During last night’s televised Leader’s Debate, David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg were asked: ‘The Pope has accepted an invitation to make an official state visit to Britain in September at a cost of millions of pounds to tax-payers. If you win the election, will you disassociate your party from the Pope’s protection over many years of Catholic priests who were ultimately tried and convicted of child abuse, and from his fierce opposition to all contraception, embryonic stem cell research, treatment for childless couples, gay equality and the routine use of condoms when HIV is at an all-time high?’
Commenting on their responses, BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson said, ‘It was refreshing that all three leaders said that they disagreed with the Vatican on a number of key issues, including its views on homosexuality, science, and contraception. The BHA and our partner organisations will be using the state visit of the Pope to emphasise the damaging doctrines of Pope and the Holy See on those issues.’
Mr Copson added, ‘It is regrettable that the leaders only spoke of bringing together people of faith when so many Britons are not religious. We have already written to each of them this week, asking for acknowledgement of the vast social contribution of the millions of non-religious people in this country.’
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 Andrew Copson, 020 7079 3583 or 020 3675 0959
The British Humanist Association is the national charity supporting and representing people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs.