Newsline 8th April 2005

In this week's issue:
Quotes of the week
Essays of the week
THE OTHER SIDE OF KAROL WOJTYLA
SECULAR PRINCIPLES TOSSED TO THE WIND AS FRANCE AND AMERICA JOIN POPE-FRENZY
NOW ITALIAN TV DROPS POPETOWN
CATHOLIC ABUSE PLAY WINS PULITZER PRIZE
DON’T FORGET TO SHARE YOUR ELECTION NEWS
INCITEMENT LAW JUNKED
NSS SPEAKS OUT
LETTERS TO NEWSLINE
FILM ON TV

Quotes of the week

“By Monday morning I was feeling, as I’m sure many people were, thoroughly poped out. On the Radio 2 website, a heading advised: ‘For the latest on the death of the Pope, visit BBC news’. Latest? Surely he couldn’t be any more dead. Or less – though that really would be news.”
(Robert Hanks, Independent radio critic)

“Why is controlling women’s bodies the shared battle flag of every faith?”
(Polly Toynbee, Guardian)

“New Labour may yet discover that the free speech lobby commands a larger vote-bank than the Islamists, and that playing communalist politics and being prepared to damage fundamental freedoms for narrow electoral advantage is a game that may backfire.”
(Salman Rushdie, Independent)

Essays of the week

THE OTHER SIDE OF KAROL WOJTYLA

How marvellous that the pope has popped his clogs. After all, didn’t he spend his whole life telling us how wonderful it is to be dead? Well, now he knows what it’s like to be dead and I fear he’ll be rather disappointed. If, indeed, he is anything.

This man, who had such delusions of grandeur, brought nothing much to the party except misery and endless whinging about how evil we all are. But to judge by the ludicrous, overblown media reaction, you’d think life is never going to be the same again. Well, sorry all you hysterical fools at the BBC and in Fleet Street – life will not change one iota for most people beyond the Vatican.

So today, on the day of his planting, we will have to endure yet another great outpouring of media sycophancy, crammed with hushed voices and sentimental images of weeping nuns and Tony Blair putting on his special “she was the people’s princess” voice.

Newsline hereby tries to redress the balance slightly by giving a small voice to the dissenters:

Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State director of American Atheists: “Opposed to birth control. Opposed to the rights of gays. Opposed to the rights of women. Opposed to the right to have an abortion. He made a virtue of human suffering rather than working for meaningful ways to prevent human suffering. He sought ways to deal with the persistent problem of so many priests of his church raping children: mostly same sex children. Perhaps he could have suggested that they obey the law. He exonerated Galileo, and he apologised to the Jewish people for his church having not condemned, and maybe even having helped their un-excommunicated communicant Adolph Hitler.

“Many of the faithful thought he was correct in all things. And they obeyed him. Except when he condemned capital punishment and the war in Iraq. The pope, they figured, got it wrong on those – that abortion is god-prohibited murder, but that killing people in prisons and on the battlefields is fine no matter what the Vicar of Christ has to say on such matters. The dead Supreme Pontiff also thought the teaching of evolution was okay. Many think he was wrong on that too, and that they are more qualified to decide where people came from than the chief primate”.

Peter Tatchell: “History will judge the Pope harshly. His opposition to the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV has contributed to millions of people dying an agonising, needless death. Millions of children in developing countries are orphans; having lost their parents to Aids because of the Pope’s anti-condom dogma. Pope John Paul II waged a ceaseless war against the human rights of women and gay people; opposing the right of women to control their own fertility; blocking women’s equality in the church; and endorsing state-sponsored discrimination against lesbians and gay men.”

Hans Kung, theologian: “The role the Polish pope played in helping bring about the collapse of the Soviet empire is… heavily exaggerated by papal propagandists. After all, the Soviet regime did not fall because of the pope (before the arrival of Gorbachev, the pope was achieving about as little as he is now achieving in China), but instead imploded because of the Soviet system’s inherent economic and social contradictions.”

