Liberty & Equality: Getting the Balance Right - BHA Viewpoint

reposted from: BHA Bulletin 24th January 2011:-


There exists a narrative that, in this country, religious groups and especially Christians are somehow being marginalised, discriminated against or even persecuted because of their 'faith'. This false and misleading narrative has largely come from political Christian groups (anti-choice, anti-gay rights, anti-secularist etc etc) who are supporting a relatively small number of court cases, tribunals and disciplinary hearings of Christians who allege religious discrimination when they are prevented from behaving as they wish, even in the workplace, according to their beliefs. In almost every case taken so far, rather than finding religious discrimination against them, they have been found to have acted unlawfully or in breach of contract when they refuse to provide a service or discriminate against others, often on grounds of sexual orientation (see below for two news articles just this week for example!)

This fallacious narrative of religious marginalisation or persecution is not only replicated in the press, but will be discussed at the Church of England's General Synod. A number of Bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, are backing a paper and plan to combat the 'increasing secularisation of society' and to fight the 'new atheism'.

Perhaps even more concerning is that some at the highest levels of government seem to be buying in to it as well. This week, the Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi said that this government doesn't just 'do God' but that it 'gets God' as well - and at the same time condemned the 'sloppy religious illiteracy' of the rest of us! This statement is an addition to others from the Baroness, such as last year's proclamations that this government will 'defend people of faith' and her public criticism the year before, describing the secularist position as 'intolerant' and 'illiberal'.

Secularists, whether humanist or religious, need to stand firm against this narrative. We need to fight for the right to people to hold beliefs, even those we profoundly disagree with, and at the same time recognising that there have to be limits to acting on those beliefs so that all people can live their lives free from irrelevant discrimination by others. This means that we need to expose the narrative for what it is. We all of us need to be clear and say that it is not acceptable for registered therapists to try to 'convert' gay people to heterosexuality; that hotel owners cannot refuse board to gay couples just as they cannot refuse people on grounds of race; that governments should stop making a fetish of faith.

In order to create the good society where we can all live together and celebrate our diversity, we do not need more religious privilege. We need less.

The Census Campaign

THE CENSUS CAMPAIGN


Dear Members & Supporters, 
I’m writing to ask you to support our local action to help support the British Humanist Association’s 2011 Census campaign. Please read the letter from Dorset Humanists' Campaign Coordinator (below) explaining the campaign and how you can get involved.

We know that religious affiliation in this country was grossly inflated in the last Census by the leading question: “What is your religion?” and the 2011 Census will repeat the same mistake. We are simply asking people who are not religious to tick the ‘No religion’ box. 


Please give Dave your help, support and encouragement to ensure that this campaign is a success. We will bring you updates in our monthly Bulletins. Thank you.

David Warden, Chair, Dorset Humanists


You may have read my piece about the British Humanist Association’s "If You're Not Religious For God's Sake Say So" campaign in our January Bulletin. I’m pleased to say that a clear majority of our membership at the January meeting voted to support this campaign. I am now providing further information on the campaign and how we can ensure the non-religious are properly represented.

What is the 2011 Census campaign?

This campaign is to raise public awareness about the 2011 Census religion question. The location of the question within the form (next to the ethnicity question), and its wording, may lead many people to answer the question with their cultural or family faith, even if they have little or no religious involvement or belief.

What is the aim of the campaign?

We wish to encourage people with only a vague cultural affiliation to Christianity to tick "No religion". This ensures data from people who don't actually practise a religion is accurately recorded and does not lead to an inflated focus on religion in public policy.

We are also asking humanists, agnostics and all other non-religious people to tick “No religion” on the Census. We’d rather they didn’t write anything in the “Any other religion” section, as this will split the “No religion” numbers into many subgroups and significantly reduce our chances of getting proper representation for non-religious views.

Why does the 2011 Census matter?

Census data is used by politicians and civil servants to make decisions about public services and resources allocation. Put simply, we don’t want our government believing they have a mandate to increase church participation in politics, segregate our children by faith, or privilege religious groups. The BHA says, ‘the disparity between what most people want in education, equalities and other public ethical issues, as against the perceived need by government to flatter religious groups and churches, is becoming more and more apparent and all the more contestable as the country secularises’.

When is the Census?

The Census will take place on March 27th, so we need to act quickly to achieve our aims.

What can we do?

Our membership has agreed a campaign budget.

