Back in April 2007 we reported on the stage play Re:Design, a dramatisation based upon the correspondence between Charles Darwin and Harvard Professor of Botany Asa Gray, and performed at the Cambridge Science Festival. The full performance is now available via the MIT website – you’ll need RealPlayer to see it. Charles Darwin’s birthday is 12 February, now more commonly referred to as Darwin Day.

Damning new evidence that faith schools are siphoning off middle-class pupils can be revealed today, as research shows they are failing to take children from the poorest backgrounds nationwide. Even when they are situated in deprived inner-city areas, religious schools have fewer poor children than local authority secondary schools. New figures show that religious schools, in England, admit 10 per cent fewer poor pupils than is representative of the local area.

If the UN were to order us to ‘respect all political beliefs’, conservatives would say they weren’t prepared to respect communists, leftists would say they weren’t prepared to respect fascists and everyone else would burst out laughing. Yet the UN Human Rights Council is proposing in all seriousness to protect religion by doctoring its universal defence of freedom of expression. Nick Cohen: The awful squeal of fundamentalism | Comment is free | The Observer.

A talk by Raymond Tallis, 10th April 2008, 6pm – 8pm J Z Young Lecture Theatre, The Anatomy Building, University College London, Gower Street, London. Admission is free but tickets must be booked in advance. Call 020 7079 3580 or email info@humanism.org.uk. British Humanist Association. Tags: Voltaire+Lecture, Raymond+Tallis, BHA, London

The concept of blasphemy seemed for some decades to be in decline in the West, but not any more. It may be useful to look back at some recent cases of militantly religious outrage… Rated by: Vulgarity –the piece shocked through its conflation of the sacred and the profane Criminality –the piece contravened laws in a given country Religious impact –the work caused outrage from religious leaders Political impact –speeches were made by governments, laws were created or changed.

An article from the latest Humanist Network News. You can subscribe via the Institute for Humanist Studies website. Throughout history, women with independent minds who have made significant contributions to our body of knowledge, have been mocked, censored or even killed for their perceived outspokenness. Hypatia of Alexandria, was a gifted female philosopher, astronomer and mathematician who flourished in Roman Egypt during Arcadius’ reign. IHS :: HNN :: Women in History: Hypatia.

After an acrimonious debate in which the bogeyman of secularism was repeatedly invoked, on Wednesday March 5th 2008 the House of Lords accepted the amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill that abolishes the common law of blasphemy and blasphemous libel. The amendment had originally been introduced by Lib Dem MP Dr Evan Harris in the House of Commons, but the Government had persuaded him to withdraw it after promising to introduce its own amendment later in the Lords.

An Iranian lesbian who fled to Britain after her girlfriend was arrested and sentenced to death faces being forcibly returned after losing the latest round in her battle to be granted asylum. The case of Pegah Emambakhsh, 40, comes a day after The Independent reported on the growing public outcry over the plight of a gay Iranian teenager who fears he will be executed if he is deported to Iran.

Saturday 8th March is International Women’s Day. Click on the image to go to the IWD website and find out about International Women’s Day, and what events are happening in your area. Tags: International+Women’s+Day, IWD, Women

The International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), many of whose members are Christian, has issued a statement saying that Intelligent Design “is not science”: We believe that intelligent design is neither sound science nor good theology. Although the boundaries of science are open to change, allowing supernatural explanations to count as science undercuts the very purpose of science, which is to explain the workings of nature without recourse to religious language.

A gay teenager who claims he faces the death penalty in Iran after his boyfriend was executed there two years ago has spoken of his anger and disappointment at losing his legal battle against deportation. Mehdi Kazemi, 19, who sought sanctuary in Britain in 2005 when he discovered that his partner had been hanged in Tehran for engaging in homosexual acts, is expected to be returned to Iran in the next few weeks.

The long-awaited Humanist website for teachers is now online. It should prove very useful for teachers who include Humanism in their RE lessons, as they do in Suffolk. Andrew Copson, the BHA’s Education Officer, writes, The site will be a growing resource, and so do let me know of any themes that may be covered in your syllabuses that you think it would be good to cover in our resources.

When the leaders of 27 countries meet in Berlin today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the EU, there will be one significant absence. To the annoyance of many Poles, who have what is arguably the most crackpot right-wing government in Europe, God has not been invited to the party. Neither Christianity nor the deity feature in the declaration which Europe’s leaders will sign to mark the occasion, signalling the high point of what has been a fantastic week for secularism.

