Ethetai Record the Proceedings of the South Place Ethical Society
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Ethetai Record The Proceedings of the South Place Ethical Society Vol. 113 No. 8 £1.50 September 2008 WHO IS MORE CULPABLE - THE HACKER OR THE PROGRAMMER? In 2002, young UK hacker Gary McKinnon was "just snooping around" (his own words) in a US NASA and Naval computer network. After trying for six years to extradite him to the USA for trial for allegedly causing damage to the network, a British judge acceded to the USA's request. McKinnon is to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, fearing that he will not get a fair trial in the US. The network's users should be grateful that the vulnerability of their supposedly safe system has been exposed. Instead of putting him on trial, they should now employ McKinnon to verify that they've closed the loophole, which otherwise could have been found and exploited by • America's enemies, causing genuine damage to the west's military defences. The US military should rather direct their anger to the computer firm which deceived them by installing a defective system. Hacking into banks etc to transfer fimds is clearly criminal, but we have a right to demand that any public Carla Revere. fbunder of the institution holds its data with absolute Secular Lanyers Group security and is capable of shielding it See page 3. from any possible hacker. RELIGIOUS DRESS IN SOCIETY TODAY Carla Revere 3 VIEWPOINTS: Jasper Tomlinson, Mike Honate 11 HIGHER INFINITIES Chris Ormell 13 ETHICAL SOCIETY EVENTS 16 CONWAY HALL SUNDAY CONCERTS organised by the Ethical Society, starting 12 October 2008 Concerts start at 630pm. Tickets £7. [email protected] SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY Conway Hall Humanist Centre • 25 Red Lion Square, London WC IR 4RL. Tel: 020 7242 8034 Fax: 020 7242 8036 Website: www.ethicalsoc.org.uk email: [email protected] Chairman: Giles Enders Hon. Rep.: Don Liversedge Vice-chairman: Terry Mullins Treasurer: John Edwards Registrar: Donald Rooum Editor, Ethical Record: Norman Bacrac SPES Staff Executive Officer: Emma J. Stanford Tel: 020 7242 8034/I Finance Officer: Linda Alia Tel: 020 7242 8034 Lettings Officer: Carina Dvorak Tel: 020 7242 8032 LibrarianIProgramme Coordinator: Jennifer Jeynes M.Sc. Tel:020 7242 8037 Lettings Assistant: Marie Aubrechtova Caretakers: Eva Aubrechtova (i/c): Tel: 020 7242 8033 together with: Shaip Bullaku, Angelo Edrozo, Nikola Ivanovski, Alfredo Olivio, Rogerio Retuema. David.Wright Maintenance Operative: Zia Hameed New Members We welcome to the Society: Robert Ashby of Cheltenham; Gillian Garrart of Amersham; Josh Kutchinsky of London NW6; Livingstone Thomas of London E14; Cynthia Wild of London SW17; Roger Williamson of Chorltonville in Manchester. Obituary We regret to report the death of: Mrs I Meyer of London NW3; Mr PE Perry of Brighton; Mr A Stavri of London NW 10 Donor We are grateful to Mrs RV St John of London SEI3, who generously donated £500. ETHICAL SOCIETY ANNUAL COACH TRIP — 27 JULY 2008 Fine weather accompanied over 30 Ethicals and friends on this year's trip, aimed at the Sussex town of Lewes. Upon arrival we were escorted by a member of the Headstrong Club, to which Tom Paine had belonged over 200 years before, to the first floor room of a local pub. There we were given an account of Thomas Paine's career in Lewes and later in colonial America, where he discussed the terms of the new Declaration of Independence with Thomas Jefferson. Paine's humanist plea that in it slavery be declared unconstitutional and abolished was rejected by the Americans on the ground that otherwise they could not remain united in their fight against British rule. After lunch and a walk round the town, we travelled over the downs to the pleasant seaside town of Rottingdean for afternoon tea and look-around before returning to London. Thanks are due to Jennifer Jeynes and Emma Stanford for the smooth organisation of a successful trip. NB SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY Reg. Charity No. 251396 Founded in 1793, the Society is a progressive movement whose aims.are: the study and dissemination of ethical principles based on humanism, the cultivation of a rational and humane way of life, and the advancement of research and education in relevant fields. We invite to membership those who reject supernatural creeds and are in sympathy with our aims. At Conway Hall the programme includes Sunday lectures, discussions, evening courses and the renowned South Place Sunday Concerts of chamber music. The Society maintains a Humanist Reference Library. The Society's journal, Ethical Record, is issued monthly. Memorial meetings may be arranged. The annual subscription is £18 (£12 if a full-time student, unwaged or over 65). 