Newsline 31 October

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News, Blogs & Opinion

	NSS calls on Welsh Government to review compulsory collective worship News \| Thu, 30th Oct 2014 The National Secular Society has called on the Welsh government to review the legal requirement on schools to provide worship after parents expressed concern about prayers being imposed on children in non-denominational schools. A number of parents from Wales have contacted the National Secular Society (NSS) complaining of "excessive worship", with reports of children being made to pray up to four times a day – without parents being informed. Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said the imposition of worship in schools is causing a "moral dilemma" for many parents who don't want a Christian upbringing for their child, but at the same time don't find withdrawal an acceptable solution due to the emotional upset this causes for very young children. Mr Evans said: "We are increasingly hearing from parents concerned about proselytising within their children's schools, often in the form or excessive worship or assemblies being led by priests or evangelical groups. The obligation on all schools to provide a daily act of 'broadly Christian' worship is clearly providing a foot in the door for individuals and organisations with evangelistic intentions. The National Secular Society has now written to the Welsh Minister for Education and Skills, Huw Lewis AM, calling on him to urgently review the legal obligation on Welsh schools to provide worship – and to ensure that schools properly respect their pupils' religious freedoms. Simon Blake, whose son attends Cross Hands Community Primary School in Carmarthenshire, said he was shocked to find out that pupils are required to pray between three to four times every day. According to Mr Blake, nursery school children pray before the day begins, during the roll-call. In addition, all children pray before lunch, at the daily afternoon assembly, and last thing before they leave for the day. He said the nature of the worship makes withdrawal completely impractical. Mr Blake told the NSS; "I attended a secondary school whose head and deputy were both church ministers, yet they never asked non-Christians to participate in any Christian assemblies, nor were we asked to pray at any other time. I attended school over twenty years ago in another Welsh valley which was every bit as Christian as this one is. This situation does seem to me to be abnormal and of great concern." Another parent whose children attend a Welsh Medium School in Caerphilly has also complained of excessive Christian worship at his daughter's non-faith school. He told the NSS: "Prayers are held before assembly, after assembly, before they eat their lunch and again before they leave school. My daughter has asked to be left out of worship, but the headteacher implied that it would be discriminatory to my child as they will have to be moved in and out of assembly twice, out of the dinner hall for a period and then out of the class/ hall at the end of the day." "When I suggested that the way the school had set up collective worship makes it discriminatory towards pupils who don't wish to attend, I was told the school wouldn't be changing the set up." Parents say that after lodging their concerns with the Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) and Local Authorities, their objections have been brushed aside, with Local Authorities pointing out the legal requirement on schools to hold worship. A compulsory daily act of collective worship is a legal requirement in England and Wales. Education is a devolved matter and the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Welsh Office Circular 10/94 set out the legal requirements for collective worship in schools in Wales. The guidance in Welsh Office Circular 10/94 informs schools that collective worship must "reflect something special or separate from ordinary school activities and it should be concerned with reverence or veneration paid to a divine being or power." The inspectorate of schools in Wales, Estyn, has a remit to inspect acts of worship in all school that do not provide a denominational education. Mr Evans said: "Any imposition of worship in schools encroaches on the civil rights of both parents and pupils. A law that requires worship cannot be justified on educational grounds and is incompatible with a genuine commitment to religious freedom. The time has surely come to consign laws requiring religious worship to history."
	National Secular Society welcomes call for faith schools to face Ofsted inspections of their religious teaching News \| Thu, 30th Oct 2014 The National Secular Society has welcomed calls from Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt for religious teaching in faith schools to be inspected by Ofsted. In remarks at a Progress event earlier this week, Hunt said that whilst he understood the "principle" of "other communities of different faiths" having their own schools on the basis of "religious equality", this had to be considered against what Hunt called the growing "segregation" in British cities. David Aaronovitch, the Times columnist, posed questions to Mr Hunt and asked whether the Labour government, since 1997, had opened up "the 'why not us too'" argument with religious minorities, who had called for their own faith schools on the basis of equality with existing Christian schools. The Shadow Education Secretary stated that "you cannot have a situation where you have these schools as islands, either around ethnicity or religion". Hunt said that this was "exactly what we tried to undo in terms of Northern Ireland", where religious schools separated the children of Protestant and Catholic parents in education. Though the Shadow Education Secretary said that "faith schools remained an important part of the English schools landscape", he went on to state