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 "The
Humanist view of life is progressive and optimistic, in awe of human potential, living without fear of judgement and death, finding enough purpose and meaning in life, love and leaving a good legacy."
Polly Toynbee - President of the BHA
Join
the British Humanist Association!
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Campaign Against Faith Schools
You can now
donate online
direct to our campaign against faith schools. We need to raise £30,000 to continue employing our dedicated campaigner for twelve months. Our campaigner will make sure that the voice of UK citizens who oppose faith schools is represented in the most powerful way. To do this our campaigner helps to stimulate and organise local campaigns against new faith schools and lobby government and parliament to reform the laws that allow state funded schools to discriminate in their employment and admissions and to teach unbalanced curricula of religious education.
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Onboard the bus
NEW:
Visit the
"Atheist Bus" online store
.
The
Atheist Bus Campaign
was
launched
October 21st with a piece in the Guardian's Comment is Free:
"All aboard the atheist bus"
. It has already been phenomenally successful, raising twenty times the amount initially sought in just the first week. The size of the response, and moreover the positive tone of supporters and the community developing around the bus, are overwhelming.
The campaign is a response to a widely-run religious advert on London buses which linked to a website threatening hellfire for unbelievers. Sherine's reassuring "humanised" message reads:
The BHA is the official campaign partner and is administering donations.
You can donate here
!
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Upcoming events!
See the
Events page
for more details.
Bentham Lecture 27th November 2008
.
Now sold out!
Prof Jonathan Glover will speak on "Terrorism, Torture and Human Rights" at UCL.
A C Grayling in Shropshire, 4th February.
Prof Grayling to talk in Darwin's birth place, Shrewsbury. Organised by the Shropshire Coalition of BHA-affiliated local groups.
Darwin Day Lecture
11th February 2009 (change to the previously advertised date)
. Professor Sir David King, former government chief scientist, on "Can British Science Rise to the Challenges of the 21st Century?". Prof Richard Dawkins chairs, at Conway Hall, London.
Dan Dennett Lecture 19th March 2009.
Globe-trotting philosopher and humanist Dan Dennett will speak on "A Darwinian Perspective on Religions: Past, Present and Future" at Conway Hall, London.
See the
Events page
for more details.
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"Religion or Belief" conferences
The BHA is launching a series of conferences on "religion or belief" in equality and human rights work.
Keynote speakers at four cities across the UK include Evan Harris MP, Angela Mason OBE, Prof A C Grayling, and Dr Brian Gibbons.
Delegates will discuss issues such as what happens when rights appear to conflict and what sort of accommodation for religious practice is acceptable in the workplace. The events are open to people working in the ‘religion or belief’ equalities field in the public and voluntary sectors and the media.
More info
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Programme (PDF)
Booking form:
PDF
,
Word
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Launching the Accord Coalition
Alongside religious groups, trade unions and human rights campaigners the BHA is one of the founding memebrs of the
Accord Coalition
, promoting inclusive community schools. Accord aims to remove religious schools' exemptions from human rights legislation, to promote inclusive schools in the media, and to resist the expansion of state-funded religious schools which operate restrictive and discriminatory admissions and employment practices. Read more on the
aims
and
member organisations
and
supporters
of Accord.
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Living the Logo appeal
Leviticus 19:28: 'Do not [...] put tattoo marks on yourselves.'
Read all about the BHA's rather unusual
appeal
and why a tattoo of the BHA logo is raising much needed funds for our work.
Update:
We are now well on the way to our initial £20,000 target (and a small tattoo) –
your donation
can help us get there.
Of course, once we reach that target, Hanne will be asking for more - after all, who wants a 1cm high tattoo, when they could have one 5 times the size?
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CEMB: first international conference
T
he
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
was launched last year in Westminster, co-sponsored by the BHA. Their first international conference is on 10th October 2008, with numerous high-profile and humanist speakers. See the
leaflet (PDF)
and CEMB
events page
for more information.
Also see the
anniversary letter
from spokesperson Maryam Namazie.
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Outright Victory in Landmark Tribunal
In
December
we supported and funded claimant
Mark Sheridan through a Tribunal in Abergele against his former employer, a Christian charity which had started discriminating against non-Christian staff and candidates. On 16 May 2008
Sheridan's case was won
- unanimously and on every point of law. As well as a personal relief for Mark Sheridan, this represents a major victory in the BHA's campaign on the
contracting of public services
to religious organisations.
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Blasphemy Laws are no more!
"Blasphemy" charges in the UK will fade into history
now that Parliament has passed
the amendment
to abolish these outdated laws.
Thank you
to over 1000 BHA supporters who contacted their local MPs asking them to support the amendment. We've been applying pressure for years on this issue and now it has finally paid off.
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New Education Resources Website
HumanismForSchools.org.uk
is the new website from the BHA.
The Government and QCA recommend that humanism be studied as an example of a secular philosophy. Humanism For Schools offers a number of free downloadable toolkits and videos for teachers to use when explaining the background and core values of humanism.
Read more
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Campaigns
The BHA devotes much of its time to
campaigning and lobbying
on behalf of humanists and others who hold similar views.
We present expertly argued reports to Parliment, submit evidence to enquiries, respond to consultations, provide research for decision-makers and influencers and conducts media campaigns.
(
Media enquiries
)
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Humanist Groups
There are affiliated Local Humanist Groups and Student Groups up and down the country.
Find a Group!
(To discuss starting a new Group email
Bob
)
The list also contains our Special Interest Groups, such as the
BHA Science Group
,
Vegetarian Humanists
, party-political Humanist Groups, and others.
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Bishops in the House of Lords
The Government continues to give the Church of England the right to put Bishops in the House of Lords (
here they are
). And there are new Church powers to choose exactly
which
Bishops. With our supporters in Parliament we have been campaigning for reform to remove this "right".
Act now!
Write to your MP, or e
mail them with a
pro forma email
(which you can edit). See the
BHA briefing on Bishops in the Lords
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The BHA e-bulletin
You can keep up to date on news, events and ways to support the work of the British Humanist Association.
Sign up today
for the BHA e-bulletin
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If your worldview means...
- that human ethics, morality or principles should be based on human social nature and shared reality
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that we can take responsibility for our actions rather than deferring responsibility to supernatural realms
-
that the world is amenable to our rational curiosity
And if you are concerned about...
-
the rise of fundamentalism and other claims staked on dogma or intuition
-
the growing influence of religious groups in politics
-
the segregation of children in religious and sectarian schools
... Then you can help do something about it.
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Media enquiries
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