C E B O . org

Posted 12:38 PM by Mary

(Washington, DC, January 29, 2009) The American Humanist Association today
praised President Barack Obama for signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
into law--the first law signed in his presidency. The law protects women and
minorities against pay discrimination.

"Today an important step has been taken toward equality and fairness," said
Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.
"The glass ceiling just got a little higher, and it's about time. The people
clearly want change and a more equitable world, one with equal opportunity
for all citizens. The American Humanist Association applauds President Obama
for taking this step in the right direction, and pledges to support similar
bills and measures in the future that will help end discrimination, not just
against women but against religious minorities, gays, lesbians and other
marginalized groups."

Karen Frantz, policy and advocacy associate of the American Humanist
Association agreed. "In 2008 we launched a campaign to mobilize our members
and supporters to take action on this critical issue of gender equality.
Without the Ledbetter Act, justice delayed becomes justice denied. But now
women are in a better position to redress the grievance of workplace
inequities."

The Fair Pay Act was drafted after Lilly Ledbetter lost her Supreme Court
case challenging proven pay discrimination by her employer, Goodyear.
Ledbetter made far less than her male colleagues for doing the same work,
losing approximately $200,000 in salary and more in pension and social
security benefits. However, the Supreme Court ruled that, even though she
was a victim of gender discrimination, and even though it had taken time for
the knowledge of her discrimination to become clear, she still had not made
her claim in a timely enough manner to seek redress. The Fair Pay Act was in
direct response to the ruling and remedies the artificial time constraint
hurdle.

"There should be no statute of limitation on fairness," concluded Frantz.

Labels: Gender

Posted 1:37 PM by Mary

Humanists Launch Effort on Human Rights Anniversary; Issue Statement to Be Signed by Prominent Thinkers and Activists

For Immediate Release - Contact Fred Edwords at (202) 238-9088
email: fedwords@americanhumanist.org

(Washington, D.C.) On the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the American Humanist Association is launching its campaign to gather signatures for the organization's Resolution on Global Community and International Affairs. The first individuals being approached are the living notable signers of Humanist Manifesto III--a list that included 22 Nobel laureates in 2003 as well asfilmmaker Oliver Stone, scientists Richard Dawkins and Edward O. Wilson, social critic Katha Pollitt, and environmentalist Lester R. Brown. (Go to http://www.americanhumanist.org for the complete list.)
The effort will then expand to other Nobelists and prominent individuals. The goal is to present the document and its list of signers to Barack Obama after his inauguration as president of the United States.

The Resolution on Global Community and International Affairs incorporates the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, recognizing that one common humanity is critical in a global society - a common humanity based on rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled and a system of universal ethics that apply fully and equally to all peoples. But the resolution also states that humanist values are a necessary foundation for resolving the myriad challenges presented by the current state of international affairs.

"Humanist values and the values embraced by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are strikingly similar," said Carl Coon, former U.S. ambassador to Nepal and current vice president of the American Humanist Association. "Both recognize a shared humanity and the inherent rights of all peoples. But our resolution goes further in outlining why humanist values are instrumental for securing the rights enumerated- -because we reject cultural relativism when it minimizes our shared humanity, and because of the central importance of humanism's pillars of reason, compassion, and human dignity."

The resolution affirms the American Humanist Association's support for multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and the World Bank Group, along with their global framework for nations and their peoples to interact with each other. It also supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the minimum standard to which nations should strive when guaranteeing the rights of citizens. And it underlines the importance of avoiding the use and distortion of creeds, beliefs, ideologies, and worldviews as a justification for violence or the threat of violence in pursuit of goals.

"Humanists decry any special status for religion as a subject which cannot be criticized or critiqued," added Mel Lipman, a human rights attorney and president of the American Humanist Association. "We need to make sure the global community recognizes the danger of violent absolutist value systems, even if they take the form of popular religions. And we need to challenge any attempts by the global community to recognize so-called blasphemy laws, lest we justify a basis for suppression of opinion and freedom of conscience. In order to achieve a healthy global society, all social systems - religion included - must be subject to critical assessment."

Dr. Ana Lita, director of the Appignani Bioethics Center of the American Humanist Association concluded by noting, "This resolution is not only significant in itself, it lays the groundwork for addressing a wide range of other international concerns. By recognizing the importance of working through 'a mix of innovative technology, intensive planning, and coordinated global efforts,' it is both supportive of biotechnology and other developments while recognizing the need for a unified humanity to manage them rationally and morally."

The UDHR was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, in Paris. It is the first document in which all nations endorse a set of universal rights recognized as the entitlement of all people.

Labels: AHA, UDHR

Posted 8:11 PM by Mary

Publication news!

A new book on progressive politics, and a historical re-publication:

Announcing Lefties Are In Their Right Minds by Beth K. Lamont, With A Re-Introduction To Corliss Lamont's You Might Like Socialism, first Published in 1939.

Lefties Are In Their Right Minds will soon be published by Half-Moon Foundation, Inc. in a trade paperback edition (ISBN 978-1-60643-497-0).

The book will also be freely downloadable from the Corliss-Lamont.org website in electronic form as an Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

Here is the preliminary copy. You may download Lefties Are In Their Right Minds (preliminary) Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format.
[450 pages - 2,350,371 bytes].

Here's an audio promo for Lefties Are In Their Right Minds by Beth K. Lamont recorded in New York on October 22, 2008 for use by WBAI-FM Pacifica radio. [8 minutes 22 seconds - 8,041,673 bytes].

Labels: beth lamont, corliss lamont, politics, socialism

Posted 7:12 AM by Mary

Independent.co.uk
Humanism to be added to GCSE religious studies
By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Friday, 18 April 2008

The study of humanism is to form part of the syllabus for a GCSE in religious studies for the first time, one of the biggest exam boards will announce today.

The subject has been added to reflect the rising number of people sharing humanist beliefs in the UK, the Oxford & Cambridge and Royal Society of Art exam board (OCR) said.

The move is part of a reform of religious studies as a result of which pupils can study six major religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism) as well as humanism. In a separate philosophy and ethics paper, youngsters will also be encouraged to tackle modern moral issues and examine the perspectives that different beliefs have towards topics such as abortion.

Andrew Copson, head of education at the British Humanist Association, said: "Since the 1960s, the proportions of those whose beliefs are humanist has steadily increased. A Mori poll in 2006 showed that 36 per cent of the UK population shared humanist views on morality and knowledge."

The Government and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the exams watchdog, have backed the inclusion of humanism.

OCR is also offering a faith-based approach in an alternative world-religions paper. That would allow pupils to focus entirely on Christianity, Islam or Judaism if they wished to.

Some representatives of the Catholic Church have opposed the teaching of abortion from different perspectives. However, concerned pupils can take the 100 per cent Christianity teaching option in the world religions GCSE paper if they wish.

Labels: curriculum, Humanism, oxford

Posted 1:29 PM by Mary

Activists say U.N. rights body undermines free speech
Tue Apr 1, 2008 12:44am IST
By Robert Evans

GENEVA (Reuters) - International activist groups accused the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday of acting as a cover for Islamic and other countries aiming to restrict free speech.

The 47-nation Council passed resolutions on Friday imposing new instructions for its investigator on freedom of expression which non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said bowed too far to concerns about defamation of Islam, which have flared again with a Dutch lawmaker's film on the Islamic holy book the Koran.

Instead of defending human rights around the world, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said, the U.N. body was focusing on limiting criticism of state and religious interests.

"All of the Council's decisions are nowadays determined by the interests of Muslim countries or powerful states such as China or Russia that know how to surround themselves with allies," the group said.

And the India and Britain-based International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) said the Council "stands exposed as no longer capable of fulfilling its central role: the promotion and protection of human rights."

The Council kept firmly away from taking any action over China's handling of recent protests in Tibet, although there was some muted criticism from Western countries. It had earlier dropped special investigations into Cuba's rights record.

Some Western and Latin American Council members who first helped draft the freedom of expression resolution, including main sponsor Canada, withdrew support when it came to a vote, saying it had been radically changed by amendments.

One of these, from Pakistan for the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), decreed the investigator must "report on instances in which the abuse of the right of freedom of expression constitutes an act of racial or religious discrimination."

Amnesty International said the resolution, which passed by a majority vote, showed "troubling signs that the Council is moving away from its mandate to promote human rights in the direction of policing the exercise of human rights."

Canada voiced a similar view in the Council on Friday, and Slovenia, speaking for the 27-nation European Union, said the amendment shifted the investigator's mandate "from promoting freedom of expression towards restricting it."

Critics of the nearly two-year-old Council say it has failed to overcome Cold War alliances that plagued its discredited predecessor, the Human Rights Commission. Before 1991, the Soviet bloc could count on near-automatic support of developing nations on the Commission.

