Watch on BBC iPlayer for the next week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007zpll

The New AHS Leadership Team at Warwick AGM

The AHS would like to announce its exciting plans for the coming year and the new leadership team who will make them happen. The group’s Annual General Meeting, held at Warwick University on June 20^th marked the end of our foundational year. Now, with a fresh, determined trio of students at the helm and a host of Regional Representatives, the AHS is looking ahead to an action-packed first full year.

Coming soon:

• A Nationwide Recruitment Drive. Our team of student Regional Representatives are going to train up new and existing societies around the UK this summer to help them flourish and make their mark on campus this autumn.

• Brand new website. The AHS will be upping the stakes with a brand new public site. Complete with forums, news, students areas, banks of resources for societies, and a wikipedia section. (It’ll be better than UCCF’s website – guaranteed.)

• A National Convention. We are delighted to announce that this February the AHS will hold a grand scale national convention of atheism, humanism and secularism for students and the public. This should be the UK’s largest ever gathering of young people free from faith – anything could happen! Watch this space. It’s going to be big news.

• Going Global. All we can say right now is that we have some exciting plans underway with another European country and the USA. More details as they come.

Meet the New Executive Team:

Jenna Catley, AHS President (Founder, Keele Humanist Group. AHS Rep, Oxford Atheists)

Adrian Hayter, AHS Secretary (President, Royal Holloway Secular Society)

Stuart Pilbrow, AHS Treasurer (President, Warwick Atheists)

The AHS will be seeking corrections from the Sunday Telegraph after the paper misrepresented the AHS’ new schools initiative, which encompasses fostering interfaith events, scientific and religious educational activities and charity work, as a cause for anxiety among parents and militant.

The AHS is disappointed that the paper chose to twist information as far as possible to create a negative, sensationalist message out of a positive development for educational provision in schools.

The article, which is topped by a photograph of Richard Dawkins, appearing to smile darkly to himself, has the subheading ‘Atheists are targeting schools in a campaign designed to challenge Christian societies, collective worship and religious education.’

The AHS does not and would never seek to challenge religious education in the manner that article goes on to suggest. The AHS strongly believes in the importance of a balanced, impartial and full religious education and would support the introduction of a national RE curriculum to ensure standards are met.  This is not made clear.

The AHS feels that the tone maintained throughout the article was intended to induce a knee-jerk, reactionary response from its readers, presenting schools as a battlefield with both Christianity and atheism victims of simple polarisation as ‘fundamentalist doctrine’ versus atheists as “increasingly militant in their desperate attempts to stamp out faith.” – a quote chosen from the Christian Institute which as an organisation believes that homosexuality can be cured and as such is unlikely to represent most Christians.

Both the AHS and Camp Quest – the UK’s first summer camp for children who don’t believe in a god – have been selectively misrepresented with references to our educational (and interfaith – AHS) goals removed. In brief, here is a summary of the purpose of helping students found their own atheist, humanist and secularist groups:

• To teach students how to debate and create dialogue between school faith groups.
• Provide the school with fun and educational events and activities, including two student-led courses: ‘Perspectives’ in which a speaker from a faith group gives a talk followed by Q&A, and our ‘One Life’ course, which considers moral and ethical issues without god. Many events will also support the scientific curriculum.
• Encourage charity volunteering.
• Give students the experience of running a group and managing events.
• Show students that it’s ok not to believe in god and encourage critical thinking.
• Bring out issues concerning religious privilege in schools such as collective worship and incomplete or biased religious education.

An AHS spokesperson said ‘this article is quite typical of the coverage that atheism gets in the press – regardless of what we do, no matter how public spirited, charitable or helpful. The AHS hopes that by drawing attention to this we can set aside caricatures of both sides and encourage more meaningful debate to take place in the public sphere.’

The AHS has already been approached by a number of schools who would like to take part in their first schools conference in June at Warwick University. If you would like to get involved, please contact secretary@ahsstudents.org.uk

Find out more:

www.ahsstudents.org.uk

www.camp-quest.org.uk

Article in question:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5219687/Atheists-target-UK-schools.html

This week sees the country’s largest atheist festival so far at Leeds University. Comprising nearly 40 free “interfaith”, ethical and political debates, talks, films and social events for students, ‘Rationalist Week 2009′ will run 24 hours a day for 7 days in a large tent baring a ‘there is no god’ sign over the entrance. This is the festival’s third year and it is expected, once again, to draw crowds of hundreds across the week.

