Skeptics in the Pub

Skeptics in the Pub meets (usually) on the third Monday (note change) of every month starting at 7pm at The Penderel's Oak, Holborn. A £2 donation is requested to cover the guest speaker's travelling expenses and sundries. Non-skeptics are welcome. Turn up at any time during the evening. The room is open from about 5.30pm.

The event was founded in 1999, for all those interested in and/or skeptical of the paranormal, alternative medicine, psychic powers, pseudo-science, UFOs, alien abductions, creationism, Fortean phenomena, cult religions, water-divining, lost civilizations etc. A different guest speaker is invited each month, to talk on a topic of interest. The talk is followed by an informal discussion in a relaxed and friendly pub atmosphere. Real ales and food are available. The UK-Skeptics forum is a good place for discussions to continue after the meeting. There is also an associated facebook group you can use for comments and to see who's coming. There are also events in Leicester.

Date	Speaker	Topic
Monday, 21st July 2008	Terry Sanderson Terry Sanderson is the President of the National Secular Society. He is also a freelance journalist and his column in GT magazine is the longest-running feature in any gay paper in the world – 25 years and still going strong. He has also been an agony aunt on Woman's Own under the tutelage of Claire Rayner.	A World Religious Revival: Fact or Fiction? There are repeated claims that there is some kind of massive religious revival going on around the world – but is it true? Terry Sanderson takes a skeptical look at the figures and finds that all is not as it seems.
Postponed, to be rescheduled.	Paul Taylor Paul Taylor joined the staff of AiG (UK/Europe) in August 2005 as a writer and speaker. He is now Head of Media and Publications and editor for Answers Update. Paul regularly contributes to the AiG website and Answers Magazine and writes articles published in various Christian magazines. Paul graduated from Nottingham with a BSc in Chemistry in 1982. He then took a year's Post-Graduate Certificate in Education and taught science in state schools for 17 years, eventually becoming a Head of Department, and gaining a Masters in Science Education at Cardiff University. After becoming a Christian in his late teens Paul had a Saturday job in a Christian bookshop in Ashton. It was there that he first noticed a booklet by a group of Christians who did not believe in the theory of evolution! This was a complete shock to Paul, because he could not conceive how people could fail to believe in what he thought was established scientific fact. However, the bookshop manager persuaded him that it made scientific sense to believe the Bible's account of creation in Genesis, and sent Paul home with such books as Evolution or Creation by Professor Enoch, The Genesis Flood by John Whitcomb and Henry Morris, and Morris' The Genesis Record. Now convinced of the truth of Genesis, and, therefore, of the whole Bible, Paul began to propagate these views, writing articles for his church magazine. As a schoolteacher, Paul frequently challenged pupils to think through the issue of origins for themselves, rather than accept evolutionary orthodoxy. These teaching methods, particularly as Paul began developing curricula, frequently brought him into conflict with more evolutionary-minded staff. He is the author of two books: The Six Days of Genesis and Truth, Lies and Science Education.	Why don’t creationists just shut up? Why do creationists believe what they believe? Is it, to quote Richard Dawkins, just “blind faith in the absence, or even in the teeth, of evidence”? The illustrated talk will argue that even those who don’t accept their conclusions should recognise that there is a solid logic to a young earth creationist position.
Monday 18th August 2008	To be announced	To be announced

If you can think of anyone who might be willing to speak at the 'to be announced' meetings (including yourself!) please contact us. If the location is too far from where you live, why not start your own local group?

The Pub

The Penderel's Oak
283-288 High Holborn
London
WC1V 7HP

Tel: 020 7242 5669

As you enter the pub, turn left and head down to the cellar bar.

By tube

The pub is very close to Holborn and Chancery Lane tube stations. From Holborn turn right outside the station onto High Holborn, from Chancery Lane, turn left from the station. The walk will take approximately 3 mins. The Transport for London journey planner can be found here. Click here for a tube map and for a street map, or here for a gmap.

By train

The Penderel's Oak is about a half-mile from Farringdon, City Thameslink and Blackfriars mainline stations. National train times and live departure boards can be found here.

By bus

Buses 8, 17, 25, 45, 46, 242, 341 and 521 all pass High Holborn. The 1, 59, 68, 91, 168, 171, 188, 243 and X68 all pass Holborn tube station, which is very close. Click here for a bus map.

By car

A detailed street map showing car parks can be found here and a less detailed one is shown below.

Location of Penderel's Arms

Further information

There's a review of the July 2006 meeting by Steve Fuller here and of the February 2002 meeting by Malcolm Robinson here. You might also like to read Nick Pullar's account of his firewalk, as well as this one of a charity fire walk written by organiser Partha Lal. There's an interesting letter and response from an ex skeptic here. The December 2006 talk by Dick Taverne sparked an e-mail exchange that you can read here. There are some discussions about pub events in the UK-Skeptics forum.

E-mail specific questions to . Previous meetings are listed in the archive.

[The Skeptic] [Archive] [Shirley Ghostman] [Feb 2002 review] [Charity Firewalk] [Ex-Skeptic's letter] [Nick's Firewalk] [Taverne Debate]