that Labour would end the Free Schools programme, which Hunt said had resulted in schools "not delivering a broad curriculum". Stephen Evans, campaigns manager for the National Secular Society, welcomed the policy announcement. He said: "It is vital that Ofsted inspects the religious teaching taking place faith schools in order to both uphold the integrity of a state education, and to protect the right of children to a broad range of knowledge. "Any education about religion or belief in publicly funded schools should be impartial, objective, relevant and academically rigorous – children and young people deserve no less. "One of the crucial objectives of education should be to be to promote community cohesion. This is not achieved by schools teaching the superiority of one belief system over another – and Ofsted should be able to step in if they find that happening." Hunt mentioned the "worrying trend in terms of ethnic identification through schooling" and also drew attention to the findings of the Cantle report published over a decade ago, which had found that white and Asian residents of Northern towns were living "parallel lives". Aaronovitch raised the example of Jewish children, whom he said are now far more likely to attend Jewish faith schools than they were twenty years ago. The day after Hunt made his remarks; the Guardian reported that the Beis Yaakov orthodox Jewish school had failed a no-notice Ofsted inspection. Ofsted found "major gaps in students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Students are not provided with sufficient opportunities to learn about or understand people of other faiths or cultures". After hearing evidence from a former pupil of a Jewish faith school at an All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group meeting last week, Lord Warner said that "indoctrination, rather than education is taking place". Hunt said the "absolutist answer" to the problems faced today of "no more faith schools" was not practical given the "forces pushing against this," but said that Labour's answer was that "Ofsted inspects all schools on a broad and balanced curriculum". Hunt also called for "local oversight and accountability". Hunt also argued for "curriculum stability" and warned that the UK could not have a new government coming in after every election and completely rewriting the syllabus. Stephen Evans said: "We would like to see publicly funded faith schools phased out. We're some way off that yet, but it is encouraging to at least see the role of such schools being examined. Dividing children by the faith of their parents has led to terrible situations across the world, and entrenched sectarian divisions. We don't want to see any more of that in the UK."
	Secularists protest Pope’s planned address to the European Parliament News \| Fri, 31st Oct 2014 Over a dozen secularist organisations have written to the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, objecting to his invitation to Pope Francis to address the Parliament. In an open letter to Mr Schulz, the protesters argued that it was not appropriate "for any religions leader to be invited to speak to a secular parliament". Groups representing seven European nations, and five pan-European organisations, signed the letter, which also drew attention to the Catholic Church's record on human rights and "doctrinal positions on the start and end of life and sexual matters, including women's reproductive rights" which ran counter to the values espoused by the European Union. Despite recent, failed steps by the Pope to liberalise the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality and the acceptance of divorcees at the recent Synod, the Church maintains conservative views on a range of issues, from contraceptive use to abortion. Catholic leaders in Ebola-stricken areas of Africa have also issued a series of statements which risk compounding the pandemic. Reuters reported that "in May, Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of the Catholic Church of Liberia said that 'one of the major transgressions against God for which He may be punishing Liberia is the act of homosexuality'". A range of other religious groups in Africa have also linked homosexuality with the Ebola outbreak, leading to attacks and harassment directed against gay Africans. Additionally, the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos saw fit to issue guidance on their Facebook page stating that, despite the recommendation of other precautions, "the traditional practice of receiving Communion in the tongue is not precluded...those faithful who approach the altar and desire to receive Communion on the tongue should be given accordingly. Their personal devotion to the Eucharist must be respected". This ruling was issued despite concerns raised by officials that large religious gatherings could help the virus to spread. The National Secular Society, one of seventeen signatories to the complaint, said that "it is entirely inappropriate for the Catholic Church to have a taxpayer funded address to the European Parliament, particularly at a time when European Union member states are pitching in to contain the spread of Ebola. Does the Parliament really feel it is appropriate to invite a religious leader whose subordinates are compounding the problems faced by health experts?" The letter from secularist organisations also asks "what justification can be offered" for not inviting leaders of other religions from "competing denominations or sects." Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising said that the Pope's address, planned for 25 November, "gives a strong signal that the pope supports and encourages the pursuit of European integration and unity". Despite the rise of Eurosceptic parties across Europe in the last EU parliamentary elections, the Vatican said the Pope was "acknowledging the unique significance of the European institutions in the life of our continent". The Vatican also drew attention to the fact that "European integration has enjoyed the benevolent support of the Catholic Church right from its inception".
