By New Worker correspondent
MILITANT atheists took to the
streets of London last Saturday for
a march and rally in the capital calling for an end to religious privileges and
for European institutions to remain secular. Several hundred people took part in the march organised by the Secular Europe Campaign
that was originally launched in 2008 to challenge the enormous power and
influence of the Vatican
within the European Union. A similar protest was held in Rome
the same day against the huge three billion euro tax exemption the Vatican
enjoys.
But the
British campaign is broader and "aims at representing all the issues
around secularism and human rights, including opposition to state-funded faith
schools, rejection of religious tribunals and support to equal rights for Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender citizens."
Marco
Tranchino, who is organising the Secular Europe Campaign, said: “Wherever the
Pope goes now he will be sure to face criticism and protest. We want to keep
the impetus going that started last year at the Protest the Pope event, and
encourage all people who believe in separation of religion from the state to
join us.”
Tranchino says
that the Vatican
has far too much influence on the institutions of the European Union and it was
time for that to be challenged.
“We have the
support of feminist, gay and secular groups from all around Europe
and large numbers of individuals who are following us on social network sites.
We hope that this will send a message to the governments of Europe
and Great Britain
that alarm is growing at the undue influence of religion on political
decision-making. We want a secular Europe where there is
room for everyone, whether they have a religious belief or not, where policy is
directed only by elected politicians, not by priests who are answerable to
no-one.”
No comments:
Post a Comment