American Atheist Newsletter: “Even in the wake of the Vatican bank scandal, the IOR/Holy See continued in its efforts to hide evidence that it was the beneficiary of large amounts of gold (and possibly other financial assets) confiscated by the Nazi puppet regimes in the former "Catholic State of Croatia" and elsewhere in Europe. Indeed, the Vatican has been pressuring U.S. courts to stop any disclosure of IOR assets and their origin.”

Johann Hari, Independent: “If we want to talk about respecting the dead, today we should not grieve for one peddler of superstition, but the tens of thousands who – thanks to him – did not live to see this day. I do not believe that John Paul II will face a Judgement Day in ‘Heaven’. But one day, the fatuous tributes of the past week will rot, and his name will be cursed here on earth.”

Christopher Hitchens: “A few years ago, it seemed quite probable that Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston would have to face trial for his appalling collusion in the child-rape racket that his diocese had been running. The man had knowingly reassigned dangerous and sadistic criminals to positions where they would be able to exploit the defenceless. He had withheld evidence and made himself an accomplice, before and after the fact, in the one offence that people of all faiths and of none have most united in condemning. (Since I have more than once criticized Maureen Dowd in this space, I should say now that I think she put it best of all. A church that has allowed no latitude in its teachings on masturbation, premarital sex, birth control, and divorce suddenly asks for understanding and “wiggle room” for the most revolting crime on the books.) Anyway, Cardinal Law isn’t going to face a court, now. He has fled the jurisdiction and lives in Rome, where a sinecure at the Vatican has been found for him. (Actually not that much of a sinecure: As archpriest of the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major, he also sits on two boards supervising priestly discipline—yes!—and the appointment of diocesan bishops.) [Update, April 4, 2005:And to add injury to insult as well as insult to injury, this wicked old fugitive will, in the coming days, be a part of the holy conclave that assembles to decide on the next Pope. Could anything be more disgusting?]

Simon Edge (in a letter to The Guardian): “Tony Blair tells us that even those of us with no religious faith should admire Pope John Paul as a ‘shining example’ of what ‘true and profound spiritual faith should mean’. That faith involved outspoken homophobic bigotry at every possible opportunity. This does seem to be a hallmark of established religious faith, but I don't quite see why those of us who don’t believe the mumbo jumbo are meant to admire it. I am chilled by the eulogies for a hatemonger who spent his dotage passionately denouncing the ‘evil’ of gay people living together (while defending the child-molesters in his own church).

Michael Rennie (letter to Guardian): “It is estimated by the Tablet that 8.5% of Britain’s population is practising Catholic. Given this tiny proportion, why has the media gone barmy over the death of this divisive, reactionary old man?”

George Broadhead of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association said: “The Pope’s opposition to gay relationships and gay rights has been relentless throughout his 26-year tenure of office, culminating in his book published this year in which same-sex marriage is described as part of an ‘ideology of evil’. His catechism condemns gay relationships as ‘intrinsically disordered’ and a ‘grave depravity’. In 2003, he even went so far as urging gay children and their parents to seek psychiatric treatment. More heinously, his opposition to the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV has condemned millions of people to an agonising death. He will be recorded in gay history as one of the most implacable homophobes of all time.”

Clare Wagner (Independent): “The Pope spoke about toleration and love but was in fact intolerant and showed no love for the children of Africa dying of Aids, for the women who want to preach about Christ, or for the thousands of children who have been abused by priests over the centuries.”

Terry Eagleton (Guardian): “From his early years as a priest, he was notable for his exorbitant belief in his own spiritual and intellectual powers. Graham Greene once dreamed of a newspaper headline ‘John Paul canonises Jesus Christ’. Loopy far-right mystics and Francoists were honoured and Latin American political liberationists bawled out. The Pope’s authority was so unassailable that the head of a Spanish seminary managed to convince his students that he had the Pope’s personal permission to masturbate them…. He was one of the greatest disasters for the Christian church since Charles Darwin.”

