NSS Bulletin Autumn 09 - National Secular Society

challenging religious privilege
Bulletin
Autumn 2009
Issue 43 www.secularism.org.uk
Thought for
the Day: is a
breakthrough
imminent? continues
Ritual Slaughter:
a victory that
looked impossible
Animal welfare regulations require
animals to be stunned before
slaughter – the one exemption
being for the production of kosher
and halal meat. Meat produced in
this way – with the animal’s throat
cut while it is conscious – is
increasingly the only meat sold in a
number of retail and catering
outlets or provided in some
schools, for example. So, many of
us are unknowingly eating meat – or
food derived from it – that has been
slaughtered without pre-stunning.
continues on page 6, col 3 3
President Barroso
shares a joke with
Keith. See the full
story of our
Brussels meeting
on page 4.
New hopes for an end to the
discrimination inherent in Thought for
the Day were raised when the BBC
Trust accepted a complaint from the
NSS (as well as complaints from a
small number of individuals) calling
for the programme to be opened up
to non-religious voices.
The BBC Trust is the Corporation’s
governing body and “operationally
independent of BBC management”,
continues on page 3, col 3 3
The Society has been providing top
level assistance, briefings and
lobbying to various Government
departments. Keith Porteous Wood
along with Ministers, senior MPs
and senior civil servants was
invited to a reception launching the
Equality Bill. He took the
opportunity to lobby them and this
led to further invitations to put our
views to them later both in writing
and in person.
Keith and NSS vice President
Carla Revere have been involved in
a number of intensive briefing
sessions, for example with
Equalities Minister Michael Foster
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Hopes are raised for
Swanage community
school provision
Dorset County Council has gone
back to the drawing board after
plans to close the only remaining
community school within fifteen
miles met with overwhelming
opposition. As we reported in the
previous Bulletin, when Swanage
First School was earmarked for
closure the NSS swung into action
and put Dorset County Council under
considerable pressure over their
proposal. The NSS offered support
to local residents who objected to
the plans and instructed our lawyers
to issue the Council with a formal
letter detailing the legal problems
on page 2, col 3 3
Equality Bill: Putting the
Government under pressure
and with Dr Evan Harris MP. Carla
and Keith have spent a great deal
of time helping Evan over recent
months with research, information
and suggested amendments for the
Bill. He also attended the Equality
Bill Committee in the Commons to
be on hand to assist Evan. We are
grateful for the support of two
members of the Labour National
Executive who are Honorary
Associates (pictured overleaf).
Much of our work has been
focused on reducing the
discrimination against teachers in
religious schools who are not of the
school’s faith. Carla Revere, who is
continues on page 2, col 1 3

7 “Equality Bill” continued
a barrister, has played a major role
in uncovering what we believe to be
the Government’s untenable
position in allowing the
discrimination to continue.
We have demonstrably held the
Government to account. Michael
Foster described our round table
meeting as “very productive” and
the detailed answer to the many
points we raised ran to seven
pages. Evan has been generous in
his thanks for our research going to
the heart of some difficult and
rarely-explored but crucial areas.
Some of these have formed the
basis for some of his probing
Vice President Anna Behan and
Keith Porteous Wood met senior
staff at the Department for
Communities and Local Government
(DCLG), which includes the
Government Equalities Office. We
raised concerns about the Equality
Bill, but most of the discussion was
about a euphemistically titled
“Charter of Excellence”, a voluntary
code intended to apply to religious
organisations bidding for “Faith
Based” Welfare (FBW).
The NSS opposed this Charter
because we believe prohibition of
discrimination should be mandatory
rather than voluntary. The Charter
was far too weak and, not being
policed, would therefore give faith
groups unjustified preference in
tendering to run services. It would
2
amendments. Keith watched a
Government Minister almost
physically squirming under Evan’s
relentless cross examination on
this Bill. We admire him for so often
being the MP who puts Government
Ministers under the most scrutiny.
