LGBT people in the Commonwealth

You are kindly invited to take note of the following good news:

The President of European Humanist Federation, Mr. David Pollock, wrote on 4 October 2011 to Kamalesh Sharma, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, as follows:

"Please do your best to ensure that the appalling persecution of LGBT people is placed on the agenda for the Commonwealth Conference later this month.

CHOGM [Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting] should mandate:

 -  Decriminalisation of homosexuality

 -  Laws to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

 -  Protection of LGBT people from hate crimes by full enforcement of legislation against threats and violence

 -  Government consultation and dialogue with LGBT organisations".

We received an acknowledgement next day:

"The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Kamalesh Sharma, has asked me to thank you for your e-mail of 4 October 2011 and writing of your concerns. I can assure you that your views have been taken carefully into account. And in his opening address to the conference on 25 October, he came out with a clear statement in support of LGBT rights. The Commonwealth Secretary-General said:

"We recall the 2009 Affirmation of Commonwealth Values and Principles, which includes a clear commitment to tolerance, respect and understanding. This means we embrace difference, and that includes sexual identity. Discrimination and criminalisation on grounds of sexual orientation is at odds with our values."

It remains to be seen how much this welcome and unambiguous declaration will affect the situation in countries being part of the Commonwealth.

Celibacy–a Catholic Violation of Human Rights

During the last few months lay catholics have voiced demands on the Catholic Church to abolish the celibacy. A quite recent example of such initiatives was reported on 7 January in the Austrian daily newspaper “Die Presse”.

An important motivation for this emerging pressure is the growing problem of finding qualified clergymen to replace those who retire or are leaving the church for other reasons.

The idea is that the abolition of celibacy would help to attract young male heterosexual theologians to become priests, which would also – as an extra bonus - probably reduce the number of children being sexually abused by priests with abnormal sexual orientation. - Yes, it is abnormal to have sex with children – and criminal as well.

The above reasons for ceasing to demand of Catholic priests that they live in celibacy are good and valid but why not simply admit or acknowledge that even Catholic priests have a fundamental right to get married, if they so wish? Why do states that are not governed by the Pope himself, like the Holy See, allow this inhuman discrimination by one employer (the Catholic Church) of a part of its employees (the Catholic priests)?

The following is an excerpt of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly in 1948:

Article 16.1
Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.

Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

And here is an excerpt from the European Convention on Human Rights which entered into force in 1953:

Article 12 – Right to marry
Men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right.

Article 14 – Prohibition of discrimination
The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.

Please note the references in both documents to both “sex” and “religion”.

I repeat my question, why do states, especially those that ascribe to the principles of secularism, accept this kind of discriminatory treatment of a whole professional category?

The Catholic Church in its name of “Holy See” is an internationally recognised “state”, but how long shall other states tolerate its operation as a state-in-their-state?

One of many examples of this situation is its pre-medieval practice of mandatory celibacy for a significant part of its staff, a practice which is in overt violation of human rights and national legislation!

The Teaching of Religion

According to the Irish newspaper the Belfast Telegraph, Ireland's record on religion in schools will come under scrutiny next year during a review by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The reason is that the way in which religion is taught in the overwhelming majority of schools in the Republic of Ireland may be a breach of the human rights of children.

The Government has been told it is time for it to reconsider the role of religion and how it is taught in Irish classrooms.

The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHCR) has in a discussion paper pointed out that parents have the right to withdraw their children from any instruction that conflicts with their own convictions. This may, however, not be enough considering the very prominent role played by religious orders in Irish education.

While most people in Ireland define themselves as belonging to the Roman Catholic Church or Church of Ireland, a significant number now define themselves as being of no belief or of Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or other beliefs.

By the end of January, recommendations will be made to the Government on the measures required for the State to meet its human rights obligations in this area.

Although the Irish situation may be seen as “somewhat unique internationally”, the IHCR also pointed to the fact that all countries were grappling with the issue regarding the role of religion and its teaching in their national school systems.

Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/religion-in-schools-may-be-breach-of-human-rights-15016751.html#ixzz16mfO6Cu0

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For my own part I welcome the initiative taken by the UN Human Rights Council and would hope that it will also apply to other countries such as Austria, where the teaching of religion is organised in conformity with a long-standing agreement with the Catholic church, which, for instance, may object to the appointment of teachers not acceptable to them.

In my view, religion should not be taught in any schools but students should be taught about religions in an unbiased and non-confessional way by teachers who are no preachers and also be taught about alternative life stances, such as humanism. In connection with that, students should also learn about ethical standards and human rights.

This subject should not be optional but treated in the same manner as other sucbjects, such as history, literature, philosophy and geography.

Religion may be taught and practised in churches, mosques, synagoges and temples and taught privately to students by their parents or others, but not in schools. To teach small children how to pray is not education. It is indoctrination.