Prompted by the forthcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI, The Humanist Society of Scotland asks the Scottish people: "What do you believe?"

Scotland was once a god-fearing country, but the situation is changing. The 2001 census showed that 27% of the population did not believe in God. In 2008, the Scottish Household survey gave that figure as 40%. If the trend continues – and from the rapid increase in the number of Humanist weddings and funerals  it seems that it will – the next census in 2011 will show that the non-believers are now in the majority.

"Although the Pope is welcome to visit Scotland as an individual, the HSS opposes the state visit because he actively opposes democracy and human rights," says HSS Convenor Juliet Wilson. "But we're not taking to the streets to protest because Scotland has a sectarian, anti-Catholic tradition, which we equally oppose. Instead, we're asking Scots to tell the Pope what they really believe, by answering a simple question, 'How Many Scots Are Good Without God?'"

A teaser campaign was launched in front of the Science Centre in Glasgow on Monday 30th August, when members of the society posed in front of a Postavan that asks the question, "How Many Scots..?" The Postavan will travel through Glasgow for two weeks until the Pope's visit on September 16th, when a 48 sheet poster will be unveiled, on the route of the Pope's journey to Bellahouston Park, that gives the answer.

In the meantime, curious observers who follow the link from the poster to the Good Without God website will have the chance to guess the number of non-believers in Scotland today, and win a free car sticker if they choose the correct answer.

MSP Margo Macdonald and HSS Convenor Juliet Wilson launched the society’s “Let Me Choose” campaign in a Press Conference at the Scottish Parliament this morning.

The HSS campaign is based on a web site, http://www.letmechoose.org.uk/ where members of the public can

• Sign a Petition to the Scottish Parliament in support of the Bill
• Write to their MSPs
• Share their own stories
• Follow the campaign as it develops.

HSS Secretary John Bishop said, "Most British people support physician-assisted suicide, as reports compiled since the mid 90s have shown. Also, there are similar majorities in support in other European countries. Therefore, we are disappointed that some of the objections to the Bill voiced in the Care Not Killing campaign are ill-informed, deliberately misleading and quite irrational."

Margo MacDonald and Juliet Wilson both said that they believe that there is wide support for the Bill amongst the general public. Julie & Andrew Johnston of Edinburgh, attended the press conference and gave interviews to BBC, STV and journalists from across the Scottish media. They are not members of the HSS, but they support the campaign because they believe there has to be a better way for Parkinson’s Disease sufferers like Julie to end their lives than by jumping off a bridge or going to a clinic in Switzerland. Julie said “We support the bill, because Margo’s trying to give people like me control of our lives. I want to be able do what is necessary with help and guidance.”

HSS member Innes McOwan brings us up to date on the bill and shows how we can lend our support.

Now that the End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill has been published (January 2010) we can consider the proposed legislation in detail.

Fundamental Principles
By and large the Bill stays with the fundamental principles that underpinned the Consultation Paper (December 2008) wherein M/S MacDonald set out her intentions, viz –

1. The Bill is based on total respect for the dignity and autonomy of the individual. The ultimate decision will remain with the individual, and the individual alone.
2. The option of exercising the right to obtain assistance at the end of life will be strictly limited to specific categories of debility.
3. The final act would be carried out in controlled circumstances.
4. (It is not clear to me that the administration of the fatal dose would have to be administered by a Registered Medical Practitioner, although such a person would have to be present.)
5. Provision is made to ensure that vulnerable people are fully protected.

Motivation
The overarching motivation behind the Bill is one of compassion. How can we allow people to die in a condition that they find intolerable through extreme pain or extreme debility, when we posses the means to ease that final passage? The reality is that many people recognize when their own end is approaching and they ready themselves for that eventuality.

 There is now an online petition in support of the bill: please click here to register your support!

The HSS now has a provisional and fairly detailed policy on end of life choices. These policy statements are based on propositions discussed at the Society’s Conference in November 2009 where they received strong support. One item has been dropped, not because it was rejected, but because it was a bit obscure and not easily understood. (The vice-convenor must have been having a bad day when he drafted the originals!) The policy is provisional until it is formally amended or adopted at the forthcoming AGM.

HSS member, Innes McOwan follows up on Margo MacDonald’s talk at Conference and finds out how we can help.

Following her speech at our conference on 7th November, I met with Margo and her team at the Scottish Parliament. The objective was to establish how the HSS could help Margo to progress this Bill through Parliament.

There are three essential principals underpinning the Bill.

1. The Bill is based on total respect for the dignity and autonomy of the individual. The ultimate decision will remain with the individual, and the individual alone.
2. The right to exercise the choice will be strictly limited to specific categories of debility.
3. The final act would be carried out by a trained Doctor and only then under strictly controlled conditions.

Be aware that the opponents of the Bill will be well organised to exercise maximum pressure to have the Bill defeated.

So, what can we do as individual members of the Society?

Atheist Bus Campaign part two unveiled for Universal Children’s Day in Edinburgh

A billboard advert has been displayed in Edinburgh for Universal Children’s Day (November 20th) as the Atheist Bus Campaign buses enters its second phase.

Thousands of pounds poured in to the campaign after the bus posters appeared so organisers decided to continue the work.

Ariane Sherine, original creator of the Atheist Bus Campaign, said: “One of the issues raised by donors was the issue of children having the freedom to grow up and decide for themselves what they believe. I hope this poster campaign will encourage the government and general public to see children as individuals, free to make their own choices, and accord them the liberty and respect they deserve.”

In the 2001 census more than a quarter of all Scots said they had no religion and in the under 50 age group, the proportion is a lot higher. The Humanist Society, Scotland now has more than 5400 members, more members than many of the country’s political parties.

Bob McKay, Convenor of HSS, the secular voice for Scotland, added: “Young people have the right to learn freely, to interpret things for themselves, to analyse, to investigate and to reach their own conclusions.
Most parents want these rights for their child, yet the school system makes it necessary for parents to ‘opt out’ of religious observance or teaching in order to exercise these rights. This can obviously make children, as well as parents, feel awkward or ostracised.
We would prefer that no particular belief system were presented as the norm. In any case, such a stance makes no sense in today’s diverse society.”

The posters display some of the labels routinely applied to children that imply beliefs such as Protestant or Sikh mixed with labels that people would never apply to young children such as Marxist, Anarchist, or Libertarian. In front are children, with the slogan, “Please don’t label me. Let me grow up and choose for myself”.