However, as the Government
heads towards the General Election,
it is less willing to take on the
churches, minority religions and the
increasingly powerful right-wing
media. The Society’s work on the
Bill is therefore evolving into a
damage-limitation exercise where
we are doing our level best to head
off the worst excesses.
Clockwise from top left:
Michael Foster MP, Carla
Revere, Dr Evan Harris MP,
Michael Cashman MEP,
Angela Eagle MP
Faith based welfare:
Government drops Charter
not even have required an
undertaking from bidders for public
money not to discriminate in
employment against those of the
" wrong" faith or none, something
that in any case should be made
unlawful.
We are pleased to say that the
Government has dropped the
Charter. We hope it was as a result
of our protestations, rather than
because the religious were not even
prepared to accept a voluntary code.
Both Labour and Conservatives
support the increase and spread of
FBW, so we are moving from
opposition in principle to damage
limitation here too. So, while we
continue to raise serious concerns
at every opportunity, the emphasis
has shifted to the mechanisms.
7 “Swanage” continued
they risked by failing to provide a
community school. One would be a
legal challenge under the Human
Rights Act for contravening parents’
rights to educate their children in
Swanage First School
line with their beliefs. Sources tell
us that they are taking our letter
seriously.
Under the original plans, Swanage
First and St Mark’s CofE First
Schools would have been closed
and replaced with a new primary
which would “respect the faith
tradition” of St Mark’s. Parents
would then be left with no
alternative to a religious school.
The Council will now launch a new
public consultation in early 2010
and the NSS will be closely
monitoring the situation and doing
all we can to ensure that there will
be a community school in the area
in future. The wording of the
document announcing the
consultation also suggests that
Dorset has taken on board these
concerns.
We suspect that a, perhaps
secondary, reason for the
consultation is to distance Dorset
from a decision to retain a
community school so as not to
antagonise the local Anglican
diocese, which we suspect to have
played a key role in the original
proposals.
Submissions
The NSS works away behind the
scenes, submitting consultation
documents to Government and
other agencies. Recently, we
have written an RE guidance
submission and also raised the
issue in the TES. We contributed
to the UK consultation on the
European Commission Proposal
for Equal Treatment Directive
(Discrimination in provision of
goods and services) and to the
Broadcast Advertising Standards
Code on condom and abortion
advice centre advertising.
Bulletin Autumn 2009

Scotland
There has been a fierce tussle
fought out in the pages of the
Herald (published in Glasgow)
between the NSS and a Scottish
cleric David Keddie over Religious
Observance in Scottish schools.
He claimed new Scottish
guidelines marked a radical
departure from the traditional
Christian-based assemblies that
used to be held in schools in favour
of a much more inclusive, nonspecifically
faith-based school and
pupil-centred approach to the
development of “spiritual
development”. We countered with
quotes from the guidelines showing
they were far from being as
enlightened or pluralistic as Dr
Keddie would have the readers
believe. We pointed out the
guidelines went out of their way not
to forbid or even criticise worship in
the formal curriculum, and even
gave examples of where – not just
in RC schools – confessional (i.e.
proselytising) teaching was
“appropriate”.
We opined that “there are plenty
of pupils not of the faith of the
school or the “faith community”,
even if their parents are. It is no
longer legitimate for publicly-funded
schools to force-feed captive pupils
with confessional religion – if this
happens at all it should be for the
home and place of worship.”
The NSS also took on Scottish
justice secretary Kenny MacAskill in
the Herald and the Scotsman for his
references to a ‘higher power’ giving
the supposed Libyan/PanAm
Camp for enquiring minds
Camp Quest, the first UK summer camp aimed mainly
at children from non-believing families, received an
astonishingly hostile press when it was launched this
year, e.g. “Dawkins sets up kids’ camp to groom
atheists” as front page news. Yet NSS Honorary
Associate Richard Dawkins had only made a modest
contribution, and played no part in the management of
the camp.
