Polly Toynbee
From Philosopedia
Toynbee, Polly (27 December 1946– )
Mary Louisa Toynbee, the British journalist and writer, was born on the Isle of Wight. Toynbee was the second daughter of the literary critic Philip Toynbee (by his first wife Anne), granddaughter of the historian Arnold J. Toynbee, and great-great niece of philanthropist and economic historian Arnold Toynbee after whom Toynbee Hall in the East End of London is named.
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Education and Works Written
After attending Badminton School, a girls' independent school in Bristol, followed by the Holland Park School, a state comprehensive school in London (she had failed the Eleven Plus examination), she won a scholarship to read history at St. Anne's College, Oxford. During her gap year she worked for Amnesty International in pre-independence Rhodesia, before being expelled by the government, and she published a first novel, Leftovers, in 1966.
After 18 months at Oxford, she dropped out and worked in a factory and a burger bar. She later said, "I had a loopy idea that I could work with my hands during the day and in the evening come home and write novels and poetry, and be Tolstoy. . . . But I very quickly discovered why people who work in factories don't usually have the energy to write when they get home." She wrote about working on the diary at The Observer in A Working Life (1970), and she has written books on a variety of subjects.
Marriages
David Walker, the former social affairs editor of The Guardian, is her partner with whom she has co-authored two books reviewing the successes and failures of New Labour in power. She was previously married to the late Peter Jenkins, also a journalist, who died in 1992.
Involvement in Politics
Toynbee has been politically active, running in the 1983 General Election in Lewisham East and, although she supported Gordon Brown in 2006, in 2009 supported the Liberal Democrats.
Secularism, Humanism, and Atheism
She is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, a supporter of the Humanist Society of Scotland, and in July 2007 was appointed President of the British Humanist Association. Also, she is President of the Social Policy Association, chair of the Brighton Festival, and deputy treasurer of the Fabian Society.
In 1995 at the first joint annual dinner of secular and humanist organizations, she spoke at Conway Hall, saying that
- just as conventional religions are on the wane, so a New Wave of nonsense is rising up to engulf us. Cults, superstitions, astrology, numerology, every kind of ism and ology seems to gain an astonishing tolerance and credulity these days in the most surprising paces. As people turn away from the church, all too often they turn towards things that are even worse. Anything goes these days, in the way of belief.
“What I find even odder,” she continued, “is that the beleaguered conventional religions are responding by drawing closer together. Ecumenicism is everywhere. The Methodists want to join the Church of England. Many Protestants even want to get into bed with the Pope, if only he were willing to use contraception. Multi-faith worship is all the thing. The Jews who killed Christ are being forgiven by Christians who have been killing them in pogroms for generations. Sikhs and Hindus are welcomed by Christians keen on cultural diversity. Religious leaders everywhere are coming together across ancient divides in an attempt to protect their interests collectively.”
But what this shows non-believers, she explained, “is that they don’t really believe, either. After all, if you believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only son of God, sent to earth with a unique message; if you believe the secret of your particular religion had been revealed to you exclusively and that it is your duty to go out and proselytise the rest of the world, how can you suddenly decide that somebody else’s religion is just as valid as yours, just as worthy of respect, understanding, and so on?” In short, “If one God and one Prophet is as good as another, if wearing a turban and a dagger is just as good as putting a wafer on your tongue, then it’s all exposed as the nonsense that it really is.”
Honors
In 2002, Toynbee was awarded an Honorary Degree by London South Bank University.
In 2004, the Islamic Human Rights Commission awarded Toynbee the "Most Islamophobic Media Personality" title in the Annual Islamophobia Awards - a claim she strongly contested, pointing out that she is a consistent atheist and one who is as critical of Christianity and Judaism. She wrote in Behind the Burka, "The pens sharpen – Islamophobia! No such thing. Primitive Middle Eastern religions (and most others) are much the same – Islam, Christianity and Judaism all define themselves through disgust for women's bodies."
In 2005, she was made an Honorary Doctor of The Open University for "her notable contribution to the educational and cultural well-being of society". in 2008 the University of Leeds awarded her third Honorary Doctorate.
In 2007 Toynbee was named "Columnist of the Year" at the British Press Awards.
{The Freethinker, June 1995}
