Make a Difference

Dramatic changes to our planet like glaciers calving into the sea and record-setting temperatures make front page headlines around the world. But while other disruptions caused by the climate crisis – such as the transformation of our planet’s water cycle – are a little less immediately striking, they can be even more profound and far-reaching. 

The consequences can also seem confusing and contradictory. How is it even possible that climate change increases our risk of both heavy rains and extreme droughts? 

Read about the significance of 'The Water Cycle'  . .See HERE

Funding needed to sustain our efforts to negate the TRUMP syndrome !

HELP HERE

Update on several crucial developments . . HERE

We couldn't have done this without you & your supporters !

For review of 2016 . .See HERE

It is widely accepted amongst scientists in the realm of climate and related natural extreme weather events, of the inconvenient truth that the already existing 400+ppm C02 is locked into the atmosphere for 100’s of years.  Of concern alongside that, is  the seeming denial that business as usual - the burning of fossil fuels - is ok for investment by penion funds etc . . 

The reality is that at that level of CO2, climate chaos is unstoppable and we are therefore on the road to the tipping point  ‘a la planet Venus’ scenario   As always  Ron

A recent Guardian media group initiative amassed >216,000 supporters in challenging the Gates foundation and Wellcome trust re their investment portfolios in furthering coal extraction . . the root cause of global warming.  The fact is that the climate is heading for a +4 C degree increase, via already existing C02 levels and our correspondence in support of their campaign caused us to write to their project >

Subject: Fao SIR WILLIAM CASTELL - CHAIR  - WELLCOME TRUST

Dear Sir William,

Whilst recognising the undisputed extent of your organisations’ humanitarian outreach, we are dismayed by its continued investment portfolio in support of fossil fuel extraction.  Although it is well accepted that limiting our world temperature to a +2C degree rise is that which allows our planet to continue in sustaining humankind, at the current level of 400+ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere, we are on track within a generation for some +4C degrees rise, which, left unchecked, will cause a level of devastation which is frankly, unimaginable.

We call on you to join with others, the growing adoption of divestment policy, for the common good of humanity and our interdependence on all that we hold dear.

Yours Sincerely

Ron  McLaren   Chair   Humanism in Scotland                   

01337 842352    078 541 14898   secularon@gmail.com   dispute over the London Oratory School's admissions arrangements – a dispute that was triggered when we objected to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator over two years ago, alleging that the arrangements broke the School Admissions Code. The latest decision was a judicial review of a decision the OSA made last summer

Abuse of LGBT people !

With your help, we’ve collected together, 400.000 signatures to submit to the Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow. We intended to demand a full-scale investigation of the cases of tortures and murders of LGBT people in Chechnya. We were taken into custody when trying to deliver ! This shows how much we continue to need your support !

A new initiative >

UK Supermarkets: Add a "Donate to Foodbank" option for Online Supermarket Shopping

DOMESTIC  ABUSE

A meeting was scheduled with the CPS for Monday of this week but it was postponed until yesterday. I feel that the CPS are very much wanting to work with and for victims of domestic abuse. There are many steps 'we' need to take to make change happen, that first step was signing this petition, again I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Laws don't change overnight but they can

It’s been one year since British Iranian mum, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was arrested at the airport and imprisoned in Iran. Her husband Richard has been campaigning ever since to bring her home and reunite his family. 

Last weekend Richard marked the 365 days without his wife by holding a special event. He collected messages from supporters like you and tied them to a tree in one of the family’s favourite parks. See Video HERE

Petition to bring mental heath onto school curricula SEE HERE

Welcome to Change.org. joined to more than 75 million people using the world's largest social change platform to improve their communities and to communicate directly with decision makers.

Petitions and campaigns on Change.org represent the many opinions of millions of people. We don’t take responsibility for their views, nor do we monitor content for legality or accuracy.

We do not have a position or endorse any petitions on our platform, which means the true power of Change.org is with the millions of people who use the platform every day.

