Do we need an humanist remembrance day service?

On BBC London this morning, there was a fair amount of debate about the proposal to have a Humanist service for remembrance Sunday at Conway Hall. The event is being hosted by Dan Snow and the purpose is to allow people who don't feel comfortable partaking in a religious service to remember the fallen of the various wars. As I listened to this, I wondered whether this was really a positive development. Of course it is a free country. People can do what they like and there is nothing at all wrong with people who reject organised religion setting up alternative events. We should all be perfectly free to remember our friends and family in any manner we choose. It is also very positive that people feel compelled to remember the fallen and take time out of their schedule for a period of contemplation.

The issue I have is that I do not feel comfortable with division being sown in an area where I for one believe we should display unity and community. During the various wars, comrades fell side by side. They did not care whether the man next to them was Chrisitian, Muslim or Humanist. They merely asked each other to do their duty and support their comrades. My Father was a bomber pilot during the second world war. He served in 40 Squadron and had spells at Moretonin the Marsh, North Africa and Foggia in Italy. He flew 40 active service missions and was shot down near Ploesti in Romania on his 40th mission. When his plane was destroyed, his best friend F/O Andrew "Spud" Murphy, who was rear gunner died. My Father attended many remembrance services to remember the fallen colleagues in his squadron. In the month prior to his plane being shot down in 1944, 40 Squadron lost nearly the entire squadron. Whenever he stood in line at the Cenotaph, he'd always be moved by the fact that comrades of all races and creeds were in attendance. My father was an Australian and a member of the Royal Austrailian Airforce. His squadron was largely made up of citizens of the Commonwealth. His crew included an Irishman, a Newfoundlander (then not part of Canada) and a New Zealander. The point was that despite the diverse background of the squadron, they were in it together.

Humanism and Atheism belief is one held by many people. My personal preference would be for such views to be accommodated within services that represent the whole of our society. I would spend hours listening to my father describe squadron life. He once told me that the Padre was in some ways the most important person on the base. When new recruits joined, the padre would explain that he was there for everyone, regardless of faith. He would conduct a simple service on a Sunday, which was not compulsory to attend. They would sing "The Lord is my Shepherd", say a prayer for fallen comrades, recalling their names and then say the Lords Prayer. The Padre would then invite the crews to remember their fallen colleagues in their own way and say a prayer for family back home. He would then ask for the Lords protection for the crews for the coming missions and pray that they all got home safely. My Father explained that attendance was near 100%. Aircrew were notoriously superstitious. He told me that he had several friends who were atheists and he'd asked several about the service. The answer had always been the same, that it was probably the sanest moment of the week.  He told me that the Padre  was great friends with one of the senior officers who made no bones about his lack of religious belief. My Father recalls having a chat with the officer about the subject and he said that in his opinion, the service was not about religion, it was about being part of a team and caring about your comrades. He said that singing the hymns and saying the prayers did not endorse anything other than the fact that everyone was working to create a better world.

I can remember the last time my Father attended a reunion of 40 Squadron crews. He came back and was absolutely bladdered. He'd met up with many friends he'd not seen since the war. he was so excited that he spent about four more hours drinking with me and telling me stories. Towards the end of our little session, he told me a story. He said that as his plane was being shot down, he said that he'd said the "Hail Mary" and asked the Lord to give him his three score and ten years. He said that his survival was remarkable and he always attributed it to the intervention of the Virgin Mary. He said that he hit the ground, in pitch black five seconds after he pulled his parachute cord. His plane hit the ground and exploded about 300 yards from when he landed. He said that at that moment, he knew he'd see the war out. He also told me a very strange thing. When he got shot down, his plane was flying towards Ploesti to bomb the Romanian Oil Refineries. He said that as he was just doing his final checks, he looked and in the co-pilot seat, a member of another Air Crew, Jack Schinder was sitting. Before my Father could say anything, Schinder said "It's a killer the way these Wimpeys go down Titch". At that second, he heard a burst of machine gun fire and he realised that his plane was being engaged by an ME109 night fighter. His plane was breaking up and his rear gunner was dead,. The plane was in flames and his first priority was to get his crew out safely. Fortunately, all apart from the unfortunate Murphy survived.

