The

Ethical RecordVol. 89 No. 4

EDITORIAL

Scenarios of Romantic Mythsand Madnesses, AnimalPredators, SPES and RationalityCONTRIBUTORS to this issue raisesome (of many) ethical problemswhich society has in no way yetresolved : the questions of rich andpoor and of a caring versus a non-caring political system are touchedon; as are the attitudes which areselfish and result in greed; and,what policies should be in relationto religious belief.

Every one of these ethicalmatters emphasises the real needfor Societies like the South PlaceEthical Society, where they can behammered out — though, some-times the scale of our own activityin this respect seems totally in-adequate, despite the fact that it isoften even more inadequate else-where.

Scenarios, based on romanticmyths and madnesses, are acted outall around us: many with a

APRIL 1984

devastating seriousness which re-sults in endless, needless brutality,destruction and death. That is howthe world is changing, not muchfrom the elucidation of what mightbe satisfactory bases for the in-dividuals who are the units of ourliving society.

A very great proportion of thoseindividuals at present seek ends(and use means) which cannot bejustified vis-a-vis the existence ofother people; and we know that,under the impact of the typeof difficulties with which ourchanging society confronts us,the anxious individual turns toattempted "satisfactions" of his/her own immediate impulses,apparent needs and gratifications—also in trying to find "answers" fornagging uncertainties and doubts.

So, for example, religious fanati-cism (as well as the plodding inani-ties of "ordinary" religion and theinsanities of "new" sects, many,

Concluded on pages 13/14

CONTENTSComing to Conway Hall: Sam Beer, Paul Cherrington, Sir

Alan Cotterell, Dr Peter Draper, Mavis Klein, RonaldMason, Babara Taylor, Angela Williams, AudreyWilliamson . .' 2

The Interdependence of Rich and Poor: David Haslam 3Atheist Liberation: Barbara Smoker ' 5Ethics is a Way of Life: Ray Lovecy . . . . Viewpoints: Tim Eiloart on "The Holocaust Now"; Colin

Mills on "Religious Distress and Protest"; Sam Beer on"The Red-Headed League". . .. . . . 8-11

Memory of Bill Bynner . . 12 The Humanist Think Tank; Republic; the Socialist Secular

Association and others 14

The views expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the Society. Microfilm and reprints available—details on request.

PUBLISHED BY THE SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETYCONWAY HALL, RED LION SQUARE, LONDON WC1R 4RL

Telephone: 01-242 8032 (Answering machine out of hours)

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY

Appointed Lecturers: H. J. Blackham, Lord Brockway, Richard Clements, one, T. F. Evans, Peter Heales,

Harry Stopes-Roe, Nicolas WalterHall Manager: Geoffrey Austin (tel. 01-242 8032)

Secretary: Jean Bayliss (Wed-Fri, tel. 01-242 8033) Honorary Representative: Ray Lovecy

Chairman General Committee: Fanny Cockerell Deputy Chairman: Norman Bacrac

Honorary Registrar: Cynthia Blezard Honorary Treasurer: Ben RostonHonorary Librarian: Jim Herrick -

Editor, The Ethical Record: Peter Hunot

COMING TO CONWAY HMISunday morning meetings at 11.00 am in the LibraryApril I. PAUL CHERRINGTON. What the West Represents.April 8. MAVIS KLEIN. Personality Types.April 15. DR PETER DRAPER. Health as a Value: Economics as a form of

Brain Damage.April 22. BARBARA TAYLOR. Eve and the New Jerusalem.May 13. RONALD MASON. George Eliot: Novelist and Humanist.May 20. ANGELA WILLANS. The Human Approach to Problem Solving.

Sunday FORUMS at 3.00 pm in the LibraryApril 8. AUDREY WILLIAMSON. William Morris Art and Socialism.

Sunday SOCIAL at 3.00 pm in the LibraryApril 15. SAM BEER will speak on Utopias and Anti-Utopias. Tea at 4.30 pm.

No Meetings Sundays April 29 and May 6

April ConcertsSunday April 1 at 6.30 pm. London Ensemble (Hart, Hawkins, Evans,

Milkina). MOZART, DVORAK, HAYDN.Sunday, April 8 at 6.30 pm. Albion String Trio (Liddell, Silverthorne,

Tunnell). William Bennett. BEETHOVEN, SCHUBERT, MOZART, ROUSSEL. Sunday, April 15 at 6.30 pm. Bochmann String Quartet. HAYDN, BEETHOVEN,

DVORAK.

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGSUNDAY, MAY 20, 1984

2.30 pm for 3.00 pm in the Library at Conway Hall

2

The Interdependence of Rich and Poor

By DAVID HASLAM

The author's summary of his talk to SPES on Sunday, February 26, 1984

WE WILL CONSIDER THIS TOPIC particularly with reference to the inter-national scene, but as we will see what happens internationally is alsoreflected nationally and locally. Are the rich and poor countries inter-dependent, and if so in what way? If they are, how does that relationshipneed to be changed?

Health can be taken as one of the key factors in this discussion as it is soimportant for both poor and rich. As the Vice-Chair of War on Want I seea lot of projects and groups applying for funding and so many of them relateto health in one form or another. There are of course two dimensions to thehealth question, the conditions to create health and the measures with whichwe then treat the unhealthy or the diseased. When we talk of our ownNational Health Service we are talking much more about the secondary areathan the primary one. In the poor countries the primary area is crucial—the conditions for good health including clean water and a reasonable dietwill mean far more than any amount of complex drugs.

