Planet Humanism

The Scientific Method - Radio 4 - In Our Time - Melvyn Bragg

Chris Street, 27/01/2012

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01b1ljm/In_Our_Time_The_Scientific_Method/

Source: HASSERS - Humanist Atheist Scientific Secularist Ethical Rationalist Sceptics

The Catholic Crackdown on Feminism

Adam Lee, 27/01/2012

In 2009, the Roman Catholic church convened an "apostolic visitation" - a sort of modern-day auto-da-fe - a rare step taken when the Vatican feels that a church-affiliated institution has gone seriously astray. The church officials in charge of the investigation conducted interviews at almost 400 ...

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Source: Daylight Atheism

At the altar of non-belief: philosopher Alain de Botton proposes a temple for atheists

Unknown author, 27/01/2012

An artist's impression of Alain de Botton's "Temple to Perspective

Alain de Botton has been accused of many things – of being superficial, self-absorbed and most recently (by Terry Eagleton) "banal" – but no one would call him stupid. The PR campaign for his latest book Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion, is a case in point. To accompany the book’s publication he has launched a campaign to build a “£1 million atheist temple” in the City of London, dedicated to the wonders of the evolution. It sounds rather nice – a 46 metre narrowing tower (De Botton himself refers to it as "A Temple to Perspective") with a roof open to the sky, with layers of fossil-studded rock representing the different eras of the earth’s life, ending at the ground with a wafer-thin strip of gold depicting the infinitesimally short span of human life on the planet.

De Botton, who has some previous motivating property developers to invest, claims he has already raised half the money, but, more importantly for the sale of his new book, he has raised the ire of Richard Dawkins and the interest of the media. According to today’s Guardian, Dawkins is appalled at the idea, and would prefer to see the money sunk into his (not entirely uncontroversial) idea of secular schooling. It was also dismissed by Andrew Copson of the British Humanist Association, who said humanists can get their sense of awe and wonder from art, theatre and long walks in the country, thanks very much.

Some on the other side are not happy either: Rev Katharine Rumens, rector of St Giles' Cripplegate church, in Barbican, near where the temple is likely to be located, suggested that it would lack the sense of community of a church and wouldn't really speak to the human condition. However, media vicar George Pitcher welcomed the move as offering a more positive form of atheism than that represented by Dawkins.

All in all a perfect strategy. Reject God and piss of Dawkins? Check. Have a groovy picture and a slick website? Check. A million quid to chuck in the headline? Check. Stoking the embers of the debate over modern architecture, and available for comment at short notice? Check and check. Which is probably why every newspaper appears to have run with the story, no doubt the TV news shows will follow suit, and Hamish Hamilton will be licking their chops.

I interviewed De Botton at length last week for the next issue of new Humanist (out Feb 16). No spoilers, but I’ll say this: he’s a smart guy.

Source: New Humanist Blog

Homosexuality is not a problem to be ‘cured’ – conversion Church conference reaches London

Unknown author, 26/01/2012

A touring conference programme titled 'The Lepers Amongst Us: Homosexuality and the Life of the Church' is due to go ahead in London today despite condemnation from community groups where the conference has been previously held, and criticism from professional organisations declaring conversion or reparative ‘therapies’, which seek to ‘cure’ gay people, as harmful.

Commenting on the event, which is being organised by the American-based Core Issues Trust, the British Humanist Association (BHA) Head of Public Affairs Naomi Phillips said:

‘The Core Issues Trust state they wish to work with those who ‘seek to change from a “gay” lifestyle to a gender-affirming one’, however the suggestion that homosexuality is a problem in need of a ‘cure’ is deeply insulting to lesbian, gay and bisexual people, profoundly objectionable, and wrong.

‘Specious claims that someone’s sexual orientation can be changed through religion or therapy lack any credible basis, and conversion therapy can prove extremely harmful, especially where vulnerable individuals are being targeted. These kinds of biblically-inspired attempts to change sexual orientation have been repeatedly denounced by the UK Council for Psychotherapy, the British Medical Association, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists.’

The BHA has previously commented on reports that a Christian registered psychotherapist used ‘Sexual Orientation Change Efforts’ to try to ‘convert’ a gay man to being heterosexual.

