News and Opinion

Are we fighting to keep alive something that is already in its death throes when we stand up for free speech? It seems that voicing any criticism of values or beliefs, rather than being seen as an opportunity to engage in discussion, education and even social progression, is seen as oppression, intolerance and “disrespect” of the person expressing their opinions. Nowhere do we see this more than in the criticism of religion and nowhere do we see hypocrisy raising its ugly head more. The idea of “love the sinner, hate the sin” is one that, in a somewhat altered form, I will applaud. A child who is confident of their parents’ love will value their approval. Behaviour that is frowned upon is likely to be changed and avoided in the future. The value of disapproval (parental, peer and societal) has been responsible for many changes in the moral zeitgeist. Disapproval of drunk driving has certainly paid dividends, the same seems to be working with smoking, and was doing so long before the re...

I wondered about the wisdom of posting two articles linked to creationism in a very short time, but decided to go ahead because it is somewhat relevant to a recent talk at the Secular Hall. Following the visit made by Professor Michael Reiss, a conversation sparked by that event and a debate about religion (but not creationism) between Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens on YouTube, a thought entered my head that just wouldn’t go away. Why is it that the “evilutionist” scientists who actively and vociferously speak out against the nonsense of creationism and ID are almost universally atheists? The Christian biologists, like Dr. Kenneth Miller, who actually take a stand, seem to number in single figures. To a non-believer, the Holy Books are just books; books written by primitive human beings. In general, they seem to have been written by not-very-nice human beings judging by the atrocities and bigotry they appear to have revelled in. They are books which are historically a...

Creationism: Is it ignorance or dishonesty? Preachers who seek to teach Creationism as science are mistaken, or worse. There was a time when everyone believed Earth was flat. Philosophers and mathematicians found this belief to be flawed. Initially, they were ridiculed or feared. Then, a few took notice, now everyone finds the evidence that the earth is spherical to be overwhelming. It took hundreds of years. We fly to distant parts of the world, see images from space and accept time differences in various countries, all of which reassures us of the truth of claims that Earth is not flat. Could it all be a conspiracy by scientists to deceive the gullible masses? This seems unlikely, as knowledge of the shape of the earth underpins so much of what our understanding of the modern world is built upon. There was a time when people believed that the creation stories in scriptures were historical fact. Scientists have found this belief to be flawed. Initially, they were ridiculed or feared. ...

The success of the “Atheist Bus” Campaign prompted the Bishop of Leicester to ask in his column in the Leicester Mercury “do we really want to live in a world that is Godless?” (presumably his particular C. of E. brand of god) and “leave society at the mercy of human values and decisions”. This provided an opportunity for LSS members and others to suggest that “God's law” isn't quite as beneficent as the Bishop indicated. Harry Perry responded: Bishop Tim Stevens (Mercury, November 1) asks a good question: “Does society truly want to be Godless?” He says society must choose between living under God's law or "at the mercy of human values and decisions". I couldn't have put it better myself. God's law tells the Jews of Israel that they can steal Palestine from the Palestinians, by force. The-Bible-obsessed Christians of America show their agreement by providing the finance and weaponry to carry it out. It is God's law that tells Muslims they must ston...

The Society for some years has had a blog on the internet. George Jelliss retired from running it some time ago and since then it has sunk into disuse. Nonetheless secularism remains a live issue, and secular points of view on many issues don't reach the media enough. If you are sufficiently opinionated to write regular provocative pieces for it, please get in touch via blog @ leicestersecularsociety . org . uk (close spaces) to discuss how you might become a contributor (we could do with several) - or take up the role of Blogmeister.

A group of members of the Society turned out to leaflet Ken Ham 's creationist lecture at Parklands, Oadby. Here is Pennie's report : Well folks, Ken Ham has been to Leicester and is now on his way to pollute the minds of the faithful in London. When we first arrived at the Parklands Leisure Centre, we went to check out the room to find it was set up for about five hundred people (I would say about 250 to 300 actually attended). I had printed 120 leaflets, plus 20 each of additional “pages” of the booklet I am working on, printed as individual flyers (I was very, very sorry I hadn’t printed more to go inside the leaflets) and George had printed a few more. There were eight or nine of us handing out the leaflets and most people took them. In fact it appears that we gave out all but five! Most people were friendly, a couple were a little hostile, some were genuinely interested. The handing-out-of-the-leaflets and the discussions which took place went without incident and only...

The following is the text of an email I sent to The World at One following the broadcast of their interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury: === We have struggled for centuries to achieve the freedoms we have in this country, and internationally. Any recognition of Sharia law, even in a small way, would be a retrograde step, based as it is on unreformed mediaevalism. On PM [or on their website] it was later reported that the Leicester Imam, Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "We're looking at a very small aspect of Sharia for Muslim families when they choose to be governed with regards to their marriage, divorce, inheritance, custody of children and so forth." That doesn't sound "very small" to me! It sounds like the whole swathe of family law. Sharia family law is very much formulated to the benefit of men, and it would be very difficult for a Muslim woman to go against the wishes of her family and freely choose to be judged under Engl...