BHA: Humanists react to Goverrnment Minister’s assertion that the government does `do God`

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has reacted with dismay to comments made by Chairman of the Conservative Party and Government Minister Baroness Warsi last night and today.

In a speech, made to Bishops of the Church of England in Oxford, the Minister suggested that the new government will “defend people of faith” and that the previous government failed to “create policies to unleash the positive power of faith in our society” because of anti-religious prejudices.

She also asserted that there is a “vocabulary of secularist intolerance” and that “those who are religiously observant are more likely to volunteer and give than their non-believing or non-practicing counterparts.”

Pepper Harow, BHA Campaigns Officer commented, ‘It is very worrying that a Government Minister feels that the previous government did not support ‘faith’ when the reality is that their policies privileged religious people and groups. They increased the number of faith schools, gave millions of pounds in grant funding to religious organisations, appointed “faith advisors” and gave religious organisations greater exemptions from UK non-discrimination laws than European law allows. If the government want to go even further, that is a cause for serious concern.

‘It is untrue that non-religious people do less for charity; various studies and surveys have confirmed this and is insulting to hard-working secular charities and voluntary groups (which make up two thirds of the voluntary sector) to suggest otherwise. We will be writing to the Minister to make these points and remind her that at least 43% of the UK population consider themselves non-religious. If the government truly wants to create a successful ‘Big Society,’ excluding non-religious people is not the way to go about it.’

Notes

More details and statistics on volunteering and religion or belief are available here.

For comment or information, contact Pepper Harow, Campaigns Officer, on 0207 462 4992. The British Humanist Association was founded in 1896 and is the national charity promoting Humanism, campaigning for a secular state and an open society and representing and supporting non-religious people.