It is not self-evident as to the relevance of Humanism in everyday life.

Click HERE to download

Go to Contact Us

Importantly, it is also a two-way street, whereby we in Scotland can solicit UK wide or International support for national level issues of concern to us !

Can't be bad !

You can also see recent activity (* indicates an update*) which always appear

at the top of the alpha-order lists of the M a D themed blogs. 

  Further, we have been carefully considering and assessing in the last number of  months,  the effect/*results of many petitions in which we have become involved, and the summary is staggering, proving that this brings people power into reality. So we intend to continue with that, encouraging more and more of those who wish to join us in making a difference.

See * results  HERE

At Humanism in Scotland, we engage with a large world-wide network of like-minded organisations and individuals, across both national and international domains, who notify us day and daily, of insight, heads up, happenings or issues about which they are in concert with our ongoing concerns as people who enact our individual and collective reponsibilities and interdependence.

So, to Make a Difference, bringing your people power into play, input either an email  address or  twitter ID in the 'Select Preferred Method' box in 'Contact Us' or by using the 'People Have Power' box in the footer, via which you will be included in that choice of network and be kept abreast of things which we highlight as either needing urgent action and/or regular scrutiny by the large constituency whose collective power, we facilitate. If so minded, your chosen method of inclusion will direct you as to how to act in each and every case, with any time-frame criteria if appropriate.  You can also suggest a topic of concern for coordinated action.

The term ‘armchair activists’ tends to be used in a dismissive way, implying that people who campaign through social media are not doing anything that has significance for impact in the real world. This fails to acknowledge the potential for many people who, perhaps because of health, mobility issues or caring responsibilities, are unable to take part in things outside their home. The truth is that they have as much to contribute as anyone else. Advances in technology now allow people, without leaving or venturing far from home, to do things that make a real difference – even to saving lives

The worldwide humanist moral and ethical code is what we're all about, adopted at the tri-annual World Humanist Congress  in The Netherlands in 2002 CE. The most recent 2014 Congress in Oxford – England, reaffirmed this 2002 version as still relevant.

The decrees of our humanist moral and ethical code, taken either singly or combined, relate to all/any issues that affect or effect human well-being.

Humanism, the outcome of a long tradition of free thought *D1.     has inspired many of the world's great thinkers and creative artists and gave rise to science itself *D2. The decrees of modern Humanism are :

1.         Humanism . . .   is ethical *d1.    It affirms the worth, dignity and autonomy of the individual *d2.    and the right of every human being to the greatest possible freedom, compatible with the rights of others *d3. Humanists have a duty of care to all of humanity including future generations *d4.    Humanists believe that morality is an intrinsic part of human nature based on understanding and a concern for others, needing no external sanction *d5.

2.        Humanism . . .   is rational *d6.    It seeks to use science creatively, not destructively *d7.   Humanists believe that the solutions to the world's problems lie in human thought and action rather than divine intervention *d8.    Humanism advocates the application of the methods of science and free inquiry to the problems of human welfare *d9.   But Humanists also believe that the application of science and technology must be tempered by human values *d10.   Science gives us the means but human values must decide the ends *d11.

3.         Humanism . . .    supports democracy and human rights. *d12.   Humanism aims at the fullest possible development of every human being *d13.   It holds that democracy and human development are matters of right *d14.   The principles of democracy and human rights can be applied to many human relationships and are not restricted to methods of government *d15.

4.         Humanism . . . insists that personal liberty must be combined with social responsibility *d16. Humanism ventures to build a world on the idea of the free person responsible to society *d17. and recognizes our dependence on and responsibility for the natural world *d18.   Humanism is not dogmatic, imposing no creed upon its adherents *d19.   It is thus committed to education free from indoctrination *d20.

5.         Humanism . . .   is a response to the widespread demand for an alternative to dogmatic religion *d21.   The world's major religions claim to be based on revelations fixed for all time, and many seek to impose their world-views on all of humanity.    Humanism recognises that reliable knowledge of the world and ourselves arises through a continuing process of observation, evaluation and revision *d22.