	Obstructionist tactics to block human rights groups from advising UN condemned by UN Special Rapporteur News \| Fri, 31st Oct 2014 Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly and association, has criticised repeated efforts to block human rights NGOs from being able to advise the United Nations. In his latest Report, Mr Kiai expresses concern that out of the 48 organisations which have had their accreditations repeatedly deferred, 46 work on human rights issues, such as children and women's rights, minorities, sometimes for particular countries. Mr Kiai cited the longest running application, that of the International Dalit Solidarity Network (ISDN), which campaigns against "discrimination based on work and descent". India stalled their application for accreditation using procedural tactics. This included asking ISDN 64 written questions. Earlier, in July, ten civil society groups, including ISDN, complained in an open letter to the UN about serial refusals to award accreditation. They decried the states wielding power "over those who speak out against human rights abuses". The UK's National Secular Society (NSS) – a signatory to the letter – welcomed Mr Kiai's criticisms of the process. Keith Porteous Wood, NSS executive director, said: "Over the last five years we have been continually blocked from receiving accreditation status on what seem to be spurious grounds. Mr Kiai's intervention is extremely welcome and we hope it leads to more openness towards NGOs, many of whom have valuable contributions to make towards eliminating serious suffering and Human Rights abuses, even though their work may embarrass or inconvenience some member states." The letter, "A Call to Transparency", also raised concerns that "transparency and legitimacy" in the UN are at risk if "States are able to continue blocking access to NGOs". The letter made several recommendations and included pleas for the committee to "stop blocking legitimate human rights organisations" from achieving accreditation. The accreditations sought are to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (ECOSOC), which allows limited access to other UN bodies, such as brief interventions at the Human Rights Council. Despite the protracted efforts at stalling the accreditation process, India was recently re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, winning more votes than Thailand, Qatar, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Since 2008 India has repeatedly questioned ISDN about its caste discrimination investigations, to which ISDN had replied promptly. Over this time, many of the questions were repeated. The Special Rapporteur called for reforms to "the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations to prevent Member States from blocking accreditation applications with perpetual questioning". Mr Kiai also accused India of "unilaterally vetoing applications". ECOSOC facilitates "international cooperation on standards-making and problem-solving in economic and social issues". The NSS is seeking accreditation status to advise the committee on a raft of human rights issues, relating to secularism and freedom of, and from, religion.
	New data revealed on 2015 voting intentions of non-believers Opinion \| Tue, 28th Oct 2014 The British Election Study has shed new light on the voting intentions of non-believers, and highlighted the power of religious minorities to shape elections in the future. Benjamin Jones explores how atheists, agnostics and the irreligious plan to vote in 2015, and considers some of the possible long term electoral consequences of religious politics. Whilst confirming the long-known, sustained collapse in the number of British people who describe themselves as religious, the British Election Study (BES) research also breaks down how the non-religious intend to vote in next year's general election, which has produced some interesting results. Additionally, the study provides detailed information on how different religious minorities plan to vote, and to what degree they vote in blocs. Whilst atheism or agnosticism have been seen by many as of the left (particularly so during the Cold War), the study's data (broken down here by the "British Religion In Numbers" blog) finds that the "no-religion" or "none" vote is actually quite diffuse in its 2015 voting intention. Although the "nones" do tend to favour the Labour Party (39.6%), the Conservatives manage surprisingly well among the "no religion" demographic, coming in second with 26.7%. In third is the United Kingdom Independence Party on 12.4%, closely followed by the LibDems on 10.5%. The remaining 10.8% of "nones" voted for other parties. If the Tory and UKIP vote is combined this puts the right as a whole on 39.1%, just half a percentage point below Labour. Whilst there is a skew to the left among the "nones", their voting intentions are not hugely dissimilar to the wider public. For a rough comparison, a YouGov/Sunday Times poll conducted on the 16^th and 17^th of October found the Conservatives on 32%, Labour on 35% and the LibDems on 7% (with all other parties on 27%, including UKIP on 16%). Comparing this poll with the "nones", we find that among non-believers the Conservatives are down just 5.3 points, with Labour up 4.6% and the LibDems up by 3.5 percent. Given that both the Conservative Party and UKIP are wedded to the notion of Britain as a "Christian country", (and both compete over claiming this mantle) it is perhaps surprising to find such high levels of support for them among non-believers. It is likely that whilst these voters describe themselves as having "no religion" they do not rank the importance of their atheism, irreligion or agnosticism very highly, compared to issues like the economy, healthcare or