secularism - A Tippling Philosopher (Page 4)

Education Policy Institute: ‘faith schools’ academically no better; increasing them bad for social mobility

The British Humanist Association: December 2nd, 2016 In a new report published today, the Education Policy Institute has found that there is no academic difference between state religious schools (‘faith schools’) in England and others once pupils’ backgrounds are taken into account. It also found that faith schools take significantly

Bangladesh

Bangladesh considering dropping Islam as state religion, according to senior minister

Having written about this before, I thought it would be worth mentioning again. Bangladesh had floated the idea of becoming secular (again), and then quashed the idea. But so soon after this, the idea has resurfaced. The Independent has reported: Government officials in Bangladesh are considering dropping Islam as the

secularism

Some Openly Atheist / Agnostic Appointments to Celebrate

My colleague here at Patheos, Friendly Atheist, has reported on several interesting wins for freethought in this election: * Athena Salman, openly atheist candidate wins race for Arizona State House * Openly agnostic Wisconsin State Rep wins re-election * Openly Atheist politician Juan Mendez wins race for Arizona State Senate Small victories indeed,

Demographics of Religion

On the Least Religious Countries in the World

According to Zuckerman, Galen and Pasquale, in their super book The Nonreligious, the least religious countries in the world are: Czech Republic, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, China, South Korea, France, Vietnam, Russia, Bulgaria, Japan, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, Great Britain, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Belgium and Latvia. This

BHA

Peers accuse Government of ‘playing with fire’ over plans for unlimited religious selection in schools

From the British Humanist Association: Members of the House of Lords have strongly criticised the Government’s plans to remove the 50% cap on religious selection in new English ‘faith’ schools, as part of a parliamentary debate about the Government’s new grammar schools proposals. Peers raised serious concerns about

Education

Pupils punished after not going to Mass and leaving school

The BBC reports: A Catholic school near Motherwell has handed out detentions to about 50 pupils who failed to go to a Mass. The service at Taylor High School on Friday 30 September was attended by the Bishop of Motherwell, Joseph Toal. Some pupils did not take part and left

Education

Government approves yet more religious free schools just days after faith school admissions announcement

From the BHA: Take action! The principle of integrated education is under attack like never before in this country following the Government’s announcement that it will introduce a new generation of state schools that can religiously discriminate against children for all of their places. We are encouraging everyone to

BHA

Government publishes plans to allow full religious discrimination in school admissions

From the BHA: Take action! The principle of integrated education is under attack like never before in this country following the Government’s announcement that it will introduce a new generation of state schools that can religiously discriminate against children for all of their places. We are encouraging everyone to

BHA

UK Govt Looking to Give Faith Schools 100% Selection on Faith

Theresa May is turning out to be a really bad PM, regressively appealing to the fringe right in the party, some of whom she has put into leadership positions in her cabinet (Liam Fox and David Davis, anybody?). She has decided that social mobility is just something for liberal lefties,

National Secular Society

The Religious Privilege in the House of Lords

The religious nature of aspects of the House of Lords (HOL) came up in another thread here at ATP yesterday, so I thought I would explain how the HOL works in this regard, particularly for foreign readers. Before concentrating on the religious angle, let's allow Wikipedia to explain

Religion and Society

Kentucky Inquisition

I left a comment on a website that described some political machinations in the state of Kentucky. A county legal official promoted a questionnaire for local politicians, asking them about their religious views. I thought that this was rather unusual, and possibly unconstitutional, and offered the following comment. “Jeff Sharp,

Education

70 Rabbis challenge Chief Rabbi over religious selection in school admissions

School admissions have been a bone of contention of mine for a long time, especially having once worked in the faith school sector for about a decade. The UK is very different to places like the US. Here, in certain sectors, some 40% of our state schools are faith schools.

