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The High Court in Northern Ireland has granted a non-religious parent and child permission to challenge laws requiring faith-based Christian religious education (RE) and collective worship in all schools. Instead they want the curriculum and school assemblies to be taught in a way inclusive of those of other religions and beliefs. Northern Ireland Humanists campaigns […] ....
Lindsay van Dijk has been appointed to head up the chaplaincy and pastoral care team at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which provides person-centred pastoral and spiritual care. As a head of service role, this is the most senior role a humanist pastoral carer has ever held in the NHS. She is also the […] ....
June 3rd, 2021 The Christian Institute has threatened legal action against the Northern Ireland Executive if a ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is introduced that includes what it terms ‘prayer’. The Institute says such a ban would breach the rights of Christians. But Northern Ireland Humanists believes such a case may be ‘fundamentally flawed’. This is because manifestations of religious beliefs can be restricted if they harm others. Jason Coppel QC, acting for the Institute, said if the ban includes conversion therapy through ‘prayer, preaching, or pastoral work’, this would breach the rights of Christians and criminalise their religious beliefs. This is based on Article 9.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which says: ....
May 25th, 2021 Yesterday, members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) heard moving testimonies from three victims of non-religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria, as well as from the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief on the extent of the problem more generally and the UK Government on what it is doing to tackle it. Each speaker highlighted a worrying rise in state sponsored persecution and mob violence against the non-religious. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for Human Rights at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, began the meeting by providing a thorough outline of the UK Government’s work in support of freedom of religion or belief. He discussed his work with his Pakistani and Nigerian counterparts to challenge cases where the country’s blasphemy laws have been used to persecute individuals from minority groups, including humanists. He restated the UK Government’s commitment to promoting fr ....
May 17th, 2021 The Government would reportedly be pleased to see a parliamentary inquiry into the law banning assisted dying in England and Wales, it has been reported. The Telegraph reports that the Government has no intention of instigating its own inquiry into assisted dying, but also quotes a senior source at the Ministry of Justice as saying words to the effect that Ministers would ‘be pleased to see either the Health select committee or Justice select committee gather evidence on the issue’. The news follows shortly after a group of 56 MPs and peers wrote to the Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland MP, and the Chairs of the Health, Justice, and Human Rights select committee, about assisted dying. The letters were co-organised by Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision, and was backed by Humanists UK’s patron Dr Henry Marsh, who has advanced cancer. They urged one of them to launch an inquiry into assisted dying. If the Government was not minded to launch its ....