Society is ill-prepared to handle scientific breakthroughs because it lacks understanding of human life, the Archbishop of Canterbury has claimed … In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, he also criticised evolution theory as “limited”, urged politicians to be open about their faith, and attacked religious conspiracy theories such as the Da Vinci Code. Rowan Williams: Society can’t handle science – Telegraph. Tags: Archbishop+of+Canterbury, Rowan+Williams, Evolution

The National Union of Teachers has been having its conference, where teachers were inconsistent in their attitudes towards religion and the military. Head teachers should allow imams, rabbis and priests to offer religious instruction to pupils in all state schools, teachers’ leaders have said. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) said the move would be a way to reunite divided communities. The NUT said parents had a right to have specific schooling in their own faith, if that was what they wanted.

Gordon Brown says Labour MPs will get a free vote on the most controversial parts of the new embryology Bill. The MPs will be able to follow their consciences in three areas – including allowing scientists to create embryos with human DNA and animal cells. But the prime minister expects all Labour MPs to back the whole bill when it comes to the final Commons vote. The PM offered the deal after warnings that some Catholic Labour MPs and cabinet ministers were ready to rebel.

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 7.25 and 7.35 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: http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/local_radio/index.shtml

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Reports and elections, then a discussion. Ten Minute Topics is about everyone bringing a burning issue they’d like to discuss. We write them down, put the bits of paper in a hat (or equivalent), and discuss them in the order they come out of the hat. If something generates a lot of interest we may discuss it for longer, with everyone’s agreement. Guests and raffle prizes welcome.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Is there a topical issue you’d like to discuss? Have you got a bee in your bonnet? The idea is that everyone writes down a topic, all the suggestions go in a hat (or similar container) and we draw them out at random to be discussed for 10 minutes. If there’s something that gets everyone fired up, we can go on for longer if we all agree.

We’ll be in Room 1 (next to the front door) at Castle Hill Community Centre, Highfield Road, Ipswich. If the front door is shut, press the buzzer to be admitted. To offer or request a lift, email us. The BTO aims to promote and encourage the wider understanding, appreciation and conservation of birds by: conducting high-quality, impartial research in field ornithology. - providing scientific evidence and advice on priority issues in bird conservation.

The BHA says, The Local Development Project exists because the BHA believes that there is a lack of representation in some areas for humanists and non-religious people. Our experience shows that local authorities communicate with their citizens about diversity, equalities and social cohesion via a complex web of forums, networks and consultations. These feed into higher level organisations eventually reaching national bodies. At a local level, the non-religious are often left out of this dialogue because of a lack of organised and recognised mechanisms of communication and a lack of resources.

Jim Herrick is former editor of New Humanist and International Humanist News. His books include Vision and Realism – A History of the Freethinker; Against the Faith: Sceptics , Deists and Atheists; Humanism : an Introduction (new edition shortly). He has spent the greater part of his working life in the Humanist movement. He is editor of a revised edition of the Humanist Anthology and co-editor of Seasons of Life – readings for humanist ceremonies.

Is there an issue you’d like to discuss? We all write something on a piece of paper, which goes into a hat (or suitable alternative), then the topics are picked at random. We’ll be in Room 4, next to the back door on the ground floor, at Castle Hill Community Centre, Highfield Road, Ipswich – not in The Hall, as previously stated. There was a muddle over bookings. If the front door is shut, press the buzzer to be admitted.

Has the Easter holiday given you a headache? Not because of all that chocolate, but because it’s on a different date every year and messes up the school holidays, especially if you have kids at different schools in different areas. The National Secular Society is campaigning to have the Easter holiday fixed, while a parents’ organisation, The Day Care Trust, says the staggered holidays cost parents a fortune in child care costs.

Go to the BHA site to read more. Tags: BBC, BBC+News+24, Embryology+Bill

For the past eleven years the organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), representing the 57 Islamic States, has been tightening its grip on the throat of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yesterday, 28 March 2008, they finally killed it. With the support of their allies including China, Russia and Cuba (none well-known for their defence of human rights) the Islamic States succeeded in forcing through an amendment to a resolution on Freedom of Expression that has turned the entire concept on its head.