6.         Humanism . . .    values artistic creativity and imagination and recognizes the transforming power of art *d23.   Humanism affirms the importance of literature, music, and the visual and performing arts for, personal development and fulfilment *d24.

7.         Humanism . . .    is a life stance aiming at the maximum possible fulfilment through the cultivation of ethical and creative living, offering an ethical and rational means of addressing the challenges of our times *d25.   Humanism can be a way of life for everyone everywhere.    Our primary task is to make human beings aware in the simplest terms of what Humanism can mean to them and what it commits them to *d26.   By utilizing free inquiry, the power of science and creative imagination for the furtherance of peace and in the service of compassion, we have confidence that we have the means to solve the problems that confront us all *d27.   We call upon all who share this conviction to associate themselves with us in this endeavour.  

www.iheu.org.uk   

In Alpha Order

Advocacy / Amnesty / Child philosophy / Children's rights / Climate reality /

Corporate malevolence / Death with dignity / Disabled rights / Education /

Equality & diversity / Friend of the earth / Global justice now / Global warming /

Government nonsesnse / Human rights / NHS & health / Psuedo science / Peta /

Pollenators / Student activism / Various allsorts . . . . .

A few months ago, tens of thousands of us worked together to tell the high street bank Santander to stop funding a paper company called APRIL.  It was turning Indonesia’s rainforest into throwaway paper, bankrolled by Santander - even though these beautiful forests are home to animals like the critically endangered Sumatran tiger.

160,000 of us signed the petition including about 30,000 Santander customers. 14,000 of us emailed the CEO direct and demanded his action.

Hundreds of us visited Santander branches all over the country to complain to the manager. Sometimes, we even left leaflets disguised as Santander’s own promotional material, blowing the whistle on the rainforest scandal.

Santander quickly decided to cancel the financing. They wouldn’t loan APRIL, the paper giant, any more money until it stopped destroying the rainforest.  This was just one part in a global campaign. All over the world, Greenpeace activists and campaigners challenged APRIL’s customers to take their business elsewhere.  The pressure kept piling up until APRIL couldn’t take it anymore. Last week we got the good news. APRIL - one of the biggest paper companies in the world - had ended their deforestation. From now on, they promise to protect Indonesia’s forests.

This couldn’t have happened without us and thousands of other Greenpeace activists standing up for what we believe in. Together we’re protecting the forests where endangered Sumatran tigers, orangutans and sun bears roam.  People have Power.

Our advocates are supporters who can bring their observations, experiences and/or especialisms into focus for our organisation to respond as appropriate.

Our advocates also include those with direct health experiences in the likes of kidney, lung or bowel disease. 

Suggestions for those who wish to add to the portfolio of supporters or for any other  aspects can submit via registering via . . .   See HERE

2016 wasn't all bad . See HERE

Weekly philosophy sessions in class can boost primary school pupils' ability in maths and literacy, a study says.  More than 3,000 nine and 10-year-olds in 48 UK schools took part in hour-long sessions aimed at raising their ability to question, reason and form arguments.

A study for the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) found pupils' ability in reading and maths scores improved by an average of two months over a year.

For disadvantaged children, the study found writing skills were also boosted.

The trial of the Philosophy for Children programme (P4C) focused on children in Years 4 and 5 - aged nine and 10.

It was part of efforts by the charity, EEF, to evaluate ways in which schools are spending pupil premium money beneficially on children from poorer backgrounds.

The disadvantaged pupils in the trial, those on free school meals, saw their reading skills improve by four months, their maths by three months and their writing ability by two months.

SNAP Scotland's National Action Plan for Human Rights. This is a road map for activating children's rights. By raising awareness and understanding of rights in health, social care, housing, justice, living standards and safety, we help to focus on the role of children as victims of social and political, as well as economic injustice and discrimination.

