Two New Humanist Legal Victories in the UK

Posted by Torin Golding

The defeat of Blasphemy Laws

Ruling against employment discrimination by religious charities

Interesting News Items

Posted by Torin Golding

Here are two posts from around the web that may be of interest:

The first concerns a "debate" happening tonight at the British Council in the UK. Two public figures put forward a short response to the question "Is religion a threat to rationality and science?", pro and con. I'll follow up with the actual debate transcript if I can find it. Is religion a threat to rationality and science? from the Guardian

The second post is one of hopefully many rebuttals to the Ben Stein Creationist movie that is now open in the US (and that has bought a lot of air time for commercials- someone is funding this stinker). Paul Abrams over at the Huffington Post writes a very concise and very hard hitting attack on Stein's film and tactics. Creationist Movie "Expelled" with Ben Stein: A Blasphemy to Nazi-Resister Teachers from the Huffington Post

Enjoy!

Lazy Article on 'The Dangers of Dawkins'

Posted by Torin Golding

Guardian Article

As the case with most of these type of articles, the real meat is in the comments section, where in my opinion the posters do a good job of pointing out Ravenhill's disingenuousness.

Darwin Day Monkey Parade!

Posted by Torin Golding

Many thanks to all who participated in the Monkey Parade today, and those who helped organize, especially Boythorn Ironclad.

I've posted snapshots here on Flickr.

Happy Darwin Day everyone! :)

Happy Darwin Day!

The Guardian paper has a great spread on the 150 year celebration of Darwin's work.

Abolish Blasphemy Laws

I just got this through from the British Humanist Association:

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An amendment is being tabled to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill by Dr Evan Harris MP to abolish the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel are abolished.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has long campaigned for the blasphemy laws to be abolished, and we have been briefing MPs about the present amendment, as well as representing the case for abolition to Government, and you can help to support it too!

We need to demonstrate to MPs that their constituents support this move and we have set up a facility whereby you can email your MP directly by going to http://tinyurl.com/2gkm7w

Please use the site today and help to abolish this antiquated law!


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Reasons to abolish the blasphemy laws

There are a number of compelling reasons to abolish the blasphemy laws, which are listed below.

· The blasphemy law is contrary to the principle of free speech and is probably contrary to human rights laws adopted by the UK, which protect freedom of expression. The law fundamentally protects certain, Christian, beliefs and makes it illegal to question them or deny them.

· There is considerable evidence that the blasphemy law restricts free speech even in the absence of recent prosecutions. It undoubtedly influences the behaviour not only of individuals and the media, but also of bodies exercising official functions.

· The blasphemy law protects beliefs, not people. It is right, subject to safeguards, for society through its laws to protect individuals and groups within it from hatred and attack. It is quite wrong to extend the protection of the law to propositions, creeds and truth-claims.

· In a free society we must be allowed to criticise religious doctrines and practices, even if that offends some people. While it may be offensive to some Christian believers to hear their beliefs mocked or denied that is equally true of people of other faiths, and of unbelievers, who repeatedly hear atheism equated with a lack of values or immorality. In an open and pluralist society there should be no inhibition to free speech without the very strongest justification, and robust debate should be expected and accepted in religious as in political and other spheres.

· The blasphemy law is uncertain. As common law, with a very limited number of cases, it is impossible to predict how the courts might interpret the law in any putative case. This is contrary to the principles of good law, and unacceptable in practice.

· The blasphemy law lacks credibility. Although no one has been imprisoned for blasphemy since 1921, and private prosecutions are no longer possible, the possibility of a prison sentence remains, and a law that is only enforced at intervals of many years is an indefensible lottery.

· The blasphemy law allows no defence of merit or lack of intent, which is contrary to the principles adopted in other areas, for example, obscenity.

· The blasphemy law defends only Christianity (and principally the doctrines of the Church of England), which is unacceptable in a society characterised by its diversity of beliefs. Such unequal treatment naturally arouses resentment and demands for the privilege to be extended to other groups.

· Rather than extend the blasphemy laws to other religious beliefs, which in practice would constitutes the severest restriction on discussion of fundamental matters of profound significance and interest, the most fair and most equal and equal solution would be to abolish the laws.

Secular Holiday Charity Drive

Congratulations Humanists! The secular holiday charity drive was a great success! Our final tally was L$52,708.00 or $184.30 US. I rounded this up to $200 US and sent in our donation to Oxfam International today! We should be getting a card back from them soon, which I will digitize and share with you.

Here are some things that our $200 may have bought to help make a difference around the world (from the Oxfam website):

We may have provided a family with 4.5 sheep, 2 cows, or 1 camel

We may have planted 333 trees

We may have paid for the irrigation of a farmer’s field for 1.5 years

We may have started two small businesses

We may have bought 6 desks for a local school

We may have paid for 6 community members to receive gender rights training

Each of those things would be covered by $200 US. Thank you thank you thank you for helping to make a difference this holiday season and show that Humanists will step up to the plate and show our compassion in practical ways. I’m so proud to be a part of this group!

A happy and peaceful new years to you and yours!

-Torin