Glasgow Skeptics

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Glasgow Skeptics
File:GlasgowSkeptics Qblue.png
Formation November 2009
Type Nonprofit organisation
Legal status Society
Purpose Promotion of public understanding,
critical thinking and freedom of speech
Location
President
Ian Scott[1]
Website glasgowskeptics.com

Glasgow Skeptics is a skeptical organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland. It aims to promote public understanding of science, critical thinking, and freedom of expression.[2]

History

Glasgow Skeptics, aided by the Glasgow Brights, held their inaugural "Glasgow Skeptics in the Pub" Meetup on 10 November 2009.[3][4]

Activities

Debates

File:GlasgowSkepticsIndependenceDebateAudience.jpg
The 24 March 2014 Scottish independence debate.

The Glasgow Skeptics have hosted and organised several debates and discussions on Scottish independence before and after the 2014 referendum, and whilst the society itself officially remained "staunchly neutral" on the question, Guardian journalist Libby Brooks noted, and polls showed, a large majority of debate attendees was in the "Yes" camp.[1][5][6] After "No" won, however, public commenters stressed that the referendum had "energised" the electorate, and further discussions should keep it focused on what "how, where and in what direction" Scotland should go now.[1][7]

Homeopathy

In 2010, the Glasgow Skeptics participated in the UK-wide 10:23 Campaign, initiated by the Merseyside Skeptics Society, by taking a mass 'overdose' of homeopathic pills to publicly demonstrate their inefficacy.[4] In 2013, the Glasgow Skeptics launched a petition calling on the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to cease funding the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital.[8]

Skeptics in the Pub

Organiser Ian Scott reported that, since the foundation of the Glasgow Skeptics in November 2009, its Skeptics in the Pub events were getting increasingly popular. In March 2010, when Simon Singh lectured about his book Trick or Treatment and the British Chiropractic Association v Singh case, about 65 people attended the monthly meeting.[4] In December 2009, Ariane Sherine discussed her Atheist Bus Campaign.[9] In October 2014, Professor Helen Sang from The Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh gave a presentation titled "Would You Eat a GM Chicken?" on the ethics and hazards of genetically modified food in feeding a growing population.[10] During the 5th anniversary of Glasgow Skeptics in the Pub on 10 November 2014, LGBT, atheist and secularist activist Nate Phelps talked about his past experience in the Westboro Baptist Church, his escape from it and his efforts for Recovering from Religion.[11]

References

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External links

Official website