PeckhamRose

No!

I don't care if they study humanism or atheism. The point is they should be allowed to study the possibility that (a) there is no God and all this happened by geological physical chance (I'm reading The End of Mr Y at the moment and it's doing my head in but I so recommend it), and they should be allowed to study it without religiously biased teachers (ie. not a faith school, then) telling them that it is perfectly acceptable to do so. There MAY be a god. I just choose to live my life assuming there isn't, and I choose to try and be nice NOT because I am scared of hell, but because, oh it's just a better option. I'm not an angel though ;) Not even a hell's angel.

What does a grandma look like then. Little old lady in a rocking chair with a grey haired bun nape of her neck, sat knitting? ;)

That's the fella. By the way what is 75 + 26?

Tee Hee Brendan. Pubs indeed. However, that is the point of the original posting. If kids have to study religions (and they should) then it is only fair they should "have" to have the opportunity of studying humanism, ie. the possibility of living a good life without the need of carrot-heaven or stick-hell to live by. Like what it would seem a lot of us do, here. With creationism and intelligent design being drummed into kids and American religious hot-houses pooling their interns into the White House, we have a lot to be worried about.

Bed bugs are common and not a sign that one lives in a tip. They - like cockroaches - can be brought in to a dwelling as eggs on people's clothes or shoes, and of course 2nd hand furniture and the like. I highly recommend a company called, believe it or not, www.bed-bugs.co.uk They'll sort you out. If you look at their very informative website, it even states that there is a high volume of bedbugs in SE22!! (But - phew - not SE15!) Edited for information and spelling!

I've tried the link every day for a few days, now. But I keep getting Error 404 message. Dunno why; everything else works.

Saw John Beesley today (he who's written history of Peckham and is editor of the Peckham Society Newsletter). They're on the case, too. It will also be mentioned in the forthcoming edition of the Peckham Society News (a lovely little magazine which won the second prize for the best local society magazine in the UK, a few months ago).

MelbourneGr, it's just a group and now a charity of talented people (I volunteer office work for them now and again) whose reason for being is to make sure that those of us who choose to live without faith or superstition can do so without discrimination from religious based rules and regulatations that pervade society. That's pretty much it.

I did think long and hard about joining the BHA. I agree with above points about the feeling that you're joining just another group and having to abide by its rules and ethos and itself becomes another religion, as it were. But it's really not about that, and my deciding point about joining was to basically feel I was contributing to a group of like minded free-thinkers who want to put pressure on government to make sure that people who do NOT live by any ThirdPartyGod rules have as much rights in the workplace or wherever as those who do. Things like the scout movement and Thought for the Day are small matters compared to the rights to, for example, be able to criticise religion without being punished for it (by God's representatives here on earth!) to be able to have the same rights in the workplace, and to ensure that state money is spent sensibly and not spent in a discriminatory fashion on those who believe in a God. Faith schools are morally wrong, to my mind. So that's why I joined. But they don't tell me what to think. Nuh uh.

I've been to a few Humanist funerals and the point is that the celebrant gets to spend a lot of time with the family beforehand to construct a sort of "This was their life" story and write a tribute around it. A bit more vigorous than a vicar talking about a heaven the deceased never believed in. The training is very hard and I hope I am up to it. I was the only person who was up to speaking at my cousin's funeral and the celebrant was absolutely brilliant but the family gave an awful lot about my cousin so she was able to write a good script. Maybe other's poorer experiences above reflected where that was not the case. I hope she can be my mentor! Another issue the BHA is fighting for, is a better representation of people's beliefs or otherwise on the census. The leadng question "What religion are you?" (or similar wording) on the last one meant people veered towards saying Christian and according to that apparently 70% of Brits are christian and we know that's wrong, so they're fighting for different wording to get a better picture. Which is reasonable.

SteveT relax. It's just that the word "less" always sounds like we're minus something because we have no kids. But the suffix "Free" makes like we actively made a decision not to. Not prickly, just makin' a point. Ta!

