Newsletter : June 2010 : Issue 3

In this issue: Committee activity || Campaign update || Featured article || Event review

Make sure you don’t miss the latest Newsletter or other web site updates by signing up to our RSS feed here.

Welcome to Atheism’s June e-newsletter!

This is the third edition of our e-newsletter. Those of you who already receive our RSS feed will automatically be notified when a new edition is added each month. If you aren’t already signed up to our RSS feed, you can easily do this by inserting your e-mail address in the ‘News and Updates’ box near the top right of any page, just under the menu bar.

Committee activity

Later this month, several of our Council members will be attending the large atheist conference “God and Politics” in Copenhagen. This is being organized jointly by the USA-based Atheist Alliance International (AAI) and Dansk Ateistik Selskab (Danish Atheist Society), and runs from 18-20th June 2010. This will be a key opportunity to network with other atheist organizations and we’ll be giving an update on how it went in our next newsletter. All our Council members are paying for the conference themselves, not from Atheism funds.

Back to top

Campaign update

An occasional series looking at Atheism’s campaigns and what lies behind them.

Just a short update for this month, not on a campaign of our own, but one which we support. That is, the National Secular Society’s ‘Protest the Pope’ campaign. We have recently been added to their Supporters’ page, which includes a list of other organizations who are helping this campaign in various ways. Do have a look at this web site as it contains a lot of information about the Pope, Vatican and Roman Catholic church, which you may not already know.

Back to top

Featured article

Ban the burqa? No to the niqab? (by Rebecca)

In recent months several European countries have taken steps towards banning the public wearing of garments covering the face.

Belgium’s lower house of parliament voted without opposition at the end of April to ban veils and other garments that prevent identification. The legislation will mainly affect Muslim women, although apparently the ban may be lifted during carnival season when many people like to wear masks.

Discussions are underway in France about whether a similar ban should be imposed there. President Sarkozy is in favour of a ban, saying the burqa was “not welcome” in France, which is known for its secularism or laïcité.

Could such a ban ever be imposed in the UK? It seems unlikely; an enormous outcry from British Muslims would be inevitable as well as human rights campaigners who have already criticized the Belgian ban.

Before becoming Prime Minister, David Cameron said he was against a ban and the Liberal Democrats would be very unlikely to support such legislation. It would be surprising for the Labour Party to campaign for or support a ban, despite Jack Straw’s announcement in 2006 that he preferred his female Muslim constituents not to wear a veil when attending his surgeries.

UKIP are the only party to call for an outright ban of the burqa and niqab, while the BNP seem to favour a ban only in schools.

The many arguments for and against the veil are not simply about Muslims being pro-veil and non-Muslims against; some Muslims argue that covering the face is not a part of Islam, while there are plenty of Western liberals who feel that banning the burqa is an attack on human rights and as oppressive to women as others argue that the burqa itself is.

The debate is yet to be fully aired in the UK; partly as a result of the fear of many, including politicians, of raising the issue in case offence is caused or accusations of racism and intolerance are cast.

Perhaps we need to have this discussion sooner, rather than later in a mature and rational way and stop being afraid of a group of people who seem to wield influence that belies their number.

Further reading:

Article from The Times by Agnès Poirier

Article from The New Statesman by Mehdi Hasan

Back to top

Event Review

Atheist Ireland talk at South Place Ethical Society (by Rebecca)

On 16^th May three of Atheism’s board members went to listen to a talk by Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland at the South Place Ethical Society, London WC1.

Michael gave an overview of the position of religion in Ireland, a summary of the work of Atheist Ireland and an update on the current state of the blasphemy laws.

The influence of the Catholic Church in Ireland was one of the first topics addressed; Michael explained how this influence had, over the years, ensured that identifying as an atheist in Ireland had not been an easy option to take. Some key points:

• The Catholic Church runs approximately 97% of primary schools in Ireland and all teacher training colleges are run by religious organizations.

• The 1935 Criminal Law Amendment Act banned the import, sale and distribution of contraceptives. A 1985 Act allowed contraceptives to be sold to anyone over 18 but only in chemists. The Irish Family Planning Association and Virgin Megastore were prosecuted for selling condoms in 1991. Later that year, the sale of contraceptives was liberalised (The Irish Times). These restrictions on contraception were a result of Catholic doctrine on the issue. Although Irish law now permits contraception, the Catholic Church still speaks out against the use of condoms and other forms of contraception and spreads the message that condom use can lead to a rise in sexually transmitted infection.

• Irish television and radio use a Catholic prayer (The Angelus) as a time signal during the day, once at 6pm and on the radio at 12pm.

• On a (slightly) lighter note, the first Irish film censor, James Montgomery was reported to have said that he knew nothing about film but would “take the ten commandments as [his] code”. He went on to ban 124 films and cut 166.

Michael went on to talk about the formation of Atheist Ireland and what the organization is hoping to achieve. It is running several campaigns at the moment; blasphemy laws, secular education and a secular constitution to name a few.

The Irish blasphemy laws, which came in to force on 1st January 2010, are a consequence of the Irish constitution, which states that “all authority of the State comes from, and all actions of the State must be referred to, the Most Holy Trinity. Article 44 states that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God and that the State shall hold His Name in reverence.” (Atheist Ireland website).

Atheist Ireland continues to campaign against the law and has welcomed a proposal by Dermot Ahern, the Irish Justice Minister, to hold a referendum on the repealing the law this autumn.

As part of their campaign, Atheist Ireland has created a new ‘religion’, Dermotology, in honour of Ahern. They also have an Atheist Ireland member, Paul Gill, walking the length of Ireland to raise awareness of the referendum and to encourage a ‘Yes’ vote.

Michael’s talk was equally fascinating and entertaining and it was heartening to hear that there are other organizations and individuals who feel as strongly about these matters as Atheism.

We hope to hear more from Michael and possibly get together for some joint work in the near future.

Further reading and information:

Irish film censorship: A Cultural Journey from Silent Cinema to Internet Pornography.

Blasphemy Ireland

Back to top