Suffolk Humanists & Secularists

The Sunday Times recently wrote about the new summer camp for kids in the most misleading, prejudiced fashion. According to the paper, it’s all a part of Richard Dawkins’ evil plan to indoctrinate children. Couldn’t be more wrong if they tried – and they are very trying. For the truth, see the Camp Quest website.

I missed this programme but will listen now, via this clip. On Mark Thomas’s BBC Radio 4 Manifesto programme, audience member Laura proposed, to enthusiastic applause:

There should be a minimum age of consent before anyone joins a religion, because the vast majority of religions’ members were put through ceremonies by their parents when they were far too young to know what was going on. And while many of them renounce their faith when they are older, indoctrinating children allows religions to claim more members and more influence than is actually justified.

I’ve been trying to declutter. Amongst other things, I’ve been adding more and more tabs to my browser, thinking, “Oh, I’ll include that in a news update on our site,” and it’s got to the stage where I really, really have to clear up all the clutter. So here you are.

If you remember that we were concerned about the possibility of Holywells High School in Ipswich being taken over by the Church of England, then things went very quiet, there’s been a development. The secretary of state for children, schools and families has approved the county’s plan to turn Holywells into an academy, with Kunskapsskolan, the largest provider of secondary education in Sweden, to be a “preferred partner”. Sounds interesting…

Here it is, for you to download, our latest newsletter, with details of our next meetings and reports on “community cohesion” consultations in our area.

File Attachment: 2009 SH&S News June.pdf (317 KB)

Not familiar with pdf files? Click here.

Sorry I’ve neglected posting anything for a while, but you could have written something yourself, you know. I’ve been in a codeine-induced stupor, due to severe back pain. No advice thanks; just send chocolate.

So, anyhow, here’s some stuff for the bank holiday.

The hoo-ha over MPs’ expenses has, it seems, led many to become so disillusioned with British politicians that they say they won’t vote. Does that mean they’re happy to delegate any decision-making to those of us who do? Were they among the 38.72% who didn’t vote last time? Maybe, if you don’t vote, you’ve no right to express an opinion about how we’re governed. What do you think?

Of those who will vote, it’s been forecast that many will vote for one of the smaller parties – maybe UKIP, the BNP or the Greens. Nigel Farage, the MEP who spends all his time telling us why we shouldn’t be in the EU, has been vocal in his criticism of MPs' expenses, but admits he’s claimed £2 million as an MEP.

The BNP has upset the church with its poster campaign, asking “What would Jesus do?” This seems a little odd, as they wouldn’t want Jesus in the UK if he had a second coming and decided to apply for British citizenship. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are miffed about this, and have advised people not to vote BNP; they don’t think Jesus would vote BNP.

The Christian Party & Christian People’s Alliance think he’d vote for them. Their manifesto is “based on biblical principles”. They’re been in trouble too; their election broadcast was censored to remove a reference to a mosque that could offend Muslims. It’s going to be hard to choose, isn’t it?

Wordle.net is a clever tool that turns words on websites into pictures - the bigger the word, the more times it has been written. Below is the word cloud for this site - so this is what we're saying, which worryingly seems to include quite a lot about cheese and the moon:

I've been quoted in the Times Education Supplement in an article about religious kids who proselytise in school. Read the comments for a copy of the email the quote came from.