While bearing the health factor in mind, let us be practical in furtherdiscussions about the inter-dependence between poor and rich countries.Let us take particular examples—and I choose countries in which War onWant has special projects—in order to examine the matter further. Namibiais a nation occupied by a larger foreign power (South Africa) and thissituation is one of the clearest examples of neo-colonialism in the worldtoday. The history of Namibia is one of struggle by its rightful occupantsagainst white settlers from Europe. Eventually the settlers defeated theindigenous peoples and took the land, the mineral rights and what otherprofitable resources Namibia had to offer. Today UK and US companiesmake a good deal of money from this neo-colony, meanwhile African

Exhibition of Paintings and Photos by Monica Cox and Lois Hieger atConway Hall, Red Lion Square, WC1 from April 3-27, 1984. Pictures forsale. Admission free.

1984 Conway Memorial Lecture

Thursday May 3, 1984 at 7.00 pm (sharp)

in the Large Hall, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, WCI

Sir Alan Cotterell, FRS, Master Jesus College, Cambridge

The Physical World and Human Experience

in the Chair: Dame Margaret Weston, Director of the Science Museum

3

resistance continues and is indeed stronger today than it has been for someyears. This has caused a military reaction by South Africa which seeks todestroy the spirit of the Namibian people exemplified by SWAPO. Theresult is tens of thousands of refugees suffering from hunger, homelessness.disease and violent repression. They escape to neighbouring countries likeAngola and Zambia and there War on Want and other agencies must seekto pick up the pieces and look after them until they can return.

Another exaniple of the relationship between the poor and the rich isGrenada. This small Caribbean island sought to become independent ofcolonial powers and their surrogates the transnational corporations. Thesecorporations take over the trade in agricultural or mineral products of poorcountries and dominate the economics of the situation. When the BishopGovernment took over Grenada in 1979 it introduced agricultural, educa-tional and health programmes which were of benefit to the majority of thepeople. Bishop then came under severe political and economic pressure fromoutside, particularly the USA but also Britain. This encouraged divisionsinside the People's Revolutionary Government which led eventually to thedisasters of last October.

Self-reliance in Developing Countries Is Not Liked by West

When the Americans invaded they stopped the Bishop Government'sprogrammes. As a result over 3,000 are out of work and disaffection isgrowing. Western countries do not like the spirit of self-reliance in develop-ing countries. Britain is now sending aid to Grenada—but most of it is toretrain the police and security forces!

A third example we could take is Bangladesh—so long regarded as oneof the "poorest of the poor countries", in fact it is one of Asia's most fertilecountries. Its problem is the lack of distribution of its resources. There areinternal battles for power between the military and various factions of thewealthy elite. But basically the problem is the under-development of Bangla-desh where its resources have been drained by colonial powers—mainlyBritain—over the last 200 years.

Again multinational companies have sold what they wanted to Bangladeshand bought its goods at prices they have chosen. An example is drugs.Several years ago a Bangladeshi doctor started a small pharmaceuticalfactory which produced the basic drugs that the country needed at low cost.The transnationals made great efforts to undercut the factory and wouldclearly have been much happier had it gone out of business. RecentlyBangladesh went further and produced a list of only 180 essential drugs,therefore removing some 1,700 drugs from the number on the marketbecause they were useless, unnecessary or even harmful. The drug companieshave been quick to try and amend this policy but so far they have notsucceeded.

Health remains a battle-ground in the Third World, as it is becomingincreasingly in our society also. Drug companies also make great profitsfrom the NHS. Who is a health service for? Private companies or the benefitof the people?

In Bangladesh there are groups of the poor who organise in a spirit ofself-reliance, as there are in many developing countries, and they are thereal signs of hope. Is there inter-dependence between rich and poor?

Indeed there is, the rich are dependent on the poor for their wealth andthe poor are dependent on the rich for their poverty.

This situation can only be changed by as many of us as possible sidingvigorously, unequivocally and consistently with the poor wherever they arestruggling for self-reliance, independence and justice. El4

Atheist LiberationBy BARBARA SMOKER

Summary Of lecture given on Sunday, February 19, 1984

Androcles: What can I do my dear?Megacra: What can you do! You can return to your duty, and

come back to your home and your friends, and sacrifice to the gods as

all respectable people do, instead of having us hunted out of house

and home for being dirty, disreputable blaspheming atheists.

A: I'm not an atheist, my dear: I am a Christian.

M: Well, isn't that the same thing, only ten times worse? Everybody

knows that Christians are the lowest of the low.

IN THIS SCRAP OF DIALOGUE from Androcles and the Lion, Shaw typicallyturns the subject on its head, with adherents of that most respectablereligion, Christianity, despised as "dirty disreputable blaspheming atheists".(Mrs Whitehouse was to echo the association of atheism with dirt in herphrase "disbelief, doubt and dirt".) Shaw knew, of course, that putting theboot on the other foot would get a laugh in the theatre—but he also knewthat it was historically correct, for every religion began as a heresy, and theRomans are on record as referring to the Early Christians as "atheists".And why not? After all, they rejected the prevailing gods. Their bringing ina foreign tribal god to worship hardly mitigated the crime of atheism!

So the ancient Romans recognised atheism. The ancient Greeks did, too.It was generally frowned upon by the establishment, and was sometimespunished, but the harshest penalties for heresy were to wait until Christianityitself had become the established religion. It is not surprising, therefore, thatwe hear little about atheism during the ages of faith: most atheis6 wouldhave been rational enough to keep their mouths shut in those days. -%

Not until the xviiith century do we see a resurgence of avowed disbeliefin the prevailing god: mostly by those who called themselves "deists"—meaning believers in an impersonal but purposive force of creation. Eventhen, it required a great deal of courage to say one was a deist..

