Newsline 30 January 2015

Newsline 30 January 2015

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News, Blogs & Opinion

Christian GP who performed exorcism on patient is struck off

News | Thu, 29th Jan 2015

A Christian GP has been struck off after he took a mentally ill patient to his church to perform an exorcism, and told her she would be cursed if she reported him.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service concluded that Dr Thomas O'Brien was a "risk to the public" and that he had "repeatedly breached professional boundaries." The doctor was found guilty of serious misconduct by the tribunal.

Professor Tim Hendra, who chaired the tribunal, said: "Dr O'Brien shows no insight or empathy towards patient A but has rather adopted a combative approach which is entirely unjustified and unacceptable.

"The panel is in no doubt that conduct such as this is completely inappropriate and would be viewed as deplorable by the general public and the profession."

Dr O'Brien did not attend the hearing in person, and said, in a written statement: "Maybe patient A has no mental problems or psychotic illness, but likes telling lies for effect, and enjoys inventing and twisting stories to harm others?"

During his interactions with Patient A, Dr O'Brien told her that "God is her surgeon and God will heal her." Patient A, who suffered from depression and was reportedly suicidal, claims that Dr O'Brien told her to stop taking her anti-depressants for "religious reasons" and said that psychiatrists "do the devil's work."

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: "It is reassuring that a person such as this is no longer working as a doctor. Let's hope there aren't many others in the NHS who share his rather extreme view of what religion can achieve in a medical setting."

Dr O'Brien performed an exorcism on Patient A during a four-hour "testimony" at his church, and admitted vesting the patient's home. Patient A became convinced that her medical problems were the result of demonic possession. General Medical Council member Peter Atherton said that Patient A "was made to feel as if all things going wrong were due to the devil."

The patient reported that the doctor gave her religious pamphlets, including a book called "An Occult Checklist", written by Dr O'Brien, and which included a "prayer of repentance" that Patient A felt pressured to sign by the doctor and his wife.

Dr Antony Lempert of the Secular Medical Forum said that Dr O'Brien's behaviour represented "a wilful disregard of the trusting relationship between patients and their doctor."

Dr Lempert added; "It is never acceptable for a doctor, working in a trusted professional capacity, to abuse their professional position by trying to change a patient's own personal beliefs. The distress caused to this patient, suffering from physical and psychological symptoms yet subjected to a campaign of religious intrusion and exorcism by the person supposed to be caring for them is difficult to imagine.

"Over recent years, we have seen other Christian doctors, such as Dr Richard Scott and Dr Antonia Johnson, who also considered patients fair game in their mission to evangelise and proselytise to the world. These doctors have no place in a profession dedicated to caring for and supporting patients in the context of evidence-based, compassionate medicine based around patients' own beliefs and requirements... It would have been nice to hear a few words of compassion for the patient from Dr O'Brien rather than the continued laments about his own feelings and beliefs."

Dr O'Brien said, "I know true justice will be done one day and no-one can escape from that" and added that "God knows everything and will judge fairly."

Creationism motion gains more support in Scottish Parliament

News | Thu, 29th Jan 2015

Two MSPs have offered formal support for a motion which calls for Scottish children to be made "aware of" creationist teaching.

Richard Lyle MSP and Dave Thompson MSP are supporting the motion, which was put forward by John Mason MSP. The full motion reads:

"That the Parliament notes that South Lanarkshire Council has issued guidance concerning the appointment and input of chaplains and religious organisations in schools; understands that some people believe that God created the world in six days, some people believe that God created the world over a longer period of time and some people believe that the world came about without anyone creating it; considers that none of these positions can be proved or disproved by science and all are valid beliefs for people to hold, and further considers that children in Scotland's schools should be aware of all of these different belief systems."

The debate comes in response to a scandal at an East Kilbride school in 2013, when the American Church of Christ handed out material to school pupils denouncing homosexuality, abortion and evolution. Two headteachers were removed over the controversy.