Joan Smith (Independent): “While his intransigence on homosexuality, women priests and contraception has been mentioned, few commentators have remarked on the paradox of a leader of so thoroughly undemocratic an organisation as the Roman Catholic Church being hailed as a champion of freedom and democracy – or the fact that this doughty opponent of communism was little short of Stalinist in his intolerance of dissent and relentless centralisation of power.”

Frances Kissling, president, Catholics for a Free Choice: “He will go down in history as a pope who didn’t understand and who wasn’t friendly to women. He couldn’t have slammed the door shut more loudly on the question of the ordination of women. He will go down as a fifth-century pope in terms of who women are”.

Editorial New York Times: “He was not a great religious figure. How could he be? He may, in time to come, be credited with destroying his church”.

Mark Steel, Independent: “Not only is the Roman Catholic Church at the centre of a huge child-abuse scandal, the recent pope went to enormous lengths to cover that scandal up. In May 2001 he changed the rules to make each case a ‘pontifical secret’. Bishops could no longer investigate child abuse in their area, as each case had to be referred immediately to the Vatican. Seeing as most cardinals were appointed to ensure a continuation of policy, there must be a worry they’ll announce the next Pope is Michael Jackson.”

See also:

And for those who want a no-holds-barred reaction, try the Raving Atheist Obituary (but please – if a disrespectful approach to religion offends you, do not visit this site – it is only for those with a very ripe sense of humour). If you can stand it, don’t miss the comments that follow the main rant

SECULAR PRINCIPLES TOSSED TO THE WIND AS FRANCE AND AMERICA JOIN POPE-FRENZY

The French government’s decision to fly official flags at half mast following the death of the pope has raised the question “Is France secular or Catholic?” At the same time, atheists in America are protesting at the use of public money for the president to attend a Catholic mass and pray to “the almighty.”

The French atheist group Libre Pensée is outraged at the government’s action in lowering official flags to half mast. Christian Eyschen, editor of La Raison, the French freethought journal, describes the flag issue as “scandalous” and has also condemned Jacques Chirac for attending a mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in his capacity as President of the Republic. “This makes a farce of the commemoration of the centenary of the 1905 law that separates church and state,” Mr Eyschen said. “Because the provisions of that law are being violated, religion is no longer a private matter”.

A spokesperson for the French government Jean-Francois Copé claimed that the Pope was “an exceptional man of peace” and therefore flying the flags at half-mast was a sign of respect for him.

But Yves Contassot, a deputy mayor of Paris, said the decision was against the principle of secularism. He accused Chirac of abusing his authority. Another of the Mayor’s deputies, Green Party member Christophe Girard, said he was “troubled” by the decision. “On the front of our town halls, our schools, it is marked ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’. It isn’t written ‘Catholic France’ or ‘the Catholic Republic of France’, like the Islamic Republic of Iran”. M. Girard said this might encourage religious people to imagine that the law could be flouted, and make it harder to implement the school ban on religious symbols. Dismissing the idea that the Pope is “the equivalent of the President of the Vatican”, Girard said: “I do not remember flying a flag at half-mast for the Moroccan King Hassan II. Is this symbol for religious leaders only? Then, we will implement this for the death of leaders of all religions”.

Lean-Luc Mélenchon, Senator of the Socialist Party, agreed that the half-mast decision was not appropriate. Mélenchon, who is one of the most prominent figures within the party, said that the government could not pick and choose when to apply secularist principles. Others said that it would be difficult to square the government’s reaction to the death of the pope with its ban on religious symbols in schools.

In the United States, too, atheists are up in arms at the use of public money by the President and his entourage to attend the funeral of the pope. Mr. Bush issued a statement through the White House press office saying that the purpose of the trip “is to express our gratitude to the almighty for such a man...” Bush will be the first sitting president to attend a pope’s funeral. It was later announced that former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton will also be in the official delegation, along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“Bush intends to pray and thank the ‘almighty’, which renders the presidential excursion to Rome a religious pilgrimage,” said American Atheists President Ellen Johnson. “It is unfair of our president and our government to use public funds for such a purpose. If Bush or anyone else wants to attend the papal funeral and pray, they should do so using their own money or private contributions, not funds from the American people.”