No Freedom FROM Religion YetSince 1829, there has been freedom of religion in this'country, but it has

never extended to freedom from religion.Straightforward atheism came into its own as scientists began to demon-

strate, inter alia, the mechanics of evolution (Darwin) and of heredity(Mendel and, in our own day, at the microbiological level, Monod), theincreasingly manifest element of chance leaving little room for creativepurpose. But it still required courage to come out as an atheist.

One of the pioneers in the public avowal of atheism was Charles Bradlaugh.When elected to Parliament, he was therefore prevented from taking his seatfor almost six years: as a "self-confessed" atheist, he was permitted neitherto take the bible oath of allegiance to the sovereign nor to sit in the Houseof Commons without it. (What we should now call a "Catch 22" situation! )

When Bradlaugh was finally allowed to take the Parliamentary seat towhich he had been elected five times, one of the first reforms he managedto get on to the Statute Book was the right of Members of Parliament tosubstitute a secular affirmation of allegiance for the religious oath. That wasjust one of many victories that he won for Secularism—for "AtheistLiberation". '

Some years earlier, he had founded the National Secular Society—adopt-

5

ing the words ''Secularist" and "Secularism", coined by G. J. Holyoake forthe removal of non-religious affairs from the undue influence of the estab-lished church, and extending the meaning of the words to indicate more orless what I mean by my slogan, "Atheist Liberation".

So why do I need to introduce a new phrase for the existing word,"Secularism"? Simply because that word, which was familiar a century agoto the man on the Clapham horse-bus (Holyoake was able to claim in 1876that "the word secularist is in every newspaper, it is heard from every pulpit,it is frequent in parliamentary debates, and it is the word of battle in everySchool-Board in the Kingdom"), is no longer in many people's vocabulary,whereas "Atheist Liberation" is readily understoml.

By analogy with Women's Liberation, it is immediately recognised as ademand for legal and social equality with believers. The response is there-fore not (as with Secularism) "What does it mean?"—requiring a steriledictionary answer—but the same question that Womens' Liberation hasalways provoked: "Why do you need it?" That question is a profitable one,inviting an answer that concerns topical social issues. And the questionerwill probably be amazed to learn that in many areas of life in Britain todayone cannot be a first-class citizen without belief—or, at least, no obtrusivedisbelief—in an ancient myth.

An Education Free From Religious Propaganda.One issue that has never been out of the secularist programme since the

1860's is secular education: which really means neutral education, free ofreligious propaganda, not the substitution of our propaganda for theirs. Weoppose church schools, not only because the dual system of education isuneconomical, and most of the extra cost is a charge on the public purse,but because we see it as a denial of the basic right of access to differentopinions to segregate a child in a school devoted to reinforcing the con-troversial prejudices of the home. We also oppose the statutory compulsionon state schools to provide religious instruction and, even more, a corporateact of daily worship (which implies that the Parliament of 1944 was com-petent to guarantee the existence of a god to be worshipped! ). Certainlymany schools today interpret "worship" very liberally and use the RE slotmainly for moral education—but, progressive though this practice is, weare not entirely happy about it, as it suggests an association betweenmorality and religious belief which is utterly unjustified, though a. verypopular misconception.

Christian chaplains to hospitals, prisons, and the armed forces are alsopaid out of the public purse, while those secular humanists who apply toprovide an analogous service are not only given no financial subsidy for itbut are usually not even permitted to do it for nothing.

Many crematorium chapels—which are for the use of members of allreligions and of none, their upkeep being a public charge—have immovablecrosses and crucifixes as part of the decor. The authorities responsible forthis seem to be totally unaware that it constitutes a gross affront to Jews,Muslims and Hindus, as well as to atheists.

Religious charities get away with political campaigns that would jeopardisethe charity status (with all its fiscal privileges) of any non-religious charity.

Unbelievers are also grossly discriminated against in broadcasting: everyradio and television company in this country has its religious broadcastingdepartment, with a special budget for each station or channel, all monitoredby the Central Religious Advisory Committee. There is, of course, nocomparable budget, either of time or money, for broadcasting the atheist oragnostic viewpoint.

Not until the birth of the Women's Liberation movement did most people—women as. well as men—even realise that sex discrimination remained6

very much a fact of life, despite the female franchise and the MarriedWomen's Property Acts. And the introduction of Gay Liberation likewiseopened the eyes of the public to the degree of social and legal discriminationthat the 1967 Homosexual Act had left untouched, and gave many gays thecourage to "come out of the closet"—this, in turn, giving strength to themovement. The introduction of the term "Atheist Liberation" could havea similar effect on the consciousness both of atheists and of the generalpublic as to the need for it—what the women's movement calls "conscious-ness-raising".

We have no desire to turn the tables on believers—I am strongly opposed,for instance, to the discrimination practised by communist governmentsagainst religious belief—but we do demand equality and justice for non-believers: in other words, Atheist Liberation. El

From the Honorary Representative

Ethics is the Way We LiveA visitor recently asked me what SPES stands for and pointed the parallelwith the country which doesn't know where it is going. The basic trouble inboth cases is the tradition of separating ethics from action. I am convincedthat ethics isn't the way we talk, it's the way we live. In SPES we meetbecause we hold differing views. We believe in the human capacity forethical development, and a fundamental element in that belief is the prospectof reconciliation; of bringing together mankind in all its diversity to bekinder. The only realistic basis for such progress is to be found in consentas to ethical conduct.