Source: BHA news

BHA marks Holocaust Memorial Day

Unknown author, 26/01/2012

The British Humanist Association Chief Executive Andrew Copson commented on the commemorations being held for Holocaust Memorial Day:

‘Though this day marks a full sixty-seven years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on the 27th January 1945, it is hard to foresee a time when we will not be profoundly moved by the end to one of the darkest chapters in human history. We take this opportunity to collectively honour all the innocent victims of the Nazi regime; from those who were interned or executed within the camps, to those who were persecuted under the totalitarian system, including many fellow humanists.’

Mr Copson continued ‘The holocaust was an atrocity committed not only against individuals, but against humanity. As we unite in remembrance across boundaries of nations and beliefs, the lessons of totalitarianism carry a particular resonance for humanists, who strive to promote and protect the dignity of the individual, and to treat them with the fairness and respect that was so strikingly lacking during that period. Today serves as a stark reminder of our obligation as human beings to challenge injustice, and the dogmatism that feeds it, wherever it arises.’

Source: BHA news

Largest proposed Free School attempts to increase religious discrimination by circumventing faith-based admissions and employment laws

Unknown author, 26/01/2012

Becket Keys Church of England School in Brentwood, Essex, the largest Free School to have been pre-approved to open by the Department for Education, has been accused today of attempting to circumvent the 50% faith-based admissions requirement imposed by the Department for Education (DfE), and also of breaking the rules on religious requirements in employing teachers. The accusations come in correspondence from the British Humanist Association (BHA) to the DfE asking the DfE to pay closer attention to the behaviour of the school, which is due to open in September.

If oversubscribed, Becket Keys currently proposes to select half their pupils (75) with reference to faith, then select a further 43 pupils from two feeder schools which in turn select entirely with reference to faith, and 20 places from a feeder school which selects at least 10 pupils with reference to faith. Therefore, it is very conceivable that in some years some 85% of pupils at Becket Keys will be selected with reference to faith.

BHA Faith Schools Campaigner Richy Thompson commented, ‘The Free Schools model Funding Agreement requires that “The Academy will adopt admission criteria that provide that, if oversubscribed, at least 50% of its places available each year will be allocated without reference to any faith-based admission criteria.” Selecting 50% on basis of faith and then 35% from a group that was in turn selected on basis of faith, is equivalent to selecting 85% on basis of faith, and must therefore surely break this 50% rule.’

In addition, in the Brentwood Gazette on 12 October, Andy Scott-Evans, one of the 2 junior school heads who organised the bid, is quoted as saying ‘For the staff, if it is a matter of choosing a good teacher who is a Christian or a fantastic teacher who is not we would go for the fantastic teacher. Ideally we would have a fantastic teacher who is a Christian.’

Mr Thompson continued, ‘European employment laws are clear that, where reference to religion or belief is made as an occupational requirement, it must at a minimum be legitimate, genuine and justified. In other words, either there is a genuine requirement for staff members to be Christians, or there isn’t – such requirements cannot be applied selectively in the manner Mr Scott-Evans proposes, after people have applied.

‘We have taken these points up with the Department for Education, and hope that they will pay closer attention to the behaviour of all Free Schools due to open this September and beyond.’

Becket Keys is to open on the site of Sawyers Hall College, a community school which is due to close this summer because of insufficient demand for places. A University Technical College and a Studio School, both inclusive, were also proposed to open on the vacated site, but both proposals were turned down by the DfE.

Source: BHA news

Valentine’s Day – Scientist Valentine’s

humsar, 26/01/2012

Sometimes it can be hard finding the right card to show your feelings. HumanistLife in the lead up to Valentine’s Day thought it might be the right time to point you towards a old blog-post on Ironic San with some suggestions for scientist valentine’s cards featuring Darwin, Sagan, Newton, Curie, and Einstein.

Source: HumanistLife

International Humanists protest Indonesia blasphemy arrest

Matt, 26/01/2012

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is calling for the Indonesian government to guarantee the freedom and safety of Alexander Aan, an Indonesian arrested for blasphemy. IHEU -- the global union of more than 100 Humanist and atheist groups from 40 countries including Indonesia -- has also raised Aan’s case with the United Nations. Aan was arrested for blasphemy last week in Dharmasraya, in the province of West Sumatra.

A giant Jesus for London?

