Petitioner: Norman Bonney
Status:
Closed
Date Lodged:
16 April 2014
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to ensure that each year its weekly Time for Reflection fulfuls its ambition of being representative of the diversity of religion and belief in Scotland by limiting representatives of religious denominations to one half of the presentations and ensuring that twenty five per cent of all sessions are presented by atheists.
Summary:
6 May 2014: The Committee took evidence from the petitioner. The Committee agreed to write to the Presiding Officer, Interfaith Scotland, Humanist Society Scotland, the Scottish Secular Society, the Scottish Independent Celebrants' Association and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Link to Official Report 6 May 2014 (434KB pdf)
5 August 2014: The Committee agreed to close the petition under Rule 15.7 on the basis that that any individual or group is able to contact their own MSP or the Presiding Officer directly with suggestions as to who may be invited to lead Time for Reflection. In closing the petition, the Committee agreed to refer the petition and the submissions received to the Parliamentary Bureau to take account of in its review. Link to Official Report 5 August 2014 (399KB pdf)
Written Submissions:
Do you think that it is right that the overwhelming number of contributions to Time for Reflection are from religious representatives?
Since the 2011 census showed that only 56 per cent of Scots declared a religious affiliation, and since then the downward trend in attachment to religious denominations has probably continued, do you think that it is appropriate that representatives of religious denominations in Time for Reflection should be limited to one half of all contributions?
Do you agree that atheists, who compose about one in four of the Scottish population, should get one quarter of the time slots available for Time for Reflection?