The challenge we face

1. We live in an age when science and technology touch every aspect of our lives, yet our public life is burdened with the trappings of anti-scientific and religious dogma. Some societies chafe under the yoke of formalized theocracy; others endure less egregious religious and mystical influences, in varying degrees. In almost all countries the demonstrated triumphs of science in public health, information technology, communications, agriculture, industrial production, etc. stand in stark contrast to the pervasive social, cultural, and political influences of religion and other forms of supernatural belief, aggravated by abysmal levels of scientific knowledge among the general population.

2. Superstition and myth still play strong roles in the societies of many third world countries where, for example, counterproductive, unscientific approaches to AIDS prevention and treatment become public policy, and religious stigmatization of victims hampers the delivery of necessary therapies; shamans and faith healers hold influential positions in local society; and small religious cults gain dominant influence in the life of isolated communities. Thanks in part to the historical and continuing influence of Christian missionaries, evangelical religious groups often have de facto control over such important public functions as education and health, in countries that lack a strong government commitment to secularism in public life.

3. So pervasive is this mystical/religious influence in public affairs, in some advanced societies, that it has come to be taken for granted as a normal part of public life. Legislative sessions and public banquets begin with prayers; civic ceremonies to commemorate the dead invariably feature prayers and hymns; school children and adults alike are pressed to recite patriotic pledges and sing patriotic anthems that include religious references (God Save the Queen, God Bless America, etc.); speech-making politicians invoke the assistance or blessing of deities; religious references and quotations appear on our currency, in our public buildings, and on our public monuments; our constitutions recognize the supremacy of the Almighty in human affairs and the rule of sovereigns "by the grace of God"; our state funerals are undisguised religious ceremonies; our public burial grounds are on "consecrated" soil; clergymen and nuns are accorded exaggerated deference and perquisites in public affairs; newspapers publish horoscopes and track "biorhythms" to guide the superstitious in their daily activities; total strangers are eager to "bless" you in public when you sneeze. These are societies where religious influence and power is the assumed norm, where non-belief in religion is marginalized and perceived to be somehow socially perverse.

4. At the same time, the proportion of citizens who describe themselves as having "no religion" in polls and census data is increasing in the more economically privileged societies. Yet their growing discomfort with the prevalence of religious cant in public life is rarely given a voice, whether out of feelings of individual isolation, fear of social ostracism (or worse), or a fear of being perceived as intolerant. The non-religious largely suffer in silence, while the evangelicals and radical fundamentalists aggressively press their parochial agendas in the public forum. This cries out for change.

For secularism in the public domain

5. The Brights are an international constituency of people who have a variety of naturalistic worldviews. We maintain that the methods of science are our best tools for learning about the world. Whatever our differences on other matters, our worldviews have one thing in common: they leave no room for religious, mystical, supernatural, or superstitious beliefs. Out of this common thread comes our commitment to exercising our civic rights, in our own communities and countries, towards the goal of secularizing the public domain.

6. By this we mean more than just the formal legal separation of church and state. We regard supernatural beliefs, including religion, as pernicious influences on public life and public policy. We hold that all influences and expressions of religious dogma, superstition, mysticism, and pseudoscience ought to be removed from our government institutions, our schools, our laws, our hospitals, our public spaces, our publicly-funded and publicly-regulated communications, the delivery of our publicly-funded social services, and our public ceremonies. Those influences and expressions, if they belong anywhere, belong wholly in the private sphere.

7. Whatever our individual views about politics, Brights recognize that secularism is an essential part of how society should be organized and governed. Only a secular society can assure that individuals are free to think, believe, and speak as they please. Only a secular society can ensure the appropriate freedom for scientific inquiry and the application of rational and scientific principles to public policy.

For secularism in government and public affairs

8. The Brights reject theocracy and government by clerics, imams, and ayatollahs. We likewise reject the notion that a secular society is incompatible with concepts of fairness, tolerance, equality, or freedom of religion. Freedom of religion does not mean the freedom to impose religious dogma on society. It does not even mean the right of religious believers to use public facilities and resources to promote their beliefs. We advocate a society that recognizes both the freedom to engage in the belief and private practice of religion, and the importance of freedom from the religious dictates of others.

9. Religious enmities must never be used as rationales for war. We reject the idea that one side or another of a dispute or power struggle can claim moral superiority by reference to a supernatural entity.

10. Religious icons, symbols, and inscriptions have no place on coinage, in government buildings, public schools, publicly-funded hospitals, court houses, or on public land. Public prayers and invocations of the divine have no place in our institutions of government or our public ceremonies, including state funerals and commemorations of the dead. References to God do not belong in our constitutions, our national anthems, or our laws.

