Local Group Blogs - Humanist Society of Scotland

The Role of Storytelling – Presented by Andy Cannon on 1st June 2009

What have myths to do with Humanism and do we need more of them? How can rationalist Humanists enjoy the obvious fiction of stories? These were some of the questions asked at this session: note that I have not said talk or meeting, as to describe the event in those terms does not indicate the theatricality and entertainment factor of the evening, and the great stories which were acted out while raising serious and truthful points. Which, we learned, is what storytelling is all about!

In Act One, Andy described the route which had taken him from reluctant schoolboy to hero of schoolchildren as he performs with his company in schools and elsewhere the great myths of the world such as his performance of the Theseus and the minotaur in his award-winning Labyrinth. The question what is the purpose of storytelling was one of an array of discussions which occupied the second part or Second Act of the evening, with a wide range of views being expressed: from the idea that all stories would interfere with children’s idea of truth, to the benefit of Santa Claus to Humanists as a first introduction for children to rationalising and logical thinking as well as helping them realise that all they are told by adults is not true.

It was good to have had a chance to think about the role of storytelling in culture generally and in particular in a Humanist context which does not have the well-known narratives of major religions. This evening helped to raise a number of very interesting issues as well as being a highly entertaining night.

Cathy Crawford

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Does the UN represent Humanist Values and Principles? – The Role of the UN in the 21st Century

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At the meeting the principle issue which was of concern to those Humanists attending was the introduction by the Human Rights Council of a non-binding resolution on defamation of religion which invites countries to pass laws to stop defamation of religions.

What the problem with this is that firstly was it possible to use defamation in relation to religions or was it only appropriate to talk in terms of defaming an individual? Secondly, and more importantly the resolutions can be seen as part of a wider campaign to impose values on the rest of the international community which are largely unacceptable in liberal democracies.

Our speaker Dr Donn explained she was not representing the UN, rather the UNA which is a civil society organisation which tries to get the ethos of the UN (furthering peace, security and international co-operation) to the grassroots. She was able to give us a good general background, and additionally expressed the view that in passing this resolution the United Nations was on a slippery slope. Her personal view, as it had not been discussed by the Edinburgh UNA was that action needed to be taken to challenge the resolution and to stop it from progressing as far as the General Assembly. She encouraged people to consider making representations to their elected members such as MPs, MSPs and MEPs.

I had the feeling that while this issue concerned her once it was brought to her attention, but because there is such a huge range of issues to take up, and her priority currently was non-proliferation, she was going to rely on the Humanists to take up the defamation issue. We will have to act, rather than pass the buck to the UNA.

So the meeting was indeed very relevant to Humanists, and the issue is one which should not just end at the end of the meeting. Hopefully, some of those attending will have been sufficiently motivated and informed to take the next step of asking for those who we elect to do what is necessary to avoid the United Nations consolidating a religious world view. This is something we Humanists do not want to see!

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Video: Should schools teach creationism?

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PROBABLY A BIG SUCCESS

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That was the verdict on the "Atheist Bus" at the first meet of the group on the 18th January.

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Glasgow Group Meet the Atheist Bus

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Glasgow Group Meet the Atheist Bus

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Guardian Obituary for Sir Bernard Crick

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Sir Bernard Crick, the distinguished political scientist and self-proclaimed polemicist, has died aged 79. He stood in the tradition of the publicly concerned scholar as exemplified by Sidney and Beatrice Webb, RH Tawney, Harold Laski and GDH Cole, though at a time when it was a much less fashionable role.

He was a prolific author of scholarly works, political tracts and essays which bridged both modes of discourse. Four of his books were of major importance. The American Science Of Politics (1958) cast a critical eye over the then-main schools of American political science. It was typically Crick – being a precociously audacious analysis of a type more usually to be expected at the end of a career.

It was followed by In Defence of Politics (1962), which established his academic reputation. The book reasserted the crucial importance of politics and the nobility of the political vocation to an age that was very largely either apolitical or anti-political in character. It was translated into five other languages and placed on the reading lists of many university courses. Its themes remain relevant today.

The Reform of Parliament (1964) was important for its timing, coinciding closely with Richard Crossman's leadership of the House of Commons in Harold Wilson's Labour government and his attempt to enhance the select committee system.

While Crick could be something of a maverick, he was essentially a moderniser rather than a radical in the context of political reform. He was an original signatory to Charter 88, the pressure group for constitutional reform, but soon quibbled with its programme and resigned. He was a leading member of the Study of Parliament Group, consisting of academics and clerks of both houses, which sought to update the procedures and processes of the legislature rather than advocate anything more adventurous. His main concern was to improve the traditional forms of government.

George Orwell: A Life (1980) was, for Crick, his magnum opus. It was the first major treatment of the author who, in many respects, Crick sought to emulate in his own essays and journalism and, especially so, in his editorship of the Political Quarterly from 1966 to 1980. He remained connected with the journal long afterwards, writing the history of its first 70 years. For one who found difficulty in maintaining close ties, it was an association that was uncharacteristically enduring.

Crick was born in London and educated at Whitgift school, Croydon; University College London, where he gained a first; and the London School of Economics, for his doctorate (1950-52). He then taught successively at north American universities – Harvard, Massachusetts (1952-54), McGill, Montreal (1954-55), and Berkeley, California (1955-56) – before returning in 1957 as an assistant lecturer to the LSE, where he remained for eight years.

As a moderate socialist and congenital gadfly, he did not fit easily with the prevailing ethos of the LSE government department, which was heavily permeated by the conservative scepticism of Michael Oakeshott and his acolytes. Neither Crick nor the Marxist Ralph Miliband were promoted to the professorships they merited, and both had to move to northern universities to gain preferment.

Crick was appointed professor of political theory and institutions at Sheffield in 1965, and the title could not have been more apt given his range of interests. He inherited a somewhat motley crew, being a mixture of aging ex-Marxists and young tyros. One of his students, later his patron, was David Blunkett. Crick was restless in Sheffield, maintaining his London home, sleeping weekdays in his office until detected by the cleaners, and commuting thereafter.

He was relieved to return to a London posting, becoming the foundation professor of politics at Birkbeck college in 1971. While the students of Birkbeck, being part-time and adult, would have stimulated him and, even more, reflected favourably upon his own self-image, he failed to build up a strong or distinctive department.

He abhorred routine academic administration and, while often a good talent-spotter, he found difficulty in sustaining close relationships. He was too much of an individualist and too self-engrossed – attributes that served him well as a man of letters and a man of affairs – to be either a team player or an effective manager.

It is not surprising that he took early retirement in 1984, setting off for Edinburgh to be with his partner, Una MacLean. He remained domiciled there, becoming an ardent proponent of a Scottish parliament.

His ambition was not sated by his high academic reputation, which was recognised in the award of four honorary doctorates. He was made a vice-president of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, which also gave him a lifetime achievement award on its 50th anniversary in 2000. He hankered after more. Professionally, he would have liked a chair at Oxford or Cambridge, and applied whenever there was a vacancy. But his face did not fit.

He later sought more formal public recognition. One of his minor interests was the politics of divided societies, notably South Africa and Northern Ireland. He courted Neil Kinnock, when leader of the Labour party, fancying he might become high commissioner to Pretoria in the event of a Labour general election victory. He then hoped for a life peerage, but had to be content with a knighthood.

In the event he had to settle for chairing the committee on teaching citizenship in schools to which David Blunkett, then secretary of state for education and employment, appointed him in 1997. It was a task for which he was both intellectually and temperamentally suited and, while his proposals were diluted by the government, it remained a suitable monument to his career.

In 1998, he was appointed, again by Blunkett, to chair the committee to devise a test of minimum competence in English language and British culture which immigrants should undergo before being given permanent residence. He continued to advise the Labour government on integration and naturalisation issues till 2005, and in 2006-07 was a visiting professor at Glasgow University.

His three marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by Una and his sons, Oliver and Thomas, by his first wife, Joyce Morgan. Bernard Crick, academic, political thinker and writer, born 16 December 1929; died 19 December 2008. Written by Trevor Smith in The Guardian

Bernard's funeral took place at Warriston Crematorium on Tuesday January 7th, 2009, complete with a four piece Dixieland Jazz band and an (edited) rendition of the Red Flag.

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Alice Atkinson, 18th December 1925 - 27th November 2008

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I first met Alice only a few years ago when I joined the Glasgow group of the Humanist Society of Scotland. I turned up at my first meeting, feeling out of place and at 50, too young. Then this glamorous lady came in; she lit up the room, came straight over and sat down with me saying “You’re new. What’s your name? I’m Alice.” She made me welcome as she did everyone who crossed her path, whether a middle aged man at her local humanist group or a teenage boy on her stained glass window course at Glasgow North College. She was a lady with charisma.

She was born Alice Wright Campbell in Glasgow’s East End; at number eleven Muslin Street to be precise, not a stone’s throw from Bridgeton Cross, the youngest of a family of five. Her family’s strong working class background anchored her lifelong left-wing, atheist, republican, principled life stance. But this working class girl was destined for the glamour of the international jet set, before the term had been invented.

In the forties Alice became an air hostess with BOAC on the Sunderland Flying Boats to South Africa via Cairo; Nairobi to Cape Town and then the run to South America stopping over at Santiago, Buenos Aires, and Rio. There are photographs of Alice with her forage cap set at a rakish angle welcoming the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Stafford Cripps, onto her flight. At the RAAF Club at Prestwick she mixed with the local RAF pilots and one in particular caught her eye, Bill Atkinson. In 1950, they wed, set up home in Troon and Alice concentrated her talents on being a housewife and mother.

After the children flew the nest, Alice and Bill moved to Glasgow, and Alice took to “retirement” like a duck to water. Her interests blossomed: The Glasgow Philosophical Society, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and the then Glasgow Humanist Group. But it was with the humanists she made her biggest mark, as membership secretary of the newly formed Humanist Society of Scotland. She took the membership from around 300 to over 2000 when she finally retired from the post in 2006. Throughout that period her strength and quiet charm were effectively used to lead the humanists with steadily but ever increasing numbers to a position where their influence on Scottish society was being felt.

She had other interests and in particular “Decorative Stained Glass”; an interest that took her to Glasgow North College where she happily learned alongside the teenage students, and thought nothing of clambering up scaffolding to be find out how to fix broken stained glass.

She liked to live by Dame Thora Hird’s mantra ‘It’s not being old that stops you doing things, rather it is not doing things that makes you old’. She was the busiest and most glamorous 82 year old I’ve ever met. She is survived by three children and five grandchildren.

Gordon Ross

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