Tibet’s ‘living Buddhas’ have been told that they may not reincarnate without permission from China’s atheist leadership. Whatever your belief, this goes dramatically against Article 36 of the Consitutition of the People’s Republic of China, which stipulates that ‘all citizens enjoy freedom in religious belief; no State organ, social organisation or individual is allowed to force any citizen to believe or not to believe in any religion…no State organ, social organisation or individual is allowed to force any citizen to believe or not to believe in any religion; nor discriminate against any citizen with or with no religious belief; the State protects normal religious activities’

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Due to a misunderstanding, this hasn’t been confirmed yet. Details to follow.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: We don’t assume that children will be Humanists like us, but how do we raise them the Humanist way? For example – what about Christmas? The midwinter solstice festival is one of the occasions when we can create lots of happy memories for children. Member Yvonne Peecock, grandmother to ten, has given things like this a lot of thought. Come and hear her talk about children and Humanism.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Member David Mitchell will talk about the longest strike in British history, when children in a Norfolk village took to the streets to protest over the dismissal of their teachers, Tom and Kitty Higdon. David plans to go to this year’s Strike School rally in Burston on the first Sunday in September. Guests and raffle prizes welcome. Further info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A6017456 Map link: tinyurl.com/fj2ck

Slaves to Superstition is on Channel 4 on Monday 13 August at 8pm. Part 2 will be on Monday 20 August at 8pm. In his last Channel 4 series, Root of All Evil?, the evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins explored how organised faith and primitive religious values blight our lives. Read more about the issues > But the fault line runs deeper even than religion. There are two ways of looking at the world – through faith and superstition or through the rigours of logic, observation and evidence – in other words, through reason.

Dr Evan Harris (MP and NSS Honorary Associate) asks a reasonable question about people who are not at all reasonable. When is a liberal like me an extremist? When, in the words of Asghar Bukhari, chairman of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, I defend the right of Salman Rushdie to offend the likes of Mr Bukhari – and defend the Government for knighting the novelist. At least that was what Mr Bukhari screeched at me in a televised rant recently.

A few words from comedian Pat Condell (NSS member) about Muslims who are “almost permanently offended about something or other”. You’ll need broadband and a media player to view the video. Tags: video, Pat+Condell, Muslims, Media

Struggling authors should keep the faith – literally. Sales of books that explore religion or spirituality have grown by more than 50 per cent in the past three years, according to online retailer Amazon. The boom surpasses the rise in sales of books in categories such as history, which have grown by 38 per cent, and politics, up by 30 per cent, confirming that religion has become a pivotal topic in the early 21st century.

I went through the Sunday papers with Luke Deal on BBC Radio Suffolk this morning. On the way home, I heard him report that a listener had phoned in to say our discussion was “the most intelligent and enjoyable bit of radio she’d heard for a while”. At least, that’s what I think she said. I was driving, not taking notes. So nice to know that someone was listening, after getting up at 5.

The August 2007 issue of International Humanist News has been published. It includes features on Violence against Women; Creationism and Science; Humanism in Action; and The Continuing Fight for a Secular Europe. Through the IHEU website, you can have: * the full text (available now), * a PDF version with pictures (available for download now) and * back numbers from the last 14 years Tags: IHEU, International+Humanist+News

Amnesty International is set to defy the Vatican and risk the wrath of Catholics around the world over its decision to back abortion for rape victims. Leaders of the international human rights group meeting in Mexico are expected to reaffirm the policy adopted by its executive board in April after two years of soul-searching within the organisation. The decision, which will also cover women whose health is at risk from giving birth, follows the use of mass rape as a political weapon in the conflict in Darfur.

Journalist and political and social commentator Polly Toynbee is the new President of the British Humanist Association, taking over the post from the comedian Linda Smith, who died last year. Accepting the honour, Polly said, I am honoured to be appointed President of the BHA at a time when not for many years has there been such a need to promote a Humanist view of the world. Religious fanaticism is the clear and present danger all round the world.

I’ve been ordained. It’s free, it’s easy, it’s quick. Just go to The Universal Life Church Monastery and with a few clicks of the mouse, you can be ordained too. Once ordained, there’s a range of impressive-looking products to help you perform your ministerial duties, including certificates from $10.50, to a ministry-in-a-box for $139.99. They don’t seem to sell dog collars, but maybe I can just make one from some white plastic.

