Newsline 24 July 2015

Newsline 24 July 2015

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News, Blogs & Opinion

Prime Minister 'blinkered to ignore role faith schools play in segregating communities'

News | Mon, 20th Jul 2015

Despite criticising "segregated" education, Prime Minister David Cameron has defended the continuation of faith schools in a speech on counter extremism.

In a wide-ranging speech, delivered in Birmingham, Mr Cameron set out his thinking on how to confront extremism and Islamist ideology and rejected what he called the "grievance justification" for Islamist violence.

He talked about Britain as a "multi-racial, multi-faith democracy" and as a "beacon to the world". He said no-one should be demonised but said there was a need to "confront, head on, the extreme ideology" behind Islamism.

He said that Britain needed to be bolder in asserting "liberal values", which he called "our strongest weapon".

The Prime Minister issued a strong challenge to "the cultish worldview" of extremists and the "conspiracy theories" that support it, and he said the UK should contrast the "bigotry, aggression and theocracy" of the Islamists with our own values."

Mr Cameron indicated that funding would be made available for groups willing to lead reform and spread an "alternative narrative". He also committed to do more to tackle extremism in prisons.

Turning his attention to the newly introduced "Prevent duty" for public sector bodies, Cameron said that it is "not about criminalising or spying on Muslim children" and accused some of its opponents of "paranoia in the extreme."

However, despite warning that "the education that our young people receive" in schools in "divided communities" is "even more segregated than the neighbourhoods they live in", David Cameron said the UK should not "dismantle faith schools."

Instead, he said "it is right to look again more broadly at how we can move away from segregated schooling in our most divided communities." The Prime Minister suggested that faith schools could share sites or facilities.

"It cannot be right that children can grow up and go to school and not come into contact with people of other backgrounds [and] faiths," he said.

Research by Demos recently found that "some faith schools effectively exclude other ethnic groups" and that minority faith schools were particularly segregated.

NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans said, "Much of this speech is very welcome – and echoes what secularists have been saying for a long time. But it is blinkered to ignore the role that faith schools play in creating the segregated communities that Mr Cameron rightly criticises. The potential of faith schools to exacerbate the separation of communities is obvious for all to see.

"Children from different backgrounds need to mix with each other on a daily basis if we are to break down the barriers. They will never truly understand and trust each other if their schools are encouraging an us-and-them mentality. Tinkering round the edges with occasional visits and shared resources is not good enough – in fact it can be counterproductive, reinforcing the feeling of being from different worlds."

The Prime Minister also said action was needed on unregulated religious 'schools', an issue previously raised by the NSS.

On hate preachers and Islamist speakers invited onto university campuses, the Prime Minister said: "When David Irving goes to a university to deny the Holocaust university leaders rightly come out and condemn him. They don't deny his right to speak but they do challenge what he says."

In contrast, Cameron argued that university leaders "look the other way through a mixture of misguided liberalism and cultural sensitivity" when Islamist speakers attend university events.

He also issued a strong rebuke to the National Union of Students.

"When you choose to ally yourselves with an organisation like CAGE, which called Jihadi John a 'beautiful young man' and told people to 'support the jihad' in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said, it brings "shame" to your organisation and "your noble history of campaigning for justice."

The Prime Minister cited the review of sharia 'courts' among measured to crackdown on non-violent extremism, and promised a consultation on lifetime anonymity for victims of forced marriage, in a proposal welcomed by the National Secular Society.

He spent much of the speech dealing with non-violent extremism, and argued that "if you say 'yes I condemn terror – but the Kuffar are inferior'… then you too are part of the problem."

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "This all sounds very familiar, and we are glad that the Prime Minister is catching up with the NSS's thinking and suggestions. All he has to do now is carry out his plans, which may be more difficult than he thinks. There is a lot of resistance not just from the Islamists but from the liberals who imagine that taking a stand against the Islamist threat is equivalent to attacking all Muslims. It is not and for all our sakes we must not be put off tackling the bad guys for fear of offending the good ones."

The Government will publish its counter-extremism strategy in the autumn.

Secularists defend non-believers and religious minorities in debate on freedom of belief

News | Fri, 17th Jul 2015

Honorary associates of the NSS have spoken out over the persecution of secularists, non-believers and religious minorities in a House of Lords debate.

Lord Harrison, a Labour peer and honorary associate of the National Secular Society, called on the Government to "ensure that the hopes and aspirations of non-believers" in Britain are "not suppressed by careless oversight when we take our rightful place in the public square".

