A WHILE back we brought to your attention the antics of a proselytizing prat called Cllr Lt Cdr Noël Atkins, who happens to be the Mayor of Worthing.
This numpty is a True Believer â„¢, which is fine by us so long as doesn’t use the trappings of his office to foist his piety on others.
Cllr Lt Cdr Noel Atkins imagines his duties include bringing the 'Good News of Jesus Christ' to the residents of Worthing
But no. Atkins – writing as Worthing’s Mayor, and not as a private individual – provided the intro, and a photo of himself all dolled up in his mayoral finery, to the publishers of some silly religious tract that was shoved through residents’ doors earlier this year.
One resident who was not prepared to take this annoying intrusion by the Gloria Deo Trust and International Bible Society lying down was Elaine Ansell, a member of the Brighton and Hove Humanist Association, who first wrote to the Worthing Herald, then to the council itself.
In her letter to the paper, Ansell said:
I do not wish to share the faith of the Mayor and the churches as I am an atheist. I would not dream of going around every household in Worthing and proselytising my atheism by way of a pamphlet through letterboxes … I try to lead an ethical life without superstition; that is what humanism is all about.
John Mitchell, the council’s Executive Head of Corporate Strategy, replied to Ansell’s complaint thus:
The Mayor is a committed Christian and has made no secret of this fact; one of his first engagements was a Church event (The Big Church Day Out) with his crowd-surfing being a hit on You Tube. The Mayor has also chosen street pastors and Christians against Poverty as two of his four charities for his official year (the others being the Queen Alexandra Nursing Home and St Barnabas Hospice) – these show his engagement with the wide spectrum of the community of Worthing.
The Council is a democratic organisation and does take into account the wide expression of views and beliefs by residents of the borough. Residents and business will find that on a daily basis unsolicited mail is delivered to them with individuals having the freedom of choice to read or dispose of these as they wish.
I hope that you are satisfied by the explanation …
Well, Ansell was not satisfied, and wrote back to say as much.
This drew a more conciliatory response from Mark Lowe, Corporate Policy Officer (Scrutiny), Adur District and Worthing Borough Councils:
I do … understand the concerns which you have raised, but can assure you that the Mayor was not trying to persuade residents to become Christians or using his position as Mayor to persuade residents to become Christians and I apologise if the wording in the publication gave you that impression.
The endorsement from the Mayor was simply indicating the Mayor’s beliefs and personal direction. The Mayor was asked to endorse the publication which he did, but it was not a Worthing Borough Council publication.
You have, however, made some helpful observations regarding the conduct of the Mayor when undertaking non-Borough Council work. In reviewing your complaint I have taken these comments on board and will ensure that in future the concerns which you have raised can be covered as part of the induction training for new Mayors to help avoid the possibility of any confusion of this nature arising again.
Result!
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
May 27th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
It cost money to post leaflets through lots of letter boxes. Sounds like xians were bundling their literature in with council leaflets to avoid paying a hefty delivery charge. Has the mayor said who paid for this delivery?
May 27th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
that would be my first question too. Are council tax funds paying for any of this? If so I’d say the leaflets need to either reflect all the local opinions of all tax payers or not bother at all. Also I don’t buy the excuse that he wasn’t trying to convert people. What the hell were the leaflets for otherwise?
May 27th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Who elects mayors? Our county got rid of the gravy-train position years ago. Atkins looks like a character out of Trumpton, all he needs now is narration by Bryan Cant. To be religious, or not, is everyone’s right but it has no place in public life.
PaulEd has a point. Our local shop always puts its own promotional leaflets into the newspapers it sells. They pay their employees for the time it takes to prepare them, so council tax has been spent to promote this man’s (not so private) superstition. That’s a misuse of public money. Our council leader seems to spend half his time defending expenses claims in our local paper. Apart from Elaine Ansell, the citizens of Worthing seem to meekly accept how THEIR MONEY is spent on their behalf.
May 27th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
I’ve done a Magnum ad with Atkins as I did for Bob Hutton. I think it’s funny but please tell me if it’s a bore:
http://www.mymagnum.com/?gold=4bfea3eacbefa
May 27th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Proselytising prat.
Also – That bog eyed homophobic gonk Dale Mcalpine is planning to sue the police for wrongful arrest. Good grief.
May 27th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
It seems as if the council did not make any financial contribution toward the tract.
In an email to Ansell, Mitchell said:
It was not a Worthing Borough Council publication and was not promoted as such. The booklet was produced and delivered to all properties across Worthing by representatives of the promoting churches. The endorsement by the Mayor shows and makes clear his belief and personal direction and does not infer that it is a Council publication or endorsed by the Council.
