On The March!

Jenny Bartle was in London on September 15th to support the Secular Europe Campaign. Here's her report of a day on the march:

It seems so long since Mike and I last took the train from Bristol to London together, but last Saturday there we were, united once more, for the March for a Secular Europe! The day was glorious and we were fairly tempted to just sit in the park but the call to march for secularism was too great, so we joined the new executive and many other friends outside Westminster, hurriedly assembling Mike's brilliantly engineered placard.

Some "2, 4, 6, 8, Separate the church and state" later and we assembled outside the LSE students' union for the rally. Speakers ranged from comedian Robin Ince to campaigner Peter Tatchell, but most were atheists, the only exception being Mejindarpal Kaur, Legal Director of United Sikhs. This was somewhat of a disappointment, however standing at the back we had a conversation with a passerby who was Christian who supported the cause. In my opinion, the strength of the campaign for secularism lies in the fact that it promotes equality; militant secularists being those scoundrels who believe in the militant enforcement of equality on everyone... or something.

Another notable highlight was Sue Cox of Survivors' Voice Europe. This is a support-group charity for those who have been abused by Catholic priests. It is also the AHS's suggested charity for Non-Prophet Week this year.

All in all the rally probably won't make much difference to European policy, nor indeed UK policy, but it was a good day out, full of chanting and rousing speeches, and served well to remind us that there are people speaking out against religious privilege, and of the varied and widespread repercussions that those privileges have on society.