29 November 2011
The EHF has called for religious influence on EU-funded research to be eliminated. At present, funding of research using embryonic stem cells is banned – the result of religious lobbying when the current framework was agreed. The Catholic church, in its response to a new and wide-ranging EU consultation on the framework for future scientific research, has said the ban should be maintained and even extended. It has even called for research to be commissioned specially designed… read more »
23 November 2011
The EU Ombudsman is taking seriously the EHF’s complaint about the EU Commisssion’s approach to the Article 17 dialogue with us and in particular its treatment of our request for a dialogue seminar. In a letter to the EHF dated 15 November, he tells us of the questions he has put to the Commission. See here for an EHF press release, dated 23 November.
16 November 2011
Matt Cherry writes on the IHEU website: The inauguration of Michael D. Higgins as President of Ireland on Friday, November 11 2011, broke new ground by including a ‘reflection’ by a Humanist. Susie Kennedy, a representative of the Humanist Association of Ireland, spoke at the ceremony immediately after an inter-faith service. The President-elect specifically requested a female Humanist celebrant to ‘broaden the range and diversity of the occasion’. In her statement at the presidential inauguration,… read more »
14 November 2011
Khalid Saeed is a Pakistani and he is also an atheist. He fled from Pakistan in 2009 to Sweden, where his brother has lived for many years. His request for asylum has just been rejected by the Swedish authorities. The EHF, together with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, has joined Humanisterna, our Swedish member organisation, in asking the Swedish authorities to reverse their decision. Our letter (in Swedish) is here; an English version is… read more »
As a follow-up to our representation at the Cairo conference on “Women and the 21 Century – Feminist Alternatives” we have endorsed the Manifesto for a Free and Secular Middle East and North Africa: Manifesto for a Secular Middle East and North Africa The 2009 protests in Iran followed by the Arab Spring have the potential to herald a new dawn for the people of the region and the world. The protests have clearly shown… read more »
Atheist website There is an interesting atheist website here. A contact in Ukraine writes to the EHF “Our site is one of the largest atheistic sites in Ukraine. We organise debates, lectures on atheism.” (7 June 2011)
Turkey treats evolution on Internet like pornography If as a caring parent you use the Turkish government’s official filter to protect your children from pornographic websites, you will also cut them off from all mention of evolution or Charles Darwin. The websites of Adnan Oktar, the Islamic creationist who has flooded the world with expensive books denouncing evolution, remain untouched. Source: London Daily Telegraph, 10 December 2011 _______________________________________________________________________________________ Strasbourg finds fault with religious education law A… read more »