We all know of christians who have found that their faith was no longercompatible with a realistic attitude to everyday life. Is there some othersource of comfort, guidance, moral support; some safeguard against selfish-ness, greed, commercialism, political exploitation, bigotry, and so on? Orare these words mere reflections of the evil created in men's minds byreligious preaching?

Why should not their own leaders continue to lead, and to lead away fromscriptural authority, theism, the occult, the nebulous, the incredible, towardsa sane and rational view of social benefits and social responsibilities, indis-tinguishable from humanist aspirations?

Is there some fatuous rule whereby only those who have previously saidso can ever be allowed to shed misconception, prejudice and old habit, ina piecemeal way while picking up other ideas and new inclinations thathumanists also have?

In answer to a question : "Why has so much of our political phihisophytaken the form of an attack on Utopianism?" (from Bryan Magee' to SirKarl Popper in January 1971), Sir Karl said, "There is a lot in our social lifewhich is cruel, ugly, stupid, and unjust: there is always much room. forithprovement. People have always dreamed of a better world, and some ofthese dreams have inspired social reforms. But, as I have shown in my Open

Society, dreams of a perfect society are dangerous. The puritans hoped 'toestablish a perfect society, and so did Robespierre. What they achieved wa.inot heaven on earth but the hell of a violent tyranny." RAY LOVECY

Clements Prize 1983This award is in memory of Alfred J. Clements, the first Secretary of our

Concerts. The three prize-winning works for 1983 are by James Clarke,Martin Davies and Robin Walker. They will be broadcast by the BBCsometime this year. Dr Irving Finkel, Honorary Secretary, Clements PrizeSub-committee.

7

From the General Committee MeetingAt its meeting on Wednesday, March 7, the General Committee, after

interviewing four applicants for the post, appointed Jean Bayliss, a memberof the GC as Secretary, commencing on March 21.

The following applications for membership, reported by the HonoraryRegistrar, were accepted:

Stephen Houseman, artist and writer from Norfolk; Elizabeth Middleton,a student from London WI I; Lionel Elton, a company director, living inBucks; Mr and Mrs William Henry Brown, retired, of Tunbridge Wells(former members); and Raymond Cassidy, retired from Waltham Abbey.Resignations from James Robertson and T. Flyers and deaths of VictorMyhill (Victoria, Australia), L. S. Bush and W. T. Burden were noted.A donation of £100 was received from Margery Walsh and has been

acknowledged with thanks.

ViewpointsHolocaust NOW Should Have Our Attention,Not Human Society's Eventual Possible Suicide

Nicholas Hyman asks (Ethical Record, February 1984, page 8) What isthe Third World? and he well describes it as a political economic bloc. Whathe does not do (dare not?) is to describe it as a disgrace to every one of us—a pedestrian bleeding to death at our feet while we use bandages for ourbunting and balms for our facepaints!

In 1939 there were people in Britain who lived on bread and marg forevery meal with black tea, and an egg every month if they were lucky. Theyhad no money for medical care and their slums were as bad as those any-where. It seemed that we were incapable of caring for our own poor. Evennow there are grossly malnourished people in rat-infested shanties in acountry as rich as America. But during the years since 1945 we have seenthe following changes:

Everyone can see the horrors of Third World living and dying on TV.(In a survey of 14-year-old school children it was clear that they slightlyoverestimate the extent of malnutrition and the numbers of people who dieyoung and hungry. The figures given by UN sources are one-in-four andone-in-eight respectively.)

Everyone can see that since 1945 we have enriched a whole continentof poor people (Europe) many of them suffering from war's devastation.

Everyone can see that we have idle capacity amounting to about aquarter of our potential output, and half as many people are unemployedas work in manufacturing. (Only since 1983 has this been so.)

We now have world-wide airlines and a huge tonnage of idle shipping.Our lorry-building factories arc all under-employed. So there could no longerbe any problem of distribution. This, again, is only since 1980.

We have all seen and condemned the Nazi holocaust in which "only"six million Jews died. That, at least, was secret. We in the meanwhile seetwo or three times as many people die every year without any attempt atsecrecy. Our average giving through charities such as Oxfam is El a yeareach.

Educated people are aware that there is enough grain in the world tofeed everyone. But still they enjoy eight ounces of meat each (on average).I gather that one-in-thirteen people is now a vegetarian, but milk, eggs, andcheese need a terrible weight of grain, too.

There is ample evidence that a country such as ours could grow ail itsown food with no change of diet, including replacements for imported fruit.8

But the rich countries are net importers of food from the Third World.(Imports exceeded exports by eight billion dollars in the early 1970's.) Ifwe want to grow our own food we will have to have a land reform on partof our land so that 1.1 million more people farm it in smallholdings. Thisis all described in Robert Vale's work for the Open University—publishedfour years ago and not challenged as incorrect.

Our entire lifestyles are automatically so greedy and materialistic thatwe think of tiny frugality as self-sacrificing. Each day we consume onaverage, for example five gallons of oil and a similar weight of coal, twopounds of steel, a pound of timber, 10 ounces of paper, four ounces ofplastic, one ounce of copper. Every seven weeks the average person buysa pair of shoes. The record is horrific, both in comparison with people whoconsuine less than a 20th as much in poor countries, and when we thinkof the needs of our grandchildren.