However, there are many positive actions that we can all do at no expense. For example:

  • Write letters to the media and influential people
  • Discuss your views with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours.
  • Print and display campaign posters and fliers, where permissible
  • Use social media to raise the profile of the campaign
  • Post on worldview-related and any influential blogs, explaining why we believe people should tick “No religion” in the 2011 Census.
  • If you are a member of a group, or society, you might consider leading a discussion on this topic
Other suggested actions will require financial expenditure. For example:

  • Adverts in the local media (e.g. a quarter page in the Echo’s magazine costs around £115).
  • Campaigning and Leafleting in local town centres (£25 per person for a Leaflet Distribution Licence in Bournemouth and Boscombe centres, plus leaflet printing costs. Possibly, leaflet costs only in other areas).
  • Sponsoring Google Adwords to raise the profile of our website in searches (variable cost)
Please note that only expenses authorised by our campaign coordinators will be reimbursed, as we need to keep close control of costs to remain within our agreed budget.

Volunteer!

 If you can take on the following roles or responsibilities, please let me know as soon as possible:

  • Additional Coordinators – I hope I’m right in assuming that most, or all of you will want to play a part in this campaign and that there will consequently be a considerable amount of coordinating and messaging to be done. Coordinators will preferably be available during the day and have phone and email.
  • Spokespersons – Our preference is for volunteers who are BHA members and have a good working knowledge of the BHA, Dorset Humanists and Humanist principles, to talk to the media when the opportunity arises.
  • Letter Writers – The BHA have downloadable example letters but newspaper editors, MPs and councillors receiving large numbers of identical letters are probably going to take less notice of them than well-constructed individual letters. Volunteers for this role might also help the group by drafting letters for others to send, in addition to mailing their own.
  • Article Writers – Local papers may be interested in Census Campaign related news items for publication. Compose an article for them.
  • Speakers – If you would be happy to visit a nearby discussion group to talk about the campaign and why we are recommending the “No Religion” option; or you know of a group that might like a discussion on this issue, please get in touch.
  • Street Campaigners – Let us know if you are willing to participate in some active street campaigning and leafleting, and we’ll decide if this is viable.
  • Share Your Campaigning Experience – Share your experience of the cost and effectiveness of suggested actions, if you have used any of them for a previous campaign.

Keep us informed

Please keep us informed (email  DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk or phone Jane 01202 428506.) about any actions you are taking, and copy us in on correspondence if you write to newspaper editors, newsdesks, or influential people, so we are aware of what’s said. 

Please try to keep related communication between ourselves brief and to the point, so we can maximise the time we all have available for effective action.

Final thoughts

I’m very pleased to have your backing for Dorset Humanists’ involvement in this campaign but an important campaign such as this cannot rely on one person. Please do get involved and support us in any way you can. All of us can inform our family, friends, colleagues and neighbours why ticking “No religion” is the best way to ensure we all have equal rights and principled, evidence-based public policy.

Let’s not be looking back after the 2011 Census results are released, complaining that we aren’t properly represented, and wishing we’d done more about it.

“Don’t curse the darkness, light a candle” – Confucius

Thank you again for your support. Now, let’s make a difference!

Yours sincerely,

Dave E

More information 

To receive a printable copy of this letter please email DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk

If you wish to support our campaign, please register your interest, and indicate how you might help to: DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk 

For further information on the campaign visit http://census-campaign.org.uk/

**Frequently Asked questions (FAQS)

Downloadable PDF factsheets, fliers and letters can be found at:

The latest British Social Attitudes survey, conducted in 2009, shows only 43.7% of people claiming to be Christian while 50.7% say they are non-religious. Around 5% belong to non-Christian religions, almost half of these Muslim. BSA survey results can be downloaded here (see pages 70 and 71 for religious data): http://www.natcen.ac.uk/media/606622/bsa 2009 annotated questionnaires.pdf

Majority of people in Britain now say they are non-religious

reposted from: http://www.humanism.org.uk/news/view/723 - 4th January 2011
comments by crabsallover in blue. Thanks to Dave E (Dorset Humanists & HASSNERS member) for bringing this report to my notice. 


The British Social Attitudes survey asked 'Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion? If YES which?' In 2009 50.7% answered 'No Religion'.



2010 was a year in which the new government heavily emphasised its pro-Christian credentials. As the new year begins, the British Humanist Association (BHA) has welcomed the findings of latest British Social Attitudes survey showing that, for the first time, the majority of people in Britain now say they are non-religious, and expressed hopes that the results will cause government to take a fairer and more measured approach.