The current chairman of the Council, Doru Costea of Romania, hinted at a similar view on Friday, telling a news conference that there appeared to be "a slipback to a language and attitudes which we were used to some 20 years ago."

Labels: Human Rights Council, IHEU

Posted 11:16 AM by Mary

CEBO RESOLUTION in support of UN-UDHR EDUCATION CAMPAIGN

RECALLING the longstanding support by Humanists for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)


Understanding that the UDHR, though enacted in the previous century, remains the strongest and most comprehensive ethical statement of universal human aspiration and accountability that the global community has yet devised


Concerned that progress toward the universal adoption and implementation of the UDHR is at times challenged, diminished or delayed, as national and regional concerns and conflicts take precedence over Universal Human Rights

This body of Humanists Resolves that

Each national body undertake a program of education and advocacy amongst its members with a view to re-educating the public at large, particularly the Youth of each nation, concerning the substance and import of the UDHR, and its relevance for the new century and the new, interconnected environment we are now experiencing.

AND THAT each national body continue to monitor the adoption of the UDHR, both regional and nationally and in the international fora, by using appropriate independent monitoring methods and means and by supporting those established bodies which are working for the support and application of the UDHR.

[It is appropriate that this program of education include, and is not limited to, education through a variety of media, including the dissemination of the UDHR in electronic, digitized forms and formats].

Posted 11:14 AM by Mary

CEBO RESOLUTION in support of UNSC Resolution 1325: Role of Women in peace-building and conflict resolution.

Preamble. This resolution was passed by the Security Council in October, 2000. It recognizes the important role of women in peace-building and pre- and post-conflict situations. Several years of monitoring the impact and implementation of this resolution have determined that support for the resolution must come from all parties, including those national bodies involved in conflict situation, AND in those national bodies who implement the resolution, AND in those bodies who are attempting to gain support for the resolution in the countries in conflict.

EXPLANATION:
In simple terms: we cannot advocate for 'women at the table' in countries in conflict if we do not advocate, lobby, monitor and encourage 'women at the table' in our own national bodies, including legislative bodies, aid bodies, our military organizations, and our own national fora. It is incumbent upon all of us, living in nations at peace, as well as nations in conflict, to monitor and apply the recommendations in UNSC Resolution 1325, in local, regional, national and international agencies and institutions.

[As a specific example, the platform of encouraging equal participation for women in national military service also means monitoring the alarming incidents of rape and sexual abuse in (US) military organizations].

Humanists, as prima facie supports of the UDHR, should be clearly present in advocating for this resolution, in all of national bodies.

Therefore -

This body of Humanists,

RECALLING
Its long support of the United Nations as a global body dedicated to the peaceful resolution of conflict
And to the welfare of all peoples,
And particularly to the welfare of women,

and NOTING the role of Resolution 1325 adopted at the security Council on October 2000, which recognized the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision- making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution,

and also RECALLING the provision of Resolution 1325 which calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect fully international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls as civilians, in particular the obligations applicable to them under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, the Refugee Convention of 1951 and the Protocol thereto of 1967, the Convention Security Council - 5 - Press Release SC/6942 4213th Meeting (PM) 31 October 2000 on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Optional Protocol thereto of 1999 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and the two Optional Protocols thereto of 25 May 2000, and to bear in mind the relevant provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

AND also the provision of Resolution 1325 which call on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict;

And NOTING THAT the report VOICE, INFLUENCE, JUSTICE, SECURITY, published by UNIFEM, 2004 states that “advocacy and women’s participation are strategies that have built DEMAND for better implementation of 1325, but that have a limited impact unless accompanied by gender-sensitive institutional change in the National, Regional and Global institutions that seek to prevent conflict and promote recovery…”

Therefore RESOLVE that:

HUMANIST BODIES encourage their members to support, monitor and advocate for the implementation of UNSC RESOLUTION 1325, at their own NATIONAL and REGIONAL levels, through monitoring implementation in their respective countries and through encouraging their respective countries to lend support to agencies, actors and instruments implementing the resolution in countries affected by conflict, and by taking note of progress in making the following steps, as recommended by UNIFEM:

1) Supporting national dialogues to amplify women’s voice in the post-conflict and peace-building situations in countries affected by conflict,
2) Promoting gender-equality policies for public decision-making, and to reform public administration to improve accountability for meeting women’s needs
3) Supporting gender-sensitive security sector reform: (recruitment of women in the police and military, zero tolerance of sexual harassment, establishing protocols dealing with domestic violence and to process cases of sexual violence)

Labels: 1325 Resolution