"Why are we conducting this debate in the House of Lords, which still reserves a privileged place for the state religion?" Lord Harrison asked.

"Many will be heartened by the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent observation that religious freedom demands space to be challenged and defended, without responding destructively. This echoed Rowan Williams's reservation in 2013 that sometimes UK and US Christians exaggerate mild discomfort over social issues such as pro-gay legislation while failing to emphasise systematic brutality and often murderous hostility practised by religious fanatics abroad."

Lord Harrison pointed out that "humanists and atheists in Britain are still thoughtlessly excluded from contributing to Radio 4's 'Thought for the Day'", an issue the National Secular Society has long campaigned on.

In a wide-ranging debate, much was said about the Islamic State and the precarious position of religious minorities, non-believers and secularists in Islamic countries.

NSS honorary associate Lord Avebury warned that "Daesh makes no secret of its intention to expand its so-called caliphate from its base in Syria and Iraq so that it covers the rest of the Middle East and north Africa. Ultimately it aims to spread its interpretation of seventh-century Islamic governance and beliefs across the whole world, eliminating all other faiths".

"Eliminating the Daesh, its metastases and its wicked ideology taught in Saudi-funded madrassahs throughout the world must be the main goal of all who believe in freedom of religion."

However, Lord Alderdice blamed "secular authoritarianism" for religious fundamentalism, which he said was a "reaction". As an 'example', he cited Turkey, "where it was easy to support a secular regime and then be astonished at the reaction," he argued.

Turning to religious violence and terrorism, Lord Alderdice claimed that "many of those who support violence, including people in Daesh, do not come to it from a religious perspective at all."

A spokesperson for the National Secular Society said that "freedom of religion must incorporate freedom from religion. Wherever that is not understood, freedom of belief is threatened."

"While Islamic State draws headlines, it shouldn't be forgotten that freedom of religion and belief, and the right to apostatise, change your religion or renounce faith all together is virtually non-existent in many Islamic countries. The signatories of the Cairo Declaration continue to deny these basic rights to their citizens."

Lord Bach, the Shadow Attorney General, appeared to call for the Minister of Faith role to return- after the post was left unfilled after the General Election. The National Secular Society was highly critical of the post when it was first created.

The debate, which took place on Thursday 16 July, was called by Lord Alton of Liverpool on Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides for freedom of religion and belief.

Lord Alton opened the discussion by arguing that "the four great murderers of the 20th century—Mao, Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot—were united by their hatred of religious faith."

"Liberal democracy simply does not understand the power" of religious radicals, Lord Alton added.

Baroness Anelay, a Minister of State in the Foreign Office, responded that "freedom of religion or belief and the right to hold no belief is a key human right" which is "under attack in almost every corner of the globe."

She added that the Government "oppose blasphemy laws wherever they still exist" and described "freedom of religion or belief" as "the key human right."

NSS calls on Prime Minister to urgently enact legislation outlawing caste discrimination

News | Tue, 21st Jul 2015

The National Secular Society and Lord Eric Avebury have written jointly to the Prime Minister to protest against the Government's continuing failure to outlaw caste-based discrimination.

Despite announcing its intention make caste discrimination illegal by inserting a power into the Equality Act 2010, the Government delayed doing so for the entirety of the last parliament and appears set to continue to do nothing on the issue; which research suggests affects over well over 50,000 people in the UK.

The delay has prompted fears from campaigners over the poor state of legal protections for victims, and in light of the Government's continuing delay Lord Eric Avebury and the National Secular Society have jointly written to David Cameron to make the case for the "urgent enactment of legislation outlawing caste discrimination."

The Government's failure to legislate "is in breach of the UK's treaty obligations, running contrary to a recommendation of the UN Human Rights Council", the letter says.

"Leaving caste discrimination to case law makes it beyond the reach of victims," particularly because many of the victims have scant financial resources, by the very "nature of caste", the NSS has warned.

The NSS and Lord Avebury cited the case of the Begrajs, a couple who alleged caste discrimination on the part of their employer, and who have "been failed by both the justice system and, so far, the legislature."

The National Secular Society has pointed out that Parliament has now expressed an intention to legislate twice, but that in spite of this the Government has still refused to take action, leaving the matter to be established in case law- which is a prohibitively expensive option for victims to take.

The Government previously told the UN that it "intends to introduce legislation to make caste discrimination unlawful" and pledged to begin a public consultation process on prospective legislation. However, the letter notes, "almost a year later, these undertakings have not been honoured."

In addition, several honorary associates of the National Secular Society voiced their concerns in a recent debate in the House of Lords over the Government's continuing prevarication.

