Reminder: Our next social event - 8 th September Where: Somers Town CoffeehouseWhen: 6:30 PM Wednesday September 8th 2010Our first Wednesday of the month socials are great for meeting and chatting, thinking and drinking (and eating). We meet at the Somers Town Coffeehouse 60 Chalton Street, NW1 1HS. It is a family owned Bar/Bistro, run by two sisters Vanessa & Sabine, in a pleasantly refurbished grade II listed building near both Kings Cross and Euston stations.

Some things to note about the venue:• Free Wi-fi is available. • All indoor facilities are wheelchair friendly/accessible. • We estimate its between a five to ten minutes walk from Euston and Kings Cross stations respectively. • Over eighteen different bus routes stop nearby!

Map here

Full house for Central London Humanist event – Debate on Pope's visit at Conway Hall Humanist Centre Last night, in partnership with the BHA and SPES (who provided Conway Hall Humanist Centre), we organised our largest event ever. Alan Palmer, Chair of CLHG and Marco Tranchino, committee member (and very much a driving force behind the Protest the Pope campaign), did a magnificent job. Other committee members were also on hand.Conway Hall was filled to bursting – I am told we almost had to turn people away – standing room in the balcony took the pressure.I hope our members realise how difficult it is to stage such an event. The fact that some leading Catholic voices were willing to participate is a testament to the confidence they had in our commitment to fairness. The fact that we could attract such powerful voices as Peter Tatchell and A.C. Grayling and the services of Polly Toynbee as a moderator is also a vote of confidence in us. That it was also so well attended means it was something people wanted. We achieved considerable media coverage which we hope will attract new members. Do let us know what you think. For more Protest the Pope events see here – Also don't forget to watch Peter Tatchell's Documentary on Channel 4 on Monday September 13th at 8pm - The Trouble with the Pope

WENT TO A FAITH SCHOOL AND WHAT HARM DID IT DO?Well things have changed. There is an increasing number of faith schools being funded by the taxpayer. There are proposals to have even less regulation and fewer inspections. Religious organisations are becoming more aggressive in defence of what they consider their 'right' to indoctrinate.So what should happen:

• a halt to more 'faith' schools at the public expense. (by the way 'faith' schools are a popular but prejudicial

description. Many people regard 'faith' as a positive attribute, as it may well be in certain circumstances e.g. being

faithful to someone. Do you know of any 'no-faith' schools attended exclusively by children from non-religious

backgrounds? Of course not. The majority of schools are in fact community schools where children from all religion and

belief backgrounds are welcome. In most of these there is a strong moral ethos – a commitment to good, inclusive,

objective education and shared values as described in the National Curriculum values. The law actually refers not to 'faith

schools' but to 'schools of a religious character'. Some of us as a counter to the benign-seeming 'faith school' prefer to

bear in mind the more accurate label 'sectarian schools'!)

• that all schools abide by anti-discrimination legislation i.e. no selection on the grounds of religion or belief of pupils or staff and that the government allows for no special exemptions (note: 'religion

or belief' is a phrase used in human rights legislation and means religious beliefs, non-religious beliefs, such as

Humanism, and non-belief). Often in schools of a religious character pupils will come from similar religious backgrounds even when the school claims to be fairly open in its selection criteria. If people have a choice and other schools are available then this is not a surprising outcome. However in some localities the only local school may be a school of a religious character. If you live in this area then it maybe the only practical choice for your children to attend that school. But is it reasonable that such a school, which is paid for almost entirely out of tax pounds, could be allowed to exclude your child because of your beliefs?

In a recent documentary Richard Dawkins investigated the Faith School Menace

Dr Evan Harris has also written a compelling article for the Guardian about the problems of teaching science and RE - “Is science teaching undermined by religious instruction in faith schools?”

“The British Humanist Association has for many years challenged the spread of these divisive and discriminatory schools. For the past three years they have employed the UK's only dedicated campaigner against faith schools. The campaigner (at present James Gray) makes sure that the voices of all those who oppose faith schools are heard – by supporting local campaigns against new religious schools, representing the

secularist view in the media, and lobbying government to reform the laws that entrench religious discrimination in our education system. James also works with the Accord Coalition, an alliance of religious and non-religious groups for the reform of faith schools, chaired by Rabbi Jonathan Romain.”(Extract from a letter from Richard Dawkins, Chairman, The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and Vice

President, British Humanist Association)

Donations to support the work of this dedicated campaign against faith schools can be made here

WHAT ONE MIGHT CALL “A GOOD RUN FOR YOUR MONEY”In the spirit of charity and doing things for others, one of our members (and a former committee member) (Sanch) is taking part in a 5k run for charity on Saturday the 11th of September. The run is the annual Big Fun Run, and he is running for the charity Prostate UK.

If you would like to join Sanch, please visit this site to register http://www.bigfunrun.com/?london_crystal_palace&locations_id=45 . You are able to run for any charity you like.

For further information please contact Sanch via email - sanchk@hotmail.com

PRESSURE OF SHIRKThere are a lot more bits and pieces that I would like to have included but I am afraid I am very busy. I am in France and the call of the vineyard beckons. If you asked me to include something and I have not done so please remind me. I may have to bring out a special edition.__________________________________________________________IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED PLEASE DO FORWARD THIS EMAIL

Membership of the Central London Humanist Group is by joining us on Meetup or Faceboook. Membership is free. To be a voting member of the Central London Humanists you need to be a paid-up member of the British Humanist Association. Non-voting members (and guests) are most welcome to almost all of our meetings.The Central London Humanist Group is a fully independent group which has chosen to define its voting membership by this means. [Note: you can register as a BHA supporter free of charge but this does not confer voting status of the Central London Humanists]

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