Displaying items by tag: National Secular Society

Dr Richard Scott runs the Bethesda Medical Centre, caring for almost 20,000 patients. At the end of the standard Western medicine procedure he asks his patients for their permission to introduce elements of faith into his consultation. He maintains that his behaviour is vindicated by the WHO, which includes spiritual alongside physical and mental wellbeing and has ‘involved a spiritual angle’ for patients with depression, anxiety or addiction. Now he faces disciplinary action by the General Medical Council and could lose his job, following complaints to the National Secular Society by an acquaintance that a ‘highly vulnerable’ patient felt ‘discomfort at the use of prayer’. Christian Concern said that Dr Scott always asks his patients if they're open to discussion. Sometimes they're not, and he respects that.

The National Secular Society (NSS) claims that 12,000+ charities exist solely to promote religion, with some using public money to promote extremism and harmful practices, and calls for the advancement of religion to be removed from the list of charitable purposes. Although benefits provided by most of the charitable purposes relieve poverty, promote good health, save lives and protect the environment, the NSS said the benefit to the public by advancing a religion is far more contestable and based on the outdated presumption that religion is inherently a good thing. It believes religious fundamentalism has demonstrated that religion can exacerbate tension, division, segregation and conflict in Britain, and ’as such there is a clear need to consider whether religion should be regarded as an inherent public good deserving the status of a charitable purpose’. The NSS has written to the charities minister, calling for the removal of the advancement of religion as a charitable purpose.

Conservative MP Crispin Blunt has tabled a motion for the tradition of saying prayers at the beginning of parliamentary business to be abolished. This call comes with the backing of eight other MPs and the National Secular Society (NSS). Mr Blunt, an honorary associate of NSS, stated on its website, ‘Whilst religious worship occupies a strong part in some people's lives, it should no longer play a role in the way we conduct our political affairs as an independent, open and diverse nation’. The House of Commons’ main daily prayer, first used in 1558, asks for God’s guidance so that MPs ‘never lead the nation wrongly through love of power, desire to please, or unworthy ideals’. Keith Vaz suggested an amendment to Blunt’s motion, resulting in the bill saying the opposite of its author’s intention: see