NOW ITALIAN TV DROPS POPETOWN

Following the death of the pope, the Italian TV station Canal Jimmy, has pulled the plug on showing the controversial cartoon series Popetown, which it bought from the BBC.

The satirical cartoon was dropped by the BBC after pressure from Catholics. It has also been bought by the New Zealand broadcaster, Channel 4, and the BBC’s commercial arm will be trying to sell it to other countries at a trade fair in Cannes next week.

Billed by the BBC as an “office comedy set in the Vatican”, Popetown showed the pope and his immediate entourage as a bunch of childish, bickering backstabbers. Along with Ruby Wax, it featured the voices of Matt Lucas, Jerry Hall, MacKenzie Crook, Bob Mortimer and Morwenna Banks.

The BBC’s decision to pull Popetown was supported by director general Mark Thompson, himself an enthusiastic Catholic. But he then went on to approve the showing of BBC2’s Jerry Springer – the Opera.

CATHOLIC ABUSE PLAY WINS PULITZER PRIZE

A play about a priest accused of molesting young boys has won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. “Doubt” is set in 1964 and concerns a nun who confronts a well-liked priest who she believes is abusing a young boy. Last year, a report commissioned by the Church showed that more than 4,000 US Roman Catholic priests had faced sexual abuse allegations in the last 50 years in cases involving more than 10,000 children. For half of this period, Pope John Paul the II was in the driving seat and did little if anything to curb the crimes.

DON’T FORGET TO SHARE YOUR ELECTION NEWS

Remember, you can share and obtain information about where prospective parliamentary candidates stand on issues related to religion and secularism by going to http://1.myfreebulletinboard.com/uksecularelecti.html

This potentially very useful resource will only work if we use it. It depends on users posting any information they can glean from their candidates. If you’re questioning your prospective candidates about their opinions on faith schools, religious incitement, faith-based welfare or anything else that would be relevant to NSS members, please share it on this dedicated website.

Also on the site are suggested letters that you can download and then send to your candidates from all parties and independents. This superb resource has been created by Peter Steele and is an excellent campaigning tool. If we all sent the letters to our candidates, they would realise that there was a force out there that needs to be taken into consideration. You can be sure that religionists will be hard at it on the hustings.

You can also find out how your MP voted on “moral” issues at the Christian Institute website. They have introduced a very useful tool that should tell you a lot – at least about the people who were your MPs last.
http://www.christian.org.uk/mpvotes.php

INCITEMENT LAW JUNKED

As we predicted last week, the government has abandoned its plans for a law to ban incitement to religious hatred. The announcement was made in the Lords by Home Office Minister Baroness Scotland of Asthal, who pledged to return to the issue if Labour is re-elected. Commons Leader Peter Hain, as anticipated, made an indirect appeal to Muslim sentiments by blaming the defeat on the Opposition parties.

The main opposition to these measures was spearheaded by NSS Honorary Associate Dr Evan Harris – aided by Executive Director Keith Porteous Wood. They were supported by evangelical Christian organisations, most notably the Barnabus Fund.

At the start of the committee stage of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill, which contains the anti-incitement measure, Lady Scotland said there had been a great deal of anxiety about the proposal. She added: “A great deal of time was spent on this issue at second reading. The Government profoundly believe that an offence of incitement to religious hatred in necessary, in order to provide equality of protection for our communities. The protection needed is from extremist activity, and the type of activity that led to disturbances in Bradford and Burnley in 2001. We believe it is time that we reject such behaviour wholeheartedly and make a stand about the type of society we want to live in. I know from the second reading debate, that this is a view strongly held by Members of this House”.

Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said shortly before the government climbdown was announced “Labour has within its power to ensure the law is passed. It is not a sufficient excuse if they try to blame the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.”

Bunglawala and other Islamic representatives noted that the government, just before Easter, had managed to overcome resistance from opposition parties and push through an anti-terrorism bill, which Muslims says targets members of their community disproportionately. “Many Muslims find it inexplicable that the government can quite easily pass laws that have a negative impact on the Muslim community but drop a vital piece of legislation,” he told The Muslim News.

