[](http://www.suffolkhands.org.uk/files/1/2010 SH&S News November.pdf “SH News Nov 2010”)Our November newsletter is here for you to download and print. Why not make several copies and hand them on to your friends? In this month’s issue: Suffolk Humanist Sue Hewlett on her involvement with a scheme to link the village school in Stutton, where she taught, with one in Yendi in Ghana. Details of this month’s meeting, when we’ll be electing a new chairperon and member Colleen Nunn will tell us about the geology of Suffolk.

Whenever there’s any mention of turning weapons into something useful, like tools, or beautiful, like art, someone will quote Isaiah II: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” It’s a great idea, whether or not you believe it was God’s. There’ve been two recent examples. The first is from Mexico. You can read about it on the Inhabitat website:

From the National Secular Society, a report on the Church of England’s opportunism as the Government promotes a “Big Society”: Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: This is the clearest indication that the Church has been in detailed consultation with the Government about implementing the Big Society idea. Very sensibly, the Church is wary of being used as a means of shoring up the social catastrophe that is coming through the cutting of welfare spending.

Equal Love is about a legal bid to overturn the twin bans on same-sex civil marriages and opposite-sex civil partnerships in the United Kingdom. They say, why shouldn’t heterosexual couples have civil partnerships, and homosexual couples get married? We heard about this via the BHA’s regular e-bulletin. If you’d like to sign up for one in your inbox, click here.

It’s Armistice Day on Thursday, 11th November, when we remember British service personnel who’ve fought and died in the First World War and all the conflicts since. As usual, the contribution made by those who died without religion will largely be ignored at local remembrance ceremonies on Sunday, but this year it will be different in some British cities. The UK Armed Forces Humanist Association has issued the following press release:

The nominees (from New Humanist) are… Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi Sheikh Maulana Abu Sayeed Baroness Warsi Cardinal Walter Kasper Lauren Booth Pastor Terry Jones Prince Charles Ann Widdecombe Click here to vote for this year’s leading enemy of reason.

We’re told: In our last event before Christmas, the theme is Music. Mark Aaron will talk about online activism in the context of saving BBC 6 music, and John Benton will talk about common logical fallacies regarding hifi equipment. You’ll find ISP in the green room at the back of McGinty’s.

European parliamentarians have set up a new website as a platform for secularism in Europe. The European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Europe (EPPSP) is a forum for Members of the European Parliament and civil society. Sophie in t Veld MEP, its chair, explains the purpose of the new website:

Norfolk Fire Service’s chief fire officer Nigel Williams has arranged a secular Remembrance Day event this year, to avoid the exclusion of some staff members. This quote amused me: The Ven Jan McFarlane, from the Diocese of Norwich, said: “We often hear that we’re a ‘secular society’ – but attendance at Remembrance Services today and on Sunday, and the numbers who turn to the church at times of significant national events would suggest otherwise.

The Pope started his visit to Spain in much the same way that he greeted the UK; by blaming just about everything he disliked on atheists and rewriting Spanish history. Prime Minister Zapatero was more forthright in response, it seems, than our Prime Minister. The NSS reports, The Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero reminded the Pope last week that Spain is a secular state after the pontiff attacked Government legislation on abortion, gay marriage and divorce.

With reference to my last post about the Pope and his repetition of the atheism=Nazism lie, here’s Christopher Hitchens. He begins by saying, “Atheism is not a moral or political position of any kind,” which of course it isn’t. Yes, there are some nasty atheists, but Hitler wasn’t one of them. He was just nasty.

The NSS Council has devised a new Secular Charter that seeks to be fair to everyone, to be achievable and to be benign. Seems good to me. The Society promotes the separation of religion and state where law and the administration of justice are based on equality, respect for Human Rights and objective evidence without regard to religious doctrine or belief. We campaign for the following constitutional principles: There shall be no established state religion.

Ekklesia reports on the results of a YouGov poll commissioned by ITV at around the time of the Pope’s visit. They show that a school’s religion doesn’t necessarily come top of their priority list. Factors such as performance of the school, how easy it is to get into, the area the school is in, curriculum (which may of course have a religious influence), class sizes and facilities all seem to have been more important for parents.

Our new single-page website, A Good Life Without Religion, went live at the beginning of September to coincide with the distribution of our car stickers to members and others. So far, it’s been viewed 29,928 times. Many of the visitors may have come through search engines, some through our online publicity. The site is designed as an introduction to humanism for anyone whos disillusioned with religion, or simply looking for like-minded people.