BHA

National first: University of Westminster appoints paid BHA accredited Secular Adviser

The BHA reports: The University of Westminster has broken new ground by appointing the UK’s first ever paid pastoral adviser for non-religious people. Isabel Millar, the university’s new Secular Adviser, comes to the university trained and accredited by the British Humanist Association (BHA), the UK’s national charity

BHA

Entirely the wrong direction of travel: Church of England announces 100 more church schools

From the BHA: The Church of England's educational empire-building continues, with its recent announcement of plans to build more than 100 discriminatory Anglican 'free schools', which will have the legal right to select 50% of school places on the basis of religion. As if that weren&

BHA

UN Children’s Rights Committee calls for end to compulsory worship in UK schools

A lot of people in the UK outside of education don't realise that there is still compulsory daily Christian worship (known as collective worship) within the state school system. This has been a valid target for the likes of the National Secular Society and the British Humanist Association

atheism

Study Shows People of No Religion Outnumber Christians in England and Wales

The Guardian's front page news headline today is happy news for those nonreligious of us. I even heard it on local radio this morning: The number of people who say they have no religion is rapidly escalating and significantly outweighs the Christian population in England and Wales, according

BHA

‘Faith Schoolers Anonymous’: Whistle-blowers’ shocking details about life in UK ‘faith’ schools

This is from the BHA: In a series of shocking revelations marking the launch of Faith Schoolers Anonymous, a new service for pupil whistle-blowers, bloggers from a range of ‘faith’ schools have shared their experiences of the education they received. Their accounts reveal instances of abuse, discrimination, and flagrant violations

BHA

DfE bows to churches’ demands for privilege and protection in face of full academisation

The BHA reports, concerning the ongoing issues in the UK educations system (much of which I have reported on extensively here): The Department for Education (DfE) has published memoranda of understanding formally setting out its agreements with the Catholic Church and Church of England (CofE) on the arrangements that will

Church

Thousands Quit Churuch of Denmark After Atheist Tax Campaign

Some three thousand people have quit the Church of Denmark recently after a campaign by the Atheist Society. Christian Today explains: Nearly 3,000 baptised cancelled their membership last month after Denmark's Atheist Society, Ateistisk Selskab, launched a nationwide campaign advising people they could save money by opting

atheism

Yet Another Bangladeshi Secularist Hacked to Death by Radical Islamists

This depresses me, it really does. How many is this now? The Guardian reports: A Bangladeshi law student who criticised Islamism on his Facebook page has been murdered, police said on Thursday, the latest in a series of killings of secular activists and bloggers in the country. Nazimuddin Samad, 28,

BHA

BHA: Childhoods stolen, adulthoods ruined: we expose illegal 'faith' schools in London

The BHA reports (which has been taken up in the UK by national media outlets): An investigation carried out by the British Humanist Association (BHA) has revealed that a number of unregistered strictly Orthodox Charedi Jewish schools in north London – which the Government is aware are operating illegally – are nonetheless

atheism

The 13 countries where being an atheist is punishable by death

This report in the Independent has been doing the rounds. In this day and age, it's pretty sad. It’s often said that the world is becoming an increasingly secular place. Just last week David Cameron sparked backlash when he used his Easter message to describe the UK

atheism

Islamists call for Sharia law in Pakistan after Salman Taseer blasphemy row

Oh dear. You would think that the bombing in Pakistan my lead to a public outrage against hardline Islamic stances. Not so, as the Independent reports: Thousands of protesters have clashed with police in Islamabad in the second day of protests over blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Demonstrators gathered outside Parliament

Bangladesh

Bangladesh court upholds Islam as religion of the state

I reported on this the other day. However, unsurprisingly, the move to return Bangladesh to a secular state were ultimately unsuccessful. As AlJazeera reports: Dhaka, Bangladesh - Bangladesh's High Court on Monday rejected a 28-year-old petition calling for the removal of a constitutional provision recognising Islam as the

Bangladesh

After 28 years, Bangladesh revives case to drop Islam as state religion

At a time when the horrific and violent murder of atheist and secular bloggers (much like myself) in the country of Bangladesh has become all too commonplace, it is interesting to read of the idea that there might be a move to reinstate secularism. As Reuters reports: Legal action to