Newsline 11 October 2013

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News, Blogs & Opinion

	New report highlights growing incursion of evangelical Christians into state schools News \| Fri, 11th Oct 2013 A new report published by the National Secular Society has revealed that publicly funded schools are being targeted and exploited by evangelical Christian groups as part of their missionary work. The report, Evangelism in state schools – the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf), reveals a determined push by evangelical churches and organisations to gain access to state schools with the intention of proselytizing among young children. The report finds that the activities of external visitors are often undertaken in schools without parents' knowledge and with little, if any, opportunity for withdrawal. According to the report, the motivations and aims of religious groups, either out of complicity or naivety, are going unquestioned by head teachers, governors, Local Education Authorities and the Department for Education. The National Secular Society has written to Education Secretary, Michael Gove, calling for national guidance setting out best practice for working with external visitors and contributors and particularly religion and belief groups. The report also calls for all schools to publish and adhere to an external visitor's policy which forbids proselytizing and evangelism and makes clear that parents should be given prior and relevant information about school visitors. One parent, Saul Freeman from Sheffield, said: "Having sent our child to a non-religious state primary school, we never expected to find ultra-conservative evangelical activity. Our son's school has never been open with parents about its close links with a local evangelical church despite our best efforts to get clarity. "Adults who come in and lead school assemblies are seen by the children as authority figures in the local community – and this means that the school has conferred a status of trust and respect on a group of individuals who preach hate and a fundamentalist, literalist and creationist approach to religion and life." Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said that the educational purpose of religious education is so vague that it is open to exploitation by aggressive religious groups that are determined to reach children in schools. He said: "The legal obligation on all schools to provide religious education, and a daily act of worship provides a foot in the door to organisations with evangelistic intentions. The ambiguity about the specific aims and purpose of religious education, and its low status in schools, provides an ideal environment for evangelical groups to exploit. "Given the diminishing interest in religious observance amongst young people and their parents, it's easy to see why evangelical groups are so keen to access schools. But we have to question the appropriateness of state schools being used in this way. The presence of such groups undermines the rights of parents who rightly expect a state education for their child that doesn't run counter to their own religious and philosophical convictions." Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: "The targeting of our schools in this way by such dubious organisations must be tackled by the Department for Education. Most parents have absolutely no idea that such groups are present in their children's school until the child comes home and starts repeating the messages they've been given – sometimes about creationism, sometimes manipulative evangelical messages or literature that reinforces a very conservative religious outlook on life." Mr Sanderson said the whole issue of religion in schools needs to be urgently reassessed. "Our schools are becoming playgrounds for religious interests who are exploiting their opportunities to the full. The increasing number of faith schools is not going to make this any better. With fewer and fewer people regarding themselves as religious, it is clear that faith groups see schools as their best hope of reviving their fortunes. Children have to be there by law, they are a captive audience." Read the report: Evangelism in state schools – the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf) See a list of evangelical groups active in schools Research into the activities of evangelical groups in schools in ongoing. If you have information or concerns about external visitors in a particular school, please use the form on this page to provide details. The NSS is calling for religious education to be replaced with a new National Curriculum subject that allows pupils to take a more objective and religiously neutral approach to the consideration of moral and ethical issues. Read our briefing paper setting out the need for comprehensive reform of RE.
	Evangelism in schools? Opinion \| Fri, 11th Oct 2013 A report published this week by the National Secular Society has shone a much needed spotlight on the activities of evangelical Christian organisations operating in our children's schools. The report reveals a concerted effort from evangelical organisations in the UK to target publicly funded schools as bases to promote the Christian message to young people, most of whom would otherwise have little or no contact with the Church. Evangelical Christians can be a resourceful bunch. Packaging their evangelism as an 'educational resource', well-organised and sometimes well-funded evangelical groups and individuals are busy in schools pursuing their missionary objectives to 'bring children to Jesus' by providing schools with subjective and manipulative teaching resources, delivering lessons (not only as part of RE), and by preaching to pupils during schools visits. At their worst, evangelists can turn school classrooms into pulpits to preach their own interpretation of the gospel. Often, however, aware of the need to justify their activity in schools on educational grounds, their approach is much more surreptitious, but no less manipulative. The duplicity of their approach is well illustrated by this observation from one Christian schools worker: "[evangelism is] the dark shadow in the closet of schools work. To the churches we talked evangelism. To the Head Teachers we talked education. We prayed the two would never meet." I don't doubt for one minute that Christians, motivated by their faith, are carrying out valuable youth work up and down the country. I'm also aware that pupils' education can be greatly enhanced by the input made by external contributors. But, there is a clear clash of agendas between schools — whose purpose is education — and evangelical groups — whose primary concern is, quite clearly, evangelisation. For example, one of the groups active in schools, Youth for Christ, regard it as their mission to "raise up lifelong followers of Jesus". According to its website: "Taking the Gospel relevantly is what we do. That has always been our vision, and it always will be...until every young person in Britain has heard and responded to the good news of Jesus Christ." Another organisation active in schools is Scripture Union. It describes its mission as "to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ among children". The group's goal is to ensure "that all may come to a personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, grow in Christian maturity and become both committed church members". With the aim of "reaching the unreached with the gospel", Scripture Union says working in schools is one of its main priorities. Another group, Prayer Spaces in Schools (PSiS), has been busy setting up almost 600 'prayer spaces' in schools (at last count). The initiative has reached more than 100,000 children and young people, many of whom "have prayed personal prayers for the first time in their lives", say PSiS. Prayer Spaces in Schools is an initiative of 24-7 Prayer, an organisation that exists "to reconcile the world to God in Jesus Christ". According to Prayer Spaces in Schools, its work helps to enable young people to meet many of the requirements for religious education in primary schools. 24-7's vision for the UK is to "establish a national project working with teachers to serve the national curriculum so that hundreds of thousands of students can swap talking about God in Religious Studies classes to talking to Him". So there we have it. Instead of talking about God in religious education, what these groups really want to see is pupils talking to Him. For many, the point of religious education isn't really to teach objectively about religion and belief, it's about teaching children how to be religious – but surely that's purely and squarely a parental responsibility, for those who want it, and certainly not the role of a state education system. Worryingly, gaining entry to schools appears to be a relatively easy process for evangelicals on a mission. According to Open the Book, a national organisation that sends teams of Christians from local churches into schools to perform dramatised Bible stories: "More and more people are grasping the simplicity with which churches can extend and enjoy their ministry to every child in their locality – especially to the 'unchurched' and their families." In some cases, it seems likely that visits to schools are being facilitated by sympathetic teachers. But often, unsure as to what they're supposed to be achieving in 'collective worship' and RE, schools are naively welcoming offers of help when local evangelical groups come knocking. Given the rapidly changing religious landscape in Britain, and in particular the diminishing interest in religion amongst young people (and their parents), it is easy to see why evangelical groups regard access to schools as essential if they are to raise the next generation of believers. But the presence of such groups in schools undermines the rights of parents who rightly expect a state education for their child that doesn't run counter to their own religious and philosophical convictions. There is therefore a need to question and scrutinise the activities of evangelical organisations and individuals working as external visitors in our schools. The Department for Education, who, let's face it, have been caught severely lacking when it comes to regulating the activities of religious groups involved with schools, could lead the way by issuing clear national guidance to schools setting out best practice for working with external visitors and contributors. Schools also should publish their own robust external visitor's policy which expressly forbids proselytizing and evangelism. But ultimately, what we need is a more secular approach to education generally. A removal of the legal obligation to provide worship, and a replacement subject for RE that takes an objective and balanced approach to education about religion would go a long way to shutting the door on groups seeking to use our education system for their own evangelical ends. Until then, it's clear that head teachers need to be much more discerning about the groups they are letting into their schools. Read the report: Evangelism in state schools - the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf)