A rights-based analysis of budget decisions in which we disaggregate for the impact on children would help to prevent outcomes like the negative impact of welfare cuts on child poverty.  Humanists in Scotland must get behind the work of the Scottish Human Rights Commission in particular to tackle the problem of human rights for children.

A child's perspective on Gay marriage . . .

http://www.myuncleswedding.com/

What is George Osborn doing ? Austerity whilst corporate piracy remains untouched . . . On Black Friday this week and thanks to their incredibly aggressive tax dodging schemes, Amazon will pay barely any tax on it. For every £100 they made in the UK last year, they paid just *2 pence* in tax.

Who do you think should be writing the terms of the huge trade deal between the EU and the US that’s currently being negotiated? Politicians? European citizens? Or corporate lobbyists, paid hundreds of thousands of Euros a year to push a big business agenda in Brussels?

We’ve teamed up with Corporate Europe Observatory to find out who’s lobbying on TTIP, and it’s pretty disturbing to read. We found that some of the biggest increases in lobbying spending came from the finance sector and big pharma. Not the most trustworthy people when it comes to protecting European citizens.

We’ve created a set of graphics to highlight the most important details we’ve uncovered. With TTIP talks happening right now, it’s never been more important to spread the word about big business’ involvement in the deal. The more people that see them, the harder it will be for European politicians to justify this dangerous corporate power grab.

Have a look at the infographics yourself -- and then share them on Facebook or by forwarding this email, so that everyone knows who’s really writing TTIP.

In  present day life, where  instability is increasingly the norm, there is one constant amongst all of this turbulence!

Namely . . .  Us!
 

See HERE For our thanks to those who have pursued our right to enact that which we choose in intolerable end of life conditions

Update  see HERE

Our resolve and determination is constant and genuinely humbling and in the past year since parliament failed to legalise assisted dying, we have shown that we're up for the challenge. That is good to know, because in 2017, there are some groundbreaking new campaigns planned, needing our continued support.

Andt it is no exaggeration to say that this year has been one of the most successful years ever for assisted dying.

California and Colorado both now have assisted dying laws. Together with Canada, it is clear that law makers are now starting to realise the consequences of inaction.

Further, read the message from Desmond Tutu who wishes a dignified death in the manner of his choosing !  See HERE

The Campaign continues . . . last December, we were invited to speak at the 'End of Life Care Forum' in London.    To see the Forum - See here

To prompt an email to the organisation - Go here

SDEF

Many of us take getting out and about for granted, enjoying the normal day-to-day activities.  But many don't !

Thousands of people need Changing Places toilets to enable them to do that 

The Changing Places Consortium launched its campaign in 2006 on behalf of the 1/4 of a million people who cannot use standard accessible toilets.This includes people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, as well as older people.

To use the toilet in safety and comfort, many people need to be able to access a Changing Places toilet which has enough space and the right equipment, including a height adjustable changing bench and a hoist.

The Changing Places Consortium is campaigning to make a change. Find out how.

click here

Following concerted effort by humanists and secularists re the creeping inclusion of creationism and young earth proponents in the science curriculum at some Scottish schools, Dr Alasdair Allan MSP - The Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages has formally declared that creationism should not be taught in science classes.

The extensive media coverage trumpeted . .

'Education Scotland does not indentify

creationism as a scientific theory'

Further, this positive outcome got the attention of around 300,000  'Likes' on social media . . people have power !

Dear Ron & all at Humanism in Scotland . . .

Thank you for all your support for LGBTI equality in 2016. We wish you season's greetings and all the best for 2017!

Yours for equality,

Becky, Hannah, James, Jenni, Lynne, Mel, Oceana, Sam, Scott, Tim and Vic

The Equality Network team

Thanks to Co-op’s new commitment, thousands of farmers can now look forward to a brighter, more secure future. They’ll receive an extra £350,000 a year in Fairtrade Premium to invest in their farms and communities, for example in training to help them better care for their cocoa trees and adapt to climate change.