May 27th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
@Barry Duke
That email to Elaine Ansell was a private communication and will not influence the electorate. It in no way excuses the mayor’s xian agenda. Any flyer delivered alongside an official publication gains additional kudos.
Atkins knows it.
May 27th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
I would be concerned about the tax payer expense of this too. After reading Barry’s reply, it COULD be a non-issue. I am more concerned that the Mayor thought it appropriate to endorse it as the Mayor and not an individual (not that most people could tell the difference)
I don’t think this a tax payer issue, rather state/church separation issue.
A more appropriate response from the council would have been to discipline him for abuse of power, in the same way Police are when they use their position for non-Police activities, rather than taking it on board for future training.
May 27th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I have a broad range of interests but for some reason I have never felt the need to put leaflets about them through people’s letter boxes. With religion there always seems to be a significant number of sufferers that need to propagate their misery everywhere.
May 27th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
@Stony
That’s an excellent quote. With your permission, can I pass it on?
May 27th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
If he is dressed up as the mayor and introduces himself as the mayor then I would take it that he is using the mayors position to push his religious views. That is totally unacceptable, what he believes as an individual is up to him but as the mayor he represents EVERYONE in Worthing.
May 27th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Elaine Ansell, you are star!
May 27th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
What does he look like? And imagine the behind the scenes chats with his religious buddies. Hey, wouldn’t it be a good idea to send this christine missive with the council stuff?
Suppose an atheist asked the same question or carried out the same arrangement? There would be steam coming out of the ears of every proselytising git in the area.
May 27th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Thank you every one for reading about this”case”,
All your support is very much appreciated.
Elaine Ansell
May 27th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Elaine
Is there anything that us Freethinker ‘regulars’ can do to assist your cause?
May 27th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
@Broadsword: hilarious, but how on earth did you do that? Loved the Bob Hutton one so much I snatched a still.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5477257/bob%20hutton.jpg
And talking of Hutton, he had me rolling on the floor laughing when he proudly announced a few days ago that he was placing religious tracts in Dawkins’ The God Delusion whenever he sees it on the bookshelves. The bozo can’t see that he’s actually strengthening Dawkins’ case.
May 27th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
@ Barry & Broadsword: Think I’ve finally tracked Bob down.
http://childoftwentyfive.blogs.....wanker.gif
May 28th, 2010 at 12:02 am
Well done to Elaine. If the man dresses as the Mayor of Worthing and puts his picture in full mayoral regalia in a religious pamphlet then he is trying to extend that religion into the business of the council. That surely is an abuse.
May 28th, 2010 at 2:51 am
Barry
Whacky Bob at it again eh? Similar to a bloke I once knew who used to write “unelected parasite” over the Queen’s face on all his banknotes.
If you liked that Magnum ad, watch it through to the end where you’ll get an option to make your own. All you have to do is upload a pic, mark the eyes, nose and chin with the pointers and one or two other tweaks and off you go. At the end of your film you’ll have options to save so I copied the URL to my favourites.
May 28th, 2010 at 3:26 am
Great work Ms Ansell!
May 28th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Ms Ansell is an example to us all us non-theists by attacking this most insidious proselytising; her tenacity is to be applauded.
People, don’t be passive, put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and complain about religious privilege.
May 28th, 2010 at 9:06 am
The point here is that the Mayor is using his office to endorse what appears to be a religious business rather than a local charity. If it were any other kind of business, I doubt that the reaction would be so muted.
May 28th, 2010 at 10:40 am
We need a pagan mayor. That’ll get the message across.
May 28th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Hutton emails me daily now. It’s a laugh.
I’m not entirely sure – but I have a suspicion he also signed my email up to a christian singles website to stop me “fornicating” (LOL) after I told him “I would never marry in the eyes of the church as that is an evil organisation spreading suffering, hatred, death… and idiots like you.”
May 28th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Broadsword and anyone else, please feel free to use my highly intelligent witterings whenever you please. It would be churlish for me to object as I often repeat other people’s stuff without asking although I try to give a credit if I can.
June 1st, 2010 at 9:41 am
@shargraves
I hope he does sue the police. Homophobic gonk or not, they had no business to arrest him just because some silly prick in a plastic uniform asked him some questions about homosexuality and didn’t like the answers he got. These plods need to remember this is is Great Britain, not Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia. If they’re allowed to get away with this they’ll soon be pulling more of the same crap, and we’ll all be having watch our every word.