The county’s largest Bible in Schools provider has won the right to weigh in on a legal stoush over religious instruction in primary schools. The Churches Education Commission (CEC) was granted a say in the landmark case in the High Court at Auckland today. The spat is between Jeff McClintock, who says his daughter was Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Secularism’
Believers and atheists join in opposing school Bible lessons
Friday, May 22nd, 2015
About a dozen protesters from the Secular Education Network (SEN) picketed outside the High Court at Auckland on Thursday in support of the McClintock family. A SEN spokesperson, David Hine, said the group of protesters included atheists who wanted no religion to be taught in state schools, as well as religious people who believed all Read more
UK judge likens aggressive secularism to Tudor persecution
Tuesday, May 19th, 2015
A former top UK judge has likened efforts to oust expression of religion from the public square to Tudor-era persecutions. Sir Michael Tegendhat said soaring numbers of lawsuits involving religion pointed to an increasing denial of human rights. Sir Michael was the UK’s top libel and media judge until he retired last year. His comments Read more
Let’s fill up the year with religious holidays
Friday, April 17th, 2015We’re getting more secular, those that label themselves religious are a more disparate group than ever. Gone is the monopoly of Jesus and people around the country now subscribe to a whole heap of different religions. Let’s give them all national holidays. As far as I can tell, if we give two holidays each to Read more
NZ bucks religiosity trend
Tuesday, April 14th, 2015
New Zealand is one of only three countries in which religiosity is predicted to decline between now and 2050. The other two are France and the Netherlands. These are some of the predictions made by Washington-based think-tank, Pew Research Centre, in a recently published report. The report predicted that by 2050 In the Asia Pacific Read more
Cardinal blasts German church as useless against secularism
Friday, March 27th, 2015
A German cardinal has blasted his nation’s ecclesiastical apparatus as completely unfit to work against growing secularism. According to the Catholic News Agency, Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes wrote a letter to a German language newspaper objecting to statements by two prelates from his homeland. In February, German bishops’ conference president Cardinal Reinhard Marx said: “We Read more
Stupid blinkered secularism: French court bans nativity scene
Friday, December 12th, 2014
A nativity war has broken out in France after a court’s ban on a nativity scene in the La Roche-sur-Yon town hall. The French court’s ban is to preserve France’s secular traditions and has sparked a fierce backlash, reports The Guardian. “Why not ban Christmas and the public holidays that go with it?” screamed Le Parisien; its headline ran Read more
Girl Guiding removes God from pledge
Friday, October 17th, 2014God has been removed from the promise recited by all members of Girl Guiding New Zealand, after more than a century of being mentioned. The move, which took place in April this year, has raised barely a ripple of dissent. “A couple of people have said they liked the old one better, but there’s been Read more
New atheist church opens its doors in Christchurch
Friday, September 26th, 2014
The Sunday Assembly, commonly know as the atheist church, has arrived in Christchurch. Sunday Assembly Christchurch will formally launch on Sunday September 28th, 2014. Sunday Assembly is a church without god but it is not necessarily anti god. Sunday Assembly was founded in London in January 2013, and since then it has exploded across the world Read more
Mayor seeks backing for Easter trading changes
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman wrote to the three Kaikoura electorate candidates most likely to become MPs to ask for their backing for changes to Easter trading laws. Every two years, Blenheim hosts the Omaka Classic Fighters event at Easter and the trading law restrictions mean retailers, restaurants and cellar doors cannot make the most of Read more