Comments from the Press
Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights
The International Humanist and Ethical Union reports from the UN at Geneva on 30 March 2008 that "For the past eleven years the organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), representing the 57 Islamic States, has been tightening its grip on the throat of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yesterday, 28 March 2008, they finally killed it.With the support of their allies including China, Russia and Cuba (none well-known for their defence of human rights) the Islamic States succeeded in forcing through an amendment to a resolution on Freedom of Expression that has turned the entire concept on its head."Human rights watchdog investigates 'discrimination' of Scout promise to God
"The [Scout] association's refusal to admit those who will not make a promise to God is forcing children to lie as there is no alternative for atheists, according to the National Secular Society." See Daily Mail 1/2/2008 and Daily Telegraph 4/2/2008 reports and vitriolic comments from some religious against atheists. See also the joint letter from Hanne Stinson of the British Humanist Association and Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society to the Scout Association.Catholic church promotes hard line on 'immoral' teaching in schools
"The bishop of Lancaster calls on Catholic schools mot to teach safe sex, to display crucifixes in every classroom, and not to support Red Nose Day." (The Observer 30/12/2007) The bishop also called for any books containing polemics against the Catholic faith to be removed from school libraries. 'Under no circumstances should any outside authority or agency that is not fully qualified to speak on behalf of the Catholic church ever be allowed to speak to pupils or individuals on sexual or any other matter involving faith and morals.' . Barry Sheerman, chairman of a parliamentary committee, said "… I think it would be useful to call representatives of the Catholic church in front of the committee to find out what is going on. … This is taxpayers' money after all".The Theological Emperor Has No Clothes
Oxford University has a system of what it calls Permanent Private Halls – these are educational establishments, usually religious in character, that are attached to the University, but not part of it. They can award degrees, but usually these are in theology and are awarded to members of a particular religious order. One of these Halls, Wycliffe, has recently been the centre of controversy after objections were raised about the right-wing evangelical direction it was taking. Now there is talk of the University ditching Wycliffe because it does not uphold Oxford's liberal tradition.
The editor of the Oxford student newspaper asked the NSS President, Terry Sanderson, to contribute a few thoughts on the situation. Terry asked "Is theology a subject that should even be part of Oxford's academic life?" (from NSS news).
See alsoThe Times 19 September 2007.
Secular school barred by Whitehall
Headteacher is told establishing non-religious education would be 'politically impossible'. … 'We wanted a fundamental change in the relationship with the school and the established religion of the country,' said [headmaster] Kelley, talking about the proposals he put forward towards the end of Tony Blair's premiership. 'They accepted it would be popular but said it was politically impossible.' … The [faith] schools, says Kelley, 'directly or indirectly influence children into a belief that a particular faith is preferable either to other faiths or to a lack of faith'. He adds: 'That is not, in my view, fair to a child and it is not offering them the opportunity to choose freely. The Observer 23 September 2007. The
Ofsted calls for 'post-9/11' RE teaching
RE teachers must provide children with a more sophisticated understanding of the subject in a post-11 September world, Ofsted says (BBC news report).
… teachers should include ways in which religion is not always a force for good. … religion should be taught warts and all. The inspectors called on teachers not to shy away from controversy, but to accept in their classes that religion could be a force for bad as well as for good. … Ofsted focuses on weakness in how progress is assessed, and the way the curriculum is planned, for the inadequacies in the subject.… There is no national curriculum in RE.
| Ofsted report here. | NSS comment here. | BHA comment here. |
Religious takeover of public services
"The government is moving forward with its plan to contract out public services to churches. Display advertisements have been published encouraging religious organisations to tender to run the employment service and Jobcentre Plus – the advert barely mentions that other voluntary groups may also tender. The probation service is also at risk of being handed over to the churches under a current bill" (BHA news for May/June 2007).
BHA response to the Freud Report.
Against Academies
Andrew Copson, The British Humanist Association (BHA) education officer gave evidence against Academies at a Committee of Enquiry of MPs in Westminster (12 June 2007).
Academies controlled by religious organisations are entirely state-funded and yet every single one we are aware of discriminates either in their employment, admissions or the curriculum by which they teach their pupils. We are calling on MPs to stand up against this handover of our education system to religious interests.
In a letter to The Observer on 10 June 2007 Professor Ron Glatter says "Think again about city academies".
Your editorial of 27 May, 'Good marks for education, Mr Cameron', contains two important misconceptions. First, city academies were not created in Blair's 2006 reforms, but announced by David Blunkett in 2000. Second, hostility to academies is not simply ideological. It is indefensible in a mature democracy that for a fraction of the total cost, when all the rest is met by the taxpayer, a sponsor can control the governing body, curriculum, premises, staffing and pupil admissions.
As for 'doing whatever works', there is no evidence that the results achieved by academies are due to this very peculiar feature of the model rather than to the extra resources they have received from the public purse and their favoured status.
The Council of Europe: Special privileges for religions?
When the Council of Europe announced that it was hosting a conference with the title "The Religious Dimension in intercultural Dialogue" the ever-vigilant ears of the NSS perked up. Was this yet another bid for the Vatican to get a major European institution under its belt, just as it had the European Union and the United Nations?
IHEU asked Terry Sanderson, president of the NSS and Keith Porteous Wood, its director, to represent it at the conference of San Marino. Their contribution is reported here.
