France: No scarf, no cross, no cake

A fresh wind is springing up in France. Blowing through schoolhouses and driving out the ghosts of irrationalism, intolerance and oppression, it takes a dark and heavy burden from many a tiny shoulder. The ban of Muslim headscarves, Christian crosses and all other symbols of religious submission guarantees children again the basic human right to grow as free and equal citizens. Nobody is born a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew or a Sikh.

Defending its secular identity and reaffirming its commitment to individual liberty, France has turned the tide and done a significant step to push back the dirty wave of fundamentalism, which is rolling over the world since militant Islam raised its head with the Iranian Revolution. This is a great encouragement for the side of freedom and progress. Secularism is not only a pillar of the French Constitution, it is the essence of modern civilization and has to be defended against all religious attempts to undo historical achievements.

The ban of religious symbols in state schools and public administration services, representing the secular French Republic, is not as new as the outcry of Islamic fundamentalists and the harsh condemnation by the Christian churches suggest. The principle of the "lay" society is enshrined in the French Constitution and reflected in its laws since 1905. There have been no crosses and headscarves in French schools for many decades. The dominant influence of the Catholic Church, against which the lay society originally had to protect itself, had been curbed, and the increasing number of Muslim immigrants from North Africa tried to integrate themselves into a society, in which religion was exclusively a private matter.

The conflict was born, when in Iran in 1979 a fundamentalist government came to power and propagated aggressively an Islamic dress code for women. Confrontations over the headscarf grew in intensity during the recent years. The Christian Churches tried to use the opportunity to turn back the wheel of history. They shed crocodile tears for the "harassed" Muslims, hoping that under cover of the headscarf the cross could be smuggled back into the classroom. But French secularism prevailed and continues to be a model.

The French principle of the "lay" society allows freedom to worship, but neither endorses nor supports any religion. State and church are perfectly separated. This concept is fundamentally different from another "interpretation" of secularism, which is prevalent in many countries today. It does not exclude religion from matters of the civil society, but "corrects" the injustice of privileging one by inviting all of them to the table. Every community has its say and gets its share of the cake. Some governments invite even the "secularists" to join the party as another religion, perverting the idea of the lay society to the absurd.

In France, there is no cake. But there are schools defending children's individual liberty. Secular protectorates, where the claws of religion cannot touch you and young minds can learn to form their own convictions and make their own choices.

Finland: Quit the church via internet

It has never been easier to quit the Evangelic Lutheran Church of Finland! The Freethinkers of Tampere have created a web page, where you can simply fill your name and social security number into an electronic file, print it out and mail it to the registry office. Amen!

The link is www.eroakirkosta.fi, which means "www.leave-the-church.fi". From the date of its opening on 21/11/2003 till the end of the year, 1400 people have used the site to submit their resignations. The popularity of that web page is remaining stable.

As reported in Bulletin # 118, the Evangelic Lutheran Church in Finland observes a sharp increase in quitting members after the freedom of religion law was amended last year, allowing resignation with immediate effect by mail. In 2003, a total number of 26857 people have left the Evangelic Lutheran Church in Finland: 10000 more than in 2002. The Finnish media have widely reported about this historic development.

... and join the Finnish edition of Rationalist International Bulletin!

Rationalist International proudly presents the Finnish edition of the Bulletin!

If you read Finnish, you are welcome to join the new edition by sending a blank e-mail from your address to

Rationalisti-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Swaziland: Human sacrifices against AIDS and poverty

The South African kingdom of Swaziland is terrorized by a particular kind of gruesome murder. The victims are children or weak and helpless adults; the killers mostly hired professionals. The prey is human flesh. Small pieces from under the armpit, fingers or pieces of inner organs are cut from the victim and brought to a sorcerer, who would brew a potion with those pieces and other macabre ingredients. The magic brew is believed to carry the life force of the sacrificed victim and to make the user invulnerable, powerful and wealthy. It will be especially potent, if the flesh is cut from the still living victim, they say.

Such human sacrifices have been observed earlier also. Every year, the police reported findings of some mutilated bodies. But recently the number of cases has strongly increased, and so has the panic. Swaziland newspapers insist that there is a connection to politics. There was a sudden increase of sacrifices in the election years 1998 and 2003. Some people have been arrested and tried in connection with the murders, but so far no link to politicians could be proven. But nobody knows the secret customers of the sorcerers, who are rarely caught.

The case of a mass murderer, David Simelane, who confessed the killing of 63 women and children three years ago, is contributing to fear and excitement. Strangely, it could not be established up to now, if Simelane killed his victims to harvest body parts for magical potions. And the delay of his trial, which is yet to be opened, seems for many to prove that mighty politicians protect him.

Dr. Thandle Malepe, director of the National Psychiatric Center in Manzini, explains the increase of sacrifices with growing social stress. Swaziland has one of the world's highest HIV infection rates; nearly 40% of the adults are estimated to be HIV positive. The fast spreading disease spurns economic decline and the breakdown of the traditional family. In times of grave personal insecurity, many confused or pathological people set their hope in magical "cures", says Dr. Malepe.

Norway: State church - yes or no?

Should Norway have a state church? Since recently, a slim majority of Norwegians feels it should. According to a report in the daily Aftenposten, 40% of the participants of the latest opinion poll want to maintain the Norwegian Lutheran State Church in its position, while 36% want to abolish the institution of state church and 24% cannot decide. Just one year before, poll results showed a significant difference: Only 28% voted in favor of the state church, but 42% voted against it and 30% could not decide.

Records show that before the last swing, public support for the Norwegian State Church has been constantly going down since more than ten years. Norway has a strong and very active Humanist organization, which opposes the monopoly of the Lutheran Church.