Thinking Matters Auckland

A God, Morality and Society event:

What: David Lindsey on “Politics, Religion and Morality”
When: Tuesday 1 Sept – 7:00pm
Where: Lecture Room 2, Laidlaw College, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson, West Auckland
Format: Talk followed by questions, answers and discussion.
Cost: Free but donations are appreciated

Decisions made by government bodies are not created in a vacuum. Policies are a consequence of the influence of ideologies and worldviews. In New Zealand an increasing preference for secular ideologies since WW2 has resulted in government policies increasingly at odds with orthodox evangelical teaching. This seminar will discuss these changes and suggest that Christianity provides a firmer foundation for governmental action than the alternatives.

David Lindsey is uniquely qualified to speak on political issues due to his qualifications as well his career spanning both the private and public sectors. He holds an MA (First Class Honours) in Social and Economic Geography, aDWS (Diploma of World View Studies), a PGDip (Arts) (Political Studies) and is currently completing a PhD in Political Studies at the University of Auckland specialising in Governance. His thesis topic is “How Parliament Handles Moral Issues.”

After gaining his MA, he worked for 13 years as a consultant to the property development industry and as an advisor in local government. His work in strategic urban development led him to speak on the governance issues with key decision makers at all levels, including cabinet ministers, central and local government politicians, CEOs, and foreign diplomats.

David’s expertise in governance issues has been sought after by numerous media and he has made personal appearances on the network news for TVNZ and TV3, documentaries on Triangle TV and Shine TV, Radio NZ’s Morning Report, the BBC in Britain, bFM, the Dialogue page of the NZ Herald, articles in the Challenge Weekly, as well as many industry publications.

He has had numerous articles published in both academic journals and the mainstream media, including a chapter on moral issues in two editions of NZ Politics and Government, New Zealand’s foremost sourcebook on NZ politics. He has been invited to lecture in both New Zealand and the United States at the University of California San Diego and Loyola Univeristy Chicago and during his professional career was a sought after public speaker speaking to many industry and academic groups.

He is currently teaching courses on NZ Politics in both the Political Studies and Planning departments of the University of Auckland. He has presented at politics conferences in New Zealand, Australia and the United States, and for three months worked with Prof. Philip Cowley, an acknowledged world-expert on moral issues and parliament, in the United Kingdom. After making a mid-career decision to earn his PhD, he was offered four full doctoral scholarships in both New Zealand and Australia. Currently, he is the recipient of a Top Achievers Doctoral Scholarship, awarded by the NZ government to the top 5% of PhD students. David has also earned a Diploma of Worldview Studies, with a 92% grade average, from Laidlaw College.

Dr Matthew Flannagan spoke at Thinking Matters Auckland on 28 May 2009 on Moral Relativism. If you missed it or wish to see it again, here is the video.

A God, Morality and Society event:

What: Jason Kumar and Stuart McEwing speaking on “Do we need God to be good?”
When: Tuesday 18th August – 7:00pm
Where: Lecture Room 2, Laidlaw College, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson, West Auckland
Format: Talk followed by questions, answers and discussion.
Cost: Free but donations are appreciated

In recent years we have seen a groundswell of belief that religion is a threat to society. God, it is said, is not necessary for an ethical life. But is that the case? Stuart and Jason will explore these ideas to see if we need God to be good.

Jason Kumar is a Bachelor of Arts student at the University of Auckland Student with a passion for philosophy and hermeneutics. Stuart McEwing holds a Bachelor of Design and is currently studying theology at Laidlaw College. Jason and Stuart are the founders of Thinking Matters NZ and recently debated the University of Auckland Atheist Club on the topic they will be speaking on above.

A God, Morality and Society event:

What: Dr Matthew Flannagan speaking on “In Defence of Divine Commands”
When: Tuesday 4th August – 7:00pm
Where: Lecture Room 2, Laidlaw College, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson, West Auckland
Format: Talk followed by questions, answers and discussion.
Cost: Free but donations are appreciated

Are God’s commands irrelevant when we discuss moral and ethical questions? Many claim that this is the case and offer the following as an argument against Divine Commands: either an action is right because God commands it or God commands it because it is right; the latter renders God’s commands superfluous, if they are right independently of God then God is unnecessary; however, the former renders God’s commands arbitrary, if God commanding an action makes that action right then any action could conceivably be right. Given this, they conclude that God and the commands he issues, should be kept out of consideration of our ethical and moral questions.

In this talk Dr Flannagan will challenge this line of thought and will demonstrate that this attempt to dismiss God’s commands from our consideration of ethical and moral issues is flawed and will explain, in layman’s terms, why a Christian should not be intimidated by this argument.