Unknown author, 26/01/2012

Here's an idea sure to divide opinion – the Camden New Journal reports that there are plans on the table to erect a giant statue of Jesus Christ, evoking Brazil's iconic Christ The Redeemer statue, on North London's Primrose Hill to mark the end of the 2012 Olympics and the transferral of host city status to Rio de Janeiro.

The proposal has not yet been reviewed by the local planning department but, according to the New Journal, a London-based planning consultancy working with the Brazilian Tourist Board recently sent an email "to a handful of Primrose Hill residents" informing them of the plan and requesting secrecy in order to retain "a 'wow' factor" for Londoners and “the world’s media" when it is unveiled at the end of the games.

Opinion among those interviewed by the New Journal is divided between those who wouldn't mind if it was temporary and a local councillor who says it "sounds a bit like some marketing brainstorm" and who thinks the planners "need to get some more original ideas". But the religious nature of the project has also attracted the attention of secularists, who question the wisdom of erecting a giant symbol of Christianity above the London skyline. In a statement on its website, the National Secular Society's president Terry Sanderson said:

"The Olympic Games is supposed to unite people of all creeds and cultures through sport. Introducing something as blatantly sectarian as this would completely go against the spirit of the games and be a kind of triumphalist statement about Christianity. It is a very bad idea and must be kicked into touch immediately."

So what do you think? Could London do without a Saviour lording it over its population, or is it time our decadent capital city acquired some new religious iconography and climbed on board with JC? Answers in the comments.

Source: New Humanist Blog

Sacrificing Baby Jesus

Sabio Lantz, 26/01/2012

God is perfect
Imperfection is called ‘sin’
Therefore God can not tolerate sin
God made humans to keep him company
But humans, given free will, inevitably sin
So God requires sacrifices to clean humans of their sin
So God decided that animal sacrifices may help
Though the smell of burning entrails originally pleased God, they were never truly enough so he decided that he would create a perfect sacrifice
God procreated a perfect boy-god with a human girl — his son, ‘Jesus’
God let Jesus be sacrificed to clean sin
Now a Perfect God can keep company with Sinful humans but only if they believe this whole story with their whole heart

Well, that is one version of Christianity. See my listing the other Atonement theories.

But I don’t understand something about this version of Christianity: If it was all about this sacrifice, why are Jesus’ teachings so important? Why not just have the bad guys snatch up the baby Jesus and dash him against some rocks and Splat! the work is done.

I will guess at the possible answer:

Look, God works in different ways at different times — we can call these “dispensations”. When God, using his own mysterious clock, finally decided humans needed a perfect sacrifice, he also decided we needed better teachings than the ones he supplied in the Old Testament – the old dispensation. And he figured that three years were all that his son would need to give the teachings.

So, any Christian scholars want to help me on this one? Was Jesus put here on Earth to serve as a sacrifice or teach or both? And what teachings were so important to put off dashing baby Jesus against a rock? To me, it seems obvious that there are a few different Jesus’ in the gospels — here I illustrate a teaching Jesus and a salvation Jesus. The problems seem obvious, but nothing some good theological twists should not be able to remedy.

Notes: This post was inspired by combined effect of two posts — both by nonbelievers, both criticizing Republicans:

Someone was making fun of Mormons so as to delegitimize the presidential contended Mitt Romney. Seriously? As if Christianity is less bizarre and Protestant candidates are safer? I wrote a post called: “Your god is weird” where I likewise went rabid when I heard someone making fun of Sikhs.
Someone spoke about the importance of Jesus’ teachings. Even Atheists use Jesus to make a point. Similarly, I wrote a post called: Was Jesus a Great Teacher?

Also, you may enjoy this short post: Gospel debates: Where atheists miss the boat

Tagged: Atheism, Christianity, Jesus, Religion, Theology

Source: Triangulations

Why We Should Tax the Churches

Adam Lee, 25/01/2012

This essay was previously published on AlterNet. Last November, I attended a debate in the NYU Intelligence Squared series on the topic, "Would the World Be Better Off Without Religion?" One of the audience questions concerned the enormous wealth hoarded by churches, which Christian apologist ...

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Source: Daylight Atheism

Religious Attitudes Poll

the chaplain, 25/01/2012

Vanity Fair/60 Minutes recently conducted a poll that yielded some interesting results:

If some religious believers think the world would be better off with no religion, shouldn’t they just quit and do their bit to make the world a better place?