immigration (for example). In the parlance of political science, their non-belief has little "salience", at least for the time being. So, whilst they may not agree with the Conservatives on Britain being a Christian country, they cast their votes on issues they rank as more important. In America, religious voters have historically broken into fairly neat blocs of party loyalty, and the "none" vote in America today strongly favours the Democrats. This presents a lot of new demographic problems for the Republican Party, see here, as once solidly Republican southern Senate seats become realistic targets for Democrats. In Britain, the "none" vote is too spread out be a 'bloc' as the American "nones" are, and at present voters who describe themselves as "not religious" are willing to vote for parties which promote the idea of Britain as a Christian country. This picture becomes more interesting when we compare the behaviour of the "no-religion" demographic with religious minorities. In contrast with the "nones", British religious minorities are voting in much more cohesive units than their irreligious counterparts. Whilst the largest single affiliation among "nones" was 39.6% (for Labour), among Jews the largest single vote share was 46.3% (for the Conservative Party), among Catholics the largest group was 45.3% (for Labour), among Sikhs the largest single party loyalty was 63.5% (also for Labour), whilst among Muslims an extraordinary 73% will vote for the Labour Party at the next general election (though I note that the Muslim results are from a relatively small sample size). These minority groups are much more cohesive in their 2015 voting intentions, and clearly favour the Labour Party over the Conservatives. Anglicans, often called the 'Tory Party at prayer', in fact only favour the Conservatives over Labour by 7.2%; 39.3% of Anglicans plan to vote Conservative in 2015, whilst 32.1% will vote Labour. Additionally, excluding minorities with an unreliably small sample size in the BES results, Anglicans are the group most likely to vote UKIP; this is clearly a demographic where Farage's party is badly hurting the Conservatives. 18.3% of Anglicans plan to vote for UKIP at the next general election. Although no religious group is an absolutely homogenous bloc in terms of its voting habits, these high figures could point towards a future electoral landscape where politicians must actively compete for religious bloc votes. As the Labour Party loses lots of its traditional working class base to UKIP (see Ford and Goodwin on that point here) it will increasingly be forced to depend upon religious minorities to shore up its vote. This could further break apart the historic link between atheism/agnosticism and the left, and cause an even greater diffusion in the votes of the non-religious. Clearly then, non-believers do not currently form a 'no religion vote' in the same way that UK analysts might speak of a 'Catholic' or 'Muslim' vote. If, however, (and as seems likely) Islamist extremism continues to dominate news headlines for years to come, the attachment of the "nones" to their non-belief could become much stronger; indeed, other research reported last week found that "a majority of 1,000 [UK] citizens said religious and ethnic hatred was the greatest danger facing humanity". This may well be the basis for an increasingly salient "non-belief". In total, the BES survey found that 44% of the British public do not hold any religious affiliation; and this large slice of UK demographics may become increasingly vocal, pressurising a Labour Party dependent on religious minorities and a Conservative Party relying on older Anglicans (who are also tempted by UKIP).
	Dignity in Dying demonstration on Friday 7 November in support of the Assisted Dying Bill News \| Fri, 31st Oct 2014 The campaign group Dignity in Dying (DiD) will be demonstrating outside Parliament next week on Friday morning 7 November (9am-1pm), to coincide with the House of Lords debate on the Assisted Dying Bill. DiD say they need "as many supporters as possible to show peers they want Parliament to act on assisted dying". If it becomes law, the Bill would reduce unnecessary suffering of terminally ill people at the end of their lives. Two doctors would have to certify that numerous criteria had been satisfied before prescribing lethal drugs which only the patients themselves could administer. The NSS's executive director, Keith Porteous Wood, spoke at a meeting in Parliament on Thursday (30 October 2014) to explore any ways in which the Bill could be improved. It was co-chaired by the Bill's principal sponsor, Lord Falconer, and NSS Honorary Associate Baroness Murphy and many of those attending were leaders in branches of medicine and patient care. Mr Wood was told that the Bill had been drafted so as to secure the maximum possible support of health professionals. A recent YouGov poll found 73% of adults in England and Wales support the proposals" in the Assisted Dying Bill, but many religious groups oppose the Bill and few medical organisations are supporting it. The National Secular Society has expressed its supports for the right to choose an assisted death. In June when the Bill was first debated in the Lords, NSS President Terry Sanderson said: "The time has now surely come for the law to reflect public attitudes and wishes on this matter. The religious bodies that are agitating to stop the legislation must be told that they cannot have the final word. Few people agree with their stand as one poll after another has shown". DiD have asked volunteers to "come out in force, once again, to back the Bill". Volunteers can confirm their attendance at the demonstration online here. Dignity in Dying are providing posters and placards and have asked volunteers to wear pink clothing for the demonstration, if possible. The previous debate, on 18 July ran for almost ten hours of debate with 126 speakers, a record.