Following this, the Scottish Secular Society petitioned the Scottish Government to institute a ban on the "presentation in Scottish publicly funded schools of separate creation and of Young Earth doctrines as viable alternatives to the established science of evolution, common descent, and deep time."

In response to the controversy, Stewart Maxwell MSP introduced a motion stating that the Holyrood parliament "believes that creationism should not be presented as a scientific theory and viable alternative to the established theory of evolution."

In December 2014 the Scottish Government rejected the proposed ban on the teaching of creationism. Tim Simons, Head of the Curriculum Unit in the Scottish Government's Learning Directorate, said that "guidance on these matters is unnecessary."

The National Secular Society disputes this, and NSS spokesperson for Scotland Alistair McBay said: "The fact that groups are dedicated to infiltrating creationism, often branded as 'intelligent design', into classrooms means that guidance to ban creationism in science classrooms is needed now."

In their submission about the Scottish Secular Society's petition to ban the teaching of creationism, the Free Church of Scotland wrote: "The position of the Scottish Government and the teaching unions is that we don't need politicians telling teachers what they should teach. This is a position the Free Church of Scotland completely agrees with.

"Politicians seeking to enforce their doctrines through the State education system is the mark of an authoritarian, not a democratic state."

Alistair McBay added: "Now that another politician, John Mason, is trying to tell teachers what they should teach, namely creationism, I wonder if the Free Church will stick to their view that politicians shouldn't be telling teachers what they should teach.

"If we substitute 'politicians' for 'reverends', we find that the Free Church of Scotland are doing exactly what they claim to oppose: seeking to enforce their doctrines in the state education system.

"There are countless creation myths through time and cultures. Why should a Christian one receive privileged consideration? Hesiod's Theogony carries the account of the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods. Should that be considered too?"

Update (02/02/15): John Mason MSP tweeted: "I think science is better sticking to what exists. How and why things came about is probably better not included in science."

Durham Free School criticised for emphasis on religion when recruiting staff – teachers branded “crap” by MP

News | Wed, 28th Jan 2015

Durham Free School, ranked as "inadequate" by Ofsted on all inspection criteria, has been strongly criticised for its emphasis on the religious credentials of staff and the poor quality of teachers.

The school's Ofsted report found that "Governors place too much emphasis on religious credentials when they are recruiting key staff and not enough on seeking candidates with excellent leadership and teaching skills."

In a debate in the House of Commons held on Tuesday 27 January 2015, Durham MP Pat Glass (pictured right) said that according to one local head teacher, the Durham Free School "had become a haven for every crap teacher in the north-east."

She added that: "As a former senior education officer in the North East, I was aware that there were very high levels of teachers working at the Durham Free School that I knew had already been through competency procedures with other local authorities."

After the Ofsted report was published on 19 January 2015, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced that the school was to be closed. Several students have already moved to other schools.

The school still has a job advert posted online for a permanent head teacher. Despite the school's prospectus stating that "teachers will be recruited according to excellence, not their faith," the job description says that "the ability to promote the values, culture and Christian ethos of the School" is "essential" to the job.

The school prospectus states that the values of the school are "underpinned by a traditional Christian ethos" and that a Christian ethos "works." The prospectus says that schools "underpinned by Christian values are almost always among the best performers for exams results and Ofsted report." In this case, however, Ofsted took the unusual step of ranking the school "inadequate" in every single inspection criteria, and the school has been harshly criticised by local MPs, local head teachers and the Department for Education.

NSS campaigns manager, Stephen Evans, said: "This school demonstrates that there's nothing magical about a 'faith ethos'. The perception that faith schools get better results has more to do their ability to discriminate and select pupils on the basis of faith rather than any 'Christian values' they espouse. In the case of Durham, it's extremely concerning that the religious beliefs of applicants was considered more important than their ability to teach. Pupils have obviously been let down badly by this school."

