Whereas research into the historical origins of Christianity began in Germany in the nineteenth century, and revealed the Roman political origins of much of Christianity and the Bible, serious historical research into the origins of Islam is of much more recent date.
Guy Otten will present a talk outlining what recent scientific and scholarly research has to say about how Islam came about, and what reliable evidence there is for what was happening in the Middle east around the time of Islam’s foundations. He will summarise the evidence from the fields of history, linguistics, archaeology, textual analysis, numismatics, etc.
Whilst rejecting Islamophobia, the irrational fear of and prejudice against Islam and Muslims, he will explore the rational basis for criticism of Islam.
Guy Otten is Chair of Greater Manchester Humanists; he is a Member of the Board of Trustee of the British Humanist Association; he is a BHA accredited Humanist Celebrant; he is currently writing a book on the origins of Islam.

Ever since records began, in every known society, a substantial proportion of the population has reported unusual experiences many of which we would today label as “paranormal”. Opinion polls show that the majority of the general public accepts that paranormal phenomena do occur. Such widespread experience of and belief in the paranormal can only mean one of two things. Either the paranormal is real, in which case this should be accepted by the wider scientific community which currently rejects such claims; or else belief in and experience of ostensibly paranormal phenomena can be fully explained in terms of psychological factors. This presentation will provide an introduction to the sub-discipline of anomalistic psychology, which may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behaviour and experience, in an attempt to provide non-paranormal explanations in terms of known psychological and physical factors. This approach will be illustrated with examples relating to a range of ostensibly paranormal phenomena.
Biog: Professor Chris French is the Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, as well as being a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association and a member of the Scientific and Professional Advisory Board of the British False Memory Society. He has published over 100 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics within psychology. His main area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims, as well as writing for the Guardian and The Skeptic magazine which, for more than a decade, he also edited. His most recent books are Why Statues Weep: The Best of The Skeptic, co-edited with Wendy Grossman (2010, London: The Philosophy Press) and Anomalistic Psychology, co-authored with Nicola Holt, Christine Simmonds-Moore, and David Luke (2012, London: Palgrave). His next book (co-authored with Anna Stone) is Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience (November 2013, London: Palgrave). Follow him on Twitter: @chriscfrench

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/3/c/8/4/event_209235492.jpegDr. Rebecca Lawson is a senior lecturer in Psychology based at the University of Liverpool. She completed a PhD on human visual object recognition at the University of Birmingham and then a post-doc at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Her research investigates how the human brain perceives, remembers and creates the shape of 3D objects, and she compares object recognition by vision and by touch. In addition, she tries to find out what people believe about how their visual system works. Specifically, she has found that many people make striking and systematic errors when they try to predict what they will be able to see in mirrors and windows. Finally, she looks at people's explanations of how common, everyday objects - like bicycles, cranes and greenhouses - function and the surprising mistakes that people make.

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/c/c/f/8/event_233992472.jpegChurch of Scientology: ‘John Sweeney is psychotic, a bigot and a liar’

Why disconnect a daughter from her mum?
Who is Xenu? What does Tom Cruise get out of it?
Q: What kind of Church hires private eyes? A: The Church Of Fear

Tom Cruise and John Travolta say the Church of Scientology is a force for good. Others disagree. Award-winning journalist John Sweeney investigated the Church for more than half a decade. During that time he was intimidated, spied on and followed and the results were spectacular: Sweeney lost his temper with the Church's spokesman on camera and his infamous 'exploding tomato' clip was seen by millions around the world. In The Church of Fear John tells the full story of his experiences for the first time and paints a devastating picture of this strange organisation, from former Scientologists who tell heartbreaking stories of families torn apart and lives ruined to its current followers who say it is the solution to many of mankind's problems. This is the real story of the Church by the reporter who was brave enough to take it on.

NOTE: DUE TO AN OVERSIGHT THIS EVENT HAS ONLY JUST GONE LIVE!!! THIS IS TOMORROW NIGHT!!!! SO APOLOGIES FOR SHORT NOTICE