Our main theme this month is religion – principally whether it's a force for good or evil – and our contributors have approached this in a wide variety of ways. I hope you will agree that they have produced another fascinating collection of perspectives.
In the wake of the Post Office-Fujitsu scandal, perhaps we ought to agree that the root of evil is in the human heart and in institutions which have become morally degraded. If we cannot trust publicly-owned corporations and institutions, let alone private enterprises, to act with integrity and humanity, society will be severely weakened. Personally, I worry that in our haste to bury religion we might be leaving ourselves defenceless against the worst aspects of human nature. We need humanism to be up-and-running and ready to move into the space vacated by religion. But we are a long way away from that and too many humanists and secularists seem to think that individual morality will be sufficient to keep chaos and evil at bay. I'm not so sure. I think we need to build much stronger humanist institutions.
Please consider the plight of LGBTQ refugees in Africa who are struggling to survive because of the homophobia they encounter in what should be a sanctuary of safety and hope. I've told the story of Bobby who had to flee Uganda when his sexuality was discovered. If you can help with a donation of any amount that would be amazing.
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