Competition: Win Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” on 5 DVDs

Win a copy of Carl Sagan's legendary TV series Cosmos by just answering a simple question.

The 5-CD set includes 13 hours of fascinating footage and added extras. Astronomer Carl Sagan is host and narrator of the series, now digitally remastered and enhanced. With topics including the origins of life, the search for extra-terrestrial life, the "greenhouse effect", the lives of stars, interstellar travel and effects of attaining the speed of light, this is a fascinating insight into humanity and the universe. There are special science updates included. The set sells on Amazon for £40.

To be in with a chance of winning, just answer this question:

In what year was Cosmos: A Personal Voyage first broadcast?

Email you answers to enquiries@secularism.org.uk with the subject "Competition" by 18:00 on Sunday 9 November. This would have been Carl Sagan's 80^th birthday.

Quotes of the Week

"When power is secularised, peace is possible."
Rabbi Sacks, speaking in the House of Lords on the situation in the Middle East

"Isis may be more brutal but many Arab governments are on the same ground – asserting the superiority of Islam."
Brian Whitaker, writing for the Guardian

Essays of the Week

The Trojan horse affair has been a wake-up call on faith schools
Jonathan Romain, Guardian

Let's Talk About How Islam Has Been Hijacked
Aly Salem, Wall Street Journal

	NSS calls on Welsh Government to review compulsory collective worship News \| Thu, 30th Oct 2014 The National Secular Society has called on the Welsh government to review the legal requirement on schools to provide worship after parents expressed concern about prayers being imposed on children in non-denominational schools. A number of parents from Wales have contacted the National Secular Society (NSS) complaining of "excessive worship", with reports of children being made to pray up to four times a day – without parents being informed. Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said the imposition of worship in schools is causing a "moral dilemma" for many parents who don't want a Christian upbringing for their child, but at the same time don't find withdrawal an acceptable solution due to the emotional upset this causes for very young children. Mr Evans said: "We are increasingly hearing from parents concerned about proselytising within their children's schools, often in the form or excessive worship or assemblies being led by priests or evangelical groups. The obligation on all schools to provide a daily act of 'broadly Christian' worship is clearly providing a foot in the door for individuals and organisations with evangelistic intentions. The National Secular Society has now written to the Welsh Minister for Education and Skills, Huw Lewis AM, calling on him to urgently review the legal obligation on Welsh schools to provide worship – and to ensure that schools properly respect their pupils' religious freedoms. Simon Blake, whose son attends Cross Hands Community Primary School in Carmarthenshire, said he was shocked to find out that pupils are required to pray between three to four times every day. According to Mr Blake, nursery school children pray before the day begins, during the roll-call. In addition, all children pray before lunch, at the daily afternoon assembly, and last thing before they leave for the day. He said the nature of the worship makes withdrawal completely impractical. Mr Blake told the NSS; "I attended a secondary school whose head and deputy were both church ministers, yet they never asked non-Christians to participate in any Christian assemblies, nor were we asked to pray at any other time. I attended school over twenty years ago in another Welsh valley which was every bit as Christian as this one is. This situation does seem to me to be abnormal and of great concern." Another parent whose children attend a Welsh Medium School in Caerphilly has also complained of excessive Christian worship at his daughter's non-faith school. He told the NSS: "Prayers are held before assembly, after assembly, before they eat their lunch and again before they leave school. My daughter has asked to be left out of worship, but the headteacher implied that it would be discriminatory to my child as they will have to be moved in and out of assembly twice, out of the dinner hall for a period and then out of the class/ hall at the end of the day." "When I suggested that the way the school had set up collective worship makes it discriminatory towards pupils who don't wish to attend, I was told the school wouldn't be changing the set up." Parents say that after lodging their concerns with the Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) and Local Authorities, their objections have been brushed aside, with Local Authorities pointing out the legal requirement on schools to hold worship. A compulsory daily act of collective worship is a legal requirement in England and Wales. Education is a devolved matter and the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Welsh Office Circular 10/94 set out the legal requirements for collective worship in schools in Wales. The guidance in Welsh Office Circular 10/94 informs schools that collective worship must "reflect something special or separate from ordinary school activities and it should be concerned with reverence or veneration paid to a divine being or power." The inspectorate of schools in Wales, Estyn, has a remit to inspect acts of worship in all school that do not provide a denominational education. Mr Evans said: "Any imposition of worship in schools encroaches on the civil rights of both parents and pupils. A law that requires worship cannot be justified on educational grounds and is incompatible with a genuine commitment to religious freedom. The time has surely come to consign laws requiring religious worship to history."