My father took these events as complete affirmation of his faith. I asked him if any athiest had survived similar scenarios. His response was "Of course they did". I asked him if he'd ever asked any of them if they'd prayed during the experience. He said "Yeah, they all did. It's what you do when you are getting shot down". I asked what his opinion of this was. He replied that he thought they were all "ungrateful bastards" humourously. He said that at the reunion all manner of strange stories came out. He said that for many, they hadn't discussed it since the war. His parting shot as we wrapped up our chat was to say "The ones who got through were lucky. The best thing you can ever be in life is lucky". I have often thought about what happened to my father on that night. It is really quite disturbing. He wasn't a man given to flights of fancy or making things up, so I 100% believe his account. I accept that there are plenty of other explanations. It is up to you to choose your own one. Whenever I think of remembrance Sunday, my mind always comes back to the events back in 1944 and the horror my father endured. He got through and had a great life. 55,000 members of Bomber Command didn't. We do owe them a debt.

However we choose to remember the ones who were lucky and the ones who weren't (and I hope we all do remember them), let us remember that they were fighting for justice, tolerance, democracy and fairness. I believe we best express our thanks to them by standing together and putting our differences to one side.

The problem with smug Humanists

Today I feel like a row. Today I feel like picking a fight. It wasn't always thus but right now I need a row with someone to say in balance and harmony. Who better to pick a row with than probably the most smug bunch of the lot. The Humanists. Now I don't care what people believe in. By an accident of birth and sheer stubbornness, I'm a rather bad Roman Catholic. I'll quite happily admit that there are all sorts of things which, shall we say, could be improved within the Church. We are a pretty guilty bunch, we drink too much, we sometimes have to defend the indefensible, we have some fairly strange traditions and ideas. That's the downside. Hey but what an upside. The prettiest churches and I guarantee all the best countries for a party are Roman Catholic. Ireland, Brazil, Spain, Italy. All the best funeral wakes are Catholic as well, especially Irish Catholic.

Now I'm not claiming we have a monopoly on good parties. I've been to some great Bahmitzvahs. Hindu weddings party for three days and certainly have the best fireworks. Greek Orthodox weddings are pretty cool and my sisters Russian Orthodox effort was fantastic. What do the Humanists have to offer in the fun stakes? Posters on the bus? Big deal. They proclaim "Enjoy Life" - well if I want to enjoy life, I go to Dublin. Even London has a big St Patricks day festival. Where is the big Humanist party that we are meant to enjoy? All the countries which tried Athiesm as a state religion were pretty grim. USSR, China, Romania?

So what you may ask, have the poor old humanists done to deserve an earbashing?

Well they are just so smug. They have this awful condescending air of superiority, that only those who "know they are right" can manage. I was in a happy mood on the train home, until I read this letter from Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society in todays Guardian (last letter in list). It seems that the countries numero uno humanist is smugly awaiting our new Archbishop of Westmister, Vince Nichols :-

Vincent Nichols is said to be a "bruiser" and "pugnacious", which is good news from our point of view. The Catholic church is committing suicide with its bullying, reactionary doctrines. It is constantly involved in confrontations with either secularists, gays, women, politicians who won't toe its line or humane Catholics who are appalled by the insensitivity and even cruelty of some of the Vatican's teachings. Your editorial gave Vincent Nichols good advice - stick to issues that can unite your followers. I am pleased to say he is unlikely to take it.
Terry Sanderson
President, National Secular Society

What really irked me was the fact that Mr Sanderson hopes that the new Archbishop will be a failure. He hopes that he'll divide the church and cause discontent within the ranks. In short he hopes that the Archbishop will do a rubbish job. If I was Mr Sanderson, I'd rather hope my arguments would stand up for themselves. I'd hope I wouldn't have to rely on Bishops cocking up to recruit followers to my ideology. If you follow his argument to it's logical conclusion, if the Bishop does a great job, the humanists will get less followers and maybe Mr Sanderson would be out of a job. What he's saying is similar to Sir Alex Ferguson saying "I hope that Gus Hiddink is a rubbish Chelsea manager, so we can walk the league without trying". What does Sanderson expect a bishop to do, totally disagree with the policies of the Church. English Catholics are not stupid. We know what areas of the proposition are, shall we say, a bit out of date. That doesn't mean we want to "commit suicide", much as Sanderson would like us to. I'm not what you might call a particularly devout Catholic. Having said that, I get rather annoyed at smug commentators, who know nothing about the subject talking nonsense about us. My advice to Sanderson - promote the positive messag you have to offer. Lay off the smug sniping.