We’d love you to meet some more of the people who make Fairtrade go. They’re the grassroots movement behind the UK’s passion for fairness.See HERE

click to add your name   We did it, Ron!

Thanks to you and your supporters, we’ve just handed in a letter to No 10 with over 50,000 signatures and a clear message for Theresa May. Adding your name lets the government know that you care about the people behind your food.

We’ve asked the Prime Minister to publicly commit to trade that delivers a fair deal for farmers and workers in our post-Brexit trade negotiations.

The big gains in 2016     See HERE

At Global Justice Now we never claim that it’s easy to end poverty. Instead we look at the complex root causes of inequality and work as part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world.

Climate and Energy
We live in a world where one in five people has no access to electricity, and many millions more cannot afford it. At the same time, fossil fuel-addicted multinational corporations consume more energy than entire nations. As long as profit is prioritised over the needs of people and the planet, this situation will not change. To achieve a fairer, better world we need energy justice instead.

Yet right now our government is using taxpayers money through the aid budget to push energy privatisation in countries like Nigeria. The result has already been massive price hikes, blackouts and job losses. It has been the same story wherever energy privatisation has taken place.

Join our campaign today and tell the government to use the aid budget for real energy solutions and give corporate-controlled energy the boot.

Now we are   http://http://campaigning against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

We live in a deeply unjust world where millions of people still live in poverty while a few corporations and elites keep getting richer and more powerful. Fewer than 70 people now own more wealth than half the world's population. But at Global Justice Now we know that poverty and inequality are not accidental, they are political. And together we can do something about it.

For forty years, our campaigners have successfully challenged the actions of the UK government and Corporations which keep people locked in poverty.

With the backing of our supporters, we have stopped unjust conditions being attached to overseas aid, persuaded the EU to allocate €40 million to support progressive public water schemes in poor regions. Alongside our allies across Europe, we won EU regulation to tackle food speculation and help stop banks and hedge funds driving up food prices.

All these successes were made possible thanks to people like us who are part of the movement for global justice.

Food
At Global Justice Now we believe in the vision of food sovereignty: a fairer food system that allows communities to produce healthy food sustainably and helps them retain control of their production.

That’s why, from 2010-2014, we sucessfully campaigned against speculation on food, to prevent banks and hedge funds driving up food prices. And it’s why we are now challenging the co rporate takeover of Africa’s land and food, which is happening at the expense of the small-scale farmers who feed most of the continent, and frequently backed by our own government with UK aid money and political support.

By acting together, individuals like you are helping us force this issue into the spotlight. As a direct result of our supporters’ emails to their MPs raising concerns about UK backing for a new ‘Monsanto Law’ in Ghana, parliamentary questions have been raised and an Early Day Motion has been tabled, to which over 100 MPs have already signed on. If they’ve not already, tell your MP to join them today.

For more information on all our work and how you can get involved check out our website www.globaljustice.org.uk .

SumOfUs members have stood up to Nestlé exploiting our natural resources for profits, and the company has heard us loud and clear. After hundreds of thousands of us called on Nestlé to stop exploiting Pakistan's water supply, we took the message straight to the company's annual meeting. And now we are making front pages in Canada. We can stop Nestlé's water-guzzling ways in California, but we need to speak out before the state completely runs out of water. 

180,000 people who have signed our Keep it in the Ground petition in partnership with 350.org calling on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust to divest from fossil fuels. The response has been amazing with signers from more than 170 countries

As a member and supporter of  Greenpeace, we thanked them for a recent campaign achievement in contesting deforestation threat to orang utans etc.

This was a great example of what ordinary people can achieve via their combined action, working together for a common cause, for the common good (including the planet & its flora & fauna) 

However, we suggested that their reporting success shouldn’t be triumphalist, using as they did.... “At first, Santander denied everything. Then it confessed. We did it!  Today, we won.”

We offered a less robust way, saying . .  “through the involvement of 256,000 of our supporters, Santander’s realisation of our collective responsibility brought the desired result, protecting the trees where orang-utans swing and rare birds sing”

Greenpeace replied . . .