Terry Sanderson and Keith Porteous Wood spent a
couple of days putting the record straight on both TV
and radio. They pointed to the double standard: one
small camp encouraging children to think for
themselves made repeated national headlines, while
the hundreds or thousands of larger Christian camps
where children are told what to think and believe pass
unremarked.
More information at www.camp-quest.org.uk
bomber Megrahi terminal cancer. We
were also quoted in Scotland on
Sunday following the news that the
SNP candidate for the forthcoming
Glasgow North-East by-election is a
member of Opus Dei.
We are delighted that Iain Banks,
identified as an NSS Honorary
Associate, has spoken out in The
Sunday Times against faith schools
in Scotland, emphasising the
sectarianism aspect.
Iain Banks
Wales
The NSS bitterly attacked the
Archbishop of Wales for opposing
proposals that older pupils in Wales
should not be allowed to opt out of
Collective Worship at school. Our
7 “Thought for the Day” continued
which is cause for hope.
Its complaints procedure can be
accessed only after all the internal
avenues within the BBC have been
exhausted. So, the NSS’s complaint
first had to pass through the usual
brush-off stages of the BBC’s normal
complaints procedure and has now
been accepted for adjudication by
the Trust sometime in the autumn.
Only around seventy complaints a
year make it this far.
Our complaint runs to twelve
pages of detailed argument, and
notes that the NSS's first complaint
was in 1962.
The news that the BBC Trust was
considering the change made
headlines around the world, and the
NSS figured prominently in the
stories.
comments were picked up by the
Church of England Newspaper. The
proposals are prompted by the
equivalent change made in England
directly as a result of the NSS’s
efforts.
DONATIONS
The Council expresses its profuse thanks to all members who have
made donations over the summer, particularly one of £1,000. The NSS
would also like to thank the growing number of members taking out
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Students group appoints
new president
We congratulate Jenna Catley on her
appointment as president of The National
Federation of Atheist, Humanist and
Jenna
Catley
Secular Student Societies. The task of this group is an
important one: it is essential that students are offered
an alternative to the increasingly aggressive tactics of
religious groups on campus. The more secularist
groups that can be encouraged to form or expand, the
better. The NSS does all it can to encourage the AHS.
The NSS has a growing number of student members,
some of whom have gone on to set up groups
themselves.
Any students who wish to volunteer – even if they
cannot afford to join – are invited to contact Tessa
Kendall at admin@secularism.org.uk
Bulletin Autumn 2009 3

NSS at top table in Europe
(see photo on front page)
The NSS was among several nonreligious
organisations from around
Europe invited to a formal lunch with
Jose Manuel Barroso, the President
of the European Commission at its
Brussels HQ in June.
Keith Porteous Wood raised the
topic of sharia law and asked that
the Commission do more to protect
Human Rights from the onslaught of
religious demands.
He cautioned against taking for
granted Human Rights advances that
had been made; they need to be
defended from attack. He pointed to
the UN Human Rights Council where
even the Universal Declaration is
being undermined by rival and less
demanding Islamic versions.
Examples are the Cairo Declaration
on “Human Rights” in Islam in which
Sharia is mentioned around a dozen
times and the Arab Charter on
Human Rights.
Other attendees at the lunch were
astonished when he informed them
In June, the General Assembly
(AGM) of the International Humanist
and Ethical Union was held in
Conway Hall, London. Keith’s
reappointment as an international
representative for IHEU was ratified.
This status is helpful, for example, in
matters associated with the United
Nations Human Rights Council.
The NSS hosted and co-chaired a
meeting of the International Liaison
Committee of Atheists and
Freethinkers (ILCAF). This was
followed by an NSS reception for
delegates with IHEU’s president,
Sonja Eggerickx, as guest of honour.
Anna Behan
that only Sharia ‘scholars’ are
permitted to discuss Sharia at the
UN Council on Human Rights.