	Jewish faith school caught censoring questions on science exam papers News \| Thu, 10th Oct 2013 A state funded Jewish faith school has been caught blacking out questions on science exam papers. The Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Exam board (OCR) launched an investigation into exam malpractice at the Yesodey Hatorah Jewish Voluntary Aided girls' secondary school after the National Secular Society formally asked it to follow up unconfirmed reports that teachers had redacted questions in this year's GSCE science exam. The precise questions that were blacked out has not been revealed by OCR, but earlier this year a Jewish education consultant warned that evolution in the new GCSE science curriculum could pose problems for strictly Orthodox schools. The investigation confirmed pupils were left disadvantaged by being unable to access 3 marks out of 75 for a unit in a higher GCSE science exam, and 1 mark out of 75 for a unit on a lower paper. Earlier this year, Rabbi Avraham Pinter, principal of Yesodey Hatorah, admitted "sometimes Charedi schools, if they find anything in the paper which could be offensive to parents, advise children to avoid that question". A spokesperson for OCR said: "We have tried to respect the religious and cultural sensitivities of this community whilst protecting the integrity of our exams. That said, we do not consider obscuring aspects of question papers to be good exam practice. We are raising the matter with the Department for Education and Ofsted as well as our fellow Awarding Bodies, through the Joint Council for Qualifications. We are also in the process of agreeing safeguards with the centre to ensure good exam practice in the context of today's pluralistic society. Ofqual are also fully aware of our investigation and its outcome." Yesodey Hatorah was founded in 1942 and operated as a private school until 2005 when it opted in to the state sector. It was launched as a state school with a high-profile visit from faith school enthusiast Tony Blair, then prime minister. Girls attending Yesodey Hatorah are strongly discouraged from going to university. According to Rabbi Pinter: "Our experience, is that the better educated girls turn out to be the most successful mothers. For us, that's the most important role a woman plays." Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said: "Faith schools such as Yesodey Hatorah not only impede social cohesion by segregating children along religions and ethnic lines, they also fail to prepare pupils for life outside of a religious community and deny young people the opportunity to reach their full potential. "In this case we have so called educators putting religious indoctrination before education – all at the taxpayers' expense. "Pupils being denied the right to answer exam questions by teachers pushing their own religious agenda is shocking enough. However, the wall of silence surrounding this incident, and that it took the NSS to ensure this matter was properly investigated, reveals the extent to which not upsetting 'religious sensitivities' is now deemed more important than a young person's right to a rounded education. "This is an extreme example of a common problem throughout our state education system: children's education being compromised by the influence of religious organisations. The time has come to draw a line under this faith schools experiment and separate the realms of religion and state education. Our schools should be about teaching young people how to think, rather than what to think."
	NSS welcomes introduction of alternative Scout Promise for atheists News \| Tue, 8th Oct 2013 The National Secular Society has welcomed news that The Scout Association is to introduce an additional alternative version to the Scout Promise in order to welcome atheists into the Movement. The decision follows an extensive 10-month consultation process during which members, and the wider public, voiced their support for an alternative non-religious version of the Promise for those who felt unable to make the existing commitment. Variations of the Scout Promise have previously been made available for different faith groups, but this is the first time in the Scouts' 106-year history that the Movement has introduced a Promise for members and potential members without a religious belief. A spokesperson for the Scouts also confirmed to the National Secular Society that the organisation would be amending its equal opportunities policy which currently bars atheists from leadership positions. Wayne Bulpitt, UK Chief Commissioner for the Scout Movement said the move signified the Movement's "determination to become truly inclusive and relevant to all sections of society that it serves." He added, "We are a values-based Movement and exploring faith and beliefs remains a key element of the Scouting Programme. That will not change." The new alternative pledge reads: "On my honour I promise that I will do my best to uphold our Scout values, to do my duty to the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Scout Law." In September this year Girlguiding UK replaced its religious promise, which included the line "to love my God", with a single secular oath for all Guides. The National Secular Society, which has long campaigned for an end to the exclusion of the non-religious in the Scouts said it was pleased that public pressure had finally paid off. Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: "This is a massive step forward and we welcome it. It means that the Scout movement is at last open to everyone, and young people who don't have a religious belief can join in good conscience. "At the same time, we think the Girl Guides' response to this issue was infinitely superior. Their approach relieves young people of having to make a decision about what they believe at a time in their lives when maybe they haven't decided." The alternative version of the Scout Promise will be introduced from 1 January 2014 and plans are underway to help prepare the Movement for this change. Earlier this year the National Secular Society called on the Scouts to open up scouting to non-believers in a written response to their consultation on the revised Fundamentals. You can read our submission here.
	Scouts: Reflections on a victory from a former Scout Leader Opinion \| Thu, 10th Oct 2013 So, it took about 25 years but it's finally happened. My campaign to get the Scout Association to change its promise began in the late 1980's when a brilliant assistant leader I had was hounded out of the movement for daring to suggest that the movement introduce just what they have introduced. Along the way, I have met many heartbroken adults who've been desperate to give back to Scouting what they got from it as children, but were prevented from doing so by the movement's strict religious requirements. But I didn't just campaign for them. During my 30 year career as a Scout Leader, I campaigned for girls to be admitted. 'Never!' they said. The first ever girl who joined my Scout Troop now runs it and also trains other leaders. I campaigned for gays and lesbians to be given membership. 'Never!' they said. Last summer I stood in Regent Street watching The Fellowship of Lesbians and Gays in Scouting marching through London on the Gay Pride March wearing the scarf I designed for them! But when I campaigned for a simple secular promise OPTION that would allow non-believers to join whilst (rightly) leaving the religious one intact, they said Never! far more loudly than ever before. And no amount of campaigning by me, the NSS and BHA or the many hundreds of leaders who joined my cause, could even get them to consider it. It took a moment of brave realisation by one official that the world had changed and that as a movement, Scouting by definition, had to change with it to bring about the simple change we sought. Scouting now really is open to all – something that the writings of Baden Powell show he would have wanted. Last summer, I retired from all work involving children after 35 years, so I no longer wish to play the game of Scouting. However, as the old saying goes, 'once a Scout, always a Scout'. And I am once again proud to be a Scout. Shaun Joynson is a former Scout Leader and an NSS member. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the NSS.
	Al-Madinah Muslim free school threatened with closure News \| Tue, 8th Oct 2013 Derby's Al-Madinah Muslim free school has been ordered to take "swift action" to address concerns over the way it is run or face closure. In a letter to the Al-Madinah Education Trust's Chair of Governors, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, Lord Nash, said: "The Trust has manifestly breached the conditions of its funding agreement by failing to ensure the safety of children at the school; delivering an unacceptably poor standard of education; discriminating in its policies and procedures towards female staff; and failing to discharge its duties and responsibilities in respect of the governing body." The Education regulator Ofsted carried out an emergency inspection after concerns were raised that female staff were being forced to wear head coverings, and girls and boys were being segregated in classrooms. It also emerged that lessons were routinely being scrapped to make way for prayers, and that singing was banned. In the letter to the school, Lord Nash says he will not tolerate breaches of the commitments the school gave when entering into the funding agreement. The school has been given seven days to carry out specific actions points required to remedy the breaches. These include providing confirmation that the school ends any practices and procedures that lead to women and girls being treated less favourably than men and boys. The school has also been ordered to provide written confirmation that it is in compliance with equality legislation. Staff are to be notified they are not required to cover their hair if it is contrary to their religion or beliefs. In addition, the school has been told it must satisfy the Department for Education that its curriculum is "broad and balanced" and provide documentation setting out how the school will ensure that it is welcoming and attractive to students of all faiths and none. According to the school's prospectus: "In each and every department, all efforts will be geared towards ensuring the books and resources conform to the teachings of Islam. Sensitive, inaccurate and potentially blasphemous material will be censored or removed completely. If and when teachers are required by the curriculum to convey teachings that are totally against Islam (such as Darwinism), the Director of Islamic Studies will brief the relevant teachers and advise accordingly." Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, said "While we welcome the Government's robust response, it is alarming that this situation was allowed to arise in the first place. "The Government itself must find ways to more effectively regulate free schools, particularly those with a religious character. "The reality is that the new freedoms given to free schools coupled with their lack of accountability creates an ideal environment for religious groups seeking to impose religious dogma on pupils. "The integrity of our state education system risks being undermined by the growing presence of faith groups, some of which seem more interested in religious inculcation than they are in education." Read the letter from Lord Nash to the Al-Madinah Education Trust
	NSS welcomes Ofsted analysis of the state of RE, but warns recommendations don't go far enough News \| Sat, 5th Oct 2013 The National Secular Society has welcomed a new analysis of the state of religious education in schools from the education regulator Ofsted, but has warned its report's recommendations don't go far enough. The report, Religious education: realising the potential found a confused sense of purpose of what religious education is supposed to be about. This, coupled with weaknesses in the way religious education is examined, meant too many pupils were leaving school with low levels of subject knowledge and understanding. The report found most GCSE RE teaching failed to secure the core aim of the examination specifications – to enable pupils 'to adopt an enquiring, critical and reflective approach to the study of religion'. Achievement and teaching in RE in the 90 primary schools visited by inspectors were less than good in six in 10 schools. Achievement and teaching in RE in the 91 secondary schools visited were only good or better in just under half of the schools. At present community schools and voluntary controlled faith schools follow a locally agreed syllabus drawn up by local committees comprising of teachers, local churches, faith groups and the local authority. Voluntary aided faith schools and academies and free schools with a religious character are permitted to teach RE from a selective, exclusive or confessional viewpoint. The report recommends a review of the current statutory arrangements for RE in relation to the principle of local determination. It also calls on the Department for Education to ensure that religious education is monitored more closely, particularly in secondary schools. Ofsted recommends that schools should ensure that RE has a "stronger focus on deepening pupils' understanding of the nature, diversity and impact of religion and belief in the contemporary world." The National Secular Society welcomed the call for a review of the statutory arrangements for religious education but said the whole concept of RE now needed a radical rethink. Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said: "This report paints a bleak but realistic picture of the state of RE in schools. However, the report's recommendations fall well short of what is needed, not only to improve the academic and personal development of pupils, but to also ensure that the rights of children and young people, and their parents, are respected. "Many faith schools do not treat religious education as an academic subject but as an opportunity for evangelising. With the freedom to determine their own syllabus for RE, many schools with a religious character abuse the subject and use it for missionising. "Young people would be better served by a new National Curriculum subject under a different name that allows pupils to take a more objective and religiously neutral approach to the consideration of moral and ethical issues. Such a subject would cover a variety of religious, non-religious and secular philosophies and worldviews. "Importantly, religion and belief groups should have no privileged input into the syllabus. As with other subjects, the syllabus should be nationally determined by independent educationalists without an agenda motivated by a specific religion or belief." Read the Ofsted report, Religious education: realising the potential Read the National Secular Society's briefing paper on religious education