I've no idea how the new Bishop will do. I hope he does well and promotes the positive messages the Church has to offer. I hope if Mr Sandersons sect pick up followers, its because they have something positive to offer them, not because a Bishop does a rubbish job, much as I'd only advise someone to become a Catholic if they felt it was an attractive proposition.

I've friends of all sorts of faiths. They get something positive from it. I'd not be so arrogant as to say that any faith has an exclusive monopoly on truth. Most people stick with the faith they are born with, sometimes drifting in & out. If it helps them through hard times, that is good enough for me. I know plenty of great humanists & athiests, they are not evil or terrible people, they've just come to a different conclusion to me. I'm not having a go at them or their beliefs, as I'm sure the last thing they want is a smug pompous fool such as Mr Sanderson to speak for them. As for me, I'll stick with my lot, they may not be perfect, but it works for me. Religious arguments are bad enough without Humanists, secularists and Athiests wading in.

You won't find God on a London Bus (probably)

Some stories are truly bizarre. There is a report on the BBC website that the British Humanist Society are placing adverts on the side of bendy buses proclaiming "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The report says the BHS has £27,500 to spend on this message. My first thought was that this story was a wind up. It wouldn't surprise me if they'd had a nice big donation from Heineken for the advert. Maybe a byline "Humanism, probably the best religion in the world".

Now I'm not one for censorship. If the BHS thinks this is the best way to get it's message over, that's fine by me. Like many things, some people get hot under the collar when people challenge their beliefs. I disagree, it is healthy to examine your beliefs periodically. The thing is though, if you look at their message scientifically, their proposition is unsustainable. As the existence of God is unproveable, Humanism is just one of many religions, beliefs or viewpoints. As we cannot know which of these is right, statistically they are all probably wrong. In statistics, you have something called sample theory. The bigger the sample, the more likely you are to get a correct answer. Now on this basis, God wins as there are more believers than humanists. That clearly is a pretty dodgy basis for believing, so why use a scientific principle - probability - in the context of something that is outside the realms of current scientific knowledge. Until someone actually produces a valid scientific basis for showing God probably doesn't exist, then the statement is just a belief, the thing Humanists claim to despise.

As to the other part of the statement "Now stop worrying and enjoy life". I don't know about you, but my worries at the moment are nothing to do with God. I must admit that if the BHS had given me the £27,500 instead of giving it to TFL, I'd be worrying much less. I'd probably buy a few cases of Heineken and be much happier. The implication of the advert is that all religious people are neurotic misery guts's whilst Humanists are fun loving party people. Now in the article well known Atheist Professor Richard Dawkins says "Religion is accustomed to getting a free ride - automatic tax breaks, unearned respect and the right not to be offended, the right to brainwash children." "Even on the buses, nobody thinks twice when they see a religious slogan plastered across the side." "This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think - and thinking is anathema to religion." Well he sounds like a fun guy to get stuck on a bus next to. One of the most boring programs I watched was the one he put together about what a load of tosh religion was. Give me a Pogues gig full of drunken Irish Catholics any day! The best party I've been to this year was my best mates son's Bahmitzvah. I can also honestly say that I heard more jokes and laughed more at the wake for my Mother, following a good old Roman Catholic funeral than anything on the telly for the last 30 years.

Now I don't mind what people say, but come on. The suggestion that people of faith are all miserable sods is unsustainable. If the BHS wants to plaster buses with these messages, thats fine. If they want to give a misleading impression, which is so obviously a load of nonsense, that is up to them, but I think it makes them look rather silly. Being a Good Catholic boy, I'm now going to sit back, crack open a Heineken and hope Celtic give Manchester United a good stuffing in the Champions League. I can assure you if they win I'll not be worried at all and I'll really be enjoying life!