Lord Cashman asked if the Government would comply with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination's recommendations on caste, but was told only that the Government was "actively considering" the matter – a phrase which was repeated throughout the debate by Baroness Williams, a Minister in the DCLG.

Lord Avebury asked to know which organisations had been campaigning against the change, but no answer was immediately forthcoming.

Lord Desai asked if the problem was that "that the majority Hindu and Sikh organisations are responsible for discrimination of the minority in their own ethnic origin community?"

He added, "I do not think that one should quietly concede the majority's view in this respect."

Baroness Flather pressed this point further, and argued: "The Hindu community says that there is no caste discrimination in this country and therefore we do not need this subsection. Fine—but if that is the case, why are they fighting so hard against it?"

"Because they are fighting so hard," she said, "it leads me to believe that there is discrimination."

However Lord Popat, a Conservative peer, said the "vast majority of the British Hindu and Sikh community" would be "outraged" if the Equality Act were amended to ban caste discrimination.

Baroness Williams said she agreed with Lord Popat that the issue is "divisive."

The Baroness added that the Government did not want to "exacerbate the problem", after Lord Popat claimed that any amendment outlawing caste discrimination would be a "blow to community cohesion".

A legal opinion commissioned by the National Secular Society in 2013 was scathing of the Government's inaction and concluded that the UK is "obliged in international human rights law to legislate for caste discrimination and further obliged to provide victims of such discrimination with an effective remedy."

The failure to do this, the opinion finds, "cannot be justified, either in principle or on the facts, by the necessity of either further evidence gathering or consultation."

"As a matter of international law", legislation prohibiting caste-based discrimination must be "enacted without delay."

That legal opinion, which has previously been shown to Ministers, has now been sent directly to the Prime Minister.

The National Secular Society's executive director, Keith Porteous Wood, commented: "That legal opinion was written two years ago and the Government's delay then was indefensible. To still be waiting in 2015 is inexplicable."

Website of Islamic charity hosted articles advocating death for gay people and apostates

News | Mon, 20th Jul 2015

Content on the website of the Islamic Network, a registered charity, referred to homosexuality as a "sick disease" and 'legitimised' the killing of gay people.

The website of Islamic Network, which is no longer accessible, hosted articles (posted in 2003 and 2004) on "reasons for shedding" the "blood of a Muslim", which included apostasy, and called for homosexuals to be put to death.

The article on the permissibility of killing other Muslims said "to all those who apostate from [Islam], by whichever method this may occur… it then becomes obligatory on the Muslims to kill him unless he returns to [Islam]."

The posts hosted on the charity's website said it was acceptable to kill another Muslim for adultery, murder and for leaving Islam.

In another post on the website, homosexuality was described as a "perverted sexual behaviour" and an "evil and filthy practice"

The penalty for homosexuality is execution "by being thrown from a great height", the author of the article wrote. The post says that gay people should be "destroyed by fire", pushed from a "great height" and "stoned to death". The latter two punishments have both been used by Islamic State for homosexuality.

An inquiry by the Charity Commission noted that none of the current trustees were in place when the posts were put online, and that when they were made aware of it "they acted immediately to take down the website so it could no longer be viewed."

The trustees then issued a statement which said: "Shortly after joining Islamic Network, in 2013, the chair, introduced clear and unequivocal policies against extremism and hate covering all activities. Since then we have been sifting through website articles uploaded by volunteers and removing those that we consider fall foul of this policy."

Additionally, the inquiry found that while material was hosted on the website, "there was no mechanism in place by the trustees to vet the content before publication."

However, the Charity Commission found that "trustees' were too slow in implementing their policies against extremism and hate and the process of reviewing and sifting existing material was too slow."

Additionally, material was found which "encouraged violence and denigrated particular faiths." The Commission said "this was not appropriate material for a charity to promote and publish" and accused the Islamic Network of a "lack of due diligence" relating to material hosted on their website.

While the material was "historic", and the charity "acted quickly" when alerted to the posts attacking homosexuals and apostates, the "website should have been monitored on a regular basis to ensure that its content was appropriate," the inquiry found, "bearing in mind [Islamic Network's] charitable objects and the trustee's duties."

According to the Charity Commission, the "sole object" of the charity is "the advancement of the Islamic religion."

Tribunal dismisses security guard’s claim that his Quran was thrown “in the bin” by his employer

News | Tue, 21st Jul 2015

An Employment Tribunal has ruled against a Muslim security guard who claimed his employers had thrown away his Quran and "challenged and disrespected" his religion.

