As reported by our secretary in [the AGM newsletter](http://www.suffolkhands.org.uk/files/1/SHANDS Newsletter April 2012.pdf “2012 AGM newsletter”) (pdf), the 19th March issue of New Scientist was The God Issue. An editorial ends: This is not an apologia for god. Religious claims still wither under rational scrutiny and deserve no special place in public life. But it is a call for those who aspire to a secular society to approach it rationally – which means making more effort to understand what they are dealing with.

For a majority of people in the UK, Easter is mainly about a long weekend, chocolate eggs, and spring. The origins of the spring holiday are disputed but they go back to pre-Christian times, when Pagans celebrated the spring equinox, which was on March 20th this year, and the end of winter. The word Easter is derived from the name of a Germanic Pagan goddess of Spring, variously known as ostre, astre or Ostara.

New York photographer Chris Johnson has found subscribers to publish a book of portraits of happy atheists, to dispel the myth “that our lives are devoid of joy and happiness because we are not religious.” It looks interesting, but the sample list of subjects gives the impression that the book could be male-dominated. Maybe the gender balance will be 50/50? Click here to read more.

A recent blog post reported on some of the articles in the New Scientist’s God issue. One or two things have prompted me to write more about this, from a feminist perspective: Men and the religion versus science thing. Feel free to comment, here or there.

UK comedian Jake Yapp spent some time in the US watching religious TV, so we don’t have to. I’ve heard you can see stuff like this in the UK, but it’s not on Freeview so who cares?

They’re meeting for a chat and a drink.

The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.

Click here to read more on the BBC website.

The people behind the Fullfledge Ecology School, a Steiner school planned for the Woodbridge area, report: Our proposal has passed the first stage of approval and we are now on the second stage, which is an interview with the DFE. We are preparing for this now. Five members of the project team will represent Fullfledge Ecology School at the interview. The DFE will inform us in the summer whether we have the final go ahead to start the school in September 2013.

More on Steiner schools (see last post), and how they might appear child-centred and cuddly, while hiding their true objectives. A comment has appeared on Alicia Hamburg’s blog from the parent of a child who attended the Leeds Steiner kindergarten. He or she wrote: It is imperative now that the very highest education authorities intervene here, and under no uncertain terms ensure that all Steiner establishments publish full and precise disclosure of their beliefs and intentions.

A guest post from Melanie Byng, aka @ThetisMercurio on Twitter: Looking at the Fullfledge Ecology School site I see that: ‘Our teachers will be creative, dedicated and both Steiner and State qualified‘. There is no reason for Fullfledge teachers to be trained as Steiner teachers – unless Fullfledge is to be a Steiner Waldorf school. Steiner teacher training courses are based on Rudolf Steiner’s religion/belief system, anthroposophy. Here is another example, this time from the UK: The London Waldorf Seminar – Steiner education teacher training.

The Guardian reports: Up to 40,000 Norwegians have staged an emotionally charged singalong in Oslo near the court building where Anders Behring Breivik is on trial for the murder of 77 people in a protest organisers said showed he had not broken their tolerant society. These are some of the words: En himmel full av stjerner. Bltt hav s langt du ser. En jord der blomster gror.

The Coalition for Equal Marriage‘s petition to support the introduction of same-sex civil marriage has passed 50,000 signatures. This video in support of equal marriage has been made with the support of the BHA, among others. Should mention that not all gay people want marriage. Some are perfectly happy with a civil partnership.