Nervous about the loss of the traditionally Labour-backing Muslim vote over the Iraq war, Labour has been stressing its commitment to outlawing religious hatred. Just two weeks ago, The Muslim News carried an interview with Blair in which the prime minister, asked specifically whether the government would again drop the proposal, said no.

“British Muslims would be excused for feeling utterly betrayed all over again,” another Islamic group, the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), said in a statement. “Whilst the government fought doggedly over many rounds to push through the anti-terrorism act despite overwhelming opposition from both houses, it seemed disinclined to fight so hard for the anti-religious hatred law which it promised the Muslim community,” MAB said. “Those who trusted the government have been let down badly once again. This is another thing that Muslims will undoubtedly be considering when the elections come round."

Keith Porteous Wood was at a meeting with Home Office officials this week seeking to persuade them that any future legislation on this topic should do no more than clarify that the existing law on incitement to racial hatred could be invoked against those inciting racial hatred but using religious terms as a substitute, for example “Muslim” instead of “Paki”.

The major topic at the Home Office meeting was the Equalities Bill, to outlaw discrimination in the supply of goods and services. As well as secularists and humanists there were numerous representatives of religious organisations. Keith said: “Each time the religionists tried to gain or defend privileges, they were challenged vigorously. They are not accustomed to this. It was notable that the representative for the Church of England remained silent throughout. But then, if one can demand ministerial access at any time, why bother submitting yourself to the rigours of debate?”

There will be more information on this in the next quarterly members Bulletin.

See also:

NSS SPEAKS OUT

NSS honorary associate Dr Evan Harris MP put an alternative point of view to all the Pope-mania on Radio 4. Listen again here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/4406957.stm

Terry Sanderson gave an interview about religion in politics to the German “international broadcaster” Deutsche Welle.

Keith Porteous Wood helped Polly Toynbee with research for her full-frontal attack on the Vatican in this morning’s Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1454932,00.html

LETTERS TO NEWSLINE

Please write to tas@secularism.org.uk

From Gill Aldridge:
While I respect the right of Roman Catholics and other Christians to mourn the death of the Pope, I believe that the BBC and other broadcasting organisations should not have made so many changes and disruptions to TV and radio programmes from Saturday evening and all through today – and maybe for many more days to come.

From Tom McKinnon:
The unreserved adulation and praise of the late Pope Jean Paul II is truly depressing to me.

From Ian Smith:
A religious tsunami is engulfing the world. Who can come to our aid? Have we all gone mad?

From Carl Pinel:
The Pope requested that people should not weep over his death. I have honoured that request.

From Paul Stevenson:
Aren’t the RCs milking their opportunities mediawise? Where has journalistic realism gone? This bit of whimsy from a story in my local paper shows the modern face of the church.

“In the meantime the Chamberlain, Cardinal Sodano, becomes an interim administrator whose first job is to decide the Pope is dead… Traditionally this is done by tapping the Pope on the forehead with a silver hammer and calling out his baptismal name three times. However, the Cardinal is more likely to rely on doctors.”

For some reason I can’t get the Goon Show out of my mind with Spike Milligan wielding the hammer saying “Is anybody at home?”

From Dr. David Holohan:
Many thanks for the publication in the NSS newsletter of the case of the Russian artists who have been persecuted by the Russian Orthodox Church. This case has received very little publicity in the UK as far as I know. I have passed on the news and reference to the daughter of Sakharov’s widow, who is very concerned about this whole sorry affair. Once again you and the NSS have done a great service in bringing this kind of bigotry to public attention. Well done!

From Shaun Joynson:
Regarding the suggestion by Rasjidah St John that secularists stand as independents, I suggest that we are almost at the point where we ought to go one further and create a National Secular Party. One area I suggest is worth concentrating on is local council elections, particularly in those areas where the Crazy Christians are about to hijack Schools. I suggest too that regular and orchestrated attacks on the amount of money local councils give to religious groups would also provide a much needed boost come election time.