Dr Flannagan holds a PhD in Theology, a Masters degree in Philosophy. His area of expertise is Philosophy of Religion, Theology and Applied Ethics. He is an adjunct lecturer in Philosophy for Laidlaw College and Bethlehem Tertiary Institute and is currently re-training to be a high school Religious Studies/Philosophy teacher. He has formally debated the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand’s Dr Zoe During and the New Zealand Association of Rationalist Humanist’s Dr Bill Cooke and his publications appear in several international journals of philosophy. He writes for MandM and has nearly 15 years experience teaching, engaging and challenging secular culture both in New Zealand and internationally.

Bring your popcorn for movie night, a God, Morality and Society event:

What: William Lane Craig v Christopher Hitchens debating Does God Exist?
When: Tuesday 21 July – 7:00pm
Where: Lecture Room 2, Laidlaw College, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson, West Auckland
Format: DVD followed by discussion.
Cost: Free!

If you were not one of the 4,000 people who got to see it live in April this year at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology and you do not own a copy of the DVD, this is your chance to see the debate of the year!

Atheist commentator, Christopher Hitchens, author of the best-selling God is Not Great and Christian Philosopher and Theologian, Dr William Lane Craig, author of too many things to list here, who packed Auckland University during his debate with Dr Bill Cooke last year, debate the topic: Does God Exist?

Do not miss this screening - you cannot rent this debate at your video store and this debate is not available online so organise your friends, bring your youth group but most of all be there!

Thinking Matters’ resident Philosopher of Religion and Theologian, Dr Matthew Flannagan, will be available for Q&A and discussion after the video.

Dr Glenn Peoples spoke at Thinking Matters Auckland on 12 May 2009 on Religion in the Public Square. If you missed it or wish to see it again, here is the video.

A God, Morality and Society event:

What: Dr Matthew Flannagan speaking on Moral Relativism
When: Tuesday 9th June – 7:00pm
Where: Lecture Room 2, Laidlaw College, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson, West Auckland
Format: Talk followed by questions, answers and discussion.
Cost: Free but donations are appreciated

A popular view of ethics holds that actions are right or wrong only if a person or a community believes that they are right or wrong, and that it is inappropriate to apply your own standards to others. This position is known as moral relativism. In this talk Matt will look at the common arguments for relativism, argue that relativism is a mistaken view of ethics and show how relativism fails.

Dr Flannagan holds a PhD in Theology, a Masters degree in Philosophy. His area of expertise is the interface between Philosophy and Theology, Applied Ethics and Worldviews. He lectures in History of Philosophy for Laidlaw College and in Sociological Issues in Education for Bethlehem Tertiary Institute and is currently training to be a high school Religious Studies/Philosophy teacher. He writes for MandM and has nearly 15 years experience engaging and challenging secular culture both in New Zealand and internationally.

He has formally debated the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand’s Dr Zoe During and the New Zealand Association of Rationalist Humanist’s Dr Bill Cooke; he has been published in several international journals of philosophy and has a personal reference from the then President of the Evangelical Theological Society in his resume.

Dr Matthew Flannagan spoke at the Thinking Matters Auckland Launch on 8 March 2009 on Apologetics: Answering Objections to the Christian Faith. If you missed it or wish to see it again, here is the video.

A God, Morality and Society event:

What: Trevor Mander speaking on the Moral Cosmological Argument
When: Tuesday 26 May – 7:00pm
Where:Lecture Room 2, Laidlaw College, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson, West Auckland
Format: Talk followed by questions, answers and discussion
Cost: Free but donations are appreciated

Trevor will argue that God holds the universe in existence. He is the ground of our very being and is the foundation for all meaning and value. As we come to know God better our understanding of the world around us also becomes clearer.

Trevor Mander holds a Masters of Divinity which he earned studying under Doctor Norman Geisler while studying at the Southern Evangelical Seminary in the United States. Trevor is one of New Zealand’s foremost Christian Apologists and has a unique ability to communicate complex concepts making them easy to understand with humour and enthusiasm.

A God, Morality and Society event:

What: Dr Glenn Peoples speaking on Religion in the Public Square
When: Tuesday 12 May – 7:00pm
Where: Lecture Room 2, Laidlaw College, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson, West Auckland
Format: Talk followed by questions, answers and discussion
Cost: Free but donations are appreciated

Is religion a private matter that should be kept out of public life? A number of influential thinkers say yes; they contend that religious beliefs should be kept out of public life in a pluralistic society.

Dr Peoples will argue that the rules used to justify this position are simply not reasonable. A more sensible and fair model would allow religious beliefs to be appealed to in public debate. However, when the architects of these improved models realise that they have now opened the door to religious participation in public life, they change the rules, shift the goalposts and invent special exceptions in order to maintain the exclusion of religion from the public square.

Dr Peoples graduated with his PhD in philosophy from the University of Otago in 2008 after completing undergrad and graduate degrees in theology. He runs New Zealand’s top Christian podcast, Say Hello to my Little Friend and is a very clear and articulate speaker.