We even have, in John Rawls's "A Theory of Justice", a destructionof the old humanistic principle "Greatest good for the greatest number".That maxim could be used to justify a small minority of slaves, for example,though even it would barely justify a majority of people living on the edgeof starvation or near it, while we consume as we do. Rawls shows that afterensuring basic freedoms, including freedom from want, it is only reasonableto give extra to anyone if by so doing we benefit the least advantaged. So:Menuhin has the use of a Stradivarius and we can all enjoy it; some peopleare given the chance to study technology and we benefit from their labours;and a captain has great powers that help the scullion to survive a storm.But most of our money, power, and education is distributed mainly for thegood of the receiver.

Before Rawls's book, justice might be thought a soft, religious ideal.In a world where personal responsibility were the norm, then each of us

would question each expenditure by the simple test "Is this for the benefitof the least advantaged?" Self-denial to the point of depression or loss ofstability would be pointless. Indeed, if self denial is taken to the point wherewe can no longer contribute with zest then it is quiet probably counter-productive. This suggests a gradual tapering of wasteful expenditure, andwe also need like-minded friends who won't think it odd if we shop jumbly,grow vegetables where there was a lawn, and so forth.

Of course, personal responsibility on a huge scale would lead to massunemployment if we didn't switch to aid-related manufacture and if wedidn't press the political parties to donate, say, half the GNP to aid. Aradical platform indeed!

But, for the time being, we can confine our efforts to trying to increaseaid to 0.7 per cent of our GNP as pledged by former governments. Thereis no threat of any swift change unless, for example, a small nuclear warbrings the rich world to its senses.

Meanwhile, now that we have the means to bring in social justice, our"radicals" seem to me to be a part of a manslaughterous society and mostlypay no more than lip service to any.sort of fairness. Peace protestors, forexample are, I feel, often hypocrites—using the threat of omnicide as away to keep their minds off the genocide.. During my life about a billion people will die of hunger, foul water, and

preventable disease. Yes, I want to keep the human race alive; but theholocaust now is every bit as important as the small likelihood of mankind'ssuicide. Indeed, who could justify the survival of countries such as ours ifwe continue to rape the earth and watch people dying as we now do?

If any readers know of any groups that believe in voluntary simplicity.and in helping the Third World. then I would be glad to hear about suchgroups. I will gladly send details of Sunseed—the only one I know, toanybody sending a stamped addressed envelope. TIM EmosuT

9

Religious Distress and 'Protest •While on the subject of religions and the influence of their doctrines,

COLIN MILLS writes:"Terry Liddle has forwarded me a copy of Soviet Nationality Survey,

January, 1984, Vol 1 No I. There are a few comments from it on religionwhich may be of interest to readers of the Ethical Record.

"The Anti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public is busy at work.Its plans include setting up Branches in each Union Republic, (publish-ing), and carrying its message to progressive organisations abroad.Founded April 21, 1983, the Committee consists of 37 members headedby a 13-man presidium."

"Ideological subversion was on First Secretary DinmukhamedKunayev's mind at the June 29 Plenum of the Central Committee of theCommunist Party of Kazakhstan. Another source is the nefariousinfluence of religious activists who have recently stepped up their workin a number of cities."

"The July 5, 1983 Plenum of the Latvian Party's Central Committeeconcluded that atheist education must be intensified, because a greatmany workers are still influenced by religion."

"Many Letts still appear to be addicted to the opiate of the people.According to a survey conducted under the auspices of the Republic'sAcademy of Sciences, of those 18 years and over, 27.0% are believers.47.7% are not religious, and 20.6% are undecided. Although 66% ot18-24-year-olds are confirmed atheists, many of them continue to observeCatholic traditions, ceremonies and holidays. In Lazdijai District, forexample, 82% of all newlyweds had church weddings, and 9 out of 10children were baptised. Even members of the Komsomol are sinningagainst the party."

"In Turkmenistan, popular devotion to Muslim holy places is holdingup excavation and construction. In one region, almost 20% of theworking population didn't take part in the cotton harvest for religiousreasons. The crowds attracted by mullahs are apparenty the envy ofCommunist Houses of Culture. And more than 300 Muslim clerics areactively proselytizing in the Republic."

Colin Mills comments: "One might well recall Marx's words, 'Religiousdistress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protestagainst real distress. Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heartof a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is theopium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness ofthe people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up theillusions about its conditions is the demand to give up a condition whichneeds illusions. The criticism of religions therefore, in embryo, the criticismof the vale of woe, the halo of which is religion (Marx & Engels, OnReligion, 1957 page 42).

"How far have Communist countries improved a situation which needsillusions? The quote from Marx could have been paralleled by one fromBakunin—its use does not imply that I'm a neo-marxist!

"One last quote: Once a guard at the Karaganda Zoo brought his directorsensational news that the elephant calf Batyr talked to himself at night.(News from Ukraine, No. 34, August, 1983.) SNS comments: 'But doesBatyr speak Russian or Kazakh?'."

(Tim Eiloart is a member of SPES General Committee. His address (andthat of Sunseed) is 7 Bridge House, St Ives, Cambridgeshire PE17 4EP.—Colin Mills is also a member of the GC—his address is on page 14, underthe item on the SSA—Editor.)

10

The Red-Headed League.AFTER THE CELEBRATIONSOf Willie M MOrris's •anniversary and the Chester-field by-election it is surprising to find the Sunday Times of March 4publishing a 7-page article in its colour supplement entitled "Now is thetime for all Right-thinking men". Above the articles are the pictures of the12 Apostles of the Right, all but two looking angry or frightened. It seemsthat, though blue politically, two of them are red-headed. It made me thinkof a Colleague who maintained that all red-headed boys should be put in aspecial school.

