The British Humanist Association recently received public monies. It’s unclear if this has anything to specifically do with their recent bus campaign (maybe a Brit can clarify). At any rate, this is all fine and dandy, but the response has been interesting, if a tad predictable.
Critics say it is wrong for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to give taxpayers’ money to a controversial organisation whose stance would be found objectionable by many members of the public.
Most people vary on the details of their particular religious beliefs – and England still has an official church. Yet I presume “many members of the public” find its beliefs objectionable. But that really shouldn’t be the main point. Public funding isn’t done in simple interest of the majority. Minorities have those pesky “rights”, too.
Neil Addison, a Roman Catholic barrister who specialises in religious discrimination, said: “It’s a bit like paying the Taliban to lecture on women’s rights.
This is astounding. These two things are nothing alike. The Taliban holds no rational views on the role of women in society…on the basis of religion. The British Humanist Association seeks to explicitly denounce the undue respect we give to these sort of beliefs. It is only through rationality and reason that we can improve our societies. Defaming atheists, agnostics, and humanists does no one any favors. It is to these voices that we need to listen.
Filed under: News, Politics and Social | Tagged: Angela Mason, atheism atheists, bha, Brian Gibbons, british humanist society, bus campaign, church of england, Lib Dem MP Evan Harris, neil addison, religious descrimination, roman catholic, roman catholic barrister, there's probably no god, Welsh Assembly minister | Leave a comment »
For the Sake of Science 