House of Lords debate on Religion: Non-believers
Lord Harrison called for this debate calling attention to the position in British society of those who profess no religion – see Hansard for 19 April 2007. The National Secular Society provided a briefing paper to Peers which was also distributed via the NSS Newsline circulation list. This was a very wide-ranging debate covering many topics including faith schools, bishops in the House of Lords, national ceremonies, devolving community services to religiously motivated groups, BBC's Thought for the Day, etc..Teachers demand ban on new faith schools
Teachers (National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers – NASUWT) have demanded a halt to the government's plans for a new generation of faith schools. Brian Williams, of the union's Cardiff branch, who proposed the motion, said: "Schools exist to broaden people's minds and religions tend to be the antithesis. Religions are there to close people's minds. Schools exist to educate. Religions exist to indoctrinate. It's a con-trick." … Mr Williams said suspect groups were able to apply for state funding to open religious schools. "The government classifies Scientology as a religion so presumably it could apply for and get state funding; so the genie is out of the bottle."
From The Guardian, Friday 13 April 2007.
If God is talking to you, too, Mr Cameron – don't listen
Michael Portillo writes on the religiosity of our political leaders in the Sunday Times (25 February 2007).Re David Cameron's churchgoing:
I would be more reassured to hear that the Tory leader goes to church because that is what it takes to get a child into the best of state schools, not because he is a believer.
Re Tony Blair:
I worry because men of power who take instruction from unseen forces are essentially fanatics. Blair is filled with a self-confidence and self-satisfaction that are dangerous. They were evident last week as he refused to take responsibility for anything that has happened in Iraq since America and Britain occupied it. Those who look for judgement not from the electorate or parliament or a free press but from God release themselves from the constraints of democracy.
… When Blair correctly cites tolerance as one of Britain's defining virtues, he should recognise that we owe it to those wise rulers who over centuries insisted on separating religion from politics.
Climate change: IPCC's 2007 report
The foreign secretary has warned that climate change poses a serious threat to world peace, after a new UN report confirmed global warming was taking place quicker than ever. "What is becoming clear is that this is not just another environmental threat but that international peace, prosperity, security and development are at stake," Margaret Beckett said.From Physics Web
The burning of fossil fuels and other human endeavours are causing global warming, says a major scientific report released today [2 February 2007] by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Written by about 600 climate experts, the UN-backed report also concluded that global warming is causing sea levels to rise and will bring drought and other extreme weather to many parts of the globe. The report, which is the IPCC's most forceful statement to date backing the scientific validity of manmade climate change, also warns that it may be too late to stop global warming by stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions.
The report, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis – Summary for Policymakers , may be downloaded from IPCC.
See also:
- SW Climate Change Impacts Partnership (CCIP)
- Transition Town Totnes the UK's first town exploring how to prepare for a carbon constrained, energy lean world.
- Stern Review on the economics of climate change.
- Scientists for Global Responsibility's concern about the likely major impacts of human-induced climate change.
Exeter University Evangelical Christian Union vs. Student Guild
Christian students are taking legal action against their university's Student Guild in an equal opportunities row, reports The Independent (5 Jan 2007).They want quashed the decision to suspend the CU from the Guild, which they maintain violates the rights of association of religious bodies. … The 50-year-old CU is currently suspended from the official list of student societies on campus. … The Student Guild claims the CU constitution and activities do not conform to its equal opportunities policies. … The Guild said the suspension was put in place because the CU's constitution said members had to sign a declaration of evangelical values. Guild president Jemma Percy said that, because of the requirement to sign the declaration, "participation in the society was not open to every student".
Religion does more harm than good
More people in Britain think religion causes harm than believe it does good, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today (23/12/2006). It shows that an overwhelming majority see religion as a cause of division and tension – greatly outnumbering the smaller majority who also believe that it can be a force for good. The poll also reveals that non-believers outnumber believers in Britain by almost two to one. It paints a picture of a sceptical nation with massive doubts about the effect religion has on society: 82% of those questioned say they see religion as a cause of division and tension between people. Only 16% disagree. The findings are at odds with attempts by some religious leaders to define the country as one made up of many faith communities.See also the Guardian leader on the same day.
Anti-evolutionists raise their profile in Europe
From Nature, 444 406–407, 23 Nov 2006. (Full on-line text is available only to subscribers.)SUMMARY: The teaching of alternative theories to evolution in schools is not just an issue in the United States. Almut Graebsch and Quirin Schiermeier assess whether …
CONTEXT: … Germany and vice-president of the Association of German Biologists. "In Germany and other European countries, anti-evolutionists with different religious backgrounds promote their ideology via colourful web pages that are appealing …
Richard Dawkins's visit to the Queen's Theatre, Barnstaple
Adam Wilshaw and Richard Seddon review Richard Dawkins's recent visit in this is north devon (9 Nov 2006).The winning distinction between professor Dawkins's hour-long Queen's theatre "sermon" and the kind of loopy nonsense dispatched from altars and their equivalents each week was that the former was based on reason, evidence and logic.
It was disturbing to find that while agreeing with much of the sentiment his patronising and self-satisfied delivery engendered antagonism to his proposition.
Creationism is nothing to worry about, says Blair
He told scientists that their fears about creationism were "exaggerated", though he said it should not become mainstream education. Interviewed by the New Scientist magazine, Mr Blair was told that the teaching of creationism in schools was of "great concern" to scientists. Mr Blair replied that the issue could be "hugely exaggerated".Report by George Jones in the Telegraph, 2 November 2006.
Atheists top book charts by deconstructing God
Jamie Doward in The Observer (29 October 2006) reports:"In the wake of one religious sensation, The Da Vinci Code, publishers are scoring a second success with sceptics … A glut of popular science books making a trenchant case against religion have soared up the bestseller lists both here and in America. The phenomenon represents a backlash against a perceived rise in religious fundamentalism … " He quotes Alister Babb, a buyer with Waterstone's. "you would probably have to go back to Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian [published in 1957] for a similar sort of bestseller."He lists: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C Dennett, Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris, God Is Not Great: The Case Against Religion by Christopher Hitchens (to be published), Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Lewis Wolpert.