Obviously, a secular party won’t win many seats in parliament, but I venture to suggest that with careful targeting, that it would pick up more than a handful of council seats, making it well worth a try.

Also, the Pope pops his clogs and how do our leaders react? By postponing election announcements and royal weddings. Not bad for a supposedly ‘protestant’ country and (naturally) yet another example of Blair the Bible Basher toadying to the religious minority in order to win votes.

Yours faithfully (But not to any pope)

From John Hughes:
Re your suggestion (Newsline 24 March) of a compilation album of atheistic/revolutionary/heretical songs, one Bob Dylan number would surely have to be included: the savage irony of his lyrics on “With God on Our Side” crystallize the anti-war sentiments of whole generations, from the persecution of the Native American Indians by white settlers:-

Oh the history books tell it/They tell it so well
The cavalry charged/The Indians fell
The cavalries charged/The Indians died
Oh the country was young/With God on our side

through the slaughter of the First World War:-

Oh the First World War, boys/It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting/I never got straight
But I learnt to accept it/Accept it with pride
For you don’t count the dead/When God’s on your side

to the current uneasy standoff between the nuclear powers:-

But now we got weapons/Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to/Then fire them we must
One push of the button/And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions/When God’s on your side.

And now we have George W. Bush and his Christian Right buddies claiming the moral high ground on all sorts of issues, with God most definitely on their side!

From John Angliss:
Chumbawamba released an album Shhh! about censorship, but the tunes (to different lyrics) were originally titled “Jesus H. Christ” and were banned.

Look, no strings – just paper, glue, and card
Hark, the angels sing ‘Paste the Lord’
That was the Armley tabernacle choir.
Next we’ll be hearing the true story of an American housewife
who claims to have taken mid-air photographs of Jesus Christ in the skies of Indiana.
High above the streets and houses
Misses Meta Battle, with one hand on the Valium and one hand on the bottle
Somewhere over Indiana, eight miles high
Meta Battle sees the good Lord wandering ’cross the sky
(Chorus)
Have your fun whilst your alive
You won't get nothing when you die
Have a good time all the time because you won't get nothing when you die
Look, no strings – just paper, glue, and card
Hark, the angels sing ‘Paste the Lord’
Gobsmacked, William Shatnered
Meta does a double take
Come on baby, do the camera shake
Half expecting from the aisle a certain Mister Beadle
Watching you, watching us, watching Misses Meta Battle
(Repeat chorus)
Look, no strings – just paper, glue, and card
Hark, the angels sing ‘Paste the Lord’
Meta Battle shot her Lord
And watched him tumble down
And now there’s people out with Polaroids all around town
And who knows, that Jesus on the church near your house may well be the original
Kiss it as you pass
(Repeat chorus)
Look, no strings- just paper, glue, and card
Hark, the angels sing ‘Paste the Lord’
(Repeat)

Crass released an album called “Feeding of the 5,000” which had some angry songs, one ending in the lyric “Jesus died for his own sins. Not mine.”

And Propagandhi, a Canadian group, wrote a ditty called “Haille Sellasse up your ass”, which included the lyrics:

You speak of Rastafari
But how can you justify belief
In a god that’s left you behind?

An amalgamation of jewish scripture
And christian thought.
What will that get you? Not a **** of a lot.
Take a look at your promised land.
Your deed is that gun in your hand.

From Ian Robinson:
There is an excellent song on Roger Taylor’s solo Happiness? album (Taylor is best known as the drummer in Queen). Anyway the track contains the excellent lyric:

With your bishops priests and mullahs
And all the mumbo jumbo clans
When you’re not accepting women
How can you love your fellow man?
Well you can search the whole wide planet
Down to viruses and germs
A ‘sensible’ religion
Is just a contradiction in terms

From Maurice Hill:
Sam Harris’s The End of Faith is a must-read. The last chapter is skippable, but the rest is secular dynamite.

