Link to The Christian Institute

So, they’re complaining that my money was used for something that I might actually support huh? Do they ever have any qualms at all when my money gets used to support a faith initiative that I might be wholly opposed to? Nope, didn’t think so. Add to that the fact that Atheism is so often (and wrongly) accused by these sort of groups as being a religion itself and the irony is so strong you could pick it up with a magnet.

Religious organisations in Britain are already incredibly well funded. They rake in billions of pounds tax free income each year. I do accept that the various church organisations often do work for the public good, and that that work isn’t cheap to fund. As such the government gives out millions more of tax payers money to further these works. The fact is however that many such initiatives can be run just as effectively (and sometimes more effectively) on a secular basis. Groups like the BHA also need government funding to support their community initiatives. From the BHA website:

The BHA is committed to working with those of other beliefs for the common good. In the 1970s, years before the foundation of bodies such as the Inter-Faith Network, we were co-founders of the Standing Council on Inter-Faith Dialogue in Education (SCIFDE) together with Jews and Christians; along with religious believers, we were also co-founders of the Social Morality Council (now the Norham Foundation), of which the BHA’s then Executive Director was chair. More recently, we were co-founders of the Religion and Belief Consultative Group and many BHA members work alongside those with different beliefs on their local SACRE.

From this it should be obvious why the BHA is a worthy recipient of funding from government faith based coffers, and I sincerely hope such funding continues and even increases.