There was surprise and concern
at his description of the rise of the
influence of Sharia law in the UK,
where Sharia tribunals, claiming to
be “official”, are spreading their
influence and activities. Keith had
directed a senior EU Justice
Directorate lawyer to one such site
and even she thought it was an
official one, she later admitted.
Those most at risk are women,
whose evidence is deemed to be
worth only half that of a man’s.
Keith called for every EU citizen to
be subject only to democraticallydetermined
and Human Rights
compliant laws. He urged Member
States to carefully consider the
example set by Canadian provinces
in outlawing religious arbitration of
all kinds.
There were nods of agreement
when Keith asserted that the Pope
The reception was also attended by
members of the NSS and of our
sister French organisation Libre
Pensée. The evening concluded with
a much-appreciated performance of
Terry Sanderson’s show about the
war-time heroism of Marlene
Dietrich, “the world’s most
glamorous atheist”. We were
pleased to reciprocate the hospitality
we receive when attending functions
at kindred organisations abroad.
The final event was an IHEU
conference on Untouchability. This is
largely a product of the Hindu caste
system, but it is little-known that its
was stepping up the Vatican’s
institutional homophobia; not only by
discriminating against priests for
homosexual activity, but for their
very orientation. He branded as
deplorable the Vatican’s attempted
interference in legislation to give gay
people equal rights around Europe.
He sat down amid laughter after
joking that this was ironic – given the
Catholic Church’s attitudes towards
homosexuals — that they should
employ such a high proportion of gay
men in its priesthood.
Reassuringly, President Barroso
later responded constructively,
picking up some of the NSS’s
points, particularly the question of
Sharia law, about which we are now
engaged in talks with European
Commission officials.
NSS staff member Stephen Evans
presented President Barroso with a
copy of the Civitas book, One Law
for All which echoes our concerns
about Sharia law.
International conferences at London’s Conway Hall
influence pervades even some parts
of the UK where a high proportion of
the population are from Hindu
backgrounds. We were delighted that
Honorary Associate Lord Desai
(himself from a Hindu background)
and Lord Avebury both spoke. The
NSS was on the panel for the closing
session and has worked with Lord
Avebury on an amendment to the
Equality Bill to cover caste
discrimination that has been taken
up by the LibDems. NSS Honorary
Associate Dr Evan Harris MP also
proposed an amendment on similar
lines in the Commons.
Anna at disestablishment book launch
Following our high level work with University College’s Constitutional Unit, the
generally acknowledged leading authority on such matters, Anna Behan was
invited to the launch of a new book about disestablishment: Church and State in
21st Century Britain: the Future of Church Establishment. As an independent
observer noted: “She also asked a very shrewd question viz.: ‘Upon what
principled basis did the CofE seek to continue in its present status?’ There was
no answer.
4 Bulletin Autumn 2009

Council of Europe and religion
The Council of Europe held a
conference at its HQ in Strasbourg
in June on Religious Education and
the role it is alleged to play in
improving intercultural relations.
(The conference is the second in
an annual series initiated at a
summit on The Religious Aspect of
Intercultural Dialogue in San
Marino in 2007 where Keith
Porteous Wood and Terry
Sanderson played an active
damage-limitation role).
Keith attended as an
international representative of the
International Humanist and Ethical
Union (to which the NSS is
affiliated). Keith found himself in
conflict with the representatives of
the Roman Catholic and Russian
Orthodox churches.
He acknowledged the need for
minimising friction between those
of different religious and cultural
backgrounds. The majority of
participants were representing
religious traditions however, and
thought that inter-faith conflict and
suspicion could be reduced if
students were to learn about each
others’ religions in depth.
Keith, clearly in a minority,
rejected this saying that while
students should be acquainted with
the basic tenets of the major
religions, the way to reduce tension
is not to dwell on differences.