Garry Marlowe’s letter in the previous issue was wholly right. Xianity is antisocial and anathema to a secular society. The NSS is opposed to religion. End of tedious and occasionally lunatic correspondence. Here is a ditty without music (so far) discovered among my papers:

I don’t believe in Adam and Eve,
Methuselah or Jonah.
You keep the company of saints,
I’d rather be a loner.

All popes have private lines to gods,
and copes and monkey hair-rings.
They’re hypocrites or crazy sods
Who’ve lost their balls and bearings.

From Bill Gorman:
Before purchasing Sam Harris’ The End of Faith I would recommend reading the excellently balanced review by Johann Hari of the Independent. http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/story.jsp?story=609774

From Jim Hawkins:
Quote from Charles Clarke yesterday “He appeared to think sex with people underage was absolutely not a wrong thing and I think we all think it is absolutely a wrong thing and that adults should not groom, encourage, draw into their net for sex, people who aren’t mature enough to deal with it, i.e. young people. I found his attitudes quite unacceptable.” Substitute ‘religion’ for ‘sex’ and I think we would all agree with that too, although somehow I don't think that he would!

From John Bostock:
I have noted that, some who in their youth were outstanding critics of religion, seem to mellow as they near their demise. Is this a sign of putting in a bit of insurance or is it truly an awakening to the semi-religious experience?

I am 69 years old and find that my fear of the unknown has diminished the nearer I get to that departure date. Even Russell talked of Agnosticism in his later years as apposed to his Atheism in 1927.

Does an agnostic deny that man has a soul? This question has no precise meaning unless we are given a definition of the word “soul.” I suppose what is meant is, roughly, something non-material which persists throughout a person’s life and even, for those who believe in immortality, throughout all future time. If this is what is meant, an agnostic is not likely to believe that man has a soul. But I must hasten to add that this does not mean that an agnostic must be a materialist. Many agnostics (including myself) are quite as doubtful of the body as they are of the soul, but this is a long story taking one into difficult metaphysics. Mind and matter alike, I should say, are only convenient symbols in discourse, not actually existing things

I agree with Russell’s sentiments regarding the God of organised religion, it is a very unwholesome experience to read of the bloodthirsty exhortations to kill and maim. No wonder His followers are the most bloody in history and are still such today.

Weakening as we get older is not an option, there is no Heaven and Hell common sense tells us so, we just have to accept that fact and get on with our one shot at life. I noted the high profile back-tracking in the press recently, does anyone know of other?

From Barbara Smoker:
In response to Cameron Low and subsequent letters supporting him, I agree that there is no need for secularists to be exclusively atheist, but that happens to be the direction in which the National Secular Society has, for good practical reasons, evolved in the past 139 years – though we have always been willing to share a platform with believers on particular social issues.

However, it would be self-destructive to change our historical name now in order to reflect our evolution. Perhaps, rather, the time has come for the NSS to sponsor a new kindred organisation, to be called Secularist Associates or something similar, in which believers with progressive views would be welcome.

A century ago, we did have such a kindred organisation, the Secular Education League, which attracted as members a large number of clergymen who disliked attempts to teach non-denominational Christianity in local-authority schools. Let us repeat the experiment now on a wider range of topical issues.

From Derek Smith:
I wonder if any of your readers can help me? I learn that millions of christians are praying earnestly for the pope. I would like to join them but I can’t decide what to ask god for. We surely will not prevail upon him to change his mind and let us have J.P back. As a loving father he is unlikely to give way to pester-power. Perhaps he's somewhere else in the universe and is unaware of what’s happening here. Taking him away from us could prove to be an act of mercy and infinite wisdom. Perhaps the next pope will take a different line on condoms and contraception and god in his wisdom, is accomplishing this in his mysterious way. I find it all very puzzling. Should I pray god to stop mucking about and take him, or should I just creep a bit and say, “Thy will be done.”? Can anyone help me?

From Tom Rawlinson (Conservative Councillor):
I think it’s pure prejudice on the part of Jonathan Jones (Newsline 18 February) not to consider the Conservatives. The only thing that you have to consider is “do you trust your local party to put up a candidate (or support sitting members) who you trust”? And the only way you're going to discover that is by joining your local party and meeting these people.