	National Secular Society welcomes call for faith schools to face Ofsted inspections of their religious teaching News \| Thu, 30th Oct 2014 The National Secular Society has welcomed calls from Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt for religious teaching in faith schools to be inspected by Ofsted. In remarks at a Progress event earlier this week, Hunt said that whilst he understood the "principle" of "other communities of different faiths" having their own schools on the basis of "religious equality", this had to be considered against what Hunt called the growing "segregation" in British cities. David Aaronovitch, the Times columnist, posed questions to Mr Hunt and asked whether the Labour government, since 1997, had opened up "the 'why not us too'" argument with religious minorities, who had called for their own faith schools on the basis of equality with existing Christian schools. The Shadow Education Secretary stated that "you cannot have a situation where you have these schools as islands, either around ethnicity or religion". Hunt said that this was "exactly what we tried to undo in terms of Northern Ireland", where religious schools separated the children of Protestant and Catholic parents in education. Though the Shadow Education Secretary said that "faith schools remained an important part of the English schools landscape", he went on to state that Labour would end the Free Schools programme, which Hunt said had resulted in schools "not delivering a broad curriculum". Stephen Evans, campaigns manager for the National Secular Society, welcomed the policy announcement. He said: "It is vital that Ofsted inspects the religious teaching taking place faith schools in order to both uphold the integrity of a state education, and to protect the right of children to a broad range of knowledge. "Any education about religion or belief in publicly funded schools should be impartial, objective, relevant and academically rigorous – children and young people deserve no less. "One of the crucial objectives of education should be to be to promote community cohesion. This is not achieved by schools teaching the superiority of one belief system over another – and Ofsted should be able to step in if they find that happening." Hunt mentioned the "worrying trend in terms of ethnic identification through schooling" and also drew attention to the findings of the Cantle report published over a decade ago, which had found that white and Asian residents of Northern towns were living "parallel lives". Aaronovitch raised the example of Jewish children, whom he said are now far more likely to attend Jewish faith schools than they were twenty years ago. The day after Hunt made his remarks; the Guardian reported that the Beis Yaakov orthodox Jewish school had failed a no-notice Ofsted inspection. Ofsted found "major gaps in students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Students are not provided with sufficient opportunities to learn about or understand people of other faiths or cultures". After hearing evidence from a former pupil of a Jewish faith school at an All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group meeting last week, Lord Warner said that "indoctrination, rather than education is taking place". Hunt said the "absolutist answer" to the problems faced today of "no more faith schools" was not practical given the "forces pushing against this," but said that Labour's answer was that "Ofsted inspects all schools on a broad and balanced curriculum". Hunt also called for "local oversight and accountability". Hunt also argued for "curriculum stability" and warned that the UK could not have a new government coming in after every election and completely rewriting the syllabus. Stephen Evans said: "We would like to see publicly funded faith schools phased out. We're some way off that yet, but it is encouraging to at least see the role of such schools being examined. Dividing children by the faith of their parents has led to terrible situations across the world, and entrenched sectarian divisions. We don't want to see any more of that in the UK."
	Secularists protest Pope’s planned address to the European Parliament News \| Fri, 31st Oct 2014 Over a dozen secularist organisations have written to the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, objecting to his invitation to Pope Francis to address the Parliament. In an open letter to Mr Schulz, the protesters argued that it was not appropriate "for any religions leader to be invited to speak to a secular parliament". Groups representing seven European nations, and five pan-European organisations, signed the letter, which also drew attention to the Catholic Church's record on human rights and "doctrinal positions on the start and end of life and sexual matters, including women's reproductive rights" which ran counter to the values espoused by the European Union. Despite recent, failed steps by the Pope to liberalise the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality and the acceptance of divorcees at the recent Synod, the Church maintains conservative views on a range of issues, from contraceptive use to abortion. Catholic leaders in Ebola-stricken areas of Africa have also issued a series of statements which risk compounding the pandemic. Reuters reported that "in May, Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of the Catholic Church of Liberia said that 'one of the major transgressions against God for which He may be punishing Liberia is the act of homosexuality'". A range of other religious groups in Africa have also linked homosexuality with the Ebola outbreak, leading to attacks and harassment directed against gay Africans. Additionally, the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos saw fit to issue guidance on their Facebook page stating that, despite the recommendation of other precautions, "the traditional practice of receiving Communion in the tongue is not precluded...those faithful who approach the altar and desire to receive Communion on the tongue should be given accordingly. Their personal devotion to the Eucharist must be respected". This ruling was issued despite concerns raised by officials that large religious gatherings could help the virus to spread. The National Secular Society, one of seventeen signatories to the complaint, said that "it is entirely inappropriate for the Catholic Church to have a taxpayer funded address to the European Parliament, particularly at a time when European Union member states are pitching in to contain the spread of Ebola. Does the Parliament really feel it is appropriate to invite a religious leader whose subordinates are compounding the problems faced by health experts?" The letter from secularist organisations also asks "what justification can be offered" for not inviting leaders of other religions from "competing denominations or sects." Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising said that the Pope's address, planned for 25 November, "gives a strong signal that the pope supports and encourages the pursuit of European integration and unity". Despite the rise of Eurosceptic parties across Europe in the last EU parliamentary elections, the Vatican said the Pope was "acknowledging the unique significance of the European institutions in the life of our continent". The Vatican also drew attention to the fact that "European integration has enjoyed the benevolent support of the Catholic Church right from its inception".
