Hyerdahl1 wrote:
> Your time, under patriarchy is going bye-bye!

Er, isn't the birth rates of Muslims flooding Western Europe? :-)

> FEATURE-Humanists, atheists look to higher global profile
> By Robert Evans, Reuters
>
> GENEVA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Humanist and atheist groups around the
world are
> looking to boost their profile in 2005 to counter religious
fundamentalism and
> efforts by some Western leaders to relaunch faith as a keystone of
national
> life.
>
> Under pressure from the rise of militant Islam, Vatican activism in
the
> European Union and the re-election of a "born-again" Christian to the
White
> House, they feel they must resist to ensure the ideas of secularism
survive and
> spread.

Strange that such religo-phobes don't mind the "REVEREND Martin Luther
King
Jr." holiday in the states... :-)

> "In the face of the religious onslaught on Humanist values, we have
to speak
> out and get our message over," says Roy Brown, Swiss-based president
of the
> International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) which links groups
totalling
> millions of members.

HAHAHAHA!

Whose fault is that?  Consider that the "humanist" values are a
creation
of European Christian toleration that then attacked whites and
Christians as being oppressors and welcomed Muslim immigrants with
open arms!  Good going!

> Two central events will be a World Atheist Conference at Vijayawada
in India in
> early January and the IHEU's World Congress in July at the Paris
headquarters
> of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
> Organisation.
>
> "We must work hard to combat the encroachment of religion on public
policy and
> on the rights of non-believers everywhere," said IHEU executive
director Babu
> Gogineni.

What encroachment?  Hello!  The religious values of these countries
have existed for the past 1000 years or so...

> Atheists, who see no evidence for the existence of a deity, and
Humanists, who
> are mainly atheists but include some believers, share that core
concern: to
> keep religion out of politics and limit it to the private sphere.

Yep, that darn Pope helped to liberated eastern europe from communism
and stop a slaughter.  Can't have too much of that.  In the meantime,
great atheists such as Joseph Stalin murdered 80 million people.
Thank heavens for "humanists!"  (pardon the pun)

> They draw their inspiration from freethinkers down the ages, from
ancient Greek
> and Indian philosophers through the 18th century Enlightenment that
shaped much
> of modern political thinking in Europe and North America.
>
> PRINCIPLES ATTACKED
>
> But they see key Humanist principles -- respect for human rights

See Joseph Stalin, Krushchev, Hitler, Pol-pot...

> and racial and
> sexual equality

"Ethnic cleansing" and "affirmative action"

> with morality based on reason rather than on the dictates of a
> supreme being through a holy book

The "constitution" declares certain things to be holy and
unquestionable unless, of course, they say GW Bush won the last
election...

> -- as under assault, and not just in Muslim
> countries.

Good heavens!   Feel free to move to Russia to enjoy some human
rights then... How about China?  Or North Korea?  Or Cuba?

> The re-election in November of George W. Bush, U.S. Humanists fear,
> strengthened the influence of Christian fundamentalists dedicated to
restoring
> the Bible, "God's word," to a central role in public life and foreign
policy.
>
> Many of Bush supporters appear to see the war in Iraq in the same
terms as the
> president, and Muslim fundamentalists, as one arena of a cosmic
struggle
> between good and evil in which what Humanists would regard as crimes
are
> permissible on both sides.
>
> Bush's triumph has also boosted opponents of abortion and
homosexuality, as
> well as supporters of Intelligent Design (ID) which rejects evolution
-- the
> development of all life on earth from lower forms through natural
selection of
> the fittest -- as elaborated by 19th century British naturalist
Charles Darwin.

Yeah, "ID" is clearly made up by kooks unlike those who proclaim that
women and men are perfectly equal (provided the government imposes
this agenda upon the population....)

> The ID movement emerged from the ranks of U.S. creationists, who
believe the
> Bible is literally correct and that their God created the world and
all in it.
> ID limits itself to arguing that an intelligence must have shaped
life.
>
> In many U.S. states, fundamentalists on school boards ensure that
creationism
> -- taught widely until the late 1960s -- is still present in some
form. ID
> supporters are now demanding that their beliefs be taught alongside
evolution.
>
> Last month British philosopher Anthony Flew, long a champion of
unbelief,
> announced to the dismay of some fellow atheists that he was now
convinced an
> intelligence must have provided the spark of life and perhaps even
done some
> designing.
>
> His "conversion" was greeted with delight on creationist and Catholic
websites.
> But Flew hastened to clarify that he believed that the intelligence
involved
> was not the Christian, Jewish or Moslem "personal" deity, and that
there is no
> "afterlife."
>
> GOD OF THE GAPS
>
> Atheist scientist-thinkers, like British biologist Richard Dawkins,
said Flew
> had simply come to "the god of the gaps" -- a view held by some
philosophers
> but few scientists that some "force" must have been at play because
science has
> not pinned down how life could have begun otherwise.
>
> In Britain, many Humanists feel that Prime Minister Tony Blair -- a
strong
> religious believer -- and members of his government are undermining
secular
> traditions.
>
> They point to his promotion of faith schools run by various religious
> communities, including two financed by a fundamentalist businessman
where
> creationism is taught as science.
>
> Blair's push for a new law that would protect all believers from
"incitement to
> hate" on the grounds of their faith -- a key demand of Muslim
activists -- is
> bound to restrict criticism of religion as such, Humanists argue.
>
> His readiness to bend government policies to the views of "faith"
leaders, they
> say, has led religious hard-liners to demand ever more concessions on
social
> and cultural issues such as limiting the right to stage plays that
might offend
> religion.
>
> In most Muslim countries, religion and politics are closely
intertwined and
> apostasy or renunciation of the faith is often a criminal offence.
Penalties
> include execution, but "apostates" are routinely treated as outcasts
and
> harassed.
>
> Secular and evangelical Christian groups launched a campaign at the
United
> Nations last year to convince Islamic leaders to work to change this,
but to
> little effect.
>
> SOME ADVANCES
>
> However Humanists see some advances over the past year in Europe,
Asia and even
> in Africa where atheists have begun to organise.
>
> In Europe, Vatican efforts to have the EU constitution include a
reference to
> the continent's Christian heritage were blocked. The European
Parliament voted
> to bar a traditionalist Italian Catholic from becoming the new
justice
> commissioner.
>
> France's ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools was imposed in
September
> with few problems, despite warnings that it would unleash protests
and alienate
> many in Europe's largest Islamic minority.
>
> In Spain, the Socialists replaced the Catholic-inspired Popular Party
after its
> decade in power and began a series of secular reforms angering the
Church
> hierarchy, including a move to allow gay marriage.
>
> The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party lost power in India's
general
> elections to the firmly secular Congress Party.
>
> Even at the United Nations there was good news from for Humanists.
>
> Bangladeshi writer and medical doctor Taslima Nasrin, living in exile
after
> criticising Islam and an active campaigner for the rights of women
and the
> non-religious, was awarded a UNESCO prize for promoting cultural
tolerance.
>
> But at the same time a Vatican campaign led to the world body adding
> "Christianophobia" to "Islamophobia" and
anti-Semitism as issues its
human
> rights bodies report on -- a sign for many that religious forces are
> reinforcing their grip.

Indeed!  It's so rediculous to think that Christians should deserve
protection from hate along with other groups...
regards,
Mark Sobolewski
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