A call to arms for atheists (minus the arms)

[rug]

The message from this year's World Humanist Congress is clear: the earth has never been in more urgent need of secularism

Zoe Williams
The Guardian, Friday 8 August 2014 14.51 EDT

I never thought secular society would be something that would, in my lifetime, need defending. Yet, without having become any more religious, en masse, we find that state education has been handed over to any have-a-go Harry that feels up to it, which in a quarter of cases means religious people, and in a handful of cases, people like the advocates of Rudolf Steiner.

We have a new minister of state for faith and communities who talks about "militant atheism". That doesn't exist – if militant means anything at all distinct from "argumentative", it means advocating violence, and when did you last hear an atheist advocating violence in the name of his or her belief?

I was unpersuaded, anyway, of the case for such a minister, particularly the way it conflates faith and community as though those concepts were indivisible. But now filled by Eric Pickles, the role really becomes a slap in the face to secularism.

Some really fundamental principles have been breached, I was thinking to myself, on the way to Oxford for the World Humanist Congress.

http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/aug/08/zoe-williams-world-humanist-congress

http://whc2014.org.uk/

[longship]

1. A really good read.

Zoe Williams is a good writer. Her tag line in the article is particularly good.

Ultimately, though, I saw it much more as a call to arms than a reason to be cheerful. There has never been a more important time, if you are secular, to say so. Call to arms I mean metaphorically, by the way. Nobody take up any arms, OK?

Thanks, rug.

[cbayer]

2. Well done. She is the kind of voice that is needed.