	Obstructionist tactics to block human rights groups from advising UN condemned by UN Special Rapporteur News \| Fri, 31st Oct 2014 Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly and association, has criticised repeated efforts to block human rights NGOs from being able to advise the United Nations. In his latest Report, Mr Kiai expresses concern that out of the 48 organisations which have had their accreditations repeatedly deferred, 46 work on human rights issues, such as children and women's rights, minorities, sometimes for particular countries. Mr Kiai cited the longest running application, that of the International Dalit Solidarity Network (ISDN), which campaigns against "discrimination based on work and descent". India stalled their application for accreditation using procedural tactics. This included asking ISDN 64 written questions. Earlier, in July, ten civil society groups, including ISDN, complained in an open letter to the UN about serial refusals to award accreditation. They decried the states wielding power "over those who speak out against human rights abuses". The UK's National Secular Society (NSS) – a signatory to the letter – welcomed Mr Kiai's criticisms of the process. Keith Porteous Wood, NSS executive director, said: "Over the last five years we have been continually blocked from receiving accreditation status on what seem to be spurious grounds. Mr Kiai's intervention is extremely welcome and we hope it leads to more openness towards NGOs, many of whom have valuable contributions to make towards eliminating serious suffering and Human Rights abuses, even though their work may embarrass or inconvenience some member states." The letter, "A Call to Transparency", also raised concerns that "transparency and legitimacy" in the UN are at risk if "States are able to continue blocking access to NGOs". The letter made several recommendations and included pleas for the committee to "stop blocking legitimate human rights organisations" from achieving accreditation. The accreditations sought are to the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (ECOSOC), which allows limited access to other UN bodies, such as brief interventions at the Human Rights Council. Despite the protracted efforts at stalling the accreditation process, India was recently re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council, winning more votes than Thailand, Qatar, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Since 2008 India has repeatedly questioned ISDN about its caste discrimination investigations, to which ISDN had replied promptly. Over this time, many of the questions were repeated. The Special Rapporteur called for reforms to "the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations to prevent Member States from blocking accreditation applications with perpetual questioning". Mr Kiai also accused India of "unilaterally vetoing applications". ECOSOC facilitates "international cooperation on standards-making and problem-solving in economic and social issues". The NSS is seeking accreditation status to advise the committee on a raft of human rights issues, relating to secularism and freedom of, and from, religion.
	New data revealed on 2015 voting intentions of non-believers Opinion \| Tue, 28th Oct 2014 The British Election Study has shed new light on the voting intentions of non-believers, and highlighted the power of religious minorities to shape elections in the future. Benjamin Jones explores how atheists, agnostics and the irreligious plan to vote in 2015, and considers some of the possible long term electoral consequences of religious politics. Whilst confirming the long-known, sustained collapse in the number of British people who describe themselves as religious, the British Election Study (BES) research also breaks down how the non-religious intend to vote in next year's general election, which has produced some interesting results. Additionally, the study provides detailed information on how different religious minorities plan to vote, and to what degree they vote in blocs. Whilst atheism or agnosticism have been seen by many as of the left (particularly so during the Cold War), the study's data (broken down here by the "British Religion In Numbers" blog) finds that the "no-religion" or "none" vote is actually quite diffuse in its 2015 voting intention. Although the "nones" do tend to favour the Labour Party (39.6%), the Conservatives manage surprisingly well among the "no religion" demographic, coming in second with 26.7%. In third is the United Kingdom Independence Party on 12.4%, closely followed by the LibDems on 10.5%. The remaining 10.8% of "nones" voted for other parties. If the Tory and UKIP vote is combined this puts the right as a whole on 39.1%, just half a percentage point below Labour. Whilst there is a skew to the left among the "nones", their voting intentions are not hugely dissimilar to the wider public. For a rough comparison, a YouGov/Sunday Times poll conducted on the 16^th and 17^th of October found the Conservatives on 32%, Labour on 35% and the LibDems on 7% (with all other parties on 27%, including UKIP on 16%). Comparing this poll with the "nones", we find that among non-believers the Conservatives are down just 5.3 points, with Labour up 4.6% and the LibDems up by 3.5 percent. Given that both the Conservative Party and UKIP are wedded to the notion of Britain as a "Christian country", (and both compete over claiming this mantle) it is perhaps surprising to find such high levels of support for them among non-believers. It is likely that whilst these voters describe themselves as having "no religion" they do not rank the importance of their atheism, irreligion or agnosticism very highly, compared to issues like the economy, healthcare or immigration (for example). In the parlance of political science, their non-belief has little "salience", at least for the time being. So, whilst they may not agree with the