A token atheist in Time for Reflection

Attention has recently been drawn to the appearance of the atheist A C Grayling at the Scottish Parliament's weekly Time for Reflection spot in April 2013.

This is invitation is mere tokenism.

In the debates that initiated this item of Scottish Parliament business in 1999 it was made clear that Time for Reflection (TFR) was meant to be representative of religion and belief in Scotland. Small minority religious groups such as Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and the Buddhist and Bahai'i faiths are, however, routinely invited - usually along with numerous Christian denominations but atheism and non-belief are not given due recognition.

On the basis of social survey evidence which shows that one in five of the population are firm atheists in that they do not believe in god or any other higher power, atheism ought to have much greater representation in the Scottish Parliament's Time for Reflection. Each year 6 or 7 of the annual 33 or so weekly slots available should be filled by atheists - more than are routinely made available to the Roman Catholic Church.

If Time for Reflection more accurately reflected the pattern of religion and belief in Scotland there would be less of the familiar religious denominations and more atheism and humanism. If MSPs rely on TFR, as it has occurred since 1999 with its distinct bias towards organised religious denominations, to get a picture for the pattern of belief among the Scottish population then they have been seriously misled.

It is to be hoped that when the 2011 census results on religion in Scotland are released  (and they will be at least two years out of date) the Scottish Parliament will make an major effort to ensure that Time for Reflection is more accurately reflective of the pattern of religion and belief in contemporary Scotland, rather than being a platform for favoured religious denominations.

THE SCORE

Number of appearances in Time for Reflection 1999- June 2013

Christians 353, (Church of Scotland 150, Roman Catholics 89),

Muslims 19, Jews 15, Buddhists 11, Sikhs 8, Hindus 7, Bahai'i

Humanists 2, atheist 1