Like several other faith-ethos free schools, Durham Free School was undersubscribed, and MPs criticised the decision to open the school in the first place. Pat Glass MP said that "you cannot spit in Durham city without hitting an outstanding school" and that as there were surplus places in Durham before the school opened, she "could not understand the reasoning behind the setting up of another school."

The Ofsted inspection also found that "some students hold discriminatory views of other people who have different faiths, values or beliefs."

Despite accusations that the Ofsted inspectors had a "predetermined outcome" in mind when inspecting the school, Ofsted has said that it found "no evidence its inspectors acted inappropriately", according to the BBC. The school principal had claimed that inspectors were "inappropriate" and "hostile" during the course of their investigation.

Roberta Blackman-Woods MP, who secured the debate in the Commons, said that it has been very difficult to get accurate information about the school and its funding.

100,000 join vets and secularists in calling for an end to non-stun slaughter

News | Fri, 30th Jan 2015

A petition calling on the Government to promote animal welfare by ending a religious exemption that allows non-stun slaughter has passed 100,000 signatures and will be considered for a debate in Parliament.

The petition has been backed by the National Secular Society along with a range of expert agencies and organisations including the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and the RSPCA.

UK and EU animal welfare law requires that animals be stunned before slaughter in order to minimise suffering. However, an exemption allows Jewish and Muslim slaughterhouses to slaughter animals without stunning, in order to conform to their religious beliefs.

According to Jewish law and to Islamic customs, animals must be slaughtered by a single cut to the throat and be healthy and uninjured at the time of death. Jewish groups and some Muslims have interpreted this to mean that animals can't be stunned.

BVA president Blackwell said: "This is a truly fantastic result for animal welfare. BVA has long argued that all animals should be stunned before slaughter to render them insensible to pain and we are delighted that the British public has got so firmly behind our campaign. Consumers value the high welfare of British produce and care deeply about the provenance of their food.

"But under the current legislation meat from non-stun slaughter can end up in the food chain unlabelled as such, which is completely unacceptable. Scientific evidence tells us that non-stun slaughter allows the animal to perceive pain and compromises animal welfare."

Reaching 100,000 signatures requires that the Backbench Business Committee consider it for a debate in the House of Commons. However the e-petition website will close on 31 March due to the general election and it is not yet clear whether the Committee will be able to accommodate a debate.

Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said: "Given the overwhelming public support this campaign has received, surely the time has come for MPs to debate the appropriateness of allowing religious considerations to compromise the welfare of animals."

The vast majority of e-petitions fail – either because they are rejected or because they do not reach significant numbers of signatures. The non-stun slaughter petition is only the 15th to reach the 100,000 signature mark and is currently the 4th biggest and top trending petition on the site.

When the petition reached 10,000 it received an official response from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, stating that although the Government "would prefer to see all animals stunned before they are slaughtered for food" they have no plans to end the religious exemption which allows non-stun slaughter to continue.

Many Muslims accept pre-stun slaughter and it is estimated that around 80% of Halal meat in the UK comes from animals that have been pre-stunned. However, figures from the BVA revealed that in the past year there has been a 60% increase in non-stun slaughter.

Some commentators have attributed this to campaigning by conservative Muslim groups, who do not recognise meat that has been pre-stunned as halal, and who have been putting pressure on halal slaughterhouses to stop the practice. The Telegraph reports that some Muslims also mistakenly believe that stunning kills animals.

Faith schools accused of blocking NHS sexual health experts from the classroom

News | Tue, 27th Jan 2015

Roman Catholic and Muslim faith schools in Blackburn have been accused of stopping the NHS Community Education Sexual Health team (CESH) from speaking with students about sex, relationships and contraception.

One member of the team said: "It's been extremely frustrating over ten or 12 years of working in this post. At one school a parent didn't like what we were doing and went to the governors. I then had a phone call from the school saying, I'm sorry, we have to take it out because you're talking about contraception."

The schools in question were not named by the CESH team, but several schools in the area told the Lancashire Telegraph that they handled all of their sex and relationship education (SRE) internally.

