Northern Ireland Assembly members are handed copies of The God Delusion

LAST month, at the inaugural opening of the Northern Ireland Assembly, a deputation from the Humanist Association of Northern Ireland (Humani), headed by Brian McClinton, editor of Humani magazine, presented copies of Richard Dawkins’ best-seller The God Delusion to a number of assembly representatives on the steps of Stormont.

Dawkins holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. His book supports Robert Pirsig’s observation that “when one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion.”

“Humani,” said Brian McClinton, “supports a humanistic world view based on interpretation of existence on the evidence of the natural world and its evolution, and not on belief in a supernatural power. Humanism is the belief that we can live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs.”

He added “Humani is concerned with the inherent prejudices that pervade Northern Irish society propagated by the religio-centric political institutions that are now residing in power at Stormont. During the 2001 census 14 percent of the population identified themselves as secular and, therefore, not allied to any religious faith.

“In Northern Ireland, as across Europe, this minority of secularists is growing and they have the right to equality of treatment. Humani supports issues of social equality and aims to combat discrimination based on age, sex, race and sexual orientation.

“Northern Irish politics is grossly patriarchal with only 18 out of 108 (17 percent) of MLAs being female. Our children continue to be educated in religious and segregated schools; hardly a recipe for integration. Tribal politics and constitutional issues have squeezed everyday issues such as class inequalities, education, health service closures and water charges out of Northern Irish politics. As the political institutions reassemble they face the fundamental issue about the kind of society we want in the province, and such issues now need to be tackled.

“Humani is pleased and grateful that Daithí McKay (Sinn Féin), Stephen Farry (Alliance), Thomas Burns (SDLP) and Dawn Purvis (PUP) accepted copies of Dawkins’ book and agreed that issues of equality are central to Northern Ireland’s future.

The most successful countries possess diverse cultures and societies which recognise the right to be different, while at the same time cherishing the universal values we all share as part of our common humanity.

“Northern Ireland is itself becoming increasingly diverse. However, we remain a polarised and largely segregated society, with little or no space for ‘the others’. It was both disappointing and ironic that the DUP’s Sammy Wilson rejected our gift, saying ‘I don’t want any of that nonsense’. Not a promising sign for the future of our new government.”