News and Opinion

Don Cupitt came to Secular Hall on Thursday (26th July) to speak on "The Meaning of the West: Secular versus Religious Interpretations". He maintains that "'Western Culture' is ... the most powerful and dynamic cultural tradition that has yet appeared among human beings". He is right to put 'Western Culture' in inverted commas here, because there is no such thing. The term 'Western Culture' is a label used by those who want to polarise the development of ideas into an Us and Them, East versus West battle. We must be careful not to fall into this trap. What is in reality "the most powerful and dynamic cultural tradition that has yet appeared among human beings"? The answer is the culture of reason and of human-based rational ethics and of scientific method. And this is not 'Western Culture' it is Rational Culture, it is Humanist Culture, it is Scientific Culture, it is Enlightenment Culture, and most of all it is World Cultu...

The following is a message I sent to Leicester Mercury on 28 June, using their website form. Since I got a blank screen for reply I sent it again by email on the 30th June. It has not been published. Dear Editor, In view of the large Muslim population in Leicester, I'm surprised that you do not seem to have given any coverage to the setting up of the "Council of ex-Muslims of Britain". [This was set up by Mariam Namazie, Secularist of the Year in 2005, who spoke about Humanism at Leicester's Secular Hall in February this year.] Many Islamic states still threaten people with death under Sharia law if they leave Islam. Telegraph News Item Your recent defence of free speech by support for the knighthood to Salman Rushdie is admirable. But one wonders how many people in the Muslim community are afraid to express their doubts about religion in view of the many threats against infidels that one reads in the Quran. Not all local Muslims are regular attenders at the Mos...