	Judges call for one secular oath for all News \| Mon, 7th Oct 2013 Magistrates are considering proposals to replace religious oaths and affirmations with a single oath for all defendants and witnesses. At present, witnesses giving evidence in court either take a religious oath relevant to their particular religious beliefs, or a secular affirmation where the witness simply affirms that they will tell the truth. A proposal to be debated at this year's Magistrates' Association AGM calls for all those giving evidence in court to make the same pledge. Supporters say this approach would make it fairer and more relevant for people to help them understand the importance of what they are saying. Senior figures in the Church of England have criticised the proposal, claiming it represents another attempt to chip away at the country's Christian foundations. The National Secular Society, however, has welcomed the move. Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said: "Multiple religious and non-religious oaths unnecessarily make an issue out of a witness's religiosity in the courtroom. A single oath for all would protect witness of all religions and beliefs, including non-believers, from the potential religious prejudices of jurors. All witnesses should be on an equal footing, with cases decided on the evidence heard rather than the prejudices of those hearing it. "Britain is not the Christian country it perhaps once was, so it is right that our institutions change to reflect this. Justice being done is the most important consideration, and this is a case where I'm sure most people of faith would be happy to swear the same oath as others, rather than insist that the legal system accommodate their religious preferences." If the proposal is voted through at its October AGM, the Magistrates' Association will draw up plans to be sent to the Ministry of Justice. However, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We have no plans to change the arrangements for swearing an oath or making an affirmation in court, which have worked well for many years and still does."
	What is the freedom of expression if not the freedom of the heretic who thinks differently? Opinion \| Thu, 10th Oct 2013 "The right of each person to dress … as they choose has been at the core of the cohesion of our multicultural society" – Jay Stoll, General Secretary, LSE Students' Union, September 18, 2013 "The SU asked the students to cover the t-shirts in the interests of good campus relations" – Jay Stoll, General Secretary, LSE Students' Union, October 4, 2013 The trouble with advertising yourself as an institution for people who enjoy being "challenged intellectually, socially and personally" is that some of us will actually believe it, and expect you to live up to that promise by being a haven for free inquiry and free expression. This was the delusion under which Christian Moos and I set up our Atheists' Stall at the LSE Freshers' Fair on Thursday morning, wearing t-shirts featuring an award-winning comic strip known for its crisp satires of the monotheisms. In this way, we hoped to greet our new members with a popular and light-hearted lampoon. Then political correctness caught up. The London School of Economics Student Union (LSESU) will tell you that its scandalous crackdown was prompted by concerns that our t-shirts jeopardised "good campus relations" and the "spirit of the Freshers' Fair". Perhaps some of this bonhomie was lost in translation, because where a polite request would have sufficed, we were subjected to an ambush. At noon, the Community and Welfare Officer Anneessa Mahmood barged in and began ripping our publicity material off the wall, while her companions, the Deputy Chief Executive Jarlath O'Hara and Anti-Racism Officer Rayhan Uddin, demanded we take off our t-shirts on pain of being hauled bodily from the premises. Their Kafkaesque refrain was that the t-shirts were "offensive" to some students and that an explanation would be provided at some point after our eviction. We stood our ground, protesting our innocence, and so Paul Thornbury, the Head of LSE Security, was summoned to inform us that we were not behaving in an "orderly and responsible manner", and that our wearing the t-shirts could be considered "harassment", as it could create an "offensive environment", which is an absurd claim to make of wholly innocuous t-shirts whose writing, in any case, is obscured unless you stop, stare and squint at the right angle while the wearer is still. And that's if you visit the Atheist Society Stall, never the most popular hangout for deeply religious people anyway. Mr Thornbury was unmoved by our arguments, and had us surrounded by security guards, with the warning that should we disobey his command, we would be dragged out. Browbeaten and awaiting a clearer interpretation of the rules, we said we would temporarily put on our jackets, and so in a surreal sequence, the Head of LSE Security hovered about us like a short-sighted tailor, assessing whether we had concealed enough, pausing to protest at one point that the word "prophet" was visible from a certain angle. He then deputed two guards to stand in the aisle, facing our stall, to stop us attempting to take our jackets off and to shadow us wherever we went till closing time. We wrote overnight to LSE Legal and Compliance, seeking an explanation and a legal justification for our treatment. No adequate clarification was forthcoming, and so the next morning, we arrived at the Fair having covered the front of our t-shirts with tape bearing the word "censored", so that you'd now have to visit our stall, stop, stare, squint for several seconds while we were still and then ask us what was beneath the tape, and we'd have to explain it, before you could make out the innocuous depiction. But we reckoned without the bloody-mindedness of the SU. Shortly after midday, Deputy Chief Executive O'Hara descended on us, demanding we take the t-shirts off as per his instructions of the previous day. We explained to him that we had redacted them this time, and offered to use our home-made tape to cover any other areas he wished to see covered. Our concessions came to nought. He refused to hear us out, and left, warning us that he was summoning LSE Security to remove us from the premises. Surprisingly, several hours passed before their next move (a curiously tardy response for an administration purporting to counter harassment), in which Mr Thornbury reappeared near closing time, armed with a letter from the School Secretary Susan Scholefield, which claimed that since some students found our t-shirts "offensive", we were in possible breach of the LSE Harassment Policy and Disciplinary Procedure. It claimed that our actions were "damaging the School's reputation" and concluded by asking us to "refrain from wearing the t-shirts in question and cover any other potentially offensive imagery" and warning us that the School "reserves the right to consider taking further action if warranted". On our way out at closing time, we saw Mr Thornbury, General Secretary Stoll and Deputy Chief Executive O'Hara skulking in the corridor, accompanied by a posse of security guards. They shadowed us to the exit. The great polemicist Christopher Hitchens used to say that whenever someone complained to him that something was "offensive", he would retort "I'm still waiting to hear what your point is". This neatly skewers the fatuousness of such a complaint. Our motives have been relentlessly impugned over the past two days, with Mr Thornbury and Mr Stoll rashly accusing us of wishing to cause offence. We categorically deny this, and struggle to fathom how such innocuous t-shirts, which contain neither threats, nor racist taunts, nor foul language, could support such an accusation. Forcing us to cover up a harmless likeness of the prophets amounts to demanding we obey religious law to avoid upsetting the religious. What is the freedom of expression if not the freedom of the heretic who thinks differently? Mr Stoll later took to the LSESU's blog to defend the LSE as a place that is "committed to promoting freedom of expression" because its public lectures feature a "wide range of speakers". I don't see why this should imply broad-mindedness – hosting crowd-pulling contrarians is the price of maintaining your reputation as a landmark on the global lecture circuit. A truer test of a university's commitment to freedom of expression is how it treats two lowly students summoning up the courage to stand by their principles in a dignified and understated manner. And Mr Stoll and the School have some nerve to claim that we were threatened because "it was feared" that we would "disrupt the event", when in fact the event was progressing perfectly smoothly until it was disrupted by the ham-fisted intervention of the student union. We strove to remain calm, pacific and reasonable, standing our ground even as we were subjected to a barrage of increasingly egregious demands and jostled by security guards. If harassment is, as the LSE Harassment Policy defines it, anything that "violates an individual's dignity and/or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment", then we were harassed. Our critics contend that we were being needlessly inflammatory. Quite apart from the cliché that the people who rule over us are the people we cannot criticise, do these people genuinely think it is a waste of time and effort defending freedom of expression from religious reactionaries? Could they suggest a better cause? Perhaps they will be swayed by the fact that the gifted cartoonist whose t-shirts we wore publishes his work under a pseudonym because of threats to his life. These sickly invocations for decorum are of a piece with the risible claim made by Mr Stoll and the School that their clampdown was prompted by the fear that we were sabotaging the prospects of a sanitised Fair "designed to welcome all new students", and that our t-shirts and posters were welcome once this delicate initial period had passed. We have good reason to doubt this. For one thing, Mr Thornbury contradicted it with his warning that we would be evicted if we were ever seen wearing these t-shirts on campus again. And just last year, our efforts to better signpost ourselves for Muslim apostates on campus by adding "ex-Muslim" to our Society's name (on the lines of ex-Mormon groups in the U.S., and for the same reasons) were gratuitously frustrated. First, the Union ordered us to prove "clear cooperation with the Islamic Society" before they would consider our application; then, they backed out with the wet excuse that the change could jeopardise the "safety" of ex-Muslims in our group, which came as news to the ex-Muslim organisations on whose insistence we'd sought the change. Amidst the acrimony, it would be remiss of me not to mention the countless open-minded Christians and Muslims, among them women in hijabs, who visited our stall out of curiosity, engaged us in good-natured banter about our work and accepted our invitation to the first of the many public debates we conduct with religious societies through the year. On their behalf, I accuse the LSE of slandering its religious population by allowing its most peevish elements to speak for the whole community and infantilising religious students by creating the impression that they are unable to handle gentle satire. But it isn't all gloom. In one of those beautiful little ironies of life that makes even a staunch atheist like me wonder if there might, after all, be a god, the LSE student newspaper reported in its edition of October 3 that LSESU had been rated the worst Students' Union in London, and that the LSE was ranked the fifth-worst university for crime in the UK. Would that Mr Stoll and Mr Thornbury were always so ubiquitous. Abhishek Phadnis is a Master's candidate at the London School of Economics & Political Science and President of the LSESU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the NSS.

Read this week's Newsline in full (PDF)

NSS Speaks Out

Keith Porteous Wood was on ITV "Sunrise" programme talking about religion in schools, he was also on Radio Five Live on a similar topic. Terry Sanderson was on LBC Radio talking about the Ofsted report on religious education, Stephen Evans was on Radio Northampton.

Our report on evangelism in schools was covered in the Independent, TES and the Times (subscription). Stephen Evans was on BBC 5 Live, Radio Three Counties and Premier Christian Radio to discuss the issue.

The proposal by magistrates to ditch religious oaths in courts brought interviews for the NSS on Radio Ulster, Humberside, Radio London, Radio Three Counties and Voice of Russia.

Terry Sanderson was quoted in the Guardian, Daily Mail, The Independent and the Telegraph about the Scouts new secular Promise.

The clash over free speech at the LSE featured quotes from the NSS in the Independent and the Huffington Post and here.

The temporary closure of the A-Madinah free school saw us quoted in Huffington Post and here.

Terry Sanderson was quoted in this Times story about the Church of England's latest doomed attempt at evangelism (subscription).

Quotes of the Week

"I'm "offended" by backwards baseball caps, chewing gum, niqabs, "basically" and "awesome". Quick, LSE Student Union, ban them all."
(Richard Dawkins, Twitter)

"If I win the Nobel Peace Prize, it would be a great opportunity for me, but if I don't get it, it's not important because my goal is not to get the Nobel Peace Prize, my goal is to get peace to see the education of every child."
(Malala Yousafzai, BBC Panorama)

Essays of the Week

Censoring atheists at LSE is a victory for oppression
(Ally Fogg, the Guardian)

The Republican war against women
(Marci A Hamilton, Justia.com)

The war on Christians
(John L Allen Jr, the Spectator)