2 Ethical Record, September 2008 RELIGIOUS DRESS IN SOCIETY TODAY Carla Revere National Secular Society Council Lecture to the Ethical Society, 13 July 2008 In this country until fairly recently society was more or less homogenous in population as well as religion. Thc village school was nominally C of E. People got married in churches without thinking too much about what they were doing. They said grace before meals without too much thought about God's exact role in getting the food onto their tables. In a multicultural society people have to examine their own faith when confronted with faiths differing in nature and practicc from their own. But to treat faith as the sole issue is to simplify the situation. In the same way that 100 years ago most people would say they were Christian, meaning that they held broadly similar views and morals as those of their fellow countrymen, so other faiths arc a complex mixture of actual faith and culture. Indeed from a sociological point of view, faith makes some sense if you look at it in terms of cultural heritage and practice. A negative by-product of a multicultural society that has so many positives is a retrenchment to more extreme religious views. This has to be understood not necessarily as just an affirmation of faith, but also as a desire to protect cultural heritage. Whether that is in the form of the eight foot high crucifix that is on the wall of the Catholic primary school across the road, or thc wearing of headscarves by young Muslim women, we cannot get away from the fact that faith has become militant in all its forms. The one thing all the faiths have in common is a reactionary desire to maintain and preserve the old rather than to be progressive and move forward. 2003 — The Religion or Belief Regulations Before 2003, there was no law referring to religious discrimination. However Sikhs and Jews were protected by the existing legislation against racial discrimination. These regulations implement the European directive which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in employment. A belief must be a philosophical belief. It is open to question at the moment whether political beliefs will be caught by the legislation. The new equality bill proposes to extend the rights to access to services. Employment law is a progressive area of the law that over the years had led the way in leading social change. It was in the arcna of employment law that we first outlawed sex and race discrimination followed by disability discrimination. I know from talking to businessmen operating in the 70s and 80s that social change would never have occurred, especially in relation to the treatment of women in the workplace, had it not been for the legislation. The religion or belief regs. arc less clear-cut in their advantages. Clearly we want a society where people are not subjected to harassment or not given equal opportunities because of their religion. The situation is complicated when we realise that many religions hold views that are morally repugnant to a liberal freethinking society. The wearing of a cross or a headscarf so becomes not the satisfaCtion or practice of a private belief, but a way of expressing a moral Ethical Record, September 2008 3 judument on those around them. This is not so in every case, but increasingly dress is being used as a silent weapon of reactionary cultural groups. Two Forms Of Discrimination Direct — is where the reason for the treatment is your religion. Ie - "I'm not giving you a job because you are Muslim", or "I'm not going to promote you because you arc a Christian". Any less favourable treatment based directly on religion such as offensive jokes or bullying could be direct discrimination if it could be proved that the person was being subjected to the treatment because thcy were of a particular religion. indirect — This is where it gets complicated. For the purposes of these Regulations, Person A discriminates against another Person B if On grounds of religion or belief A treats B less favourably than he treats or would treat another person; or: although A applies to B a provision, criterion or practice (PCP) which he applies or would apply equally to persons not of the same religion or belief as B, it puts or would put persons of the same religion or belief as B at a particular disadvantage when compared with other persons, or puts B at that disadvantage, and which A cannot show to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Note: The reference to religion or belief does not include A's religion or belief So what does this mean for dress? Indirect discrimination is where an employer applies a requirement to staff that is not applied for a discriminatory reason, but that the employee is discriminated against. For example a requirement to work on Sundays would indirectly discriminate against an observant Christian, because observant Christians would be put at a particular disadvantage by the requirement.