'The Audacity of Belief' - John Richards, Atheism Society
Mon 03 Jul
|Saint Paul's
John Richards’ talk is inspired by the title of Barack Obama’s 2004 speech to the Democratic Convention - “The Audacity of Hope”. In this he implicitly asks the question, “Is it hope that is audacious, or is it belief?”


Time & Location
03 Jul 2023, 19:30 – 21:00
Saint Paul's, Brunswick Square, St Paul's, Bristol BS2 8PE, UK
About the event
John Richards’ talk is inspired by the title of Barack Obama’s 2004 speech to the Democratic Convention - “The Audacity of Hope”. In this he implicitly asks the question, “Is it hope that is audacious, or is it belief?”, pointing out that hoping that our belief in a better world will make it so is not enough. We have to work to change it.
There are many everyday sayings from various revered, usually religious, sources which seem to support the idea that belief is enough. The human tendency is, like gamblers, to rely on recent events & lucky signs. Christians rely on faith, hope & charity, hope springs eternal, & whatever is, is right. How does this inform the way that free-thinkers live their lives with hope and audacity, but without belief?
John Richards is a retired science teacher who can't stop! Following almost four years as Publications Director for…