	New report highlights growing incursion of evangelical Christians into state schools News \| Fri, 11th Oct 2013 A new report published by the National Secular Society has revealed that publicly funded schools are being targeted and exploited by evangelical Christian groups as part of their missionary work. The report, Evangelism in state schools – the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf), reveals a determined push by evangelical churches and organisations to gain access to state schools with the intention of proselytizing among young children. The report finds that the activities of external visitors are often undertaken in schools without parents' knowledge and with little, if any, opportunity for withdrawal. According to the report, the motivations and aims of religious groups, either out of complicity or naivety, are going unquestioned by head teachers, governors, Local Education Authorities and the Department for Education. The National Secular Society has written to Education Secretary, Michael Gove, calling for national guidance setting out best practice for working with external visitors and contributors and particularly religion and belief groups. The report also calls for all schools to publish and adhere to an external visitor's policy which forbids proselytizing and evangelism and makes clear that parents should be given prior and relevant information about school visitors. One parent, Saul Freeman from Sheffield, said: "Having sent our child to a non-religious state primary school, we never expected to find ultra-conservative evangelical activity. Our son's school has never been open with parents about its close links with a local evangelical church despite our best efforts to get clarity. "Adults who come in and lead school assemblies are seen by the children as authority figures in the local community – and this means that the school has conferred a status of trust and respect on a group of individuals who preach hate and a fundamentalist, literalist and creationist approach to religion and life." Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said that the educational purpose of religious education is so vague that it is open to exploitation by aggressive religious groups that are determined to reach children in schools. He said: "The legal obligation on all schools to provide religious education, and a daily act of worship provides a foot in the door to organisations with evangelistic intentions. The ambiguity about the specific aims and purpose of religious education, and its low status in schools, provides an ideal environment for evangelical groups to exploit. "Given the diminishing interest in religious observance amongst young people and their parents, it's easy to see why evangelical groups are so keen to access schools. But we have to question the appropriateness of state schools being used in this way. The presence of such groups undermines the rights of parents who rightly expect a state education for their child that doesn't run counter to their own religious and philosophical convictions." Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: "The targeting of our schools in this way by such dubious organisations must be tackled by the Department for Education. Most parents have absolutely no idea that such groups are present in their children's school until the child comes home and starts repeating the messages they've been given – sometimes about creationism, sometimes manipulative evangelical messages or literature that reinforces a very conservative religious outlook on life." Mr Sanderson said the whole issue of religion in schools needs to be urgently reassessed. "Our schools are becoming playgrounds for religious interests who are exploiting their opportunities to the full. The increasing number of faith schools is not going to make this any better. With fewer and fewer people regarding themselves as religious, it is clear that faith groups see schools as their best hope of reviving their fortunes. Children have to be there by law, they are a captive audience." Read the report: Evangelism in state schools – the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf) See a list of evangelical groups active in schools Research into the activities of evangelical groups in schools in ongoing. If you have information or concerns about external visitors in a particular school, please use the form on this page to provide details. The NSS is calling for religious education to be replaced with a new National Curriculum subject that allows pupils to take a more objective and religiously neutral approach to the consideration of moral and ethical issues. Read our briefing paper setting out the need for comprehensive reform of RE.
	Evangelism in schools? Opinion \| Fri, 11th Oct 2013 A report published this week by the National Secular Society has shone a much needed spotlight on the activities of evangelical Christian organisations operating in our children's schools. The report reveals a concerted effort from evangelical organisations in the UK to target publicly funded schools as bases to promote the Christian message to young people, most of whom would otherwise have little or no contact with the Church. Evangelical Christians can be a resourceful bunch. Packaging their evangelism as an 'educational resource', well-organised and sometimes well-funded evangelical groups and individuals are busy in schools pursuing their missionary objectives to 'bring children to Jesus' by providing schools with subjective and manipulative teaching resources, delivering lessons (not only as part of RE), and by preaching to pupils during schools visits. At their worst, evangelists can turn school classrooms into pulpits to preach their own interpretation of the gospel. Often, however, aware of the need to justify their activity in schools on educational grounds, their approach is much more surreptitious, but no less manipulative. The duplicity of their approach is well illustrated by this observation from one Christian schools worker: "[evangelism is] the dark shadow in the closet of schools work. To the churches we talked evangelism. To the Head Teachers we talked education. We prayed the two would never meet." I don't doubt for one minute that Christians, motivated by their faith, are carrying out valuable youth work up and down the country. I'm also aware that pupils' education can be greatly enhanced by the input made by external contributors. But, there is a clear clash of agendas between schools — whose purpose is education — and evangelical groups — whose primary concern is, quite clearly, evangelisation. For example, one of the groups active in schools, Youth for Christ, regard it as their mission to "raise up lifelong followers of Jesus". According to its website: "Taking the Gospel relevantly is what we do. That has always been our vision, and it always will be...until every young person in Britain has heard and responded to the good news of Jesus Christ." Another organisation active in schools is Scripture Union. It describes its mission as "to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ among children". The group's goal is to ensure "that all may come to a personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, grow in Christian maturity and become both committed church members". With the aim of "reaching the unreached with the gospel", Scripture Union says working in schools is one of its main priorities. Another group, Prayer Spaces in Schools (PSiS), has been busy setting up almost 600 'prayer spaces' in schools (at last count). The initiative has reached more than 100,000 children and young people, many of whom "have prayed personal prayers for the first time in their lives", say PSiS. Prayer Spaces in Schools is an initiative of 24-7 Prayer, an organisation that exists "to reconcile the world to God in Jesus Christ". According to Prayer Spaces in Schools, its work helps to enable young people to meet many of the requirements for religious education in primary schools. 24-7's vision for the UK is to "establish a national project working with teachers to serve the national curriculum so that hundreds of thousands of students can swap talking about God in Religious Studies classes to talking to Him". So there we have it. Instead of talking about God in religious education, what these groups really want to see is pupils talking to Him. For many, the point of religious education isn't really to teach objectively about religion and belief, it's about teaching children how to be religious – but surely that's purely and squarely a parental responsibility, for those who want it, and certainly not the role of a state education system. Worryingly, gaining entry to schools appears to be a relatively easy process for evangelicals on a mission. According to Open the Book, a national organisation that sends teams of Christians from local churches into schools to perform dramatised Bible stories: "More and more people are grasping the simplicity with which churches can extend and enjoy their ministry to every child in their locality – especially to the 'unchurched' and their families." In some cases, it seems likely that visits to schools are being facilitated by sympathetic teachers. But often, unsure as to what they're supposed to be achieving in 'collective worship' and RE, schools are naively welcoming offers of help when local evangelical groups come knocking. Given the rapidly changing religious landscape in Britain, and in particular the diminishing interest in religion amongst young people (and their parents), it is easy to see why evangelical groups regard access to schools as essential if they are to raise the next generation of believers. But the presence of such groups in schools undermines the rights of parents who rightly expect a state education for their child that doesn't run counter to their own religious and philosophical convictions. There is therefore a need to question and scrutinise the activities of evangelical organisations and individuals working as external visitors in our schools. The Department for Education, who, let's face it, have been caught severely lacking when it comes to regulating the activities of religious groups involved with schools, could lead the way by issuing clear national guidance to schools setting out best practice for working with external visitors and contributors. Schools also should publish their own robust external visitor's policy which expressly forbids proselytizing and evangelism. But ultimately, what we need is a more secular approach to education generally. A removal of the legal obligation to provide worship, and a replacement subject for RE that takes an objective and balanced approach to education about religion would go a long way to shutting the door on groups seeking to use our education system for their own evangelical ends. Until then, it's clear that head teachers need to be much more discerning about the groups they are letting into their schools. Read the report: Evangelism in state schools - the role of external visitors in publicly funded education (pdf)
