The weekly column on demographics and secularism
by Jordan Auburn and Johnny Monsarrat

Just like Christmas,┬á New Year’s Day is also a Winter Solstice event to celebrate┬áhope for the future, but it has little to do with religion. An┬áAssociated Press poll taken in New York in 2013, found┬áthat┬áwhen the clock strikes 12,┬á83% of Americans want to be with their family, 1% with co-workers, and 2% with a pet. Some┬ádidn’t plan to celebrate or had no one to spend the evening with, and just┬á3% of Americans┬áwant to be with God, Jesus, or a┬áreligious congregation.

Then on New Year’s Day, according to a 2014 YouGov Poll,┬áWhat are you doing New Year’s Eve?, only 15% “usually” attend religious services, with 13% planning to actually go that year.

That 15% figure, with a 3% survey margin of error, doesn’t vary much across political identification, gender, US region, or family income. But surprisingly, younger people are slightly more likely to attend services on New Year’s Day (20%), as are African-Americans (35%) and other non-white, non-Hispanics (35%). It’s also a popular event, with the YouGov report showing that 76% of Americans like New Year’s a little or a lot, and 84% say they’ll watch the ball drop on television or in person in New York.

Although most won’t attend services, 66% of Americans will say a prayer on New Year’s, according to a┬áRasmussen Reports poll. And most consider it a personal event, with only 21% attending a party, or 46% in a surely┬áunbiased┬ápoll by a wine company. And 25% will save their prayers until┬ámidnight, making one wonder┬áhow much of that prayer is religiously seeking direction and how much simply an affirmation of New Year’s resolutions they want God to witness.

So at least in the West, New Year’s Eve and Day are secular and allow┬áall people to mix, not self-segregate by religion. What about in the East?

Celebration in the East

February brings the Chinese New Year, in which 1.4 billion Chinese will celebrate the year of the Monkey, which is also a secular event.

The Hirji (or Islamic) New Year, which is celebrated in October,┬ábegan in 622AD to mark the emigration of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina, a city he co-founded┬áwhere everyone would be free to practice their own religion. The Hirji New Year begins Muharram, a month of peace, and while it is religious for some, according to an article in the Washington Times, Muslims mainly celebrate just two days, Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, and the end of Ramadan. “New Year’s is really celebrated as a cultural holiday, not a particularly religious one,ÔÇØ said Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, director of outreach at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia.

A Secular World

People all over the world prefer┬áa secular New Year’s celebration, free from religious services. Even according to┬áa professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School who tries to claim New Year’s as religious,┬áa traditional ritual feels like a religious ritual. But maybe that’s just proof┬áthat people don’t need religion to have traditions and annual rituals. Sadly for the annual tradition of a kiss on New Year’s, while only 10% expect to┬ákiss nobody┬áat midnight,┬ámore people will kiss their pet at midnight than will kiss a friend. Happy New Year.

About the International Coalition Calls

Every first Thursday of the month, the Secular Policy Institute holds an international coordinating call for its 300 members to discuss the future of the secular movement.

Call for November 5, 2015

Here’s the latest recording of the Secular Policy Institute’s international coordinating call.

Star Wars fans flocked to a church in Berlin Sunday for a special service themed around the sci-fi film.

Around 500 people carrying lightsabers and dressed up as their favorite characters attended the mass.

That’s more than twice as many as usual on a Sunday.

See the video at wtvy.com.

SPI Coalition members bring you videos for the holiday break, too!

This month the Hispanic American Freethinkers lauded a board member in Panama, and its President, David Tamayo appeared on Road to Reason TV speaking about The Pope: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

SPI Coalition member Skeptic Magazine, part of the Skeptics Society publishes regular videos including this recent one that spans science from Dark Matter to Dinosaurs.

SPI Coalition Member the Canadian Secular Alliance also has a YouTube channel full of secular videos, which include their fight to end public prayer in Canada, which resulted in a landmark Supreme Court ruling that city council meeting prayers infringe on the rights of nonbelievers.

SPI Coalition Member Black Atheists Of America showcases dozens of hand picked video gems from the secular world on their Facebook page — and some clips of opponents falling flat on their faces. They’ve also announced the Blackout Rally, the first outdoor Rally/Celebration that will predominantly feature nontheists of color.

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, this week you may have a lot of time on your hands. Here are four videos from two SPI Fellows to keep you company!

SPI Fellow A. C. Grayling and says that critical thinking requires intellectual courage, and that students should have some. And if you need a last minute gift, how about the electronic version of his latest book, The Challenge of Things: Thinking Through Troubled Times, about intellectual courage in a time of war and conflict.

He┬áis Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St. AnneÔÇÖs College, Oxford, and┬áVice President of the British Humanist Association and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. He┬áwas a Fellow of the World Economic Forum for several years, and a member of its C-100 group on relations between the West and the Islamic world.

