HumanistLife

Archives for July 2014

Is it a full moon tonight?

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Earlier this year, in another role, I was surveying the residents of Bosworth on local issues. Amongst the questions I was asking them was this impartial gem: ‘Given that David Tredinnick has spent hundreds of pounds of taxpayers’ money on astrology software to aid him in his constituency duties, how does this affect your likelihood of voting for him in future?’ Mr Tredinnick has also advised surgeons not to operate when there is a full moon, and is a keen supporter of homeopathy. Many of his questions raised in the House of Commons have concerned the virtues of alternative medicine.

David Vázquez.

Does the moon really cause people to behave differently? No. That was easy. (Photo: David Vázquez.)

His constituents were stunned. There were a few of course who stood staunchly by him, the colour of his politics being to their liking. But many interrupted me with guffaws of ‘what the?!’ and a fabulous selection of expletives. That many members of the British public cannot name their MP sadly comes as no surprise. However, how many of us constituents know what our own MP gets up to in Parliament? What causes they put their weight behind? The audience they command to voice their own idiosyncrasies?

David Tredinnick is Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Integrated Healthcare. He is on the health committee and science committee. He is not in those capacities as a medical professional or scientist, but he does hold a great deal of sway. He has the power to shape policy driven by his own opinions, not research or fact. He is putting his trust in mere sorcery, over established medical practice, and innovative medical and scientific research. He has spoken out recently in support of astrology within healthcare, citing 20 years of research.

On the one hand, his comments are quite amusing. Politics loves vivid characters, and this survey produced hysteric giggles in my office, and much joking for weeks afterwards about our astrological compatibility in the workplace. The other viewpoint is dismay and disgust. This is not funny. This is an MP who puts superstition on a pedestal and takes it into the heart of Government. His position on the APPG influences policy. There are fewer important areas of policy, with the potential to touch us all, than healthcare.

People in office are powerful – their mere opinions can have great consequences. Their opinions. Not research, or results, or proven processes. Governments need to be held to account. The BHA, its members, and the voting public have a duty to hold MPs to account. We may disagree on key issues, my local MP might not be from my favourite party, however when an MP voices support for a matter as trivial as astrology, I as a constituent would be gravely concerned.

Horoscopes are fun. Superstition, mostly harmless. Years ago in the police force, my colleagues and I would observe, ‘it’s a full moon tonight,’ expecting a troublesome night ahead. But no one could seriously justify extra staff on a lunar monthly basis, without clear evidential proof correlating a rise in crime with the phases of the moon. It’s madness. Some alternative therapies can yield results. Several provide comfort. If a new treatment could demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt its medicinal effect, it deserves recognition.  Research and results are the only dependable source. The bizarre homeopathy David Tredinnick champions, and his reliance on astrology, are not things the taxpayer should be footing the bill for. Mr Tredinnick is welcome to consult his horoscope in the daily papers, but he is foolish if he wishes to take it into work with him. Especially when that work is in Government.

In April, the BHA published three whistleblowers’ allegations about Park View School. How many of them are now proven?

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Here Joe Moss and Richy Thompson compare and contrast what was alleged about Park View School in January and what was found to be the case this week…

Peter Clarke’s extensive report for the Department for Education into the ‘Trojan Horse’ allegations was released on Tuesday, and found ‘co-ordinated, deliberate and sustained action, carried out by a number of associated individuals, to introduce an intolerant and aggressive Islamic ethos into a few schools in Birmingham.’ The report highlights the role of the British Humanist Association (BHA) in January facilitating three whistleblowers to make complaints to the Department of Education, regarding standards and the state of staff and student welfare in Park View School, over a month before the ‘Trojan Horse’ letter was mentioned in the press. In April we published most of their claims, which we summarised as ‘inequality and gender discrimination, homophobia, alleged extremist views, creationism, bullying, and unfair employment and disciplinary practices’. The majority of these issues had not been publicly aired at the time; today we can see which allegations have been confirmed in the Clarke Report.

  • Creationism within Science

Our whistleblowers claimed that ‘Creationism and intelligent design have been taught in science lessons by at least one science teacher.’ The Clarke Report says that ‘Evolution is mentioned only briefly and students are simply directed to the page in the textbook. A teacher who did this went on to tell students that they were looking at the textbook merely to comply with the syllabus but that “that was not what they believed”… Staff have said that creationism has been taught as fact in science lessons and in assemblies at Park View School. A member of staff at Park View reported that pupils had said: “I’m made of clay[…]There is no evolution. I’m made of clay because that is what Mr Hussain [the acting headteacher] told us in assemblies”.’