I definitely learned from mine, and so did Mr Rose. We're both only children but down the snipclinic went he.

Typical backpeddling. I'm with Marmora Man. They should have consulted first but they never, ever will.

It's childFREE, dya mind? Ta.

Hi Yes, what they said! Also today heard about how some female children who are having catholicism forced down their necks in one catholic school are not going to offered the antivirus injection to help prevent cervical cancer. I am sure that's the sort of issue the BHA will support (against, if you get what I mean). Yes, and you can't join the scouts if you don't believe in God! And Mark thanks you put it better than I could. I'd add (probably clumsily) that those who live without faith when in discussions with those religious folk seem always to have to explain how they can be "good" in their "godless" lives. I choose to say that I don't need the carrot of heaven or the stick of hell to know it is better to try and be good than bad. I am planning on applying to train to be a Humanist Celebrant. Anyone been to a humanist funeral service? To be frank, they're soooooooo much more positive and - celebratory!

Hi everyone, I wonder if there are any parents reading this who may be interested in the subject, and care enough to help if they can. It's from British Humanist Association (those good folks who fight to make sure people of no faith have equal rights with those who do). "Urgent: request for help from BHA members and supporters in legal action against QCA Many members will know that the BHA is taking legal action against the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) because of the QCA?s decision not to allow Humanism to be studied on the same basis as religions in the Religious Studies GCSE. You can read the BHA News item about this here: http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/newsarticleview.asp?article=2480 We now need assistance from parents and young people who would be willing to be co-claimants or witnesses in support of the BHA?s application. No court appearances will be necessary as all evidence will be paper based, and lawyers are available to assist with drafting statements. If you are a parent of an age where your child(ren) would begin studying for GCSEs in 2009/10 or any year after that until 2014/15 and would like your children to study Humanism, then we want to hear from you. We would also like to hear from any young people who would be studying for GCSEs in any year from 2009/10 to 2014/15 and would like to study Humanism. This case is vital to the BHA and we urgently need your help! Please telephone Andrew Copson on 07534 248596 or by email on [email protected] if you can assist us. Contact us The British Humanist Association 1 Gower Street London WC1E 6HD Tel: 020 7079 3580 [email protected]" Just kinda feels important and I hope you don't mind my posting it here. Best wishes from PeckhamRose (Edited to get rid of unrelated BHA stuff)

It's always AFTER the event. These council types never have a problem cauding the event, but when trying to discuss fixing it, it's all "Oh that's not our wall/pavement/fault."

I can't believe I just saw a McCann "joke" on this site. Aren't we better than that?

Blimey. Her day off?

Fabulous Have the groups like MAG BMF www.TheLondonBikers.Com and www.Londonbikers.com been informed? I shall inform www.TheLondonBikers.com right now (if they've not been, already). Thanks for the alert.

I've alerted my councillor who is in the neighbouring ward and he should pass it to the relevant one and the council idiot concerned.

Oh that is just awful! Where is the Councillor who occasionally frequents this forum when he has something to publicise? I love that picture! Not even the ar$ewipes who painted it over had the intelligence to question why and refuse to do it, that's sad too.

I am not a cyclist but I have changed my views recently about their crossing red lights. Cyclists - like us motorcyclists - know that when we come off our vehicles chances are we will hurt more, specially cyclists. So they do it - not because they can get away with it, but because in most cases they have made a value judgment (and remember we're now in a society where we are having the opportunities to practice and our abilities to use common sense and judgments taken away from us) that it is safe to do so! The point here is that in London there are just too many unnecessary traffic lights. And all the boroughs have different rules for what type of vehicle can ride or drive where and in what lane. There's no London wode coherence. In USA there's pretty much the same rule for the whole country with JUSt a few differences involving right turns on red lights and helmet laws etc... But they are much more sensible in their big towns with their traffic light useage.

A reassessment. He is and always was a Beatle. No reassessment needed.