Conservatives on Britain being a Christian country, they cast their votes on issues they rank as more important. In America, religious voters have historically broken into fairly neat blocs of party loyalty, and the "none" vote in America today strongly favours the Democrats. This presents a lot of new demographic problems for the Republican Party, see here, as once solidly Republican southern Senate seats become realistic targets for Democrats. In Britain, the "none" vote is too spread out be a 'bloc' as the American "nones" are, and at present voters who describe themselves as "not religious" are willing to vote for parties which promote the idea of Britain as a Christian country. This picture becomes more interesting when we compare the behaviour of the "no-religion" demographic with religious minorities. In contrast with the "nones", British religious minorities are voting in much more cohesive units than their irreligious counterparts. Whilst the largest single affiliation among "nones" was 39.6% (for Labour), among Jews the largest single vote share was 46.3% (for the Conservative Party), among Catholics the largest group was 45.3% (for Labour), among Sikhs the largest single party loyalty was 63.5% (also for Labour), whilst among Muslims an extraordinary 73% will vote for the Labour Party at the next general election (though I note that the Muslim results are from a relatively small sample size). These minority groups are much more cohesive in their 2015 voting intentions, and clearly favour the Labour Party over the Conservatives. Anglicans, often called the 'Tory Party at prayer', in fact only favour the Conservatives over Labour by 7.2%; 39.3% of Anglicans plan to vote Conservative in 2015, whilst 32.1% will vote Labour. Additionally, excluding minorities with an unreliably small sample size in the BES results, Anglicans are the group most likely to vote UKIP; this is clearly a demographic where Farage's party is badly hurting the Conservatives. 18.3% of Anglicans plan to vote for UKIP at the next general election. Although no religious group is an absolutely homogenous bloc in terms of its voting habits, these high figures could point towards a future electoral landscape where politicians must actively compete for religious bloc votes. As the Labour Party loses lots of its traditional working class base to UKIP (see Ford and Goodwin on that point here) it will increasingly be forced to depend upon religious minorities to shore up its vote. This could further break apart the historic link between atheism/agnosticism and the left, and cause an even greater diffusion in the votes of the non-religious. Clearly then, non-believers do not currently form a 'no religion vote' in the same way that UK analysts might speak of a 'Catholic' or 'Muslim' vote. If, however, (and as seems likely) Islamist extremism continues to dominate news headlines for years to come, the attachment of the "nones" to their non-belief could become much stronger; indeed, other research reported last week found that "a majority of 1,000 [UK] citizens said religious and ethnic hatred was the greatest danger facing humanity". This may well be the basis for an increasingly salient "non-belief". In total, the BES survey found that 44% of the British public do not hold any religious affiliation; and this large slice of UK demographics may become increasingly vocal, pressurising a Labour Party dependent on religious minorities and a Conservative Party relying on older Anglicans (who are also tempted by UKIP).
	Dignity in Dying demonstration on Friday 7 November in support of the Assisted Dying Bill News \| Fri, 31st Oct 2014 The campaign group Dignity in Dying (DiD) will be demonstrating outside Parliament next week on Friday morning 7 November (9am-1pm), to coincide with the House of Lords debate on the Assisted Dying Bill. DiD say they need "as many supporters as possible to show peers they want Parliament to act on assisted dying". If it becomes law, the Bill would reduce unnecessary suffering of terminally ill people at the end of their lives. Two doctors would have to certify that numerous criteria had been satisfied before prescribing lethal drugs which only the patients themselves could administer. The NSS's executive director, Keith Porteous Wood, spoke at a meeting in Parliament on Thursday (30 October 2014) to explore any ways in which the Bill could be improved. It was co-chaired by the Bill's principal sponsor, Lord Falconer, and NSS Honorary Associate Baroness Murphy and many of those attending were leaders in branches of medicine and patient care. Mr Wood was told that the Bill had been drafted so as to secure the maximum possible support of health professionals. A recent YouGov poll found 73% of adults in England and Wales support the proposals" in the Assisted Dying Bill, but many religious groups oppose the Bill and few medical organisations are supporting it. The National Secular Society has expressed its supports for the right to choose an assisted death. In June when the Bill was first debated in the Lords, NSS President Terry Sanderson said: "The time has now surely come for the law to reflect public attitudes and wishes on this matter. The religious bodies that are agitating to stop the legislation must be told that they cannot have the final word. Few people agree with their stand as one poll after another has shown". DiD have asked volunteers to "come out in force, once again, to back the Bill". Volunteers can confirm their attendance at the demonstration online here. Dignity in Dying are providing posters and placards and have asked volunteers to wear pink clothing for the demonstration, if possible. The previous debate, on 18 July ran for almost ten hours of debate with 126 speakers, a record.

Newsline 31 October

News, Blogs & Opinion

NSS calls on Welsh Government to review compulsory collective worship

National Secular Society welcomes call for faith schools to face Ofsted inspections of their religious teaching

Secularists protest Pope’s planned address to the European Parliament

Obstructionist tactics to block human rights groups from advising UN condemned by UN Special Rapporteur

New data revealed on 2015 voting intentions of non-believers

Dignity in Dying demonstration on Friday 7 November in support of the Assisted Dying Bill

Competition: Win Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” on 5 DVDs

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