  • Sex education worksheet about consent within marriage

Our whistleblowers claimed that ‘There have been rumours that in sex and relationships education (SRE) lessons given by the same teacher that boys were told that “girls must obey their husbands” and that ‘”wives are not allowed to say ‘no’”. A worksheet was handed out to year 11 boys with a section “The Wife Obeying Her Husband”, which says ‘A woman must obey her husband as long as he does not tell her to perform any haraam (unlawful) acts…’

The school strenuously denied that this worksheet ever existed, but Clarke found that ‘[SRE] lessons for boys centred on the rights of men and women within marriage. On the lesson worksheets it was written that if a woman said ‘No’ to sex with her husband, the Angel Gabriel would strike her down and condemn her to an eternity of hell. Following these lessons, there was commotion in the corridors, with boys telling girls that they couldn’t refuse them and saying “We have been told this”. An assembly following the lessons was supposed to put right the SRE teaching but again the boys were in effect told that “this is what it says in Islam but it is different in the eyes of British society”. Staff reported that one of the teachers who gave the lessons said: “Luckily we were able to hide all the controversial worksheets very, very quickly and managed to get rid of all of them between the two Ofsted inspections”.’

  • Students demonstrating positive views regarding 9/11 and 7/7, and no soldiers visiting the school

Clarke’s report makes no mention of 9/11 or 7/7 but does note some teachers claiming that the Boston bombings and the murder of Lee Rigby were ‘hoaxes’ in social media conversations between different staff.  There is also a conversation where several teachers disparage the British armed forces, including the charity Help for Heroes.

  • ‘Homework’ to convert non-Muslim staff

Our sources alleged that ‘In RE, pupils were given a list of non-Muslim members of staff and set homework to try and convert them.’ This hasn’t been found, although our own research pointed to a number of concerning aspects of the RE syllabus, which seemed to be taught from an Islamic perspective, and the report found that ‘Only modules in Islam are studied from Years 9 to 11.’

  • Compulsory prayers

Our whistleblowers alleged that ‘The school has legally determined to have Islamic instead of Christian collective worship, with students sitting segregated side-by-side based on gender. It has also encouraged students to pray by putting posters up in school corridors. Some of these read ‘If you do not pray you are worse than a Kafir’ (i.e. non-Muslim). There is a call to prayer every lunch time.’

The Clarke Report pointed out that it has been alleged that ‘an assembly where pupils were told that if they did not pray they were worse than a kaffir (a derogatory term for non-Muslims), supported by a poster with the same message’, and ‘We have been told by staff at Park View that a tannoy to broadcast the ‘adhan’, the Muslim call to prayer, was installed. It could not only be heard across the whole school site, but also by residents in the local community, and was used every day to call students and staff to prayer. However, it was switched off immediately before Ofsted visited the school and also on the days when the Department for Education and Education Funding Agency officials visited. I was informed that a member of staff at Park View used a microphone from a high window to shout at students who were in the playground, not attending prayer. Some girls were embarrassed when attention was drawn to them because girls who are menstruating are not allowed to attend prayer. But still, the teacher called to them.’

  • Segregation by gender

It was alleged that ‘Certain male teachers expect boys to be at the front of the class and girls at the back, and ignore girls when they want to answer a question.’ Indeed, Clarke found that ‘In Park View maths lessons, where all the teachers are men, the girls were separated at the sides and back of the classroom, while the boys sat in the centre, towards the front. In many other subjects, students sat on different tables with boys and girls segregated. Single sex classes exist across the entire age range in PE, RE and PSHE at Park View.’

With regard to PE, it was alleged that ‘Girls are not allowed to take part in PE or sport activities with boys, even non-contact sports or where a male coach is present, the reason given for this being it makes male Muslims feel uncomfortable.’ The Clarke Report found that ‘The Park View girls’ tennis team was taken to a local schools’ tournament by PE staff after school. When they arrived they found men present. The teacher had to return the girls to school and was suspended by governors until she had written a letter of apology. When interviewed, Mr Hussain explained to me that the girls had to return to the school because it was tennis “coaching”, where there would inevitably be physical contact between the male coaches and the female pupils.’ The Council’s report also cited ‘curtains being fitted in the sports hall for girls’ PE lessons’.

  • Other discrimination against women

It was also alleged that ‘Members of staff have shown prejudice against girls not wearing a headscarf, with some girls being forced by staff to do so. If a boy and girl are seen together more than once parents are called in.’ Clarke found that ‘At the recent Year 11 Prom, staff report that they were surprised to see the girls arriving with their heads uncovered. They expected them to be covered, as they had been at school, and realised that this was really their normal way of dressing. Girls at Park View complained to staff that their parents are too readily contacted if they are seen speaking to a boy. They also say that conclusions are drawn about conversations which are completely unfounded. They feel that they are being harassed.’ He also said that prefects are allegedly expected to ‘report to the headteacher the names of staff and students who exhibit behaviours which are deemed unacceptable by conservative Muslims. These include behaviours such as boys and girls talking to each other or touching each other; boyfriend and girlfriend relationships’. And he included instant messages between teachers discussing how to better segregate pupils.

Finally, it was alleged that ‘Female members of staff and pupils are often treated as inferior by male Muslim staff members. Complaints about this behaviour are not taken seriously.’ Clarke found that ‘Inequalities for female staff include lack of progression and promotion, lack of opportunities for training, attacks on their manner of dress and being ignored or disrespectfully treated by senior male staff and governors. Female pupils also suffer inequalities.’

  • Unchallenged homophobic views

It was alleged that ‘Many pupils have expressed homophobic views and these are not challenged… teachers who have wanted to try and address the homophobia have been told they are not allowed to.’ Clarke reports on Park View governors expressing ‘Openly homophobic views’ at meetings whilst social media messages between teachers at the school were both unchallenged and derogatory, referring to those supporting same sex marriage as ‘animals’ with ‘satanic ways’ and seeing the acceptance of LGBT couples as ‘a sign of the end times.’ ’Senior staff have been shouted at in governing body meetings when they attempted to discuss the LGBT agenda. Male and female staff have reported that they have to hide their sexuality. Students say that their teachers do not talk to them about such matters.’

  • Sexual health

It was alleged that ‘The school nurse is not allowed to discuss sexual health issues with pupils.’ Clarke did not report on this matter. But below you can see two posters – one provided by the Department for Education for schools to use to advertise their nursing services, and one from Park View School in 2012. It’s not hard to spot the difference.

School-Nurse-publicity-YP-version-PRESS-final-21st-of-aug-page-001 2014-05-16 18.55.49 (1)

  • ‘Cheating’ during Ofsted inspections

The original allegations made claim to the fact that schools were cheating in Ofsted inspections by ‘telling children answers in Urdu’ which they would then repeat in English to the inspector, or deliberately teaching about religions other than Islam whilst inspectors were in the school. Clarke’s report does not cite these examples but does make reference to other allegations for example about the SRE worksheets being hidden, the call to prayer tannoy being switched off, and that at Golden Hillock ‘Staff state that senior leaders checked their classrooms and removed Islamic display materials before the Department for Education visited.’

  • Improper handling of staff recruitment and issues

In April, our original allegations included the promotion of friends and relatives of governors and the appointment of male Muslim teachers with extreme views, with jobs not advertised to other interested staff or the general public as a whole. Further, staff who complained or had issues with the school had investigations brought against them leading to resignations. Clarke’s report extensively corroborates all of these issues, making note that there was evidence of staff harassment and bullying, as well as certain positions being unfairly filled by people who knew the governors and by people with certain views.

Conclusion

These are distressing allegations. Clarke’s report largely confirms the initial claims made by our whistleblowers, with conservative Muslim practices being taken to an extreme within Park View School, creating a volatile environment for both staff and students in which science, RE and sex education are improperly taught and a culture of harassment and bullying exists. In such a climate, the initial whistleblowers who brought this issue to the attention of the BHA who passed it on to the DfE, and Ofsted, and who subsequently worked with us to speak out across the media to the wider public, should be commended for the bravery of their actions, especially given the risks to their careers and reputations they faced in bringing the scandal to light. Their actions have led to a widespread inquiry into the nature of teaching and management in Britain’s state school sector, and will have a lasting impact on the sector for years to come.

A humanist and his son’s fear of death

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Julian Sheather shares a personal story of easing his son’s bedtime terrors about death and the afterlife.

When he was eight, or thereabouts, my eldest son developed an intense fear of death. Without warning – at bedtime or waking in the quiet hours of the night – he would cry out in terror: ‘Daddy…I’ve got that terrible feeling again.’ My wife and I, although in fairness a little more often my wife than I, would take it in turns to console him. We would lie alongside him on his bed under the eaves – it seemed to help if it was raining – and try gently, clumsily, to soothe him. At times, seized with fear and disbelief, he would list all the people he loved – his grandparents, my wife and I, his friends, his younger brother (usually) – and almost physically wrestle with the knowledge that they were all, at some point, going to die.

Fear of death is infectious. Like most of us I suppose I have succeeded, most of the time, in pushing it to the margins of my mind. We may vaguely have heard that all philosophy is a preparation for death, but then not many of us are philosophers. Among healthy adults talk of death has a morbid, almost lavatorial quality: you tend to keep it to yourself. But ripped from sleep to confront a young boy’s – your own boy’s – appalled struggle with mortality, to hear him in the night confront so unprepared the basic terms of life, is a sobering experience. It rather throws you back on yourself.

During those long nights, the question of religious belief, of some possibility of an afterlife, inevitably came up. And I admit I struggled. There is a great deal of cheap, pre-fabricated criticism of religion knocking about at the moment. (There’s also a deal of cheap, pre-fabricated religion, but that’s another story.) If we are going to criticise any system of thought or belief then I figure we are obliged to take it in its best dress, at its richest and most serious. And fair to say that at its best religion addresses itself with great attentiveness to common human fears. Consider some of the great spiritual autobiographies: fear of death played its part in Tolstoy’s conversion; in Grace Abounding fear certainly had a heavy hand on John Bunyan’s tiller. So although there is a great deal more to religion than the weaving of tales to still our terrors, there is no doubt that for millennia religions have also spoken to our fear of death and helped structure a response to it.

I am not very good when I am tired. I remember saying to my son during one of his crises, casting around for something, anything that might help still his grief, that there were those (oh weaselling words) who believed in an after-life – words to the familiar effect that for some death is a horizon not a terminus. ‘But you don’t believe that, do you, Dad?’ he shot back.

I am not in the habit of lying to my sons, and I didn’t then. This is partly because, on the whole, I’d rather tell the truth. But also because lying would be pointless. They know me too well. My son’s response wasn’t a question, it was a statement. And so night after night we lay there together under the eaves until his anguish stilled itself and he fell asleep.

My son’s fear of death was with him on and off for several years. It took many forms. He would shield his eyes when we drove past cemeteries. He would suddenly call a halt to certain conversations. The TV would be switched off abruptly. He continued waking in the night cold with fear and my wife and I continued, clumsily, to console him. Somehow linked, he grew terrified of the severely disabled. He once bolted up the road when a disabled child was wheeled on a recumbent chair from our local surgery. Life was showing itself to him.

If I were writing this as fiction, this is not the ending I would choose. It is a little too pat. A friend gave me a book of philosophical puzzles. I can’t now remember why but my son was interested and I started to read them to him at bed time. He grew intrigued and I bought a version for children. And so we chatted about pigs that wanted to be eaten, and pills that made you win at everything, about rings that made you invisible and ships reassembled on the brilliant foreshore. And one night he looked up and said that his fear of death had gone: the puzzles had set flight to it.

It was one of those occasional, sun-lit moments you get as a parent when, groping around in the dark, you feel you’ve finally hit on something right. I am not quite so naïve as to believe that in philosophical paradox he had found a substitute for religion. Partly he was growing up. Looking back – this was a few years ago – it probably had a lot to do with the ordinary work of being a parent, the slow accumulation of all those nights, one slightly less-frightened human being consoling another. But I still like to think that in the face of some of life’s biggest fears, its most intransigent problems, he had found some of the breathing room that thought brings. And just recently he has told me he would like in the future to work with children – including the disabled.

 

 

Moral, religious, psychopathic, or just human?

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Glen Carrigan looks at the science of morality

Science, increasingly, is answering questions which before only philosophers could attempt

Science, increasingly, is answering questions which before only philosophers could attempt

Why doesn’t Microsoft Word recognise the word ‘Neuropsychology?’ Maybe because it’s a rather new field, although people have been musing on the workings of the physical brain for a very long time indeed – don’t worry though, we’re not trepanning people anymore!

My interest is the moral brain, how humans – and other animals to some degree – draw the distinction between right and wrong to organise society. Some argue that moral standards are axiomatic and that moral compasses come from god. There actually seems to be some truth to this, in that some absolutist standards like Thou Shalt Not Kill or the Golden Rule seem to be very intuitive – as is the notion that you’re somehow a social pariah if you play World of Warcraft. A paper by Baumard and Boyer called “Explaining Moral Religions” shows just how universal this is.

Is the Golden Rule any good though? Maybe, but you’re making your own narrow individual experience the basis for how you treat others. Wouldn’t it be better to ask them how they’d like to be treated? This should indeed be the case for issues such as assisted dying, where holding to Thou Shalt Not Kill diminishes the dignity and autonomy of a feeling, reflecting being. To hold dogmatic moral views also only works if you believe in god and that at least in some religions, you’re good to escape punishment in the hereafter, rather than for the sake of the here and now.

Far from being divine in origin, there seems to be a wealth of evidence showing us that being an individual yet social animal, with a big (relative to body size) and healthy brain, necessitates certain behaviours for us to flourish in a group. This then, gives rise to our need to discuss and reflect upon what it means to be a moral agent. You can see similar intuitive behavioural patterns to our own in other animals that operate in social groups. A wonderful example is the reciprocal behaviour of vampire bats, who seem to understand that a good deed (donating a regurgitated blood meal – stomach churning I know) deserves repayment. There is much converging evidence in evolutionary psychology that points to animals being the origin of their own ‘moral’ codes. But there are driving forces behind being a good egg other than reciprocity.

Throughout history philosophers have struggled with what constitutes the virtuous act. We notice that certain behaviours are predictable and wrong such as rape and rightly condemn people for it. We also need to accept that we make choices – if we have free will – and should be responsible for them. The fact that certain prohibitions are intuitive might suggest an in-built moral acquisition and refinement device (MARD) which is nurtured by social experience, emotion and reflection, rather than an omnipotent law giver. Perhaps we are actually responsible for the holy books that seek to have us toe the moral line – although we were managing to beforehand – in any event we seem to be the only species we know of that spends a great deal of time writing books telling ourselves to be good, that we’re special, and that we should be humble about it!

Neuropsychology can perhaps tell us a bit about this MARD and how we think, rather than what we should think here: We establish the social norms after all and what acts constitute deviance. The archetypal Psychopath seems to be deviant to many of us and this is why I study them. The fact is that we all have psychopathic traits along a spectrum; it’s just that some people have more pronounced, what the majority consider to be, morally deviant tendencies. Neuropsychology shows us that Psychopaths seem to have diminished empathic concern, as well as, fail to notice the importance of intention in a harmful act. Since it’s us that establish that intention to cause harm is worse than an accident (the difference between murder and manslaughter) we view psychopaths as morally deviant in society – perhaps their MARD is broken?

