With influence comes responsibility to protect the vulnerable and that’s something the Catholic Church has spectacularly failed to do, writes HSS Convenor Juliet Wilson in the Evening News
The Humanist Society of Scotland said the latest Bellahouston figure reflected indifference to the Pope’s visit. ”People are voting with their feet. The Pope and the UK government are out of step with the way people live their lives. More than 80 per cent of Scots do not approve of the state visit or what the Pope has to say,” says Tim Maguire in The Scotsman
Why invite the pope on a state visit – at a cost of millions in a time of cutbacks – when the vast majority are secular?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/14/sex-death-poisoned-heart-religion
The impending visit of Pope Benedict has certainly expanded my “to do” list. “What are you going to do about the Pope?” my secular chums ask? The options! I used to work in catering so changing his inflight meal to kosher might be a bit of a hoot. Then again I also used to write for News International so if I only had his mobile number…
http://politics.caledonianmercury.com/2010/09/14/comment-a-humanist-take-on-the-popes-visit/
Duncan Johnston in Oban was much taken with an interview with Tim Maguire of the Humanist Society of Scotland who is urging people who do not believe in God to register as atheists in next year’s census. As Mr Maguire put it: “If you are not religious, for God’s sake, say so.”
http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/ken-smiths-diary/on-your-bike-the-diary-14-september-2010-1.1054917
The Humanist Society of Scotland launched the poster campaign to make their point that people do not have to believe in God in order to be good citizens.
http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Humanists-urge-nonreligious-to-speak.6529588.jp
Meanwhile, another secularist group, the Humanist Society of Scotland has paid for a large billboard poster prominently displayed near Bellahouston park which claims 40% of Scots, some 2m people, were “good without God”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/13/catholics-ordain-women-scotland-cardinal
The Humanist Society of Scotland yesterday unveiled the message that 40% of the population do not follow an organised religion. The billboard sits on Paisley Road West, near Ibrox Stadium, which is on the route of the Pope’s cavalcade.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/no-religion-for-40-1.1054931
A huge Good Without God poster revealing the large number of Scots who believe they can be Good Without God was unveiled in Glasgow today, Monday 13th September, by the Humanist Society of Scotland (HSS).
The poster site is at the junction of Paisley Road West and Edmiston Drive, near Ibrox Stadium, on the route that the Pope will take to Belllahouston Park.
HSS Convenor Juliet Wilson and other office bearers of the society were there for a live press conference as the figure was revealed.
“8 out of 10 Scots believe the state should not pay for the Pope’s visit,” said Juliet Wilson, “And 4 out of 5 Scots have no interest in what he does while he’s in our country. Rather than protest, we’re taking the opportunity to do something constructive, by revealing the official number of people who are non-religious in Scotland.
As you can see, the figure is high, but we believe it’s higher still.
So we’re asking the people of Scotland to say what they really believe.
Government policy in many areas is based on what the Census tells them about religious belief.
The next census is only a few months away, in February of next year. What we’re saying to the Scottish people is, if you’re not religious, for God’s sake say so!
Join our campaign, and when the 2011 Census comes round, we’ll remind you to put a big tick in the ‘No religion’ box.”
The Catholic population has dropped by 18 per cent to 667,017, baptisms are down 39 per cent and marriages by 63 per cent. Vocations to the priesthood, have, in particular, taken a battering, down 79 per cent from 159 in 1982 to just 33 in 2008, the most recent figures listed, although there are signs of a mild improvement.
Meanwhile membership of the Humanist Society of Scotland has risen by over 700 per cent, and they predict that in 2010, their celebrants will conduct more weddings than the Catholic Church.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/28-years-on-a-more.6513973.jp?articlepage=2
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