HUMANIST SOCIETY OF WEST YORKSHIRE
Affiliated to the British Humanist Association
Chair: Paul Irving - Secretary/Treasurer: Bob Tee

NEWSLETTER (102) NOVEMBER, 2007

Greg Owens has found the production of the Newsletter difficult to fit in with completing his assignments for his postgraduate degree in philosophy and so has resigned as Editor - any volunteers? For the present the Secretary will produce an A4 sheet version.

November meeting:- “The Planet - Plan it or Damn it!
David Fanaroff, Friends of the Earth, 7.30 Tues. 13/11/07

This meeting was postponed from March. We may not agree with all the ’Green’ agenda, some of it, such as the opposition to all G.M., is hardly scientific so there is likely to be some controversy. Come along and have your say. If you have not yet paid your sub. (full £15 & £23, concession £10 & £15) bring your cheque or send it to the Treasurer.

October meeting report: Humanism - The National Scene,
Pepper Harow, BHA Local Development Officer

The Local Development Project came about because the Blair government decided it wanted to consult with local ‘faith communities’ about policies in their local area, such as faith schools. So they have set up ‘Interfaith Forums’ where each faith gets a handout from the Faith Communities Project Fund to defray the costs of their involvement. The BHA challenged this as favouring faiths over the non-religious. Hence it got a grant from the fund to set up a network of Humanists on local bodies keeping in touch with each other through the BHA. Part of this grant has been used to recruit a Local Development Officer. These local representatives must be members of the BHA. Volunteers have been sought through Humanist News and by emails to local groups. The names of two members of our Committee have been submitted. So far 150 have been interviewed and accepted, local training sessions are next. Local Authorities will put the local rep. on their data bases.

This month three equality commissions have been amalgamated into one the ‘Commission for equality and Human Rights‘; as a result the present law is to be reviewed. The BHA will be making submissions on how the U.K. Human Rights Law allows discrimination by religious bodies. Examples are Girl Guides having to swear allegiance to ‘my God’ and employment discrimination against transsexuals.

Another area of concern is reform of the House of Lords with its 27 bishops on by right. A recent report on ’faith communities’ hardly mentioned the non-religious; an important report coming out in November will recommend that public services such as the Probation Service and helping the disabled into employment will be run by faith based organisations; the running of sports by the Y.M.C.A. will cause problems to those of other faiths or none! The Government always uses the word ‘faith’ never ‘belief’!

The all-party Parliamentary Humanist Group now has over a hundred members All three parties have come out in favour of more faith schools. Andrew Copson, BHA executive for Education and Public Affairs, attended all three party conferences, giving out all their leaflets at the Labour conference and being verbally attacked by John Gummer at the Tory conference! BHA now has 7000 members and 70 local groups.

11th Dec.: First Offender to Old Lag - Inevitable? Angie Petit, Staff, Armley Prison.
8th Jan..: What Muslims Want. DVD of Channel 4 programme.