People often panic here and think that if we can predict someone will think and perhaps behave murderously then the notion of choice in society falls apart. It might, if you want Neuroscience to strip us of our humanity. In my view, although we could see why such people might be like this, that doesn’t mean they walk away scot free. What matters is that we discuss our options reflectively and organise society around us as moral beings that makes choices, with a sense of responsibility, and who can be punished for transgressions, rather than allowing my brain made me do it as an alibi in all cases where mental instability is an issue. It’s also worth pointing out that most psychopaths actually don’t run around murdering people like Heath Ledger in Batman!

Glen Carrigan is a neuropsychology researcher at the University of Central Lancashire, as well as ex-military, a qualified fitness instructor, communications specialist, youth mentor, humanist, science presenter and model who advocates social and political activism in equality and education.

Why the faithful need secularism

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Jeremy Rodell discusses the meaning of ‘secularism,’ among other things. Note: this article first appeared on Sarah Ager’s Interfaith Ramadan blog.

Hundreds rally for the March for a Secular Europe

Hundreds rally for the March for a Secular Europe

What is Secularism?

Let’s start with what secularism means to secularists.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) defines secularism as ‘the principle that, in a plural, open society where people follow many different religious and non-religious ways of life, the communal institutions that we share (and together pay for) should provide a neutral public space where we can all meet on equal terms. State Secularism, where… the state is neutral on matters of religion or belief, guarantees the maximum freedom for all, including religious believers.’

The UK’s National Secular Society (NSS) adds that it’s ‘not about curtailing religious freedoms; it is about ensuring that the freedoms of thought and conscience apply equally to all believers and non-believers alike.’

So a secular state does not mean denying the role of Christianity and other religions – for both good and ill – in history and culture. It does not mean that religious people must forego their principles if they enter public life. Perhaps most important of all, it does not mean a society lacking in values. There’s a fairly clear set of liberal, human values shared by the majority in the UK and most other western countries, including freedom of speech, thought and belief; respect for democracy and the rule of law; equality of gender, age and sexual orientation and the view that fairness and compassion are virtues. Many of these values are enshrined in law.

The BHA and the NSS really ought to know what they’re talking about here. Unfortunately, many people, usually people who are not themselves secularists, use ‘secularism’ interchangeably with ‘atheism’ or ‘Humanism’.  The previous Pope even talked of “militant Secularism”, meaning “militant Atheism” (despite the fact that the weapons used by ‘militants’ like Richard Dawkins are writing books and giving lectures, not planting bombs). But you can be religious and secularist. In fact the unequivocally Muslim, anti-Islamist campaigner, Maajid Nawaz, has just become an Honorary Associate of the NSS.

The reason for this confusion is that western countries have only become secular – to varying degrees – after many centuries in which the Church was a major power in society and there were constraints on freedom of thought and expression. Much of that power has been eroded since the Enlightenment, but battles are still going on. For example, 26 unelected bishops remain sitting as of right in the British Parliament, and many state-funded schools can discriminate in their admissions simply on the basis of parental belief. It’s no surprise that the protagonists in these battles are usually churches on one side, and humanists and other atheists on the other. If you’re on the side of the churches, it probably feels that secularism and atheism are the same thing – The Enemy.

That’s a mistake. Not only does it ignore the common ground between Christians and humanists, but it focusses on loss of religious privilege and influence, ignoring the fact that Secularism also guarantees freedom of religion and belief, and the freedom of thought and expression that goes with it. That’s important, given the realities of faith and belief in much of the modern world.

Growth of pluralism

According to the 2013 British Social Attitudes Survey, 51% of the British population are now “Nones” – people who do not consider themselves as belonging to any religion. It was 31% in 1983. Only 16% are now Anglicans, the Established Church (40% in 1983), 12% non-denominational Christians, such as African Pentecostal (3% in 1983), 9% Catholics (10% in 1983) and 5% Muslims (0.6% in 1983), with Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, Buddhists and other types of Christians making up most of the balance (all under 2%). Within each of these groups there is a lot of diversity: at least 10 different sects comprise the 5% Muslims, and the 0.5% British Jews range from ultra-Orthodox to Liberal. So we’re seeing both a big decline in religiosity and an increase in pluralism. It’s hard to imagine a more plural global city than London.

In many non-western countries, the inter-connectedness of the modern world, and wider awareness of differing beliefs – including Atheism – is also tending to increase pluralism, or at least the desire for pluralism. At the same time, it is increasingly under threat, often because of war and the active spread of an intolerant Wahhabi strain of Islam.

Secularism versus oppression

Secularism is as necessary to protect believers from other believers as it is to protect atheists.

You can currently be put to death simply for the ‘crime’ of atheism in 13 countries, according to the International Humanist andEthical Union’s 2013 Freedom of Thought Report. Saudi Arabia has now passed a law declaring atheists to be terrorists. In Mosul, in northern Iraq, there has been a Christian community for around 1600 years. In 2003 there were 70,000 Christians living there. Now ISIS have taken over and they have all fled. In Burma the government seems to be doing little or nothing to stop extremist nationalist Buddhist groups from massacring Rohinga Muslims. In Pakistan there’s growing evidence of ethnic cleansing of Shia Muslims by Sunni terrorist groups – the word ‘genocide’ is appearing – and it is illegal for Ahmadiyya Muslims to claim to be Muslim. Often they are simply killed. In Malaysia, Christians have been legally forbidden to use the word “Allah” to refer to God, even though they have been doing so for hundreds of years. In Iran there is institutionalised persecution of Baha’is .