The claimant, identified as Mr Hussain, alleged that his copy of the Quran had been taken from his personal locker at his workplace and "discarded in the bin" by his employer.

When the company hired new staff, current employees were asked to clear their lockers. However Mr Hussain failed to do so, and when he returned to work from leave he discovered that the contents of his locker, including his copy of the Quran, had been placed in a labelled bin bag, apparently alongside other labelled bags containing contents of other employees' lockers. Hussain claimed this was an act of religious discrimination.

"When I returned to work, I was distressed to discover that my Qur'an had been discarded in the bin along with my other possessions," Mr Hussain said.

"I was very shocked to find all my personal documents and stuff outside in a bin bag. I was horrified to find they had put my Holy Book Qur'an in this bin bag."

He added that this "meant they [his employer] challenged and disrespected my religion."

During evidence he gave to the Tribunal, Hussain said that his things were "put in a bin bag and placed on top of other bags in the waste bin."

However, in addition to rejecting his claim, the Tribunal suggested that he exaggerated his reaction after the fact as the hearing approached, and that the Quran was not placed inside a bin, but simply in a labelled bin bag, alongside similarly labelled bags containing other employees' property.

The Tribunal noted that the claimant became "more and more extreme" in pressing his claims "as time went on" and how, "at the time of the grievance" he did not suggest his possession had been "thrown away", but that by the time of the hearing he gave "the implication" that "his personal property was being put out with the rubbish."

After reviewing the evidence, the Tribunal concluded that "there was no disrespect to the claimant's religion" and that he was "treated in the same way as the other guards in that their property was taken out of the old lockers for safe keeping, put into a bin bag, as is quite normal, for safe keeping, labelled." The placing of the Quran in a labelled bag was not an act of religious discrimination, the Tribunal concluded.

The Tribunal noted that there was no evidence that the employer was even aware of the presence of a copy of the Quran in the locker when they moved Mr Hussain's possessions into the bag.

"The possessions were there ready for him to put back into his new locker on his return to work," the finding added.

Hussain claimed discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief and race, and that he had later been a victim of unfair dismissal. However the Tribunal dismissed every claim he made.

Mr Hussain said he had been dismissed "as a result of direct discrimination relating to his being both from Pakistan and a Muslim," but this was not upheld by the Tribunal.

NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans commented: "Nobody should face discrimination, harassment or victimisation at work on account of their beliefs, but employers can't be expected to exceptionalise religious employees and pander to every religious sensitivity. We therefore welcome this employment tribunal's ruling in what was a clearly vexatious grievance."

“This is how theocracies begin”, warn Guatemalan secularists on education bill

News | Wed, 22nd Jul 2015

The Congress of Guatemala is considering legislation that would make lessons on "Biblical values" mandatory in all schools.

A member of the Guatemalan Association of Secular Humanists (AGHS) spoke out against the proposal in Congress and was booed at as he talked about the "the importance of separation between state and religion" and the "liberal tradition" of secularism that Guatemala has.

The legislation stipulates, the AGHS report, that all schools (private and public) must teach weekly classes on "Biblical values" and must "employ special teachers to teach them" and hire chaplains to serve as "spiritual guides" for pupils.

Regardless of their religion, or lack of religious belief, students would be "required to attend these classes and obtain a passing grade," the AGHS say. In their online appeal against the law, they write that this would violate students' rights to "religious freedom and freedom of conscience."

The group report that their representative was "insulted, bullied, threatened, and forcefully ejected" from Congress for "trying to explain the reasons why [the] bill is unconstitutional".

The AGHS has now started a fundraising drive to oppose the law, warning that the bill is "how theocracies begin."

The law would result in Guatemalan taxpayers "paying for religious [instruction] that should be paid for by individual churches and interested parents," they argue.

"All education in Guatemala will have a religious element, based on a 'literal' … interpretation of a particular Protestant version of the Christian Bible," if the legislation is passed, the group has warned.

The AGHS write that secular states are about "protecting the religious freedom of all individuals by not privileging any one religion over another" and that they are "highly motivated to fight for these rights", but need financial help to cover legal fees and generate media exposure.

Addressing what they call the "complex structural and cyclical problems" in Guatemalan society, the secularist group call for inclusive public services and evidence which is not based "on the personal religious convictions of public officials or private citizens but [on] scientific evidence."

The legislation is being promoted by a congressman who reportedly claimed he received "explicit instructions from God" and a "revelation" in the run-up to the proposal of the bill.