Local

A Humanist contribution to a Celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, at the Unitarian Meeting House, Ipswich, 10th December 2008, organised by the local UN Association.

Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Sometimes, when talking to young people about ethical or political issues, I’ve invited them to consider them from a different point of view – that of an interested, intelligent being from another part of the universe. Suppose there were alien anthropologists, or the equivalent, since they wouldn’t restrict themselves to studying one species – ours. What if they came and simply observed human behaviour. What if they came from a planet where there were no wars, where they’d restricted their population and the damage it might do, where they’d established some sort of harmonious relationship with their environment, where everyone regarded him or herself as part of one society, based on their planet, rather than having national or ethnic boundaries. I think they’d probably regard us as a primitive species.

The Atheist Bus was briefly mentioned on Ian Wyatt’s Sunday Breakfast programme on BBC Essex today (2 November), with comment from me and Francis Goodwin of the Church’s Advertising Network. A listener phoned in to say he was “offended”, apparently at the mere suggestion that there is no god.

Staff pay and conditions could be under threat at an Ipswich school if a decision is finalised to turn it into a church-run academy.

As revealed in The Evening Star, students at Holywells High spoke out against the possibility of the running of their school being handed over to the Church of England in September.

The students' concerns are now shared by trade unions, who today revealed their opposition to academies' abilities to operate outside the parliamentary approved School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document.

6th-formers at Holywells High School, which is threated by a Church take-over, have vowed to campaign against the plans. Good for them! Read more in the Evening Star.

The Ipswich Advertiser reports:

A BITTER tug-of- war has broken out today [17 October 2008] over the future of one of Ipswich's most high-profile schools.

Despite improving GCSE rates and opposition from staff, Holywells High School could become a church-sponsored academy.

Although no final decision has been made and a full consultation is yet to take place, sources at multicultural Holywells High have hit out at a proposal to convert the school into an academy, saying they have been put under pressure by Suffolk County Council to become a faith school.

We will do whatever we can to support those who oppose the take-over of Holywells School by the Church. If you have any information, please get in touch.

Zehra Zaidi's piece in the Guardian about the latest daft idea from Hazel Blears & Co is spot on. The constant harping on about "community cohesion", which really means trying to get Muslims and others to all get along, is ridiculous. Can't they see that the proliferation of faith schools is an obstacle to social harmony?

There've been many "consultations" that were ostensibly about achieving harmony and understanding, but all they do is exaggerate the differences between people, rather than encourage them to discover what they have in common. Pixie-Dust for Brains Blears is behind the Government's "Face-to-Face and Side-by-Side: A framework for inter faith dialogue and social action" consultation - another waste of time. In the foreword, she writes:

We have in recent years seen an increase in dialogue between different faith communities which is breaking down barriers, building understanding and strengthening relationships. We have also seen the positive changes that collaborative social action has brought about within our local communities. This growth in ‘active faith’ has seen faith communities putting into practice their values and teachings to enrich and benefit wider society.

Our October newsletter is ready for download. Articles on the BHA’s Local Development Project, SIFRE’s Forum of Faiths, and the facts about refugees. Did you know that many people think that the UK accepts about 23% of the world’s refugees, while the true figure is about 2 to 3%? There’s also a full diary of events from now until February 2009.