Sadly, there are many other examples where the response to pluralism is oppression. Often it’s entwined with political power, driven by fear of losing power – or simply of change – and lack of confidence that the favoured belief will succeed in a plural environment.

Secularism is the alternative response to pluralism. Ideally it’s complemented by the type of mature democracy that avoids “winner takes all” outcomes such as we saw in Egypt under President Morsi.

The faithful need secularism because it guarantees their freedom, and in some cases their survival. It is the only alternative to oppression in a fast-changing, inter-connected plural world.

 

Speculative fiction as philosophy

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Graham Walker explores what philosophical lessons there are to be found in the stories of science fiction.

Science fiction is a better vehicle for philosophy than other genres, argues Graham Walker

Science fiction is a better vehicle for philosophy than other genres, argues Graham Walker. Image: Kurt Nordstrom.

Science fiction allows some of the most imaginative and visionary authors and film directors of all time to transport us to places where anything is possible and where the only rules are the rules of that fictional world’s creator. But at the same time, it is much more than this. Not only does science fiction challenge us think of the universe in new ways, it can also make us think about life from new and novel perspectives, to an extent which I would argue that non-science fiction simply can never achieve. For one, and for me personally, ‘sci-fi’ as a genre represents one of the best outlets for philosophy that is on offer today.

The basic goal of philosophy is to ask the big questions about life: what is consciousness? What is ‘free will’? What is morality and how do we be good? How best is a state run? Sci-fi as a genre is remarkable in its power to comment on all these questions, and in its ability to ask questions from unusual and innovative angles in order to genuinely problematise some of the philosophical answers to these questions that have been proposed over the ages.

What I am proposing is not a new or groundbreaking concept. Plato himself was aware of it, almost 2,500 years ago. In Plato’s greatest work, The Republic, Socrates describes the Ring of Gyges: a mythical ring which grants the wearer invisibility. By inventing this novel and impossible scenario enables, Socrates to ask genuine questions about what justice is and whether an intelligent person would act morally if he knew that he could never be caught in his immoral act. The stories of Homer, too, used the Greek pantheon in a similar manner. He paints the gods of ancient Greece as capricious and vindictive, allowing the reader to ponder why we are here and how we can make sense of a chaotic world.

Today, science fiction is still used to tackle the big questions of philosophy. The novel I,Robot by Isaac Asimov is a collection of short stories primarily exploring the nature of morality and consciousness. One short story though develops an elegant argument for how a rational thinker cold develop the idea of a higher power when they lack the necessary information to otherwise explain the nature of the world.

In my opinion, one of the most powerful sets of books (and currently films) is the Hunger Games trilogy. A dystopian fiction in the tradition of so many great twentieth century novels, The Hunger Games poses a range of powerful questions and answers. Author Suzanne Collins creates a satire on inequality, ridiculing the idea that those, literally, at the coal face work hardest and remain poor while others profit from their work. It asks what is good and evil, or right and wrong, for both the individual and the state, and it highlights the immorality and pointlessness of honour and revenge, and how greed can ultimately corrupt leaders even when they fight for a worthy cause. The writer George Orwell, who was one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of speculative fiction, posed many similar questions in Animal Farm.

It’s worth keeping an eye out as you next watch or read a work of science fiction. Be sure to ask yourself: what can aliens, superheroes and robots teach me about living well and living right?

Graham Walker is a student and blogger. Graham has studied psychology and cognitive behavioural therapy, and is currently studying for an MSc in occupational therapy. He blogs on various issues that he feels are important. You can follow him on Twitter at @think_damn_it.

See also: If you liked this post, you may like Doctor Who: Fifty Years of Humanism.

The trials and tribulations of the 26th session of the UN Human Rights Council

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Fierce debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Photo: UN.

Fierce debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Photo: UN.

‘State obligations to achieve equality and non discrimination are immediate, and not subject to progressive realisation,’ wrote Maina Kiai, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, a phrase that was to become my basic principle during the 26th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

In the weeks leading up to the Council, the international media was dominated by reports of state-sanctioned abuses of human rights, making apparent the gulf between the discussions on the promotion and protection of human rights in Geneva, and the reality on the ground. Despite legally binding instruments establishing rights standards existing for more than sixty years, the global situation of human rights is deplorable. The assertions made by scholars that States ‘usually obey’ (Koh, 1997) international rules, and that ‘almost all nations observe almost all principles of international law almost all of the time’(Henkin, 1979) are, in the words of Marc Limon, Director of the Universal Rights Group, ‘somewhat utopian’; in mine, frankly untrue. ‘It’s the implementation, stupid!’ wrote Limon – and how right he is. With this in mind, I arrived in Geneva with several statements to deliver on behalf of the British Humanist Association, urging state co-operation with human rights mechanisms and adherence to international law within a range of contexts.