Instead, we should be
EU Ambassador to the Council of Europe (Mme Pavan-
Woolfe) and Advisor to the European Commission
President, Jose Manuel Barroso (Georg Cesar das Neves)
with Keith at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg
concentrating on what unites us
rather than what divides us. He
suggested sport, with all cultures
playing together in the same team.
Music would be another example.
The religious delegates were
keen to refer to what they
described as “religious facts” that
students were supposed to learn.
He objected to this and to
everyone being required to
“respect” everyone else’s beliefs.
Everyone should of course have
the freedom to believe what they
wish, providing they are not
harming others. But freedom of
speech entails being able to
criticise elements of doctrine,
especially those that are inhumane
or discriminatory.
Even less popular was our
protest that there should not be
proselytising or confessional
teaching of religion in schools,
especially state-funded ones.
However little headway we
made, it is important that the voice
of dissent was clearly heard, even
though the conference has no
executive power. Keith picked up
signals of support from some
participants, but more importantly,
Council members, diplomats and
Council staff.
Parliamentary prayers: abolish or modernise?
Shortly after John Bercow was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons, on
a modernising ticket, we wrote to him to suggest the Commons should abandon
prayers. We explained why they were inappropriate and suggested that, if the
Commons just could not bring itself to remove them completely, a period of
silent reflection might be more appropriate. The worst of all options, we argued,
would be some sort of multi-faith prayers option.
Speaker John Bercow
Bulletin Autumn 2009 5

From pub to Pakistan…Council activity
Dan Bye spoke to Leeds Skeptics in the Pub on
How to annoy a skeptic.
Elizabeth O’Casey attended a WAFE (International
Federation of Women Against Fundamentalism and
for Equality) meeting in the House of Lords, on the
limits of tolerance. She also went to a lecture and
discussion on Sharia law and arbitration in
religious contexts at the Institute of Advanced
Legal Studies. In both meetings she raised issues
regarding the treatment and subjugation of women
by Islam and the consistent denial of women's
agency through Islamic legal, traditional, and
sartorial practices. Elizabeth also attended a
Liberty conference and spoke from the floor about international legislation
on the defamation of religion. She is involved in both the student campaign
and the campaign against religious slaughter.
Peter Vlachos spread the secular message during a week-long lecture trip
to a progressive university in Pakistan.
Dan Bye
Secular Medical Forum
In June, the Secular Medical Forum
represented the NSS at the General Medical
Council consultative conference on End of
Life Treatment and Care. The SMF broadly
welcomed the proposed new guidelines and
continues to push for a further shift of
emphasis towards increasing patient
autonomy up to and including the end of life.
There is stiff opposition to this from religious organisations. The SMF
welcomed distinguished scientist, author and TV presenter Simon Singh to
their reception at the BMA annual representatives’ meeting in Liverpool. In
response to the Advertising Standards consultation on broadcasting
standards, the SMF expressed concern that anti-choice organisations delay
women’s access to abortion while rarely being transparent about their true
agenda.
At the end of June, doctors voted down an evangelical Christian motion
at the BMA conference that would have given carte blanche for religious
medical practitioners to “share their faith” with patients without any risk of
suspension. This was prompted by the Nurse Petrie case in which the NSS,
almost alone, supported her employers. Terry Sanderson’s support of the
BMA’s decision was reported widely.
However, the BMA conference did pass some minor “faith creep”
motions.
For further information or speaker requests please visit the website
www.secularmedicalforum.org.uk or contact Dr Antony Lempert by email
antony@secularmedicalforum.org.uk or telephone the NSS on 020 7404 3126
The LSS continues to expand its membership
to promote law and policy making based on
principles of equal rights and respect for all. It
helps individuals and organisations by
providing legal advice and assistance on
issues of discrimination and human rights law
relating to religious privilege.
6
Elizabeth O’Casey
Lawyers’ Secular Society
7 “Ritual Slaughter” continued
The LSS is regularly contacted by journalists
who it is happy to assist.
