News and Opinion

First Person Column in Leicester Mercury Dec 13th 2012 The times they are a’changin’ As the new President of Leicester Secular Society my particular interest in the 2011 Census has been data relating to religion and belief in Leicester.   These stats are quite different from the national averages, revealing a city that is more diverse than most other places and, notably, where the four main belief categories (Christian; Non-religious; Muslim and Hindu) are relatively evenly balanced, with a sizeable number of Sikhs too. The new figures show that the number of Christians (of ALL denominations) is now down to only 32% of Leicester’s population.   Those without religion (atheists) are the second largest group with almost 23%, while Muslims check in at nearly 19% and Hindus at just over 15%.   Sikhs are at about 4.5%.   In other words no single belief group is anywhere near dominant.   I believe this means that no spokesman for any single religion can be seen as a moral sp

The discussion has probably run its course in the Secularist but Lee Turnpenny has brought this hilarious article to my attention and I thought it should be shared more widely. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/27/victoria-coren-ken-loach-wrong-on-oaths

Bishop Tim Stevens, writing in his February's Mercury column, worries about the erosion of Christianity from public life. He suggests that secularism, i.e. the separation of the church and state, threatens the whole fabric of the church. However, one only has to take a look across the pond to America to realise that a secular constitution will not impede the practice of religion, in fact quite the reverse! As the bishop mentions in his article, the ruling on council prayers will not prohibit groups of people from praying before council meetings, if they so wish. The ruling just upholds the right of individuals in office not to be forced to take part in religious practices. Personally, I would not dream of forcing my own ideology upon others. I suspect that the real reason for advocating keeping the church and state together is that this arrangement best suits the interests of the church, as the religious customs of the state help to promote the church’s message and give it credib