One Catholic school, which is planning to run sessions with the CESH team in the future, said that they currently provide "information around aspects of contraception in line with the Church's teaching."

Other schools encourage students to "formulate personal opinions" or to reach a "personal conclusion", whilst one, Our Lady and St John, instructs teachers to broach sex education "within the framework of the Catholic teaching on married life and contraception."

Whilst the schools in question are not accused of failing to deliver the minimum of sex and relationship education required by the national curriculum, CESH was set up in East Lancashire specifically because of the area's "historically high rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease", according to the Lancashire Telegraph.

Though several schools in the area told the Lancashire Telegraph that they provided their own SRE teaching internally, the CESH team warned that it may not be good enough in the future for schools to provide their own SRE education. CESH manager Sue Capstick said: "We would recommend that every school recognises the need for big cultural shift in the way we talk with, and listen to, young people about sex and relationships.

"Where in the past it may have been sufficient for staff in school to be the ones who do the condom demonstration or teach about body changes, we would highly recommend that schools ensure staff are up to date with the current themes around contraception and sexual health and have the confidence and skills needed to hold meaningful dialogue."

NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans said: "The best interests of children must be the primary concern, and no school should be allowed to let religious dogma stand in the way of pupils receiving the unbiased information they need to prepare them for life in the outside world.

"As the experience in Blackburn demonstrates, the undue influence of religious groups involved in the running of faith schools is one of the main barriers to the provision of the kind of sex education that is needed to encourage a healthier, more knowledgeable and sexually autonomous younger generation."

A spokesman for one Catholic school referred the Lancashire Telegraph to the Diocese of Salford. The Diocese of Salford's published teaching guidance states: "The secular view about sex outside of marriage, contraception, sexually transmitted disease, including HIV and AIDs, and abortion should not be presented as neutral information."

The guidance also says that "only those authorities or agencies that are qualified to speak on behalf of the Catholic Church should be permitted to speak to pupils or individuals on sexual or any other matter involving faith and morals. Any outside authority or agency should be authorised by the head teacher before giving any input in this field."

The National Secular Society has previously called for statutory sex and relationship education in all schools, including faith schools.

Additionally, the NSS is a core member of the Sex Education Forum.

Secularists call for an end to Chancel Repair Liability in Lords debate

News | Fri, 23rd Jan 2015

Secularists made a strong case for abolishing Chancel Repair Liability (CRL) in a debate in the House of Lords on Friday 16 January 2015, in which peers urged the Government to remove CRL, described as a "medieval anomaly," from the statute book.

Since the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, some Anglican parishes can demand money from local property owners to repair their church regardless of whether or not they are Anglicans.

The debate was initiated and led by Lord Avebury, an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, who said that the "only fair solution is abolition." He emphasised that he was only aware of two instances of churches suing for CRL, once in the 1930s and once around ten years ago. In the 1980s the Church's synod and the Law Commission had agreed to phase out or abolish CRL. Yet in the last decade, following CRL registration legislation, as many as 17,000 properties have been registered, in many cases blighting their value and saleability.

Only around one in twenty of the 5,200 parishes who could register CRL had done so, probably because of difficulties in ascertaining liability from old records which are imprecise or missing, or out of concern that registration would cause "harm to the mission of the church." The Bishop of Derby confirmed that the Church "support[s] abolition in principle … [but] needs to be recompensed," despite, as Lord Avebury pointed out, it having recovered minimal CRL in the last century and with little prospect of recovering much in future.

The Earl of Lytton, a Chartered Surveyor, highlighted CRL's potential to "destroy more third party property value than it confers in benefit in terms of chancel repair," in other words the value of property could be significantly reduced by a CRL registration even if the Church ends up never benefiting from it.

Lord Cashman, also an NSS honorary associate, argued that reform of CRL "could help to improve the UK's standing in the World Bank rankings" for "ease of doing business." He noted that the UK is ranked 68th on the ease of the registration of property, against our overall ranking of eighth.