	Jewish faith school caught censoring questions on science exam papers News \| Thu, 10th Oct 2013 A state funded Jewish faith school has been caught blacking out questions on science exam papers. The Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Exam board (OCR) launched an investigation into exam malpractice at the Yesodey Hatorah Jewish Voluntary Aided girls' secondary school after the National Secular Society formally asked it to follow up unconfirmed reports that teachers had redacted questions in this year's GSCE science exam. The precise questions that were blacked out has not been revealed by OCR, but earlier this year a Jewish education consultant warned that evolution in the new GCSE science curriculum could pose problems for strictly Orthodox schools. The investigation confirmed pupils were left disadvantaged by being unable to access 3 marks out of 75 for a unit in a higher GCSE science exam, and 1 mark out of 75 for a unit on a lower paper. Earlier this year, Rabbi Avraham Pinter, principal of Yesodey Hatorah, admitted "sometimes Charedi schools, if they find anything in the paper which could be offensive to parents, advise children to avoid that question". A spokesperson for OCR said: "We have tried to respect the religious and cultural sensitivities of this community whilst protecting the integrity of our exams. That said, we do not consider obscuring aspects of question papers to be good exam practice. We are raising the matter with the Department for Education and Ofsted as well as our fellow Awarding Bodies, through the Joint Council for Qualifications. We are also in the process of agreeing safeguards with the centre to ensure good exam practice in the context of today's pluralistic society. Ofqual are also fully aware of our investigation and its outcome." Yesodey Hatorah was founded in 1942 and operated as a private school until 2005 when it opted in to the state sector. It was launched as a state school with a high-profile visit from faith school enthusiast Tony Blair, then prime minister. Girls attending Yesodey Hatorah are strongly discouraged from going to university. According to Rabbi Pinter: "Our experience, is that the better educated girls turn out to be the most successful mothers. For us, that's the most important role a woman plays." Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said: "Faith schools such as Yesodey Hatorah not only impede social cohesion by segregating children along religions and ethnic lines, they also fail to prepare pupils for life outside of a religious community and deny young people the opportunity to reach their full potential. "In this case we have so called educators putting religious indoctrination before education – all at the taxpayers' expense. "Pupils being denied the right to answer exam questions by teachers pushing their own religious agenda is shocking enough. However, the wall of silence surrounding this incident, and that it took the NSS to ensure this matter was properly investigated, reveals the extent to which not upsetting 'religious sensitivities' is now deemed more important than a young person's right to a rounded education. "This is an extreme example of a common problem throughout our state education system: children's education being compromised by the influence of religious organisations. The time has come to draw a line under this faith schools experiment and separate the realms of religion and state education. Our schools should be about teaching young people how to think, rather than what to think."
	NSS welcomes introduction of alternative Scout Promise for atheists News \| Tue, 8th Oct 2013 The National Secular Society has welcomed news that The Scout Association is to introduce an additional alternative version to the Scout Promise in order to welcome atheists into the Movement. The decision follows an extensive 10-month consultation process during which members, and the wider public, voiced their support for an alternative non-religious version of the Promise for those who felt unable to make the existing commitment. Variations of the Scout Promise have previously been made available for different faith groups, but this is the first time in the Scouts' 106-year history that the Movement has introduced a Promise for members and potential members without a religious belief. A spokesperson for the Scouts also confirmed to the National Secular Society that the organisation would be amending its equal opportunities policy which currently bars atheists from leadership positions. Wayne Bulpitt, UK Chief Commissioner for the Scout Movement said the move signified the Movement's "determination to become truly inclusive and relevant to all sections of society that it serves." He added, "We are a values-based Movement and exploring faith and beliefs remains a key element of the Scouting Programme. That will not change." The new alternative pledge reads: "On my honour I promise that I will do my best to uphold our Scout values, to do my duty to the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Scout Law." In September this year Girlguiding UK replaced its religious promise, which included the line "to love my God", with a single secular oath for all Guides. The National Secular Society, which has long campaigned for an end to the exclusion of the non-religious in the Scouts said it was pleased that public pressure had finally paid off. Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, said: "This is a massive step forward and we welcome it. It means that the Scout movement is at last open to everyone, and young people who don't have a religious belief can join in good conscience. "At the same time, we think the Girl Guides' response to this issue was infinitely superior. Their approach relieves young people of having to make a decision about what they believe at a time in their lives when maybe they haven't decided." The alternative version of the Scout Promise will be introduced from 1 January 2014 and plans are underway to help prepare the Movement for this change. Earlier this year the National Secular Society called on the Scouts to open up scouting to non-believers in a written response to their consultation on the revised Fundamentals. You can read our submission here.
	Scouts: Reflections on a victory from a former Scout Leader Opinion \| Thu, 10th Oct 2013 So, it took about 25 years but it's finally happened. My campaign to get the Scout Association to change its promise began in the late 1980's when a brilliant assistant leader I had was hounded out of the movement for daring to suggest that the movement introduce just what they have introduced. Along the way, I have met many heartbroken adults who've been desperate to give back to Scouting what they got from it as children, but were prevented from doing so by the movement's strict religious requirements. But I didn't just campaign for them. During my 30 year career as a Scout Leader, I campaigned for girls to be admitted. 'Never!' they said. The first ever girl who joined my Scout Troop now runs it and also trains other leaders. I campaigned for gays and lesbians to be given membership. 'Never!' they said. Last summer I stood in Regent Street watching The Fellowship of Lesbians and Gays in Scouting marching through London on the Gay Pride March wearing the scarf I designed for them! But when I campaigned for a simple secular promise OPTION that would allow non-believers to join whilst (rightly) leaving the religious one intact, they said Never! far more loudly than ever before. And no amount of campaigning by me, the NSS and BHA or the many hundreds of leaders who joined my cause, could even get them to consider it. It took a moment of brave realisation by one official that the world had changed and that as a movement, Scouting by definition, had to change with it to bring about the simple change we sought. Scouting now really is open to all – something that the writings of Baden Powell show he would have wanted. Last summer, I retired from all work involving children after 35 years, so I no longer wish to play the game of Scouting. However, as the old saying goes, 'once a Scout, always a Scout'. And I am once again proud to be a Scout. Shaun Joynson is a former Scout Leader and an NSS member. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the NSS.