Membership of the LSS is open to all
lawyers, practising and non-practising, and to
law students. Information on membership and
research resources can be found on the
website www.lawyerssecularsociety.org
The focus of our latest campaign
was quickly diverted from the UK to
Brussels when we learned of
attempts being made in the
European Parliament to remove the
Member States’ option not to insist
on pre-stunning, even for religious
slaughter. Most EU countries did
give exemptions, but the new rules
would make religious exemption
mandatory in all Member States.
We lobbied our MEPs and senior
politicians in the UK prior to the
first vote, at the Agriculture
Committee, and again at the vote
in the European Parliament. We
organised a petition of MPs to write
to the Rt Hon Hilary Benn, the
DEFRA minister, and were assisted
by a former DEFRA minister who
was supportive.
The only voting bloc opposing the
mandatory religious exemption was
ALDE, the European LibDems, to
which our Honorary Associate
Sophie in ’t Veld MEP is affiliated.
We were grateful for their support.
It is not a large bloc, however, and
we were not successful in turning
the tide – at that stage. Well
placed Jewish organisations have
clearly been planning this ambush
for a long time and were
particularly active. Any argument
presented as the preservation of
religious liberty trumps all,
regardless of the cruelty
implications.
The Parliament’s votes are
subject to ratification by the Council
of Ministers. This comprises the
Ministerial representatives of
Member States, and we had lobbied
the relevant UK Minister.
We were therefore delighted
when the final text agreed by the
Council of Ministers ignored the
Parliament’s stance and retained
Member States’ rights to decide
whether or not to grant these
exemptions.
Bulletin Autumn 2009

MEDIA
There was no let-up for the NSS
during the summer months as we
kept up our high profile in media.
Religion in schools was a recurring
theme. We spoke out in the
Telegraph and on the Press
Association newswires against
indoctrination in response to
Archbishop Vincent Nichols’ call for
more religion in schools and we
criticised new RE guidance and
‘forced worship’ in religious
assemblies in the Times
Educational Supplement.
The NSS was also extensively
quoted in the TES when Dorset
County Council withdrew their plans
to leave Swanage without a
community school. NSS Executive
Director, Keith Porteous Wood, also
spoke out against faith-based
education in the Independent’s
article about Britain’s first Hindu
faith school. Our comments were
picked up by Asian News
International and were carried
across various worldwide media
outlets.
When the media went into a
frenzy over Camp Quest, the NSS
Above: Times Educational
Supplement, 7/8/09
was first on the scene, defending
the secular summer camp across
national and local BBC radio and
television.
Our debaptism certificate
continues to provoke a response. It
was the feature of a USA Today
article where Stephen Evans was
quoted. USA Today is the world’s
second largest English speaking
circulation newspaper and the story
was inevitably picked up by various
American media.
Still across the pond, Keith
Porteous Wood made an
appearance on the popular Penn &
Teller show. The episode in question
offered robust, and often humorous,
Keith Porteous Wood on
the Penn & Teller show
Above: Evening
Standard, 16/7/09
criticism of the Vatican. The show
was subsequently pulled from the
CBS owned Showtime website
following a furious attack from
conservative Catholics.
NSS President Terry Sanderson
was widely quoted throughout
national, local and electronic media
on a range of subjects such as
Thought for the Day in the Telegraph
to the Press Association’s coverage
of so called “gay cure” therapies.
Terry was also widely quoted when a
Christian motion at the BMA
conference sought to allow doctors
to pray for patients. Anthony
Lempert from the Secular Medical
Forum and Stephen Evans also
weighed in on Radio 5 Live.
The NSS also featured in an indepth
Mail on Sunday investigation
into sharia law in Britain. The only
mention in the three page article of
any constructive response was
about the NSS having raised the
matter with President Barroso.