From Garry Marlowe:
With the Christian Peoples Alliance apparently intending to field candidates in the General Election here in Northampton, I respectfully ask their position on the following. As the bible states that women should learn in silence and submit to their husbands, do the CPA candidates support equality for women or not. The bible also states that drunken sons should be stoned to death; again I ask if the CPA candidates agree that this is barbaric and cruel punishment that hardly fits the crime. Finally the bible says that eating shell fish is a sin, this being the case, will any CPA MPs bring in legislation to ensure that Northampton’s many fine restaurants will not sell this food and thus save many a timid and hungry soul from eternal damnation?

A look at the problems in the Middle East serve as a constant reminder that religion and politics rarely (if ever) mix well and I urge Northampton voters not to support the CPA in its quest for Northampton’s seats in Parliament. Let us honour the memory of our courageous Atheist M.P Charles Bradlaugh who fought so hard to protect the rights of those who don’t want to worship invisible deities and give our votes to politicians who prefer the here and now, rather then those worshiping an unseen God, who — if the Bible is to be believed — caused forty two children to be savaged to death merely for laughing at a bald headed prophet. Practical politics please, rather then prayers. To quote American free thinker Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899): “Nothing fails like prayer”.

From Henry Brooks:
With all this controversy over the Jerry Springer opera, all these long letters complaining about the offence it is causing, and all this detailed examination of the artistic significance of the show — it struck me that the solution to the problem is actually quite plain and simple — common sense really: if you are offended by a television programme, then just don’t watch it! It’s not like we are strapping the entire Christian community to a chair and forcing them to watch the Jerry Springer opera from start to finish, now is it? I do despair sometimes at the lack of common sense that seems to be common amongst the religious community!

From Muriel Fraser:
The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long, the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting about the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

From Aidan Griffin:
The Institute for Creation Research maintain a fascinating website at http://www.icr.org/index.html. Read Dr. John’s Q&A section as he discusses ‘When the Mountains Rose’, ‘Does the Gallbladder have a Necessary Function’ and ‘In what ways has God Blessed America?’. On another topic, I do have my complete selection of Heroes of Atheism mugs but the wearing of buttons, emblems and pins gives great satisfaction especially during Seniors morning at my golf course. My ‘Born Again Atheist’ car sticker has solicited moody comments from two lay preacher members and I am eagerly awaiting instructions from the Secretary to remove same. In anticipation, I have of course already taken registration numbers of cars displaying the ‘Fish’ symbol. I purchase my gear from http://www.evolvefish.com. I believe the NSS should start producing some nice gear that can be proudly worn on the person.

Ed: As our legendary Heroes of Atheism promotion passes into history (still time to find a few knick-knacks, gew-gaws and related souvenirs on www.secularism.org.uk/merchant.htm) we are now looking to our next merchandise foray – we will investigate a discreet lapel pin. Any other suggestions, please to: tas@secularism.org.uk

FILM ON TV

The Body (Five, Saturday, 9 April, 11pm)

It begins as archaeologist Sharon Golban (Olivia Williams) is venturing into a tomb, recently discovered beneath a small shop in Jerusalem. Inside the tomb, dated at 32 A.D., is a clay wall that hides the remains of a crucified man. The point that piques Dr. Golban’s interest is that during this time in history, all crucified people were denied the luxury of a tomb, except for Jesus. As Dr. Golban makes a more thorough investigation of the site, she discovers other clues that lead her to believe the deceased man is Christ. When a local priest confirms her findings and begins to doubt his own faith (which, of course, has a very particular story about what happened to Christ’s body), the Vatican sends Father Matt Gutierrez (Antonio Banderas), a former military intelligence agent turned priest, to Jerusalem with specific instructions. Due to the potential damage an “unrisen” Christ could cause to Christianity, Gutierrez is told to debunk the recent findings, at any cost. Sounds a bit like the Da Vinci Code, but could be interesting.