The latest survey, just published but conducted in 2009, shows only 43.7% of people claiming to be Christian while 50.7% say they are non-religious.  Just 5% belong to non-Christian religions, almost half of these Muslim.

This marks a huge change since BSA first asked the question in 1985, when Christians totalled 63% and the non-religious 34%.  Since then there has been an unsteady progress: the previous highest figure was 46.1% in 2006 but in 2008 it was only 43.4%.

Click on image below for larger view.

A growing non-religious trend over 25 years in the UK
The survey also asked about religious upbringing.  The answers show that more than 4 in 10 of those who had a Christian upbringing have abandoned the religion, while barely 1 in 3 of today’s non-religious had a non-religious upbringing. (Figures for non-Christian religions show very little difference between current religion and family religion.)

Commenting on the findings, Andrew Copson, BHA Chief Executive, said: ‘The trend in Britain is clearly still one of increasing non-religious self-identity and hopefully we will see some reflection of this in this year’s decennial Census. Unfortunately, The leading question 'What is your religion?' meant that lots of people ticked the ‘Christian’ or another religious box even though they do not worship or believe. We are encouraging those with only a cultural connection to Christianity but no actual religious belief to answer ‘No religion’ in the Census in March. In the meantime, figures such as those provided by the British Social Attitudes Survey are a necessary counter to unreliable census figures, which have been persistently misused to justify funding of religious organisations and exempting them from non-discrimination laws in the last few years.’

Naomi Phillips, BHA Head of Public Affairs commented, ‘It is time the Government took note of the growing number of people, now apparently the majority, who have no religion.  It should stop favouring religious organisations and religious schools with opt-outs and exemptions from the law.’

Notes



The British Humanist Association is the national charity representing and supporting the interests of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.

Dorset Humanists are affiliated to the British Humanist Association. 

See page 70 on Religion in the British Social Attitudes Survey below. Click on both questions for a larger view.
and






Darwin Day Lunch & Darwin's Sacred Cause with Prof. James Moore

Darwin Day Lunch - Saturday, 26 February, 12.30pm (lunch) 2.00pm (talk)
Fifty Dorset Humanist members & friends have attended the special Darwin Day Lunch gathering for the past three years, so please book your place early. Friends are welcome if there are spaces available after 4th February.

Please complete the Darwin Day Lunch booking form as soon as possible and no later than Friday 4th February 2011.

Darwin's Sacred Cause 
In this fascinating talk after the Dorset Humanists Darwin Day Lunch best-selling author Professor James Moore, a world authority on Charles Darwin, will give a completely new explanation of how Darwin arrived at his famous view of evolution.  There has always been a mystery surrounding Darwin: how did this quiet, respectable gentleman, a pillar of his parish, come to embrace one of the most radical ideas in the history of human thought? With co-author Adrian Desmond, James Moore has written a prize-winning biography of Darwin in addition to "Darwin's Sacred Cause". He is Professor of the History of Science at the Open University and is currently researching the life of Alfred Russel Wallace who lived in Broadstone.

Life in the Universe – are the Aliens there? by James Fradgely - Saturday, 8th January 2.00pm


Are we alone in the Universe?
Come to our January talk to find out.
When: Saturday, 8th January 2.00pm
Where: Moordown Community Centre, Coronation Avenue, Moordown BH91TW


In this talk for Dorset Humanists, James Fradgely will assess the likelihood of there being complex life elsewhere in the universe. He will talk about exoplanets, the „Drake Equation., the development of the Universe and our own galaxy, how complex life may have developed, biological and environmental constraints on its development, and why human beings are so interested in this question. 


James Fradgely is Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and Chairman of the Wessex Astronomical Society.





Join the Dorset Humanists Committee

Have you ever thought about joining Dorset Humanists Committee? We meet every month to manage the affairs of Dorset Humanists. The committee is elected at the AGM every year in March.

If you would like to nominate someone, or get yourself nominated, please complete the Committee Nomination form.

We would particularly welcome someone with an interest in publicity and promotion and someone with an interest in campaigns. For a friendly chat about what.s involved, ring David Warden on 07910 886629.

Earth Charter - Endorsed by Dorset Humanists


Dorset Humanists embrace the spirit and aims of the Earth Charter document.  We pledge to join the global partnership for a just, sustainable, and peaceful world and to work for the realization of the values and principles of the Earth Charter.