The odd thing is that very few of them want to be called Right. This isunderstandable but it reminds us that Hitler called himself a NationalSocialist. The author of the article, Godfrey Hodgson, classifies the NewRight as (1) Monetarists (2) Marketeers (3) Managerialists (4) Team B and(5) True Blue Tories. To belong to (3) you had to attack the civil serviceand the unions and to belong to (4) you had to be strongly anti-Soviet. Ithink the other three names are self-explanatory. It will be observed that,with the possible exception of (5), the names refer to economics. They areall against Keynes and Marx but those heroes who have read Marx mayrecall that he had to battle with economists who were as crazy as 'theseI recall one Nassau Senior who maintained that the working day could notbe reduced because the profit was only made in the last hour of the day.

The names of the 12 Apostles of the Right are Hoskyns, Scruton, Sherman,Paul Johnson, Cowling, Sam Brittan, Aitken, Jay, Fraser, Strauss, Seldon,and Harris. Not more than two of these are likely to be household namesto our readers. If we were asked to name 12 Apostles of the Right weshould probably write Thatcher, Muggeridge, Levin, Kingsley Amis, MiltonFriedman, Keith Joseph, with six names of Archbishops, Rabbis, Moslemsand mystical gurus.

We are therefore left with a strong suspicion that the article is meant topuff the fortunes of ten unknowns and persuade us that the Right also hasintellectuals. Some are socialist renegades and bring to mind those morefamous renegades, the poets Wordsworth and Coleridge. Both were excellentrevolutionary poets until the year 1802. (This was the year when, accordingto Bagehot, there was not a single sane monarch in Europe.) After thatyear Wordsworth wrote sonnets about capital punishment and the churchand Coleridge drifted into opiate incoherence after ruining any hope wehad of a state education system in 1830. (Some of his theories about anational church sound like Stanton Coit.)

"Mhen I was young, nobody intelligent was on the Right. Now no oneintelligent is on the Left" Lord Longford has said, according to the article.In view of the size of CND demonstrations we are left wondering, not forthe first time, where members of the Upper House spend their time whenout of "the world's best club".

The reason for writing this article is that we have to realise that the 12Apostles of the Right are their equivalent .of South Place's AppointedLecturers, enrolled in our front hall. We are pleased to say that NicolasWalter has already exposed Paul Johnson's ignorance of Christian historyin the New Statesman. Paul Johnson, "fiery-headed ex-editor of the New

Statesman, friend of Richard Nixon and convert extraordinary", has calledfor a Christian crusade against the peace movement, the article tells.us.

You have been warned. • SAM BEER

Diana (TV)

In . this TV serial by R. F. Delderfield it was a relief to hear that theyoung widow, recently bereaved, found consolation not in the Church but inthe works of Bertrand Russell.

11

Bill Bynner—Humanist, Secular Socialist(see page 14, Ethical Record, March 1984)

(His daughier, Sheila, sends us the following from the ceremonyconducted by Arthur Atkins at Putney Vale Cemetery for Bill's funeral,with some 20 people present. The text she sent is given in full becauseit not only tells a brief story of Bill's life, but is a vignette of a humanistlife: with its involvement in the day to day at the levels of family,country, world and concerns—Editor.)

"William Bynner was born in Birmingham in 1900 into a poor workingclass family. He used to say he was a Victorian, having been born at thevery end of Queen Victoria's reign. His father was a cabinet maker/joinerwho died when Bill was 13. He left school soon after his father died and hisfirst permanent job was as a Boy Clerk in the Post Office. For most of hisworking life he was a civil servant (with interruptions for two World Wars).He was very fit and active and at the age of 17 cycled from Birminghamto London (he said the last 30 miles were quite easy—downhill all the way!).He was called up in 1918 and fortunately was a fortnight too young to gointo the trenches. He used to say Prime Minister Lloyd George saved hislife because he held back the batch of young conscripts to which Billbelonged.

"In the years between the wars he married and brought up a family inMitcham. He played cricket, rugby, football and in the 1930's mainlytennis. He worked on the outdoor staff of the Ministry of Health, inspectinginsurance stamps (which in those days employers had by law to stick ontheir employee's cards). This was a tough job in the East End of London.He joined the Territorial Army in 1938 after Munich and in September1939 he was called back to camp from a summer holiday on the south coast(where he was with his wife and three daughters). During the blitz hemanned the guns in an anti-aircraft unit on gun sites all round the perimeterof London. He was demobilized in 1944, when the health of his dear wifeNan became increasingly poor. She died in 1950.

"He retired from the Civil Service in 1960 and for the last 20 years of hislife (perhaps as a reaction to the demand for political and social conformityin those days) he came increasingly to take an anti-establishment line inreligion and politics.

"He joined CND, taking part in the Aldermaston marches of the 1960's.He became a Humanist and a member of the National Secular Society andhelped to start the Socialist Secular Association. During these years he wrotea novel and some poetry. Another of his interests was the Hackney HousingAssociation, where he worked as a volunteer with Lindsay Burnett buyingup large old houses which were then refurbished and split up into flats forneedy tenants. He took pride in helping to establish this Association.

"He himself lived in Blackham House in Wimbledon for some yearsbefore going to live with his daughter. He remained fit and active untilhis mid-70's. In the last four years of his life, although increasingly frail,he never complained or felt sorry for himself. He was honest, fiercelyindependent, anti-establishment, socialist and anti-religion. In spite of thishis oldest friend, whom he knew since 1922 was Clerk of the Parish Councilin Panham (where he lived for a few years). He was unfailingly generousto his family and friends and the causes he supported, but could be wither-ingly sarcastic about aspects of life or government he disliked.