The session had a large focus on women’s rights, with specific panels addressing women and development; child, early and forced marriage; and violence against women In addition, a resolution was passed on combating gender based violence, and there was much positive discussion about the inclusion of a gender-specific goal in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. There is international consensus that sustainable development cannot be achieved without female emancipation, and the link between good governance and equality is widely documented: public policy is instrumental in ‘transforming the institutional norms and practices’[1] and in combating the ‘myriads of social pathologies’[2] which legitimize and perpetuate inequality. Despite this, women suffer systematic and legally enshrined discrimination throughout the world, which contravenes both Council membership obligations and international law.

‘Quite plainly, Mr President, there is no excuse for the persistence of state discrimination against women… Legal inequality legitimises gender-inequitable attitudes and patriarchal dominance, which are manifested in acts of psychological, physical and sexual abuse against women,[3] and contribute to the widespread culture of impunity. How can such issues be challenged when domestic authorities classify women as second-class citizens?’

Although there is, undoubtedly, much to be done by way of implementation of existing UN guidelines, I am pleased to announce that a resolution ‘accelerating efforts to eliminate all form of violence against women’ was passed: this is the first time it has been recognized as a specific human rights violation, and will therefore shape future discourse. Furthermore, the central nature of women’s rights in Post-2015 discussions gives me hope that there will be increased UN monitoring, targets and indicators on women’s rights, shining a brighter light on this than ever before.

Freedom of expression was in focus during the June session, both inside and outside the Council. During the campaign against Twitter censorship in Pakistan, a copy of the campaign letter (signed by the BHA, among other organisations) was hand-delivered to the Pakistani delegation in Geneva. In an oral statement, I raised the issue of blasphemy laws, addressing Pakistan’s attempt to silence their citizens as symptomatic of a wider issue, which has now given rise to a myriad of human rights abuses:

‘The recourse to justice for those accused of blasphemy is, at best, skewed; at worst, non-existent. Arbitrary arrests[4], mob violence[5] and extra-judicial killings[6] are common consequences of blasphemy allegations. Lawyers refuse to take defence cases, for fear of reprisals[7]: unsurprising, given that in the past month, the lawyer on a blasphemy case in Saudi Arabia is now in jail[8], while in Pakistan, lawyer Rashid Rehman, who said that defending someone accused of blasphemy was akin to ‘walking in to the jaws of death’[9], has indeed been murdered[10].’

During the Interactive Dialogue with the outgoing Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Frank La Rue, I once again raised the issue of blasphemy, citing Raif Badawi’s case, and shining a light on the gulf between the Saudi Arabian delegation’s words in Geneva, and their government’s actions at home:

‘During the 25th Session of this Council, the Saudi Arabian delegate reiterated the importance of the Rabat Plan of Action, and stated that the country ‘exerts its supportive efforts domestically’[11]. Why, therefore, does Raif Badawi remain in jail, convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to ten years and 1000 lashes for establishing a liberal website[12]?…May we remind States that membership to this Council obliges them ‘to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights’[13], not just in platitudes, but in practice.’

We were not the only NGO to raise Badawi’s case, and a close friend and colleague spoke on behalf of the US Center for Inquiry (CfI), calling for his immediate release. Throughout her speech, the Saudi Arabian delegation made repeated (and increasingly desperate) interruptions, saying to the Vice President ‘I told you to shut her up!’ (video). The USA, Ireland, France and Canada all intervened, emphasizing her right to speak, and she was indeed allowed to continue. Ironically, Saudi Arabia’s attempts to silence her generated a huge amount of media attention, and in turn have raised the profile of Badawi’s case.

Outside of the Palais des Nations, the Saudi delegation’s attitude was mirrored by the Egyptian judiciary, with far greater consequences. The guilty verdict delivered to three Al Jazeera journalists, and eleven others in absentia, was absolutely galling. The trial was farcical, the evidence laughable, and the consequences all too serious. While speaking to the Egyptian ambassador, horrified at the verdicts and referring to the wider clampdown on dissent, which has seen 16,000 people incarcerated, I received innumerable platitudes – that the case can be appealed, that Egypt has an independent judiciary, and that the Government are in fact concerned about the harsh nature of recent verdicts, but cannot intervene with the judiciary as that would be authoritarian, and against the principles of democracy that they stand by. If only that were true! I can but hope that there will be an appeal, and that with sufficient international pressure, the innocent journalists will be freed.

Cases such as this appear in the media every few months, reminding us that freedom of expression, which we take for granted, is a luxury, if not a fantasy, for many. In May, I spent a month travelling around Vietnam, and – please bear with my tangential story – after a chance meeting with an local man, some friends and I had dinner with him. Over the course of the evening, he spoke to us about the human rights situation in Vietnam, focusing on the absence of freedom of expression. As he spoke about the political prisoners, incarcerated for their liberal, democratic thoughts, he was constantly looking over his shoulder, his eyes darting around the streets. When asked what was wrong, he said he was checking for secret police. This stunned me: I had been travelling around his country, visiting towns and commenting on their beauty, going to museums, thinking I was learning about the culture, when underneath it all lay a police state.

