Richy Thompson
Hi, I'm the Director of Public Affairs and Policy at Humanists UK. That means I oversee all our campaigns work, our lobbying in Westminster and elsewhere, our legal work, and our media work.
Location London, United Kingdom
Activity
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Richy Thompson made a comment
There's been some chat here about the fact that under the European Convention on Human Rights and UDHR, parents have the right to see their children educated in line with their own religion.
To be clear, it's well-established that this doesn't put the state under any obligation to fund faith schools - the obligation on the state is merely not to interfere...
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Richy Thompson replied to john sutton
Hi @johnsutton. Re 'The act says “the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.” This seem to me to say precisely that parents have the right to expect the establishment of faith schools.'
Actually, as my article says, what this means is that the state...
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Richy Thompson made a comment
I've seen some questions here as to whether humanism is a religion, and what was meant when I wrote in my article, 'Case law has clarified that "religion" in these articles should be read as inclusive of the non-religious – so humanism is equally protected.'
To be clear - no, humanism is not a religion. What case law says is that if legislation says...
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Richy Thompson replied to jackie k
Hi @jackiek. No, humanism is not a religion - it's a non-religious worldview.
But all the usual contemporary justifications for the subject of Religious Education in the school curriculum – its contribution to social cohesion and mutual understanding, its presentation of a range of answers to questions of meaning and purpose, its role in educating about the...
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Richy Thompson replied to Pete B
Hi @MikWisniewski. We don't support the establishment of humanist schools for all the reasons we're against there being religious schools - because it would divide children by their parents' religions.
Have a read of https://humanism.org.uk/education/education-policy/humanist-schools-why-not/
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Richy Thompson made a comment
I'm seeing a lot of comments here about secularism around the world. Clearly different states have taken different approaches to what it means to be secular. In some, for example the United States, the focus has been on stopping the state interfering with religion. In others, for example France, the focus has been stopping religion interfering with the state....
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Richy Thompson replied to Robert Walker
Hi @RobertWalker. I don't know the details of the Grenfell memorial, but in my view, for commemorative events organised or supported by the state, it's best to ensure that those of different religions and beliefs are equally included. That means not holding them in a church or giving one church undue speaking privileges. We've campaigned a lot around this with...
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Richy Thompson replied to Peter Monk
@VivienneC Oh right! That's a bit more complicated than I realised. Apologies for my mistake.
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@MikWisniewski Ah you're right. For that see e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/14/taxpayers-should-not-fund-faith-schools
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Richy Thompson replied to Rebecca Boden
Hi Rebecca - there are other religious leaders in the House of Lords, but apart from bishops none have been appointed purely as of right. Others have been appointed not in order to ensure religious representation but along the same lines as the majority of peers, e.g. on account of their contributions to British public life.
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Richy Thompson replied to Peter Monk
@PeterMonk Yes they are legally recognised.
@VivienneC polygamous marriages on the other hand are not recognised.
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Hi Mik - Muslims can have legally recognised Islamic marriages in England and Wales, conducted by Imams. They just have to have them in registered places of worship. The problem is that many choose not to.
What sets humanist weddings apart is that they can't be legally recognised in any circumstances at all. That's what the article is saying. So the...
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Hi @DavidGascoigne - read chapter six of https://humanism.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/APPHG-report-on-humanist-marriage.pdf and you'll see how hard it can be to have a registry office wedding in much of England and Wales.
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Richy Thompson replied to J R
Hi @JR - actually Muslims can have legally recognised Islamic marriages in England and Wales. They just have to have them in registered places of worship. The problem is that many choose not to.
What sets humanist weddings apart is that they can't be legally recognised in any circumstances at all. That's what the article is saying.
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@BrainBoxJohansen I agree we should teach philosophy, but think we should do it as well as about religions and humanism.
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@JenniferBoag Actually most people don't want faith schools - certainly nowhere near as many as there are faith schools. The section headed 'Popularity of religious selection' on pages 5-6 of http://fairadmissions.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Overview-of-issues-to-do-with-religious-selection-in-school-admissions.pdf provides a good overview.
So...
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Richy Thompson replied to Dawn Miles
@DawnMiles One thing you think about doing is visiting
your MP in a constituency surgery (forgive me if I've got the language wrong for an Australian context but hopefully the meaning is clear!). That shouldn't mean travelling too far and is an extremely effective way to lobby. -
@LarryParis I completely agree. But the point I was making was to challenge those excessive behaviours you describe, rather than religion per se, because often to win the arguments in public life we have to work with religious groups who don't hold those kind of harmful views you talk about. When we see a good opportunity to forge alliances to achieve more, we...
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Richy Thompson replied to Michael Mc Dermott
Hi all - one thing we campaign for is for high-quality education in schools that is *about* different religions and humanism, because we think it's really important that everyone has the chance to understand what others believe, as well as explore their own beliefs. Much of what's taught in the subject of 'religious education' in Britain nowadays fits this...
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Richy Thompson replied to Jennifer Boag
@JenniferBoag Hi Jennifer. We campaign for equality and freedom of religion or belief for all. The rights of the religious to believe and behave as they see fit should be equally respected to those of the non-religious - so long as they do no harm to others.
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Richy Thompson made a comment
Hi all! I'm Richy, Humanists UK's Director of Public Affairs and Policy. I oversee all our campaigns and legal work, so really this week's content is all about what my team and I do.
Freedom really underpins everything we do in our campaigns. Whether it's freedom of religion or belief, freedom of speech or expression, LGBT rights, women's rights, the right...