	Al-Madinah Muslim free school threatened with closure News \| Tue, 8th Oct 2013 Derby's Al-Madinah Muslim free school has been ordered to take "swift action" to address concerns over the way it is run or face closure. In a letter to the Al-Madinah Education Trust's Chair of Governors, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, Lord Nash, said: "The Trust has manifestly breached the conditions of its funding agreement by failing to ensure the safety of children at the school; delivering an unacceptably poor standard of education; discriminating in its policies and procedures towards female staff; and failing to discharge its duties and responsibilities in respect of the governing body." The Education regulator Ofsted carried out an emergency inspection after concerns were raised that female staff were being forced to wear head coverings, and girls and boys were being segregated in classrooms. It also emerged that lessons were routinely being scrapped to make way for prayers, and that singing was banned. In the letter to the school, Lord Nash says he will not tolerate breaches of the commitments the school gave when entering into the funding agreement. The school has been given seven days to carry out specific actions points required to remedy the breaches. These include providing confirmation that the school ends any practices and procedures that lead to women and girls being treated less favourably than men and boys. The school has also been ordered to provide written confirmation that it is in compliance with equality legislation. Staff are to be notified they are not required to cover their hair if it is contrary to their religion or beliefs. In addition, the school has been told it must satisfy the Department for Education that its curriculum is "broad and balanced" and provide documentation setting out how the school will ensure that it is welcoming and attractive to students of all faiths and none. According to the school's prospectus: "In each and every department, all efforts will be geared towards ensuring the books and resources conform to the teachings of Islam. Sensitive, inaccurate and potentially blasphemous material will be censored or removed completely. If and when teachers are required by the curriculum to convey teachings that are totally against Islam (such as Darwinism), the Director of Islamic Studies will brief the relevant teachers and advise accordingly." Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, said "While we welcome the Government's robust response, it is alarming that this situation was allowed to arise in the first place. "The Government itself must find ways to more effectively regulate free schools, particularly those with a religious character. "The reality is that the new freedoms given to free schools coupled with their lack of accountability creates an ideal environment for religious groups seeking to impose religious dogma on pupils. "The integrity of our state education system risks being undermined by the growing presence of faith groups, some of which seem more interested in religious inculcation than they are in education." Read the letter from Lord Nash to the Al-Madinah Education Trust
	NSS welcomes Ofsted analysis of the state of RE, but warns recommendations don't go far enough News \| Sat, 5th Oct 2013 The National Secular Society has welcomed a new analysis of the state of religious education in schools from the education regulator Ofsted, but has warned its report's recommendations don't go far enough. The report, Religious education: realising the potential found a confused sense of purpose of what religious education is supposed to be about. This, coupled with weaknesses in the way religious education is examined, meant too many pupils were leaving school with low levels of subject knowledge and understanding. The report found most GCSE RE teaching failed to secure the core aim of the examination specifications – to enable pupils 'to adopt an enquiring, critical and reflective approach to the study of religion'. Achievement and teaching in RE in the 90 primary schools visited by inspectors were less than good in six in 10 schools. Achievement and teaching in RE in the 91 secondary schools visited were only good or better in just under half of the schools. At present community schools and voluntary controlled faith schools follow a locally agreed syllabus drawn up by local committees comprising of teachers, local churches, faith groups and the local authority. Voluntary aided faith schools and academies and free schools with a religious character are permitted to teach RE from a selective, exclusive or confessional viewpoint. The report recommends a review of the current statutory arrangements for RE in relation to the principle of local determination. It also calls on the Department for Education to ensure that religious education is monitored more closely, particularly in secondary schools. Ofsted recommends that schools should ensure that RE has a "stronger focus on deepening pupils' understanding of the nature, diversity and impact of religion and belief in the contemporary world." The National Secular Society welcomed the call for a review of the statutory arrangements for religious education but said the whole concept of RE now needed a radical rethink. Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said: "This report paints a bleak but realistic picture of the state of RE in schools. However, the report's recommendations fall well short of what is needed, not only to improve the academic and personal development of pupils, but to also ensure that the rights of children and young people, and their parents, are respected. "Many faith schools do not treat religious education as an academic subject but as an opportunity for evangelising. With the freedom to determine their own syllabus for RE, many schools with a religious character abuse the subject and use it for missionising. "Young people would be better served by a new National Curriculum subject under a different name that allows pupils to take a more objective and religiously neutral approach to the consideration of moral and ethical issues. Such a subject would cover a variety of religious, non-religious and secular philosophies and worldviews. "Importantly, religion and belief groups should have no privileged input into the syllabus. As with other subjects, the syllabus should be nationally determined by independent educationalists without an agenda motivated by a specific religion or belief." Read the Ofsted report, Religious education: realising the potential Read the National Secular Society's briefing paper on religious education
	Judges call for one secular oath for all News \| Mon, 7th Oct 2013 Magistrates are considering proposals to replace religious oaths and affirmations with a single oath for all defendants and witnesses. At present, witnesses giving evidence in court either take a religious oath relevant to their particular religious beliefs, or a secular affirmation where the witness simply affirms that they will tell the truth. A proposal to be debated at this year's Magistrates' Association AGM calls for all those giving evidence in court to make the same pledge. Supporters say this approach would make it fairer and more relevant for people to help them understand the importance of what they are saying. Senior figures in the Church of England have criticised the proposal, claiming it represents another attempt to chip away at the country's Christian foundations. The National Secular Society, however, has welcomed the move. Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said: "Multiple religious and non-religious oaths unnecessarily make an issue out of a witness's religiosity in the courtroom. A single oath for all would protect witness of all religions and beliefs, including non-believers, from the potential religious prejudices of jurors. All witnesses should be on an equal footing, with cases decided on the evidence heard rather than the prejudices of those hearing it. "Britain is not the Christian country it perhaps once was, so it is right that our institutions change to reflect this. Justice being done is the most important consideration, and this is a case where I'm sure most people of faith would be happy to swear the same oath as others, rather than insist that the legal system accommodate their religious preferences." If the proposal is voted through at its October AGM, the Magistrates' Association will draw up plans to be sent to the Ministry of Justice. However, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We have no plans to change the arrangements for swearing an oath or making an affirmation in court, which have worked well for many years and still does."
