February 4, 2008
Held at Conway Hall, London on 18th January 2008, CFI London's inaugural event proved very successful with leading lights from the British and American academic, skeptical, secular and humanist communities speaking and participating in discussions. Nearly 150 people attended the day and evening event, and included delegates from the British Isles, Scandanavia, Eastern and Western Europe and the US.
The theme of the Inaugural Conference was "Secularism in the Multicultural Society: The Civil Limits of Tolerance". The audience widely appreciated the contributions of speakers
Joseph Hoffmann, Norman Bacrac, Paul Kurtz, Simon Glendinning, Norman Solomon, Daphne Hampson, Mark Vernon, Stephen Law, Azar Majedi, Julian Baggini, Ibn Warraq, Nigel Warburton, Peter Cave, and D.J. Grothe.The event which started at 11.00 am ended eleven hours later after
a lively question and answer section undertaken by Professor Richard Dawkins who is the Honorary Chairman of CFI London's Advisory Board.
Also very well received was the South Place Ethical Society (SPES) event on 20th January at Conway Hall at which CFI representatives spoke. Ibn Warraq spoke on ‘The Origins of the Koran' and Professor Paul Kurtz spoke on ‘Secular Alternatives to Religion'. Over 100 delegates attended and participated in lively discussions throughout the day.
Several of the delegates to the above events have expressed their interest in further CFI London events and have indicated they wish to be involved with CFI London, and a number have expressed interested in volunteering.
Suresh Lalvani
Executive Director
Center for Inquiry London
2nd February 2008
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