The British Humanist Association (BHA) has written to the three main Party leaders, asking for statements of recognition of the contribution of humanists and other non-religious people to our society. The BHA has made this request following a number of statements to media and religious audiences by David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg in praise religious values and the contribution to religion in society.
Andrew Copson, BHA Chief Executive, said, ‘There has been much made in recent weeks across the political spectrum about the contribution of religion and religious groups to society, but no specific reference has been made by any leader to the vast contribution of the large and growing non-religious population.’
‘We all of us in society, religious and non-religious alike, have important contributions to make and in all sorts ways. Being religious does not endow people with some special morality or goodness unattainable by the rest of us and the evidence shows that being religious is not an especially important indicator of doing good works for others. While Party leaders are going out of their way to praise religious groups, we’d like to see similar acknowledgement directed at the non-religious in the population.’
Notes
From 31% (BSA, 1992) to 56% (YouGov, 2004) of people in some polls, for example, do not profess a belief in god(s), and the most recent British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey found that 43% are happy to self-identify as non-religious. The BSA 2010 also found, in a measure of self-assessed religiosity in Britain, 59% of respondents did not describe themselves as religious.
For further comment or information, contact Naomi Phillips on 020 7079 3585.
The British Humanist Association is the national charity supporting and representing people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs.