Two stars are born.  HSS members Clare Marsh and Derek Young are the headline acts on the latest podcast from the Institute of Humanist Studies and American Humanist Association, Humanist Network News, recorded at the recent World Humanist Congress in Washington DC.  The podcast can be downloaded from this webpage.  Needless to say, they get top billing and their "segment" lasts for much of the first 15 minutes of the programme, followed by conversations with other Congress delegates from Uganda, the Netherlands, America, Malaysia and Brazil.  Derek and Clare's report from the Congress will appear in the next issue of Humanitie.

On the 11th of June 2008, Humanist Society of Scotland celebrant Juliet Wilson led the Scottish Parliament’s Time for Reflection slot. Juliet was the second representative of the Society to do so, Nigel Bruce being the first, in March 2000. Time for Reflection is open to people of all faiths and none and we greatly hope that Humanists will be invited to speak at Holyrood more often in the future.
Footage courtesy of The Scottish Parliament SPCB 2008

Humanitie Summer 2008

Before the turn of the year I decided that this would be the Summer issue of Humanitie’s “Education Issue”. We would just have launched our own Humanism in Education campaign, founded on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, that “affirms the right of all children to an education that respects both their own cultural values and those of others”, and I thought that Alex Salmond would jump at the chance of giving us his views of this most important and fundamental of issues. How wrong I was. Despite many months of emails and telephone conversations with various civil servants, the answer continued to be that the First Minister was ‘too busy’. At one point the Press Office offered an interview with the Environment Minister instead – well it does begin with an ‘e’. After yet more unanswered calls and emails, Fiona Hyslop’s ‘people’ finally agreed that she would answer some questions “on behalf of the government but not on behalf of the SNP”.

If I had thought that experience was bad it was nothing compared to the Scottish Labour Party. I approached Rhona Brankin directly, through her constituency office and through her secretary. None of them answered an email or returned a phone call. Eventually it transpired that Rhona Brankin was ‘too busy’ to answer the questions, as were Scottish Labour’s press office. However, I would like to thank those who answered our questions willingly and understood the open nature of our enquiry.

And what about the answers? Well, there is cause for hope. There is some genuine support and enthusiasm for the Curriculum of Excellence, which the HSS supports. On the downside, some refuse to take responsibility and are keen to pass the buck to schools and local authorities.

But the big questions remain: why are Scotland’s two largest political parties so scared of the idea of educating our children together?  Why, when one of the Government’s stated aims is to create an inclusive society, has the First Minister declared his support for faith schools? And why, when even ‘Catholic’ Spain is moving bravely towards the establishment of a secular state, are Scottish politicians so afraid of ‘The S Word’?

For reasons of space, the answers in the magazine were edited but you can read the complete transcript here, debate the issue further in our forum or tell us what you think by writing to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it so your letter may be published in the next issue. Either way, I look forward to reading your views.

Families who don’t believe in God failed by education, Humanists say 

By Andrew Denholm, Education Correspondent, The Herald, 23.04.08

Families who don't believe in God are being failed by Scotland's education system, it was claimed yesterday.

The Humanist Society of Scotland (HSS) warned that both lessons and events such as assemblies in non-denominational schools were largely directed at those who had a Christian faith.

This Saturday, the society will launch an education campaign, founded on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which calls for the humanist view to be more widely recognised.
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The HSS will publish new curriculum material for religious and moral education lessons as well as advice to schools and parents about balancing Christian assemblies and visits from ministers with secular alternatives.

Bob McKay, education officer with the HSS, said: "The convention affirms the right of all children to an education that respects both their own cultural values and those of others.

"In Scotland, all parents have the right to raise their children in the religion of their choice, and send them to school in the expectation that their faith will be respected - which is as it should be.

"But no provision of any kind is made for the one in three Scots who have no religious belief. At present, all they can do is ask that their children be withdrawn or excluded from religious activities, which is quite simply inadequate and unfair."

Mr McKay said the HSS wanted equal respect for convictions of humanists and a recognition of the legitimacy of their ethical stance.

Novelist Christopher Brookmyre yesterday lent his support to the campaign, but courted controversy by referring to the Holy Trinity.

"Children necessarily must invest the sincerest trust in what their teachers tell them. Thus the same institution that tells them one plus one equals two should not then be telling them that three persons add up to one God," he said.

Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, said: "Children in all schools in Scotland are taught to respect the beliefs, cultures and traditions of all the great world faiths. They also learn to respect all people, whether they subscribe to a religious tradition or not.

"It is unfortunate that some representatives of other - non-religious - stances seek to define their own views by disparaging the religious beliefs of others, such as the Mystery of the Trinity. It is also insulting to people of faith to see religion characterised as a form of imprisonment' from which children must be set free. This kind of language hardly helps to build a more tolerant and respectful society."

Morag Mylne, convener of the Church of Scotland's church and society council, added: "There appears to be a blurring between religious and moral education and religious observance. It is not the case that other belief systems that don't hold with the Christian faith are currently ignored."

The Gifford Lecture Series 2008
Date: Tuesday, April 15 2008
Time: 18:00
Venue: Sir Charles Wilson Lecture Theatre, University Avenue, Glasgow University
Category: Public Lectures
Speaker: Professor David Fergusson
David Fergusson, Professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, will present the Gifford Lecture Series 2008.
 
Founded in 1887 by the bequest of Lord Gifford, the annual Gifford Lecture Series was established to promote, advance and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of that term. The focus of this series will be 'Religion and its Critics.'
 
The appearance of a steady stream of recent writings critical of religion has been heralded as ‘the new atheism’. Its leading exponents include Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Michel Onfray, Anthony Grayling, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. Unlike earlier forms of scepticism, religion is no longer regarded as a harmless and quaint life-style choice lacking in social significance. Instead, it is seen as unscientific, irrational, dangerous and requiring more robust public criticism. These lectures will attempt to set this new movement in context before offering some analysis of its standard claims and arguments. As an exercise in natural theology, the lectures will outline ways of variously conceding, accommodating and countering criticism.

More details of other dates in this series of lectures.

The Humanist Society of Scotland's second annual series of Thought for the Day podcasts is getting a lot of listens via iTunes where it's gone into their Philosophy chart at number 7. The 2008 campaign, relaunched as Thought for the World features more than twice as many contributors as the launch series, including members of the Society, the distinguished philosophers Julian Baggini, Nigel Warburton and AC Grayling, political commentator Iain McWhirter, comedian Arthur Smith and the novelist Christopher Brookmyre. Read the article in The Herald