– the chaplain

Filed under: religion

Source: An Apostate's Chapel

God Delusions round-up #14

humsar, 25/01/2012

Providence Journal reports that Jessica Ahlquist, the 16-year-old student who fought to remove a prayer banner at Cranston High School West, will get a dozen roses Thursday, but they won’t come from a Cranston florist. Three refused to deliver the flowers, said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group based in Madison, Wis.

Apparently, abortion is a bigger problem than joblessness, says Catholic Church, and a Bishop has warned of UNESCO’s plan to “make half the world population homosexual”

A Wisconsin man arrested for allegedly punching his wife — who claims a ghost is responsible for the domestic abuse – will have a hard time scaring up paranormal researchers to back his claim.

bOINGbOING.net has posted about the Christian Nightmares video performance, which features a song with the uplifting lyrics about being left behind after the Rapture. I learned it is a popular song called “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” and it has been covered by a bunch of bands.

Source: HumanistLife

Threats of violence force student group to cancel event

humsar, 25/01/2012

Last week a talk organised by the Queen Mary Atheism, Secularism and Humanism Society on ‘Sharia Law and Human Rights’ had to be cancelled after threats of violence.

A report from the Independent states:

Students attending a debate about sharia law were told they would be “hunted down and killed” by a man who burst into their lecture theatre and filmed them on his phone.

The BHA reports that police were contacted about the incident and the Society is waiting to hear how their investigation will proceed.

Source: HumanistLife

Atheists Don't Just Want Sex and Drugs

Adam Lee, 24/01/2012

My latest article has been posted on AlterNet, Once Again, Believers Have it Wrong: Atheists Don't Just Want Sex, Drugs, and Lack of Morality. As you might have guessed, it's the culminating entry in my recent exchange with Peter Hitchens. In it, I discuss the absence of evidence for non-human ...

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Source: Daylight Atheism

Top Ten Creationist Arguments

Spanish Inquisitor, 24/01/2012

Sometimes I just don’t feel like writing, especially when I see that someone else has done a much better job at it, in a more succinct way, with fun graphics and sound.

Filed under: Apologetics, Atheism, Beliefs, Bible, Christianity, Creationism, Critical thinking, delusion, Education, Evidence, Evolution, Freethought, god, God of the Gaps, IDiots, Intelligent Design, magic, memes, Miracles, Naturalism, Pseudo-Science, Reason, Religion, Skepticism, Stephen Jay Gould, Theism Tagged: Answers in Genesis, Beliefs, Christian, creationism, Darwinism, evolution, humor, hypocrisy, IDiots, Intelligence, Intelligent Design, magic, Religion, Science, Skepticism, Young Earth creationism

Source: SPANISH INQUISITOR

Humanists condemn another attack on atheist expression at London University

Matt, 24/01/2012

Yet another Humanist student group in London is being threatened with censorship for talking about Islam. The London School of Economics (LSE) Student Union has instructed the LSE Student Union Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society (LSESU ASH) to remove cartoons featuring Jesus and Mohammed from their Facebook page. It is the third instance this month of free speech being threatened at a London college.

Get the New Humanist app for iPhone and iPad

Unknown author, 24/01/2012

We're very pleased to announce that the New Humanist app for iPhone and iPad is now available for download from the iTunes store.

The iPad/iPhone edition is available as a free download and brings you selected pages from the latest issue as soon as it is published. You can subscribe within the application for full access, which brings you every page of the issue and a searchable archive back to March 2006. A subscription costs £1.99 per month or £9.99 per year.

The app, produced by our digital edition provider Exact Editions, has the following features:

• Swipe or tap the page edges to flip to next/previous page.
• Use the animated thumbnail view to flick through the pages.
• Pinch or double-tap pages to zoom.
• Switch between single or double-page view (iPad only).
• Search the current issue or (paid-only) the archive.
• Tap any page links to web sites, email addresses, phone numbers or maps.
• Tap contents-page links to jump to a particular article.
• Sync back issues to your device for offline reading (requires wi-fi).
• Network connection required otherwise.

We recommend first running the app within a wi-fi area so it can sync the latest issue to your device - after that you can use it anywhere. Subscribers will receive new issues automatically via Newsstand.