Lord Cashman said that in parishes where hundreds or even thousands of properties were registered "untold distress is caused to a significant proportion of the community" if CRL is enforced, "including many without the knowledge or resources to cope with it." The peer also pointed out that in Gorleston, liable residents were made an 'offer' by the local vicar to "pay the parish £50" to receive a "certificate of exemption" from CRL which he promoted as cheaper than insurance, but, following legal questions, these and all the registrations had been revoked.

NSS honorary associate Lord Taverne cited the example of one landowner who was "nearly driven to suicide" over CRL, and spoke of the "trauma" experience by landowners who purchased houses without knowing that the land was subject to CRL. Lord Taverne said that "the case for abolition of this oppressive anachronism is overwhelming" and said that CRL "can ruin lives." The peer noted the Archbishop of Canterbury's "deep concern about social justice" and urged the abolition of CRL "as soon as possible."

The Earl of Lytton said that the unquantifiable and theoretically limitless liability was enforced in a "capricious manner" and that the blight of registration can "destabilise family finances, destroy livelihoods and wreck lives."

Speaking for the Government, Lord Ashton said "I believe that the church is in discussions with the National Secular Society, for example, in dealing with this. The Government have said that they are prepared to join in those discussions or to take account of them. The Government have no plans to change the law at present" but if given "evidence of actual hardship taking place, we will consider this measure."

Lord Kennedy, Labour's front bench spokesperson, was keen for CRL to be abolished and urged the Government to become much more proactively involved, for example to welcome such discussions."

The NSS, along with other local campaigners affected by the tax, has been calling for an end to the archaic liability and been in negotiations with the Church and senior civil servants and politicians at Ministerial and constituency level. It has also been working closely with Lord Avebury in formulating the Chancel Repairs Bill, its second reading is expected after the General Election.

Many homeowners had bought homes on land liable to pay the levy, often without any knowledge of the tax, and were shocked to receive letters stating a liability on the land to pay money for chancel repairs.

NSS Executive Director Keith Porteous Wood, said; "We particularly welcome Labour's support, and hope that the Government will reflect on the harm done by CRL, particularly given some of the examples cited in the debate, and work with us to find a way to abolish CRL. I also hope that, until abolition, the Church will develop ways of alleviating the suffering caused by CRL, which is of little benefit to the Church in any case."

The full debate can be read here.

Conference on Sharia law, apostasy and secularism

News | Wed, 28th Jan 2015

The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is hosting a day-long conference on 7 February 2015 in London.

The conference will include discussions on freedom of expression and blasphemy codes, which are particularly relevant after the attacks on the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Following the attack, National Secular Society President Terry Sanderson said: "We cannot, as a society, place religion beyond the reach of satire or critical examination." Terry will host a panel discussion on "apostasy, free expression and hate speech" at the conference in February.

Furthermore, the conference will examine Islamism, Sharia, the religious right, education and public policy, as well as secularism and citizenship more generally.

The conference will also consider recent campaigns against the Law Society's Sharia guidance, and the gender segregation advice issued by Universities UK.

Speakers will consider equal rights and discrimination against ex-Muslims, and the "urgent fight against Islamism and the religious-Right."

Other confirmed speakers include: Activist Ahmed Idris, Campaigner for Secular Education Aliyah Saleem, Spokesperson of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain Amal Farah, Activist Atoosa Khatiri, Secular Activist Chris Moos, Director of the Centre for Secular Space Gita Sahgal, Founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Morocco Imad Iddine Habib, Spokesperson of One Law for All Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain Nahla Mahmoud, Human Rights Campaigner Peter Tatchell, Southall Black Sisters Director Pragna Patel, Founder of Ex-Muslims of Scotland Ramin Forghani, Nari Diganta's Rumana Hashem and Women's Rights Campaigner Yasmin Rehman.

The full agenda and booking information can be found here