Hi Ron

Thanks for your email re not triumphalising and for your amazing support!  I will pass your suggestions to the team - they are always open to feedback and look to improve how we communicate with our supporters.It's thanks to the help of wonderful people like you that have made this happen.

Any thoughts folks . . ? 

Aye yours   ron

UPDATE

15 Jul 2015 — On Monday Marie Rimmer tabled an Early Day Motion calling on the Government to ensure the disclosure of the number of incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance claimants who have died since November 2011 until May 2014, in full and without further delay.

It has already been supported by 25 MP's.
Lets see if we can encourage all Labour and SNP MP's to support Marie Rimmer

Please contact your MP to ask them to give their support to Marie Rimmer's Early Day Motion 285 which asks the Government to disclose the number of incapacity benefit and employment and support allowance claimants who have died since November 2011 until May 2014

https://www.writetothem.com/

Please note that if you had selected email or twitterID in the M a D routine, you would have received this update direct rather than from our website.

Thanks to all 235,000 of us! – who signed my petition calling for the Government to publish statistics showing how many people have died after their benefits were stopped. The past 10 days have been a whirlwind.

First Iain Duncan Smith said they could not publish these figures and accused us of scaremongering. Then David Cameron said that they would be published. But this was swiftly followed by the Government saying that they were appealing against the Information Commissioner’s ruling that they should be publish, saying that publishing this data would lead to “probable misinterpretations” and “was too emotive...and wasn’t in the public interest”. So the Government is still trying to avoid publishing this data. We must keep campaigning!

All of this came to light in a debate secured by Debbie Abrahams MP which you can read here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2015-06-30a.439.0&s=death+while+fit+for+work#g442.5

Please take a moment to email your MP https://www.writetothem.com/ and ask them if they will support the 235,000 people who have signed this petition calling for the Government to publish statistics showing how many people have died after their benefits were stopped.

When/if you receive a response from your MP – please forward it to maggiezed@hotmail.com

This theme will include HR as applies to children's rights, as well as any related material derived via the ethos of International Humanism, the Scottish Human Rights Council, UK & Scottish Governance, the European Union, & assorted media etc. 

The NHS is a central institution in Scottish society. It guarantees in its principles, equal access for all of our citizens, from the cradle to the grave. Healthcare and how it is delivered and to whom it is targeted matters to humanists in Scotland, which is why we support the notions of patient focus and public involvement in the NHS.

Our criteria for a healthy NHS that will safeguard public ownership of its hospitals and its facilities are not rigid or impervious to change. In fact we champion change when it clearly benefits NHS stakeholders. Humanists in Scotland welcome many of those measures coming from the Government which are aimed at essential improvements in the delivery of healthcare. Our guiding imperative is that continuous improvement in the health service is matched step by step with an equity obligation to reduce inequalities in patient provision throughout our hospitals and clinics.

The moral case for the continued existence of a protected NHS in Scotland derives its strength from the basic humanist premise of distributive justice, which is a cornerstone of biomedical ethics.  Fairly distributing benefits, risks and costs are a humanist norm of obligation. The concept of vulnerability is one of these categories. In any weakened condition, a patient is at risk of harm, indignity or  loss of their  human rights. The consequent discrimination against the sick and disabled within the healthcare system comes about when patients, and especially the elderly, are marginalised because the system is underfunded, understaffed or used solely as a source of profit. Humanists will always speak out against these injustices.

One way to promote a meaningful defence of the NHS is by getting involved in volunteering. Some humanists in Scotland have become active in spiritual care provision, meeting with patients as part of the chaplaincy outreach in hospitals. Here is one example of a practice that offers spiritual care, irrespective of faith, creed, belief or no belief, all such as secular voices prepared to help with  emotional support to the patient, whatever their religion or mindset. We encourage humanist helpers with materials and the valued experience that some of us at Humanism in Scotland can put at your disposal.

