Labour Humanists

Labour Humanist on BBC's the Big Questions

Well done to Labour Humanist Paul Blanchard for appearing on the BBC's Big Questions.

Paul spoke to the questions Is there too much sex on TV? and Has religion any place in politics? He successfully took on the conservative (and Conservative) Christian contingent on their conflation of homosexuality with incest, and highlighted the need for politicians to be up-front about their religious beliefs.

Afterwards Paul said:

"I was proud to represent Labour Humanists and make our points heard on national TV. It was great to show on national television that there is a substantial body of members in the party that oppose issues like faith schools which are - in my view - a profoundly un-Labour policy, being for the few and not the many. I'm also really excited about the coming year ahead too - LH are really gearing up for a year of campaigning as never before on the issues that matter to us. I'm excited to be a part of it."

Faith schools, together with Bishops in the Lords, are both examples of religion institutionalised into politics and the State in the UK. Labour Humanist manifesto 2010 calls for the removal of both, and we will be holding events on these over the year ahead of the general election.

You can watch the programme on BBC iPlayer here.

Conference 2009: 'No Prayer' Breakfast

Labour Humanists and the British Humanist Association are pleased to announce that the second annual 'No Prayer' Breakfast will take place on Tuesday 29th September in Brighton.

Chaired by the BHA's Andrew Copson, speakers will include:

Polly Toynbee

Professor AC Grayling

Lord Gus Macdonald

Kelvin Hopkins MP

At last year's 'No Prayer' Breakfast the room was packed out so please arrive early to be sure of a spot!

Time and venue: 8am, Osborne Room, Hilton Metropole Hotel.

Video of dancing Thriller humanist on Fourth plinth!

Click here to see footage of Andrew West's Thrilling performance on top of the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, as reported on last week. Great to see the people dancing, especially towards the end!

Atheist pupil's fight for religious assembly opt-out

Ian Scott of Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow asked to opt out of the school's weekly religious assembly, but was refused in his request. As an atheist Scott asked that he be allowed the exemption along the lines of the school's Muslim and Jewish pupils, who do not have to attend, and for whom separate provisions are made.

The school said that the aim was to foster a sense of community, but segregating children by their parents' religion, if only once week, runs counter to this. As a former pupil at a CofE school I saw, instead, fostered only exclusion, between the Muslim pupils, who sat alone in the school lobby during assembly, and the rest who duly assembled inside the hall. Hutchesons' weekly secular assembly - good indeed that they do this already - is surely the  more inclusive approach.

The Humanist Society of Scotland is supporting his case and is holding a special meeting this Sunday 9th August, where Scott has been asked to speak, on the rights of pupils to opt out of religious observance and religious education.

Thriller + 'There's probably no God' fourth plinth spectacular

Very pleased to read about Andrew West's appearance on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth yesterday. It must have been quite a sight - we're looking forward to seeing any photos (Google Images gives nothing, yet). He displayed the original Atheist Bus slogan while teaching onlookers the dance to Thriller, a great way to draw in the Sunday crowds!

What hope now for non-discrimination in public services? CLG drops 'Charter of Excellence'

It is a great shame to hear that the Communities and Local Government department have dropped their proposed Charter of Excellence, something which may have helped shore up protection not provided for by the Equality Bill. A promise not to proselytise or discriminate against staff and service users was to form part of the Charter. As the BHA reports the loopholes left by the Equality Bill will leave organisations based on religion or belief free to continue to conduct discriminatory practices.

We will write to CLG to request that this matter be looked at carefully and ask how the department will tackle these concerns.

In other news, I'd be intrigued to discover Esther Rantzen's position on the Charter of Excellence...