11. We regard as false the definition of equality that would require pseudoscientific disinformation to be made available alongside legitimate scientific information in public spaces, including public libraries, and in public broadcasting. The sale or distribution of religious or creationist writings in publicly-operated bookstores and information centres has no place in parks, museums, or other publicly-run facilities. More particularly, we deny the right of creationist forms of religious ideology to have equal time or equal emphasis with scientific evolutionary principles in public educational institutions.

12. Religious clergy and evangelists should have no special access to government policy-makers, and should receive no special treatment under tax or other laws. Nor should religious broadcasters be accorded any special privileges in the assignment of radio frequencies and cable TV channels. Existing established state religions, such as the Church of England, should be disestablished. There must be no public funding for "faith-based" delivery of social services.

For a secular public education system

13. We advocate a system of universal public education, available to all regardless of their worldview, and free of any religious-based exclusion or coercion whatsoever. We recognize that the study of world religions is a legitimate aspect of history, sociology, and other liberal arts disciplines, but we reject any indoctrination of school children with religious dogma or mythology. At the same time we recognize the freedom of every student to express their own worldviews, to proselytize for those worldviews, and to engage in debate and dialogue with students who adhere to other worldviews.

14. We reject the use, coerced or otherwise, of prayer or other public profession of religious belief in school assemblies, morning exercises, sporting events, and ceremonies. We oppose the influence of religious dogma in areas such as history, science, counselling, and sex education; we reject the false notion that religious dogmas deserve equal time with science in any areas of curriculum, in textbooks, or in the selection of school library books.

15. We reject the display of religious symbols or writings in public schools. We reject any form of public subsidy for parochial schools, or for institutes for the training of practitioners in scientifically unproven "alternative" medicine, whether by way of tax concessions, vouchers, or any other direct or indirect means.

For a secular, scientific medical system

16. Medical treatment practices should be based on sound scientific principles, uninfluenced by religious or mystical dogma. Pseudoscience and religion likewise have no place in the formation of public health policy or the public funding of legitimate medical research. Wherever possible, public hospitals should be available as alternatives to private, religious-affiliated hospitals. Except for legitimate research purposes in properly controlled medical trials, no public funds should be expended on treatment using unproven, pseudoscientific, or "alternative" forms of therapy, whether through medicare benefits, drug benefits, or tax deductibility of expenses.

17. Access to abortion, contraception, voluntary sterilization, and other scientific reproductive technologies should be available without religious-based barriers or stigma. The same goes for treatment for AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases.

18. We condemn the withholding of necessary medical procedures from children, or the imposition of unnecessary procedures upon them, on the basis of their parents' or guardians' religious or pseudoscientific beliefs and prejudices. A secular society would ensure that children are legally protected from such abuse.

For a secular legal system

19. Laws that enforce religious holy days and religious dress codes should be repealed. We demand an end to blasphemy laws. We recognize and embrace the freedoms of speech and assembly, but there ought to be no special legal protection for religious speech and assembly that is not also afforded to speech and assembly for secular purposes. The religious monopoly on legal marriage and funeral ceremonies must be broken. Religious organizations and churches should be accorded no preferential access to the benefit of charitable status.

20. Swearing-in of public servants, officials, trial witnesses, and others who perform public duties should be of equal force and effect if made under solemn affirmation, rather than religious oath. "Junk science" has no place in the courtroom or in our laws. Religious invocations and prayers have no place in judicial ceremonies. The courts must give no deference to private religious courts, tribunals, and arbitrators; every person, regardless of worldview, must have equal benefit of the law. Criminal punishments should not be mandated by religious texts, traditions, or laws. Pious frauds such as faith healers, psychics, and those who purport to communicate with the dead, should be prosecuted if they take people's money. Fear of religious persecution must be recognized as a legitimate basis for granting asylum or refugee status.

The defence of secularism

21. The secularist cause has many powerful and determined opponents, many of whom are motivated by fanatical hatred and irrational fear. Many religious organizations believe that society ought to function according to their own worldview, and that the present influence of supernaturalist dogma on civic life ought to be strengthened, rather than diminished. They regard secularism as a major social and moral evil. These theocratic tendencies must be combatted wherever they arise.

22. Brights do not deny the right of religious and other superstitious individuals and groups to freedom of speech and assembly, or any of the other civil liberties that we claim for ourselves. Our goal is not to use levers of social control to suppress them, the way we have often seen our worldview suppressed by them. Our goal is to defeat their program for social control, by gaining majority support for public policy measures untainted by their irrational beliefs. We will also initiate or support legal action to uphold and extend whatever secular principles of public life may be protected by existing law.

23. Every success we may gain in this project, however small, will have to be defended continuously with vigour and resolve against those who seek to reverse it, or it will inevitably be lost. We must be as determined and forthright as our opponents, or our cause will fail.

24. Failure is not an option. It is no exaggeration to say that the future progress of human society will be impaired by the continuing influence of superstition, pseudoscience, and religion in public and state affairs. Our task is difficult, but its success is essential if humanity is to thrive as a species.