"He valued the friendship of so many people in the humanist and secularmovement, while at the same time he kept the friendships of his earlieryears and reconciled them all because he valued people. He will be greatlymissed."

12

Continued from page one

apparently, accumulating vastwealth administered with noaccountability to society) fuelsaggressive destructiveness — themeans for this bought at the ex-pense of the many and profit of thefew.

Then, again, the scale andapparent complexity of the ever-present and encroaching difficultiesseem to turn many individualsagainst "progressive", "radical"and what might be adequate ideas.They lapse from potential activistsand agents of change into tired,semi-conformers with the outwornsystem of ideas and actions, bolster-ing-up what will eventually destroyus.

As an example of this take thewidespread antagonism to planning

in the face of the now widely ad-mitted conflict between limited

resources and the exponential

growth of population. Fair shares(or do we really believe in more forourselves and less for others?) andpopulation growth reversal bothrequire a very great deal of plan-ning, from the local to theplanetary scale, regardless of theinsistent acquisitiveness of many.Yet, apart from those people stillclaiming the "problem" doesn'texist and that there are "more im-portant matters", somehow, the in-dividual should be inviolate fromthe "interference" required byplanning world resources.

TURNING to one of the positive

aspects of our society: television-watchers (at least in the UK) con-tinue to have a hitherto unpre-cedented opportunity for a wideand detailed education in biologyand, from this, a better understand-ing of our own origins, actions andpotentials.

For example, in David Atten-borough's "The Living Planet", theincredibly adapted flora and fauna

mammals, bacteria, succulents,insects (carnivores and vegetarians)

find "niches" in what seem like

totally inhospitable places, beauti-fully responding to lacks and ex-cesses. While amazing us at theingenuity of the life-response,occasionally, while watching yetone more lethally armed creatureslowly swallowing whole some lessfortunate living individual, we arereminded of Ingersol's:

"Every mouth a slaughterhouse,

every stomach a tomb",

and that this all makes quite cer-tain that the christian god of love

cannot exist (though people can be"devoured" by or wish to devour—in situations of, intense, passion-ate love), lie could at best, andperhaps that's to misunderstand deSade, be the worst kind of sadist.

The human species is of coursewell ahead in methods of captureand destruction, though these arenot applied for the occasionalessential meal, but in a biologicallypeculiar sort of self-species des-tructiveness..

So, needing our careful con-sideration and concern are: look-ing at the-unity of all life formsand the living process: and, fromthat, to develop a clear under-standing of what the "rights" ofspecies and individuals are orshould be (whether "animal" or"human"). With the millions ofspecies, the changing ecologicalfactors and human needs, the timescale of the waves of change overthe planet, to take into account,it is hardly surprising we find itdifficult (or come up with over-simple "answers").

In comparison with our "ances-tors"—stretching back through allof time—we require unprecenteddecisions, based on a constantlyimproved understanding.

South Place should -thereforeseek the most original, radical andthought-provoking contributors tohelp elucidate what those decisionsshould be. For, as the Humanist

Manifesto 11 declares:"Reason and intelligence are the most effective instruments that humankind possesses. There is

13

no substitute, neither faith norpassion suffices in itself." Con-tinuing later, "Reason should bebalanced with compassion andempathy".In addition, as Stephen House-

man (who has just become a mem-ber of SPES, lectured on WhyMust Man be Rational at ConwayHall on Sunday, March 11, whenPeter Heales was chair) said*:

"The necessarily shared and.com-munal nat ure of questioningleads to a co-operative style oflife in which competitiveness hasno meaning. Understanding isunique among goals, in that onceachieved, it spreads indefinitelyamongst mankind."Our own, individual conscious-

ness is (or can be for those willing)

expanded by extraordinary growthsin awareness through knowledge,exemplified in the TV programmesmentioned above (which, hopefully,should get a wider and wider worldaudience).

We can draw our own conclu-sions if we think clearly, but ourresponsibility for applying ourunique, questioning brains tosociety's prciblems becomes all thegreater as we understand moreabout the complexity of livingforces, genes and our own brains.

0* It is hoped that a book by StephenHouseman, greatly expanding thetheme of his lecture, will soon bepublished. The book will also proposea theory as to how man could haveevolved from animals to becomea conscious, questioning being. •

Wanted—Help to Develop New Concepts, etc.The,Humanist Think Tank held a meeting on February 29, Considereduseful by those attending and further meetings are to be held. Detailsfrom Margaret Chisman (a member of SPES), BHA, 13 Prince of WalesTerrace, London W8 5PG. Ideas are needed, you could contribute todefining Humanism and its practical consequences.Republic—the new organisation aiming to promote republicanism,defining a REPUBLIC as a form of social and political association in whichthe people are sovereign, sees hereditary monarchy as the tip of theiceberg of privilege and seeks to discuss with others "what to put in itsplace?" Details of Republic, its journal and the AGM (to which mem-bers of SPES would be welcome) on Thursday, April 26 at 6.30 pm, atConway Hall from: Albert E. Standley (a member of SPES), HonorarySecretary and Editor, 55a Nettey Road, Barkingside IG2 7NR.The Socialist Secular Association (SSA) is another recently formedorganisation discussing important facets of humanism, change in society,opposition to religion and many allied factors. The Secular SocialistNews is edited by Cohn Mills (a member of SPES and itsT GeneralCommittee) who is also chairman of SSA. Details from him at 70Chestnut Lane, Amersham on the Hill, Bucks, MP6 6EH. The SSAAGM, also at Conway Hall, is at 2.0 pm on Saturday, April 14,And don't forget you can also contribute to thought, ideas and activitiesin the British Humanist Association (BHA), itself (address as above); theNational Secular Society (NSS), at 702 Holloway Road, London N19;and the Rationalist Press Association (RPA), at 88 Islington High Street,London NI as well as to the International Humanist and Ethical Union(IEHU).