He recently spoke at the Cambridge Union entitled “Culture and Anarchy” and a fan has compiled a “best of AC Grayling” video for your holiday amusement.

SPI Fellow Elizabeth Loftus is a cognitive psychologist and expert on human memory who gave a TED Talk called How Reliable is Your Memory? and she contributed an article about the accuracy of a witnesses’s memory during a criminal trial to the SPI World Future Guide 2016.

In 2002, she was ranked 58th in the Review of General PsychologyÔÇÖs list of the 100 most influential psychological researchers of the 20th century, and was the highest ranked woman on the list. She is also a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical InquiryÔÇÖs Executive Council. Also see her recent video interview with Closer to Truth about the power of the subconscious.

The weekly report on secular demographic research
by Jordan Auburn

Christmas ÔÇô but not as we know it?

This week weÔÇÖre going to look at the different attitudes the American public hold towards Christmas. This festive celebration is, first and foremost, a religious one. However, during a time in which church attendance and religious affiliation is declining globally, the meaning of Christmas is changing, with many secular signposts. This week, letÔÇÖs have a look at some research done by LifeWay Research, where we can observe some very telling trends.

A partly secular celebration

LetÔÇÖs look at the reality of the situation. 90% of Americans voluntarily admit they celebrate Christmas, yet 20% of the same public have been identified by Pew research as ÔÇ£atheist, agnostic,

The weekly report on global politics and secularism
by Edwina Rogers

Remembering Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens, the secular leader, award-winning author, and world-class debater, died in the month of December, so every Christmastime it’s nice to remember him. It’s a time of year when many secular people feel crowded out by the overwhelming influence of Christmas.

But things are looking up for secularists all over the globe. Even in the United States, only 70% of citizens are now Christian, as you’ll read in the original report, the SPI Secular Resource Guide. This year, as you’ll read in the SPI World Future Guide 2016, the SPI has funded, organized, or promoted dozens of secular projects around the world, including campaign letters and political meetings in the US and abroad that have influenced public policy.

And we still have videos of Christopher Hitchens that are so powerful that they’ve been dubbed Hitchslap. While we prefer to celebrate our ties with religious people who support our goals, and Hitchens can be sometimes caustic, this video also contains warm moments to help you through┬áthe Winter Solstice. And below is some other good cheer from the word of politics.

US Budget Deal Reached

House Speaker Paul Ryan told Republican members that congressional leaders reached an agreement on a $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government through September.

The Senate reports┬áLegislative text for the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill and the tax relief package —

1. Amendment #1 is the FY16 Omnibus Appropriations bill
2. See a section-by-section summary of the government funding measure
3. Amendment #2 is the Tax Relief Package
4. See a section-by-section summary of this tax relief package.

Also, the Appropriations Committee in the House has provided the following individual summaries of each of the 12 Subcommittee components of the FY16 Omnibus —

• Agriculture
• Commerce/Justice/Science
• Defense
• Energy and Water
• Financial Services
• Homeland Security
• Interior and Environment
• Labor/Health and Human Services/Education
• Legislative Branch
• Military Construction/Veterans Affairs
• State/Foreign Operations
• Transportation/Housing and Urban Development

Education Bill Passed

The House passed a “sweeping bill”┬áoverhauling the controversial No Child Left Behind law┬áby ceding authority back to states and school districts to monitor student and teacher performance.

Last week┬áthe White House hosted an event entitled Celebrating and Protecting America’s Tradition of Religious Pluralism.┬á ┬áThe keynote speaker discussed the evolving religious landscape and provided an empirical grounding for the broader conversation about religious inclusion, freedom, and cooperation.

Here is a preview of some quick facts Covered regarding religious pluralism in the U.S.:

• The future religious landscape will have fewer white Protestants and Catholics, more Hispanic Protestants and Catholics, plus more religiously unaffiliated Americans.
• Inter-religious families and multi-religious identities are on the rise.
• Compared to just a few years ago, fewer Americans today say the U.S. is a Christian nation.
• Religious and ethnic diversity is increasing, but most Americans’ close friendships remain with people who share their own faith.

What are the World’s Young People Doing?

This new infographic, “What are The World’s Young People Doing?,” draws from data gathered by the World Bank, ILO, and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs to offer a snapshot of young people’s activities, including education, employment, and forced work. One of its critical findings: ÔÇ£more young people are in illegal, forced, and/or hazardous work than are enrolled at the university level.ÔÇØ┬á┬á

Critical Quote

ÔÇ£They had to catch up, and the quickest way to do that is to take technology from Western companies.ÔÇØ
ÔÇöJames A. Lewis, on the roots of Chinese cyberespionage.
Source: Politico.

Beijing Red Alert

Beijing had another day under an air quality ÔÇ£red alertÔÇØ, with schools still closed, half of all cars kept off the roads and factories shut, as the┬áNew York Times’ ┬áEdward┬áWon┬áreports.

