secularism

A collection of 149 posts

secularism

Kyrsten Sinema Sworn in on Law Book and Not Bible. By Mike Pence.

The cultural tide is perhaps turning more than ever before in the US as a result of the midterms, with a more diverse set of representatives being signed in than ever before,  not least of whom was Kyrsten Sinema, openly bisexual Democrat who ran quite an interesting race. This is

humanism

Atheists Warn Secretary of Agriculture against Proselytizing to Staff

This is from the American Humanist Association: (Washington D.C., December 21, 2018) – The American Humanist Association (AHA) legal team sent a warning letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in response to his promotion of Christian ideology. In his official capacity, Perdue sent a letter to all

humanism

Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network now operating in 40% of hospitals

Stories like this may seem, in some senses, rather insignificant, but they reflect a growing trend and demand for things secular and nonreligious, at least in the UK. This is from the Humanists UK: Humanists UK is celebrating a year of success for the Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network (NRPSN), which

atheism

Nonreligious Representation on TV and Radio

I think, certainly in Britain, that the assumption of non-religiosity is very much taken for granted. We Brits are generally non-religious, perhaps largely apathetic, and many of those old-school CofE types are nominally religious at best, or keep their faith very close to their chests. Oh, we don't

Education

Bad News for Secular Education in the UK

I will now post three articles from Humanists UK that show things aren't progressing in the UK the way secularists might hope. Sometimes it's one step forward and two steps back. Humanists UK and the National Secular Society are fighting to counteract this - please support

Constitution

The Unconstitutionality of the 40-Foot-Tall Cross

This comes, with permission, from the American Humanist Association: (Washington, D.C., November 2, 2018) – Moments ago, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear arguments from the American Humanist Association’s (AHA) legal team regarding the unconstitutionality of the 40-foot-tall Christian cross towering over a busy Bladensburg, Maryland intersection.

Humanists UK

Coalition of academics call for end to collective worship in state schools

Well, that was well timed. I only mention this in my previous article and here it turns up in the news! Christian collective worship is one of those anachronisms that still exists in the assembly halls of every UK school (I believe it is the UK are not just England,

Education

Are Faith Schools Better? An Issue of Correlation vs Causation...

I have recently been talking about faith schools here at ATP, as concerns the UK and Ireland. Ireland recently announced that they are getting rid of admissions policies that dictate access to schools based on the religious denomination of the children applying. There is this general opinion in the UK

faith schools

Ireland scraps religious selection in Catholic primary school admissions

This may not be a big deal for people across the pond, but this is massive for people in the UK dealing with issues concerning secularism and school admissions. This sort of policy has blighted the UK's education system for time immemorial and to see this volte-face in

secularism

Florida House Approves Bill to Post “In God We Trust” in all Public Schools

This is a shocker for secularists wanting to keep church and state separate. This appears to be a rather exploitative response to the latest shooting. Because, you know, nothing stops mass shootings like indoctrination. This is from The Tampa Bay Times: With the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shooting still looming

secularism

Public wants less religion in politics and bishops out the Lords

This is from Humanists UK: A new survey conducted by YouGov for The Times has found that the British public overwhelmingly supports the removal of the bishops from the House of Lords, and more generally thinks that politicians should try not to be influenced by their religious beliefs when making

faith schools

Religious Discrimination: Teacher Wins Tribunal After Unfair Dismissal by Faith School

This is something very close to my heart as I worked in a faith school for some 10 years and have some interesting things I would love to say on the matter (but, alas, can't). In a generic sense, it is amazing that, in this day and age,

faith schools

Creationist State School Teaches ‘Universe is 5,778 Years Old,’ Forbids Male/Female Contact

This is a couple of weeks ago and comes from the Humanists UK. I am surprised that such a thing has been able to happen in a state school. This is why religious schooling should be shelved. A state faith school in London is teaching its children that ‘the age

faith schools

Report into England’s third largest academy chain raises fresh questions over faith ethos academies

This concerns something very close to my heart, having previously worked in a faith school for almost a decade, and being heavily involved in education, including on a political and philosophical basis. Thi comes from Humanists UK: The status of ‘faith ethos’ academies has been brought back into focus this

secularism

Parent complaints force Church of England school to stop Christian group proselytising to children

Parents be vigilant! And this also is why groups like Humanists UK are so important, supporting such ideals. This is from them: A Church of England school in Kent has been forced to stop a Christian group from delivering assemblies and lessons to its pupils after parents complained about their

secularism

Oxford College Bans Christian Group from Freshers' Fair

This is an interesting one, exposing that fine line between freedoms - freedom of speech and freedom of religion - and promoting a level playing field for competing worldviews. My personal preference would be to see active humanist and secular groups, and philosophy groups competing for freshers. From the Guardian:

prayer

City of London follows Belfast in removing grace before official dinners

In some sense, stories like this are seemingly innocuous. But in another sense, they are reflective of a larger trend that represents something quite fundamental within certainly my country. We are getting to the stage in society and culture where, particularly in countries like the UK, religion is taking an

liberalism

On Toleration

We recently resurrected the Tippling Philosophers, our friendly group of thinkers who meet up at the pub to discuss philosophy and, well, everything. This was the subject of our newly reincarnated group and the discussion was good. Toleration is also something that came out recently during the issues that took

secularism

Trump's 'cabinet members attend weekly Bible study'

Wow. Trump's White House is already an absolute shower of shit at the moment. Everything is going off all over the shop. I can't keep up. This one caught my eye, though. The Independent states: According to Christian Broadcasting Network, once a week around a dozen

Education

South Africa Outlaws Promotion of Any One Religion in Schools

This is from Humanists UK. Good to see Jacques Rousseau in on the action (I used to blog with him at the Skeptic Ink Network): A High Court judge in Johannesburg has outlawed state-funded single-faith schools in South Africa, following a human rights case brought by the Organisation for Religious

BHA

‘Faith’ schools three times more socially selective than others, new research finds (again)

This unsurprising, yet important find, is reported by the British Humanist Association: English ‘faith’ schools are the most socially selective category of comprehensive school, and more than three times more socially selective than schools with no religious character, a new report from the Sutton Trust has found. The Sutton Trust

BHA

Illegal ‘faith’ schools reportedly given more than £100,000 in public funding

From the British Humanist Association: Unregistered ‘faith’ schools suspected by the Government as operating illegally have received more than £100,000 in public funding, it has been reported. Freedom of information requests submitted by The Independent found that £116,750 of Big Lottery Fund money has been awarded to seven

Education

Majority support for end to compulsory religious observance in Scottish schools

From the British Humanist Association: A majority of people in Scotland believe that children should not be forced to worship in school if they do not want to, a new poll has revealed. The survey, carried out by YouGov for the Times newspaper, found that 55% of Scots either did

Education

Fundamentalist Christian private schools downgraded by Ofsted for failing to promote British values

This is a timely piece, since I was only talking about these schools recently in sharing a articles concerning the work of fellow Patheos blogger Jonny Scaramanga. This is from the British Humanist Association: A group of fundamentalist Christian private schools in England have been criticised by Ofsted inspectors and

Education

Department for Education ordered to amend ‘misleading’ faith school figures by UK Statistics Authority following BHA complaint

From the British Humanist Association: The Department for Education (DfE) has been forced to amend its education green paper by the UK Statistics Authority, following a complaint made by the British Humanist Association (BHA) over the ‘misleading’ figures it presents on the impact of religious selection at ‘faith’ schools. The