Many members of SPES do already participate in these organisations andthe Editor of the Ethical Record is always glad to hear about them and yourideas in respect of ethical issues.14

Country Dancing (in conjunction with the Progressive League) Saturday,April 14, 3.00-6.00 pm in the Library. Everyone welcome.Please note that this is the last indoor meeting of the Season and the class

will resume in September. Some outdoor meetings will be held during theSummer. Details from Edwina Palmer.

Humanist Holidays. Scarborough. August 25, 1984 for one or two weeks.£73 per week, including VAT and service. Single room £4 extra per week.Some of the larger double rooms have private facilities at £5 supplementper person. Deposit £7. Full particulars from Mrs B. Beer, 58 Weir Road,London SW12 ONA. Phone: 01-673 6234.

Humanist Holidays AGMThis took place on Sunday, March 4 in Conway Hall and was attended

by 25 people. The previous committee (George and Marjorie Mepham,M. Sinha, N. Haemmerte, Dorothy and Jack Goundry, 0. Ford, TomChalmers, B. and S. Beer) were re-elected with the addition of R. Condon.D. and J. Goundry (from Stoke-on-Trent) are now printing and sending outHH circulars to members only (subscription £1.50).

For future holidays the following places were discussed :YULE, 1984:Bournemouth, Boscombe, Swanage, Torquay.EASTER, 1985: Poole, Southwold, Matlock or Buxton, Stratford-on-Avon.SUMMER, '1985 : Ireland, Tenby, Northumberland.

Some excellent slides belonging to the Goundry's, R. Condon and otherswere shown. Edwina and Donia kept us well fed.

Report of the National Peace Council Meeting on February 16

.M. A. Dikerdem, son of the Turkish ex-ambassador aged 68 with cancerwho was imprisoned with 17 others for starting a peace movement, spokeat a South Place discussion meeting on January 29: His case was relayedto the NPC by Sam Beer and Fanny Cockerell on February 16.

We were also warned that the biggest ever naval exercise against NorthKorea is being planned by USA, Japan and South Korea.

Jan Martin is now acting secretary of the NPC in place of Sheila Oakeswho is dividing her time between the NPC office and the Bristol Cancer

Help Clinic. The educational arm of the NPC, the United World Trust,

plans to issue FACT SHEETS and invites suggestions to 29 Great James Street,London WC1N 3E5. Camden, Sheffield, ASTMS (Hayes) and Oxfam wishto affiliate to the NPC.

The Ecology Party are working towards a Tribunal on Nuclear Weapons

and International Law because there will be a big lawyers' convention in1985. Five heads of state will be in London in June 1984 and Peter Cadoganasked for some action when they come.

An NPC person may go to Perugia in June for the END congress.Sheila Oakes and others had a real dialogue for the first time with the

new Nuclear Energy department at the Foreign Office. They are no longerseen as ignorant do-gooders.

The NPC chairperson, Tony Smythe, pointed out that harassmentat Greenham Common is increasing and the Lebanon problem is stillunsolved. The press has been harassing International Voluntary Service

but NOT the Turkish Government.SAM BEER

15

South Place Ethical SocietyFoutiono in 1793, the Society is a progressive movement whose aim is thestudy and dissemination of ethical principles based on humanism, and thecultivation of a rational way of life. •

We invite to membership all those who reject supernatural creeds andfind themselves in sympathy with our viewS.

At Conway Hall there are opportunities for participation in many kinds ofcultural activities, including discussions, lectures, concerts, dances, ramblesand socials. A comprehensive reference and lending library is available, andall Members and Associates receive the Society's journal, The EthicalRecord, free. The Sunday Evening Chamber Music Concerts founded in1887 have achieved international renown.

Memorial and. Funeral Services are available to members.Membership is by El enrolment fee and an annual Subscription.Minimum subscriptions are: Members, £4 p.a.; Life Members, £84 (Life

membership is available only to members of at least one year's standing). Itis of help to the Society's officers if members pay their subscriptions byBanker's Order, and it is of further financial benefit to the Society if Deedsof Covenant are entered into. Members are urged to pay more than theminimum subscription whenever possible, as the present amount is notsufficient to cover the cost of thls journal.

A suitable form of bequest for those wishing to benefit the Society bytheir wills is available from the office, as are Banker's Order and Deeds ofCovenant Forms.

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the study and dissemination of ethical principles; andthe cultivation of a rational and humane way of life; andthe advancement of education in fields relevant to these objects*

Being in sympathy with the above, I desire to become a Member. I willaccept the rules of the Society and will pay the annual subscription of . . .(minimum £4 plus f 1 enrolment).

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*Formally, the objects of the Society are the study and dissemination ofethical principles and the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment.

The Ethical Record is posted free to members. The annual charge to subscribersis U. Matter for publication should reach the Editor, Peter Hunot, 17 AnsonRoad, London N7 ORB (01-609 2677) no later than the first of the precedingmonth.

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