For those asking about other platforms, including Andorid, we do hope to be able to offer a branded app for those in the not-too-distant future. But in the meantime, a regular digital subscription will give you access via the Exact Editions Android app for just £9.99 per year.

Source: New Humanist Blog

Roe v. Wade – 39 Years Later

the chaplain, 24/01/2012

Check out the headline of an item I read on Sparkpeople this morning:

The article goes on to state:

Since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, opponents have questioned the safety of medical procedures used to terminate pregnancy. Now, a new study contends that having a legal abortion is safer than carrying a baby to term.

The risk of death associated with a full-term pregnancy and delivery is 8.8 deaths per 100,000, while the risk of death linked to legal abortion is 0.6 deaths per 100,000 women, according to the study. That means a woman carrying a baby to term is 14 times more likely to die than a woman who chooses to have a legal abortion, the study finds.

- snip -

Grimes and his colleagues had several reasons for undertaking the study, published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. One is that medical abortion, in which a woman can take a pill early in pregnancy, instead of surgical abortion, “has changed the landscape of abortion, and the mortality information needed to be updated.”

Another reason is that in many states, women are given information before getting an abortion. “There’s been a proliferation of these women’s-right-to-know pamphlets, and some of them are misleading, if not downright incorrect or patently wrong,” Grimes said.

- snip -

Dr. Donna Harrison, director of research and public policy at the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, disagreed with the authors’ conclusions.

- snip -

Dr. Mitchell Creinin, professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Davis, said that pregnant women considering their options “are often scared by the rhetoric.”

“If a state is going to feel a responsibility to be involved in this private matter, we need to ensure that the material is factual,” said Creinin, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal. “If it comes from the state or the government, people assume it’s true,” he added.

It’s no secret that I support women’s rights to choose what’s best for themselves reproductively, socially and economically. Neither you, nor I, nor any government officials or agencies have any business regulating and interfering in the intimate details of people’s lives. The decision to have – or not have – an abortion is one of the most serious decisions a woman may ever make. And I honestly don’t know if I could have made that choice myself. Fortunately for me, I never had to find out. But, many women are not as fortunate as I. They must make this decision and they need accurate information to do so. They also need emotional and practical support before, during and after the decision – either to abort or carry to term – has been made and carried through. What they don’t need is self-righteous busybodies calling them criminals or sinners or sluts or any other foul names. What they don’t need is people telling them they can’t decide for themselves because busybodies with their own agendas (religious or otherwise) have already made the decision for them. The age of paternalism passed a long time ago in most developed countries. It’s time for the USA to catch up with its peers and start showing equal respect for all of its citizens too.

– the chaplain

Filed under: abortion, ethics, politics, rationalism, science, society, women's rights

Source: An Apostate's Chapel

The Multi-voiced Constitution & Bible

Sabio Lantz, 24/01/2012

In American politics, there are people who call themselves “Constitutionalists” and I am not one of them. I am glad this country has a constitution and rule of law, but I think the constitution has a major flaw.

The constitution was a compromise between various conflicting political philosophies — and with a little study, those conflicts are apparent. And it is for that reason, that it does not take much effort to get the document to say what you want it to say. Thus we have fluxing “interpretations” and amending over the last two centuries. The constitution’s flaw is that it is does not have one voice. But this is only a flaw when you assume it does have one voice.

But enough politics — I try to avoid politics on this blog, but instead, I am using the example of the US Constitution to point at a similar principle in the Bible. The Bible is not homogenous. Even narrowing down to the Gospels, it is obvious that there are many different Jesuses in the gospels. And history shows that people pick out their favorite Jesus to champion their favorite causes.

The New Testament Jesus is hugely mythologized. I won’t go so far as to say that there was no real person called Jesus upon which some of these various puppet Jesuses are based, but I really don’t think we can figure that out. But often Christians and Atheists alike think they can tell us who the real Jesus was, what he taught and what he was trying to accomplish.

I think it is important to not buy into the myth that the New Testament (or the Constitution) has one voice. The different voices are most instructive and far from trivial.

Notes:

(1) This post was inspired by two posts:

By my conversation over at the excellent blog, “Groping the Elephant“
By an interesting post concerning another upcoming book by David Fitzgerald. I am not sure if Fitzgerald fits into the supposed “mythicists” camp but I still find much of what he writes informative.

(2) See my post: The Homogenized Bible

Tagged: Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Constitution