Paris COP21

Paris’ COP21 ended with┬áSecretary of State John Kerry proposing┬ádoubling U.S. grant-based public spending on climate change, from $430 to $860 million. According to the┬áPRRI/AAR climate change survey, Americans are divided on where climate change’s solution will come from: private businesses and the free market (41 percent) or government policies (42 percent). Regardless, most (69 percent) think the government needs to do more to address the issue.

Religious Universities Got a License to Discriminate?

More than 25 religious colleges in the US┬áreceived permission to┬ádiscriminate┬áin housing, staffing, and enrollment┬áagainst students who are transgender, gender non-conforming, gay, or women who are pregnant, have had an abortion, or had sex outside of marriage. This is due to little known exemptions in Title IX under the guise of┬áÔÇ£religious libertyÔÇØ.

And┬áfemale clergy face a “stained-glass ceiling”┬áin leadership roles, according to a new Duke University study which finds the number of congregations led by women has essentially remained the same since 1998 (11 percent

Major Secular Group Seeks New Leader

SPI coalition member Recovering from Religion is searching for a new Executive Director, someone with a proven record of fundraising. Send your resume to darrel@recoveringfromreligion.org. The organization helps people who by leaving religion have been abandoned by their families and communities, or who have been abused.

White House Celebrates Religious Pluralism

This week┬áthe US White House hosted “Celebrating and Protecting America’s Tradition of Religious Pluralism,” which highlighted changes in America’s religious demographics as a start to better religious freedom and inclusion.

Here is a preview of some quick facts Covered regarding religious pluralism in the U.S.:

• The future religious landscape will have fewer white Protestants and Catholics, more Hispanic Protestants and Catholics, plus more religiously unaffiliated Americans.
• Inter-religious families and multi-religious identities are on the rise.
• Compared to just a few years ago, fewer Americans today say the U.S. is a Christian nation.
• Religious and ethnic diversity is increasing, but most Americans’ close friendships remain with people who share their own faith.

Now We Have Our Own Bad Apple Problem

Why let one bad apple spoil the barrel? Writing in Foreign Policy, Rula Jebreal┬áwarns against letting one candidate set the tone of the debate on Islam┬á– or Islamophobia. Jebreal notes that few Americans regularly interact with Muslims and subsequently impressions are often shaped entirely by the media and the political discourse.

To help curb Islamophobia, Muslim leaders are encouraging President Obama and former president George W. Bush to visit a mosque, something the sitting president has yet to do but his predecessor did, just six days after the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

In that Number

The Islamic State has made more than $500 million by selling oil to the Syrian government, with some barrels going as far as Turkey.

The Washington Post reports on the ten most liberal and conservative American cities, as ranked by campaign donors.

THE political masters of the world are gathering in a Paris traumatised by terror to consider another sort of emergency, climate change; and they are not, of course, starting from scratch. As always happens with summits, there have been months of deliberation by technocrats who have mapped out possible breakthroughs. The unusual thing about this gathering is that mankind’s religious guardians have also been preparing for it; their voices have been rising in a crescendo of moral concern.

And surprisingly enough, this spiritual activism has been fostered by Fran├ºois Hollande, the socialist president of a secular republic who has firmly renounced the Catholic faith in which he was raised. “I respect all

SPI Coalition member Rationalist International has announced the Rationalist International Conference to take place April 23-24, 2016 in Tallinn, capital of Estonia. This will be the first major international secular event in the Baltic countries.

The SPI Coalition member Atheist Alliance International is based in California but works for “a secular world where public policy, scientific inquiry and education are not influenced by religious beliefs, but based upon sound reasoning, rationality and evidence.” Many of its own group members are also coalition members of the SPI.

The AAI is running a campaign to end the persecution of “Child Witches” in Uganda. Locals pretending to be “faith healers” gain prestige and money by starting witch hunts that end with dead and mutilated children. You can contribute to help end this tragedy.

AAI Member and SPI Coalition member, the Atheist Foundation of Australia “recognises scientific method as the only rational means toward understanding reality.” They run the AtheistAus Podcast and recently criticized Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for equating the Paris attackers with atheists.

Indonesian Atheists is also an AAI Member and SPI Coalition member, is active on their Facebook group, and the Atheist Association of Finland is joined by several other Finnish groups, including Vapaa-ajattelijat (the Union of Freethinkers of Finland), a coalition member that recently spoke to pluralism in Finland, abandoning its past of cultural uniformity.

Atheist Ireland is one of the most active members of both AAI and SPI, and we have brought you many of their stories in 2015. Recently they welcomed changes to the Irish Employment Equality Act that removes discrimation against LGBTA people, while protesting that “schools remain legally entitled to discriminate against employees on the grounds of religious belief or lack thereof”.

And finally in Turkey, the Association of Atheism (Ateizm Dernegi), also a member of SPI and AAI, recently celebrated World Human Rights Day, helped bring soup to the homeless, and will volunteer time at a teacher’s nursing home next week.