I told him I would try my best to raise the issue at the UN, and am incredibly satisfied to say that I did so, raising the broad legal framework that is invoked to eliminate dissent, and the role of incarceration, ‘police intimidation, harassment…[and] prolonged detention without access to legal counsel’[14] preventing potential critics from or punishing them for speaking out. However, I can’t tell him that I did: email traffic is monitored, he said, and it would be dangerous for us to communicate. After I spoke, the ex-Ambassador of Vietnam to the UN in Geneva took the floor: so disheartened by the gross violations of human rights by his government, he sought political asylum in Geneva, and bravely condemned his previous colleagues and country. He confirmed that Vietnam is a police state, with 1 in 18 people working in state security. The courage of both men is astounding, and I am incredibly honoured to have met them.

Throughout the session, informal consultations take place regarding the resolutions that are tabled that session, which are then adopted or rejected in the last two days of the Council. It is with sadness that I report the adoption of a regressive resolution on the protection of the family, its innocuous name shrouding a far darker intention to roll back progress on the rights of individuals and minorities. A number of States continued to oppose the resolution, with the UK Mission making a powerful, impassioned intervention in the moments leading up to the vote. The passage of the resolution, which excludes the rights of LGBT and threatens the rights of women and children, is a major blot on the Council’s record. However, some positive steps were taken, including the announcement of a Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea, and the adoption by consensus of a resolution reaffirming that the rights enjoyed by people offline must also be protected online.

The end of this session also marked the end of Navi Pillay’s period as High Commissioner for Human Rights: she is a remarkable woman, who, through her office, has made great steps for human rights worldwide. She will be greatly missed.

Looking ahead to September, it is clear that our fight for human rights for all is far from over: much remains to be done. While the Session may have been peppered with disappointments, the determination of human rights defenders continuously surfaced worldwide, in the face of brutal adversity, and one must take great comfort and inspiration from that. I look forward to the next meeting of the Human Rights Council, and will walk in to the building with renewed passion and steely resolve.

‘I think right now is the moment…We don’t know what is it the moment of, and maybe something much crazier will happen. But really, we see the sunshine coming in…Our whole condition was very sad, but we still feel warmth, and the life in our bodies can still tell that there is excitement in there, even though death is waiting. We had better not enjoy the moment, but create the moment.’

—Ai Weiwei

Notes

[1]‘Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and the MDGs: Promoting Women’s Capabilities and Participation, Gender and Development Series #13’, Naila Kabeer. Economic and Social Commission in Asia and the Pacific, 2003; quoted in

 ‘Gender Equality in the Post-2015 Agenda: Where Does it Stand?’, Alexandra Spieldoch, 2013, p.5  http://www.boell.org/downloads/Spieldoch_Gender_and_Sustainable_Development.pdf

[2]http://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/oguz-alyanak-funda-ustek/inconvenient-truth-about-child-brides%0A

[3] ‘Practices stemming from gender inequality and dominant ideals
of manhood were associated with partner violence perpetration, such as gender inequitable attitudes…’ p.69, ‘Why do some men use violence against women, and how can we prevent it? Quantitative findings from the UN Multi Country Study on men and violence in Asia and the Pacific’, 2013 http://www.undp.org/content/dam/rbap/docs/Research%20&%20Publications/womens_empowerment/RBAP-Gender-2013-P4P-VAW-Report.pdf

[4] All arrests under blasphemy laws are, according to international law, arbitrary. However, the already unjust law is often employed falsely, due to failures in investigative process, , or to settle personal vendettas. Further, a recent mass arrest in Pakistan only cited 8 of the 68 accuseds’ names.

[5]http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304655304579550030970480094

[6] Murder of an atheist blogger in Bangladesh http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2013/05/2013511988676973.html ; murder of defence layer Rashid Rehman in Pakistan http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27319433. At least 52 people accused of blasphemy in Pakistan have been lynched since 1990, according to ‘Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan; Historical Overview’, Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). Quoted in many media outlets such as http://tribune.com.pk/story/433305/crss-report-52-murdered-in-two-decades-over-blasphemy/; http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/us-pakistan-blasphemy-idUSBREA4709N20140508

[7]http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27319433

[8] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elham-manea/waleed-abulkhair-imprison_b_5267086.html

[9]http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/world/asia/pakistani-activist-shot-dead-aided-blasphemy-suspects.html

[10] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27319433

[11] ‘My country exerts its supportive efforts domestically to combat the phenomenon’, Meshal Alotibi, 12th March 2014, http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/regular-sessions/25th-session/watch/clustered-id-contd-sr-on-religion-and-protection-of-human-rights-22nd-meeting-25th-regular-session-of-human-rights-council/3329494304001

[12]http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27318400

[13] Paragraph 9, A/RES/60/251 (Human Rights Council Founding Resolution) 15th March 2006

[14] http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/vietnam?page=1