We stand for:
- Upholding and strengthening international law
- Application of the rule of law in combating terrorism
- Promoting secular values, laws and constitutions worldwide
- Asserting the rights of children to be free of religious indoctrination
- Rational solutions to global problems based on international cooperation
- Seeking agreement to provide an international price on carbon
We stand against:
- Unilateral pre-emptive military action
- The policy of any country that seeks to promote a sectarian religious agenda
- Policies based on the presumption of religious superiority
- Theocracies of any kind, be they Judaic, Christian or Islamic
The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was unlawful, and as such, a strategic blunder. Upholding international law is necessary for the advancement of global society. Islamic terrorism is a significant problem, but many of the most egregious acts in the so called ‘war on terror’ are also a travesty of justice.
The world faces an unprecedented set of problems, including global warming, resource depletion, overpopulation and ongoing economic and financial crises. We do not need religious conflict as well. As a matter of urgency, secular values and rational modes of thought must be advocated and defended, and secular policies adopted worldwide. The Secular Party undertakes to use all possible means to further the secular agenda internationally.
The core problem in the Middle East will never be resolved until all sides agree to put aside their religious claims to territory, claims that are derived from mythology rather than legitimate rights. The Secular Party advocates for Israel and Palestine what is in fact the only possible long-term solution, a unified secular state, where all have equal rights and nobody has any entitlement to impose or infringe upon the rights of others, based on their religious belief or allegiance.
Such issues are a distraction from other urgent matters such as global warming. Rational action is needed at a global level. The amount of coal burnt annually in power plants must be severely reduced, and this will require the massive global deployment of all forms of non-fossil fuel electricity generation, including nuclear. This will be expensive. The Secular Party advocates that this be funded by the introduction of an international tax on the use of carbon fuel.
Our world is fast succumbing to the activities of men and women who would stake the future of our species on beliefs that should not survive an elementary school education. That so many of us are still dying on account of ancient myths is as bewildering as it is horrible, and our own attachment to these myths, whether moderate or extreme, has kept us silent in the face of developments that could ultimately destroy us. Indeed, religion is as much a living spring of violence today as it was at any time in the past. Sam Harris