Noah’s Ark found says Scots Education Committee member (No. This is not an April Fool's joke) Noah's Ark found says Scots Education Committee member  

humanist satirist and blogger Washiqur Rahman was hacked down not 500 yards from his house, because he criticised religious fundamentalism in a blog Dhaka Bangladesh

reply from my MP. The standard that we should hold other parties to as well.For background, see Tax Dodging Bill

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

PETA raises concerns across the world, to which we action our support - Here's some . . .

Chickens spared a lifetine of misery / Fewer greyhounds used, abused & discarded / Fewer primates facing agonising experiments / Fewer animals facing agonies of the fur trade / Geese no longer facing excruciating pain on feather removal / the banning of the Spanish Toro de la Vega ritual mutilation of a bull / 

Our campaign to save the bees is winning one victory after another.

Major corporate retailers in the US - like Home Depot and Lowe’s have pledged to stop selling bee-killing pesticides. The EU has also enacted a moratorium, and governments in Canada and the U.S. are taking action as well.

Now a contractor for Bayer -- one of the biggest producers of bee-killing pesticides -- is threatening to sue our movement if we don’t back off.

We love it! This shows just how strong people power is when it comes to creating real change.

More than a third of the students (349) at North Berwick High have signed a petition challenging Christianity’s monopoly in Religious Observance and School Assemblies. In order to express their views more freely, they have set up their own newspaper, The Contender, of which the first two numbers are available on line here and here, and obtained a grant to pay for a print edition. These actions have attracted well-deserved media attention both locally and UK-wide, and are likely to be discussed by the Scottish Youth Parliament.

Strange as it may seem, all the students are demanding is that the school act according to  policies stated  which are based on the Scottish Government’s current guidance letter. Both the handbook and the guidance letter say, in identical language, that “[M]any school communities contain pupils and staff from faiths other than Christianity or with no faith commitment, and this must be taken fully into account in supporting spiritual development. It is of central importance that all pupils and staff can participate with integrity in forms of religious observance without compromise to their personal faith” and that “There should be a clear distinction between assemblies devised for the purpose of religious observance and assemblies for other purposes such as celebrating success.”

(School handbook; also official Scottish Government guidance)

There should be a clear distinction between assemblies devised for the purpose of religious observance and assemblies for other purposes such as celebrating success.

 

Poverty is sexist see HERE

Thomas Cook: Stopped Promoting Trips to Swim with Captive Dolphins

Engage with Global Citizen if you wish to explore a range of issues which demand our attention and action . . .

Here's some other general examples . . .

Intervene in corporate self serving irresponsibility.

Jewson selling decking made from rain forest destruction.    

Lidl's exploitation of vulnerable workers, in Thailand’s shrimp processing plants

KFC using Indonesian palm oil for cooking  . .result =  deforestation.  So too PepsiCo's denying their irresponsible palm oil policy in their Doritos manufacture, using a benign 'Quaker man' image.

Humanist mobilisation worldwide to bring an end to blasphemy legislation.

Cracking down on  HSBC, advocating punishment to the full extent of the law in their tax evasion activities.

many of the world’s largest telecom giants and websites operate out of the United States, these rules have the potential to directly control access to the free and open Internet around the world.

The SFO knows as well as we do that HSBC should be facing a criminal prosecution. Under this leadership the Serious Fraud Office has launched investigations against companies like Barclays and GlaxoSmithKline when there was a clear public interest. If enough of us report HSBC to the SFO, we can persuade him to investigate this bank too.

Through our involvement with 350.org, together we just scored the biggest coal divestment commitment to date.

One of the world’s biggest coal investors, Norway’s $900 billion sovereign wealth fund, has agreed unanimously to ban coal investments. And this happened just hours after we delivered your #DivestNorway petition signatures to politicians yesterday (while projecting tweets from coal activists around the world onto giant screens outside the Norwegian parliament)!

Next up is the Vatican, to do likewise . . people power is great !