	What is the freedom of expression if not the freedom of the heretic who thinks differently? Opinion \| Thu, 10th Oct 2013 "The right of each person to dress … as they choose has been at the core of the cohesion of our multicultural society" – Jay Stoll, General Secretary, LSE Students' Union, September 18, 2013 "The SU asked the students to cover the t-shirts in the interests of good campus relations" – Jay Stoll, General Secretary, LSE Students' Union, October 4, 2013 The trouble with advertising yourself as an institution for people who enjoy being "challenged intellectually, socially and personally" is that some of us will actually believe it, and expect you to live up to that promise by being a haven for free inquiry and free expression. This was the delusion under which Christian Moos and I set up our Atheists' Stall at the LSE Freshers' Fair on Thursday morning, wearing t-shirts featuring an award-winning comic strip known for its crisp satires of the monotheisms. In this way, we hoped to greet our new members with a popular and light-hearted lampoon. Then political correctness caught up. The London School of Economics Student Union (LSESU) will tell you that its scandalous crackdown was prompted by concerns that our t-shirts jeopardised "good campus relations" and the "spirit of the Freshers' Fair". Perhaps some of this bonhomie was lost in translation, because where a polite request would have sufficed, we were subjected to an ambush. At noon, the Community and Welfare Officer Anneessa Mahmood barged in and began ripping our publicity material off the wall, while her companions, the Deputy Chief Executive Jarlath O'Hara and Anti-Racism Officer Rayhan Uddin, demanded we take off our t-shirts on pain of being hauled bodily from the premises. Their Kafkaesque refrain was that the t-shirts were "offensive" to some students and that an explanation would be provided at some point after our eviction. We stood our ground, protesting our innocence, and so Paul Thornbury, the Head of LSE Security, was summoned to inform us that we were not behaving in an "orderly and responsible manner", and that our wearing the t-shirts could be considered "harassment", as it could create an "offensive environment", which is an absurd claim to make of wholly innocuous t-shirts whose writing, in any case, is obscured unless you stop, stare and squint at the right angle while the wearer is still. And that's if you visit the Atheist Society Stall, never the most popular hangout for deeply religious people anyway. Mr Thornbury was unmoved by our arguments, and had us surrounded by security guards, with the warning that should we disobey his command, we would be dragged out. Browbeaten and awaiting a clearer interpretation of the rules, we said we would temporarily put on our jackets, and so in a surreal sequence, the Head of LSE Security hovered about us like a short-sighted tailor, assessing whether we had concealed enough, pausing to protest at one point that the word "prophet" was visible from a certain angle. He then deputed two guards to stand in the aisle, facing our stall, to stop us attempting to take our jackets off and to shadow us wherever we went till closing time. We wrote overnight to LSE Legal and Compliance, seeking an explanation and a legal justification for our treatment. No adequate clarification was forthcoming, and so the next morning, we arrived at the Fair having covered the front of our t-shirts with tape bearing the word "censored", so that you'd now have to visit our stall, stop, stare, squint for several seconds while we were still and then ask us what was beneath the tape, and we'd have to explain it, before you could make out the innocuous depiction. But we reckoned without the bloody-mindedness of the SU. Shortly after midday, Deputy Chief Executive O'Hara descended on us, demanding we take the t-shirts off as per his instructions of the previous day. We explained to him that we had redacted them this time, and offered to use our home-made tape to cover any other areas he wished to see covered. Our concessions came to nought. He refused to hear us out, and left, warning us that he was summoning LSE Security to remove us from the premises. Surprisingly, several hours passed before their next move (a curiously tardy response for an administration purporting to counter harassment), in which Mr Thornbury reappeared near closing time, armed with a letter from the School Secretary Susan Scholefield, which claimed that since some students found our t-shirts "offensive", we were in possible breach of the LSE Harassment Policy and Disciplinary Procedure. It claimed that our actions were "damaging the School's reputation" and concluded by asking us to "refrain from wearing the t-shirts in question and cover any other potentially offensive imagery" and warning us that the School "reserves the right to consider taking further action if warranted". On our way out at closing time, we saw Mr Thornbury, General Secretary Stoll and Deputy Chief Executive O'Hara skulking in the corridor, accompanied by a posse of security guards. They shadowed us to the exit. The great polemicist Christopher Hitchens used to say that whenever someone complained to him that something was "offensive", he would retort "I'm still waiting to hear what your point is". This neatly skewers the fatuousness of such a complaint. Our motives have been relentlessly impugned over the past two days, with Mr Thornbury and Mr Stoll rashly accusing us of wishing to cause offence. We categorically deny this, and struggle to fathom how such innocuous t-shirts, which contain neither threats, nor racist taunts, nor foul language, could support such an accusation. Forcing us to cover up a harmless likeness of the prophets amounts to demanding we obey religious law to avoid upsetting the religious. What is the freedom of expression if not the freedom of the heretic who thinks differently? Mr Stoll later took to the LSESU's blog to defend the LSE as a place that is "committed to promoting freedom of expression" because its public lectures feature a "wide range of speakers". I don't see why this should imply broad-mindedness – hosting crowd-pulling contrarians is the price of maintaining your reputation as a landmark on the global lecture circuit. A truer test of a university's commitment to freedom of expression is how it treats two lowly students summoning up the courage to stand by their principles in a dignified and understated manner. And Mr Stoll and the School have some nerve to claim that we were threatened because "it was feared" that we would "disrupt the event", when in fact the event was progressing perfectly smoothly until it was disrupted by the ham-fisted intervention of the student union. We strove to remain calm, pacific and reasonable, standing our ground even as we were subjected to a barrage of increasingly egregious demands and jostled by security guards. If harassment is, as the LSE Harassment Policy defines it, anything that "violates an individual's dignity and/or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment", then we were harassed. Our critics contend that we were being needlessly inflammatory. Quite apart from the cliché that the people who rule over us are the people we cannot criticise, do these people genuinely think it is a waste of time and effort defending freedom of expression from religious reactionaries? Could they suggest a better cause? Perhaps they will be swayed by the fact that the gifted cartoonist whose t-shirts we wore publishes his work under a pseudonym because of threats to his life. These sickly invocations for decorum are of a piece with the risible claim made by Mr Stoll and the School that their clampdown was prompted by the fear that we were sabotaging the prospects of a sanitised Fair "designed to welcome all new students", and that our t-shirts and posters were welcome once this delicate initial period had passed. We have good reason to doubt this. For one thing, Mr Thornbury contradicted it with his warning that we would be evicted if we were ever seen wearing these t-shirts on campus again. And just last year, our efforts to better signpost ourselves for Muslim apostates on campus by adding "ex-Muslim" to our Society's name (on the lines of ex-Mormon groups in the U.S., and for the same reasons) were gratuitously frustrated. First, the Union ordered us to prove "clear cooperation with the Islamic Society" before they would consider our application; then, they backed out with the wet excuse that the change could jeopardise the "safety" of ex-Muslims in our group, which came as news to the ex-Muslim organisations on whose insistence we'd sought the change. Amidst the acrimony, it would be remiss of me not to mention the countless open-minded Christians and Muslims, among them women in hijabs, who visited our stall out of curiosity, engaged us in good-natured banter about our work and accepted our invitation to the first of the many public debates we conduct with religious societies through the year. On their behalf, I accuse the LSE of slandering its religious population by allowing its most peevish elements to speak for the whole community and infantilising religious students by creating the impression that they are unable to handle gentle satire. But it isn't all gloom. In one of those beautiful little ironies of life that makes even a staunch atheist like me wonder if there might, after all, be a god, the LSE student newspaper reported in its edition of October 3 that LSESU had been rated the worst Students' Union in London, and that the LSE was ranked the fifth-worst university for crime in the UK. Would that Mr Stoll and Mr Thornbury were always so ubiquitous. Abhishek Phadnis is a Master's candidate at the London School of Economics & Political Science and President of the LSESU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the NSS.

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Newsline 11 October 2013

News, Blogs & Opinion

New report highlights growing incursion of evangelical Christians into state schools

Evangelism in schools?

Jewish faith school caught censoring questions on science exam papers

NSS welcomes introduction of alternative Scout Promise for atheists

Scouts: Reflections on a victory from a former Scout Leader

Al-Madinah Muslim free school threatened with closure

NSS welcomes Ofsted analysis of the state of RE, but warns recommendations don't go far enough

Judges call for one secular oath for all

What is the freedom of expression if not the freedom of the heretic who thinks differently?

NSS Speaks Out

Quotes of the Week

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Lecture: Deborah Lavin & Bryan Niblett on Charles Bradlaugh

Should religion embrace secularism debate - Nottingham Secular Society

Freedom - not Islamism - is my culture: A talk by Maryam Namazie

NSS conference: Secularism and feminism – a common cause

NSS fundraiser: Women laughing

Newsline 11 October 2013

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NSS Speaks Out

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