Since the last Bulletin we have
appeared in almost all national
dailies,
numerous
regional and
local papers
and several specialist ones. We
have been on several BBC TV
and independent channels as
well as an assortment of
national, regional and local
radio stations.
Social Networking
You can now follow the NSS on
Twitter http://twitter.com/NatSecSoc as
well as joining us on Facebook.
www.facebook.com/
group.php?gid=2433689604
Left: Telegraph,
14/7/09
Bulletin Autumn 2009 7

Denis and Jim bid farewell
Denis Cobell writes:
I will not be standing as a candidate
for Council at the next NSS AGM.
Like my fellow Council member and
long-time vice president, Jim
Herrick, I have spent over 30 years
on Council – including almost ten as
President.
I was 37 when I joined the
Council, in 1976. It met then at the
Fabian Society in Dartmouth Street,
Westminster with Barbara Smoker
as President and Bill McIlroy as
Secretary.
The most notable victory during
my 33 years on Council was the
abolition of the Blasphemy Laws.
I am not leaving the NSS and still
hope to offer my services when the
need arises, and will continue to
represent the NSS at the
International Conscientious
Objectors’ Day memorial, every year
VOLUNTEERS
The NSS would like to thank all of
our volunteers for their invaluable
time and effort. Particular thanks
go to:
BRAD DAVIS of WhiteLight who
designs the Bulletin, Annual Report
and our promotional material.
SEAN CLARK and ANTHONY
DICKENS of Cuttlefish.com for
distributing Newsline and
maintaining our website.
A new fundraising event for the NSS
5 & 6 NOVEMBER
Full details:
www.secularism.org.uk/divas
Denis
Cobell
Jim Herrick
on 15 May at noon in Tavistock
Square; military exemption has
often been more readily granted on
religious grounds. I shall continue to
be active with one of the NSS’s
affiliate Groups: Lewisham
Humanists.
The NSS has seen a big growth in
membership in the past decade and
now has many younger Council
members who have great potential
and specialist backgrounds; so I
leave with the knowledge that the
NSS is in good hands.
BARRY THORPE for his invaluable
research.
CLAUDINE BAXTER and ALASTAIR
BANTON for their work in the office
and at our events.
DENIS PENALUNA for his continuing
research work.
RICHARD CRAIG for being our
spokesman in the South West.
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to make a difference.
More information available
from Tessa Kendall at
admin@secularism.org.uk.
Secularist of the Year, 2010
Please put a note in your diaries to keep Saturday afternoon 13
February free.
MEMBERS’ COMPETITION
Win tickets for
Inherit the Wind
The Old Vic theatre in London is
staging Inherit the Wind from 18
September to 20 December. The
play, starring Kevin Spacey and
David Troughton, directed by Trevor
Nunn, is based on the infamous
Scopes monkey trial of 1925 when
a school teacher was accused in a
test case of violating a Tennessee
statute by teaching Darwin’s theory
of evolution. The NSS has two free
tickets and a programme to give
away to members – the tickets
would be for Sundays 4th, 11th or
18th October at 5pm or Thursdays
15th or 22nd October at 7.30pm
(subject to availability). To enter,
please answer the following
question:
The atheist journalist HL
Mencken famously covered the
Scopes trial in the American press.
What is the name of the character
in Inherit the Wind based on
Mencken?
Please email your answer with
your full name to
admin@secularism.org.uk or post it to
the office to arrive by 24
September. More information about
the play can be found here:
www.oldvictheatre.com
Issue 43 Autumn 2009
Bulletin
National Secular Society
25 Red Lion Square,
London WC1R 4RL
Telephone: (020) 7404 3126
Fax: 0870 762 8971
www.secularism.org.uk
Executive Director
Keith Porteous Wood FCCA
kpw@secularism.org.uk
Senior Off ce Staff
Tessa Kendall and Stephen Evans
admin@secularism.org.uk
8 Bulletin Autumn 2009