Good News Back in May Humanism UK and Kent Humanists won a won an historic victory in the High Court. Our chair Steve Bowen successfully challenged Kent County Council, which had refused him membership of the local Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE). Nearly two years after his initial application, Steve’s victory represents the biggest win for humanists in education in recent years. Futhermore, Kent County Council have not appealed the decision. This doesn’t mean that Kent Humanists automatically have a seat on the SACRE just that they can’t be denied a place simply on the grounds that Humanism is not a religion. The main argument put forward in the court was that current, nationally accepted RE syllabuses all include both ‘religion and belief’ and so the relevance of non-religious belief systems has already been built-in and to exclude non-religious belief systems would be discrimination. It therefore makes no sense to deny representation of non-religion belief systems on SACREs. SACREs are groups attached to the local council made up of teachers, councillors, and representatives of different religious groups in an area – and in many cases, humanists too. They help set the RE syllabus for schools in the local area and make decisions about whether local schools can change the nature of their daily collective worship. It’s important that humanists are members of these groups, because when it comes to learning about religion or belief in the classroom, children deserve a broad and balanced approach. | |
Summer Meetings The committee has decided to suspend our current meetings up to our AGM in November when will review the future pattern of meetings. If you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions please drop the committee a line at our email address given above. | |
Humanism: What’s it all about? Kent Humanists have produced a short introductory pamphlet on Humanism for new members and enquirers. Take a look and tell us if you think there is anything we should add. We hope you find it interesting and helpful. ⇒ CLICK HERE for free download (134 Kb PDF doc) ⇐ Living Well ‘The Big Questions’ is a new series of ebooks from Humanists UK offering humanist perspectives on how to lead confident, happier, and more fulfilled lives in this one life we have. The first title is Living Well and covers four topics: Thinking well, Finding meaning, Being good, and Dying well. | |
Humanist Blogs & Magazines
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Humanist Speakers Kent Humanists are always pleased to consider requests to talk about any aspect of humanism to your group or society. Please contact us directly if this is of interest. We also have a number of trained school speakers accredited by Humanists UK available for assemblies, classroom talks and diversity days with material suitable for all year groups. Please book through Humanists UK who will forward the request to us. | |
➤ Contact us at kent@humanistgroups.org.uk ➤ Subscribe (or Unsubscribe) to our monthly bulletin by emailing a request to kent@humanistgroups.org.uk ➤ Privacy Policy - Kent Humanists only retain data submitted necessary for the purposes of direct communication, promotion of our aims and objectives and for the distribution of our newsletter and bulletins. We will never share your details with any third party without permission. ➤ Meetings Code of Conduct - Our speakers are invited guests; please treat them with courtesy and respect. Respect the diversity of views expressed and phrase disagreements politely. It is better to question than argue. Do not attempt to dominate the conversation. Defer to the chair; it is their role to manage the meeting. ➤ Kent Humanists is a partner of Humanists UK which means we support their activities and campaigns. For more information and details of how to join see their website humanists.uk | |
