In any case, of particular interest, I’m quite sorry I’ll miss this one, they’ve invited Dr George Claassen! He’s quite an outspoken atheist (or should I call him an agnostic? not sure…), slightly vitriolic by some accounts, blogging at Prometheus Unbound. What would make this so interesting, is to see how he presents himself in person, when talking to a… “sophisticated” religious group, i.e. not fundamentalists, not anti-science evolution-deniers.

I’m blogging this in the hopes that some of my blogging friends might attend.

Date and Time: Tuesday 10 February from 17:00 to 18:00 (lecture) followed by discussion of the subject, until 18:30.
Title: Religion and Science: Dialogue or Duel?
Place: Stellenbosch
Language: Afrikaans… (Geloof en Wetenskap: Dialoog of Teenstryd?)

Let me know if you’re interested in going (drop a comment and fill in your email address correctly), and I’ll pass on the details!

Also interesting is the next lecture/discussion:

Ons volgende lesing en gesprek sal o.l.v dr. Jurie van den Heever (spreker) op 24 Februarie plaasvind oor die onderwerp: “Darwin se windhond ontmoet Darwin se Engel … Hoe om Richard Dawkins op die vingers te tik”. Almal welkom.

Dr Jurie van den Heever is a paleontologist, I had a good chat with him when I was still in Stellenbosch. This one has me equally curious, if I were in town, I’d be there! He’s a good scientist with a really good head on his shoulders, and has grappled with creationism/creationists on Stellenbosch. It sounds to me like he’s also playing an important role in helping South African teachers get the teaching of evolution right. As such, he surely has a good sensitivity to South African culture and what it means to introduce greater scientific knowledge within our culture.

The title of his talk is something like “Darwin’s greyhound meets Darwin’s Angel … How to rap Richard Dawkins over the knuckles”. (“Darwin’s greyhound” refers to Dawkins, like “Darwin’s Bulldog” refers to Thomas Henry Huxley from way back when.) Anyway, based on the title, I wouldn’t be surprised if the talk touches on the kind of material mentioned in Darwin’s Angel. And it is always good to get a discussion going, with multiple viewpoints, assuming the viewpoints are well thought out, well considered, thorough… and Jurie’s will be!

Oh, and if someone can make a recording (especially of Claassen), I’ve heard back from one friend that can’t attend, who’s as eager as I to find another way of hearing Claassen in that context. Are there legal issues involved with doing that? For something other than “personal use”?