Café Inquiry Grand Rapids – IN PERSON – The Rat – Hero or Villain?

DON’T FORGET – DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME STARTS ON THIS DATE! (Assuming no edict to the contrary is issued). 

Join us in our new venue!! We’re now meeting in the choir room on the second floor of Fountain Street Church! See below for further information.

Few mammals elicit the gut level fear and loathing in humans that rats do. But is this disgust deserved? Why the terrible reputation? What have rats done to us, really? At the next Café Inquiry we will look at the various ways that rat and human lives intersect and consider whether the rats might deserve a little more respect. For background, on the villain side of the ledger we have this information from a pest management company and this information about diseases spread by rats from another pest control company.  On the hero side of the ledger we have this article about how rats make good pets, this 11-minute YouTube video of pet rats in action, and this 6-minute video about rat bomb squads. In the middle is this article from the History Channel website about how rats may have gotten a bad rap in terms of the Black Death.  Hope to see you there!

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

To access the choir room enter the building via the Fountain Street entrance. ( Not the big double doors. The smaller doors to the west. There may be scaffolding in place due to construction, but you can walk under it). Take the elevator or stairs to the second floor, and follow the Michigan Humanist signs. Or ask directions from someone. The choir room is located on the left at the south end of the west hallway.

Parking information – Street parking, if you can find it, is free on Sunday. The nearby GRCC Parking structure is free until 3 PM on Sunday, although this is not advertised. You will need to take a ticket to enter the structure but the exit gate will be open if you leave before 3 PM. Parking is also available free for up to 2 hours in the Public Library lot for patrons. You will need to have your ticket validated in the library. If walking for any distance is a problem for you, please contact us and we’ll see what can be arranged.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets each month IN PERSON on the second Sunday and ONLINE on the fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.