Chris Worfolk, organiser, on the aims of the week:
‘As well as bringing our “interfaith” and educational events to a wider audience and we’re really aiming to dispell some of negative stereotypes surrounding atheism. This is about fun and also social responsibility, so we’ll be raising awareness of things like the organ donor’s register and hopefully some blood drive stuff too.’ 

Event titles include ‘It’s Only Water’ – concerning homeopathic medicine, a church service to the cult god the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the ironic ‘Why are evil dictators always atheists?’.

Leeds Atheist Society is one of the most active in the country. It runs educational, “interfaith” and social events every week and has recently set up a charitable Humanist Action Group (working at local homeless shelters etc). They have experienced discrimination, vandalism, theft and death threats from religious groups on campus, who oppose the open expression of an atheist viewpoint and blasphemy.

Southampton and Durham University groups have also held ‘Rationalist’ and ‘Reason’ Weeks in the last six months, while Edinburgh University Humanist Society have held ‘blood drives’ to coincide with Christian Prayer Week, aiming to contrast donating blood with praying for the sick in terms of of usefulness and effect. As the AHS comes to the end of its first academic year, all focus will be on establishing new societies and strengthening existing ones, enabling more Awareness Weeks in UK further and higher education establishments next year. Elaborate plans are already in the pipeline, including a touring humanist theatre group and an ‘AHS Party Bus’, presumably one that tells us to stop worrying and enjoy our lives.

Coronation Street has responded to the criticism by pointing out that their soap is about real people in modern society and ”represents views from all sides of the religious spectrum”. It is also currently featuring two character story-lines in which religion is presented as having a positive impact on their lives. The AHS would like to join others in praising the soap for its balance and realistic approach to its subject matter.

The AHS wonders how many of those complaining about Ken’s accusation welcome the teaching of creationism themselves, or if they do not welcome it but disapprove of criticising it publicly. Or indeed if they felt anything on a scale of discomfort to horror at the Pope’s comments to a stricken and pious nation about condoms worsening the AIDS epidemic. In the wisdom of Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow: ”that’s how they get their hooks into you, when you’re vulnerable”.

Here’s Christian Voice’s Stephen Green on the issue:

“I was both shocked and appalled by what I was watching on TV, let alone on Coronation Street and on Easter Sunday. What is it about Christianity that is so scary for these people. I don’t know if they do it out of ignorance or antipathy but it is not the kind of example television should be setting.”

Bad television. If you want to hear more of Stephen Green’s take on modern society, why not visit his website: http://www.christianvoice.org.uk/

If anything is an indicator of what a secular society we are at heart, if not in actuality, it’s Easter. It’s the most important celebration in the Christian calendar. It’s muted, its significance largely ignored. At Christmas time, one hears no end on accusations that we’re losing the true Christian meaning of the festival – how it’s all about the presents, tacky decorations, being nice to each other and whatnot. For some reason you never get the same fuss at Easter. That’s because no one is kidding themselves. Chocolate eggs aren’t as immersive as the three month seasonal blow-out of xmas. All the good Easter music is harder to sing and a bit long. If Girls Aloud covered the final chorus of the St. Matthew Passion it would do wonders for the commercial potential of the festival.

The fuss about Easter being trampled on by a modern society who’s not interested in celebrating it anyway may seem silly – 100 complaints from those who consider soaps current affairs, Rowan Williams politely voicing dismay that there’s footy on Easter Sunday. But though it’s muted and trivial, it’s growing. Growing in the sense that people appear to be taking these complaints that the church is losing it’s historically privileged place seriously. An educated and pluralist society cannot support an established C of E. Their beliefs and sensibilities can no longer be worth more than yours or mine. But change is a hard thing and the church is not going to step down into its rightful place quietly.

The AHS would like to congratulate the writers of Coronation Street for being openly and realistically critical of the negative impacts of religion in a climate which is becoming more and more hostile to freedom of speech on the issue.

It would be easy to spend much time praising any of our speakers but they all did a fantastic job as did the many people working behind the scenes and a big thank you to all of those who helped out on the stalls and organising the day itself.

If this is how the AHS is to continue it is sure to have a successful future! You can see some of the pictures from the event in our photo gallery and read the official press release.

Group picture from the first AHS conference. Good work all!