context.
Also Karen’s Armstrong’s books on religion, like, The History
Of God, Here is an exclusive Interview with UN Alliance of Civilizations.
High-level Group member Ms. Karen Armstrong, Historian of Religion
.
Heroes:
It is difficult to have heroes but if I had to choose then it would be those
that combined human weakness and frailty with great purpose and strength and
had global compassion - Martin Luther Kings, Mahatma Ghandi and Nelson Mandellas.
For Christina it is her late mother, who taught her the power of unconditional
love, acceptance, laughter, inner strength, to stand up for what you believe
to be right and to always follow your dreams. Also the Dalai Lama who stresses
the imporantance of inner values as discussed in the video below in Woodstock in 2006.