The Blair Government was very keen to delegate ‘social and community projects’ to faith groups, a policy that has created all sorts of problems. While religious organisations like to claim public funds for such projects, there’s the tricky issue of discrimination, with some seeking exemption from anti-discrimination legislation on faith grounds. The Church Urban Fund has advice for Christian organisations about this sort of thing: The Church Urban Fund has launched a free online resource to promote excellence in employment by faith-based charities involved in social and community projects.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Margaret Nelson provides a Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Suffolk for 2 minutes sometime between 7.20 and 7.30 am. BBC Radio Suffolk’s FM frequencies are 103.9 (Ipswich), 104.6 (west Suffolk), 95.5 (Lowestoft), 95.9 (Aldeburgh). It’s not available on medium wave or DAB, but you can listen live online – see link below. Further info: www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Margaret Nelson provides a Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Suffolk for 2 minutes sometime between 7.20 and 7.30 am. BBC Radio Suffolk’s FM frequencies are 103.9 (Ipswich), 104.6 (west Suffolk), 95.5 (Lowestoft), 95.9 (Aldeburgh). It’s not available on medium wave or DAB, but you can listen live online – see link below. Further info: www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Margaret Nelson provides a Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Suffolk for 2 minutes sometime between 7.20 and 7.30 am. BBC Radio Suffolk’s FM frequencies are 103.9 (Ipswich), 104.6 (west Suffolk), 95.5 (Lowestoft), 95.9 (Aldeburgh). It’s not available on medium wave or DAB, but you can listen live online – see link below. Further info: www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Margaret Nelson provides a Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Suffolk for 2 minutes sometime between 7.20 and 7.30 am. BBC Radio Suffolk’s FM frequencies are 103.9 (Ipswich), 104.6 (west Suffolk), 95.5 (Lowestoft), 95.9 (Aldeburgh). It’s not available on medium wave or DAB, but you can listen live online – see link below. Further info: www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/

Bangladeshi writer-in-exile Taslima Nasreen was attacked at the Hyderabad Press Club today (Babu Gogineni reported, 9 August), where she was launching the Telegu translation of her book Dwikhandita. The attackers were members of the radical political group Majlis Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (MIM), led by three elected members of the Legislative Assembly. She responded, “Come what may, I will never be silenced.” Both missiles and obscene threats were launched against Taslima, but fortunately she was not injured as the attackers were unable to get very close to her.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: This will be in Lecture Theatre 4 at University Campus Suffolk. Email for directions. At a Forum of Faiths on 15 July, one or two contributors made comments that suggested that they didn’t understand what secularism means, and how it benefits religious organisations. Margaret Nelson suggested that we might have a forum on secularism, and has been invited to lead a discussion. The other speakers will be Manwar Ali (Muslim), Robin Herne (Pagan) and Shpetim Alimeta (thinker of Albanian origin).

I do YouGov polls. You get paid to answer a lot of questions. I find myself answering ‘Don’t know’ to many of them because there isn’t a ‘Don’t care’ option. Pollsters are fond of asking how many hours a day I spend on the Internet. I generally lie about that because I know it’s too many and I should be reading more books instead. These are a few of this week’s distractions.

The Roman Catholic bishop of East Anglia (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk & Suffolk) has resigned from Amnesty International over its decision to back abortion for rape victims. A bishop who has been a member of Amnesty International for 31 years has resigned from the organisation over its changed attitude to abortion. The organisation wants women to have access to abortion where pregnancy is a grave risk to their life or health.

If you have Sky TV, you should be able to see a CNN 3–part TV documentary called God’s Warriors starting at 8pm on Wednesday 22 August, narrated by CNN’s chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. The preview by Sloan Freer in The Observer says: ‘When piety meets politics it can be a volatile mix.’ So says CNN’s chief international correspond­ent Christiane Amanpour in one of the understatements of the year. Because, as she goes on to explore in this thought-provoking new documentary, the religious fervour now creeping into politics, culture and public life across the globe is fuelling a disturbing thirst for bloodshed and extremism, from assassinations to suicide martyrdom.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: An opportunity for members, associates, affiliate groups and friends of Suffolk Inter-Faith Resource to hear about its work during the previous year. Lecture Theatre 4, University Campus Suffolk. Further info: www.sifre.org.uk Map link: tinyurl.com/ysy4sc

A Jehovah’s Witness has escaped a jail term after admitting a series of sexual assaults on children and adults in Clevedon. Michael Porter, of Okehampton Close, north London, admitted 24 counts of indecent assault and gross indecency on 13 victims aged 18 months and older. Among the individuals were others involved in the faith. Judge Tom Crowther at Bristol Crown Court sentenced Porter to three years of community rehabilitation.

The government recently shifted its position on animal-human hybrid embryos: having been initially against the concept, it is now proposing to allow partial hybrids, where a complete set of human genes is inserted into an animal’s egg cell, for research purposes only, through a new Human Tissue and Embryo Bill aimed at overhauling the laws surrounding fertility treatment. The move has prompted strong protests from some religious and anti-abortion groups that oppose any such research.

The increasing interest in Humanism we’ve experienced locally and nationally seems to be largely due to concern over religious organisations’ influence in public life. Maybe we can do something about that. The next census could provide us with more leverage when it comes to reducing that influence by showing that such organisations don’t represent as many people as they’d like us to think. Andrew Trimby has written in the British Humanist Association website forum (members only),