Newsline 11 January 2013

Newsline 11 January 2013

January is renewal time for NSS membership.
Members who pay an annual subscription (rather than paying by standing order) are due to renew their membership this month. We hope you will stay with us as we struggle to hold back the tide of religious demands for privilege. If you joined us after September last year, your subscription is already valid until January 2014. Join and renew here.

News, Blogs & Opinion

Judgements due on landmark religious discrimination cases at European Court

News | Tue, 8th Jan 2013

The European Court of Human Rights will announce its judgement on four landmark cases of alleged religious discrimination in the workplace on Tuesday 15 January.

In all four cases Christian applicants complained that UK law does not sufficiently protect their rights to freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination at work.

The National Secular Society is the only organisation that has intervened to support the UK Government to argue that all four cases of Eweida, Chaplin, Ladele and McFarlane were correctly dismissed by the UK courts. Our submission was prepared by leading human rights lawyer Lord Lester of Herne Hill.

Eweida and Chaplin concern the wearing of crosses at work. Ladele was an Islington registrar and McFarlane a Relate councillor, both of whom objected on religious grounds to dealing with same sex couples. All four are applying to the European Court of Human Rights claiming that the dismissal of their cases was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights and that the UK law must therefore be changed.

Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, said:

"This is likely to be a landmark case determining the future direction of equality law in the UK, and potentially also in Europe.

"We believe any further accommodation of religious conscience in UK equality law would create a damaging hierarchy of rights, with religion at the top. Any change to the law to increase religious accommodation — as most if not all other interveners are calling for — stands the risk of seriously undermining UK equality law."

Find out more about our intervention

Read our submission in full (pdf)

Catholic midwives try to extend the “conscience” exemption in Abortion Act

News | Thu, 10th Jan 2013

Two Scottish Catholic midwives who didn't want to supervise staff who carried out abortion procedures have appealed to the Court of Sessions after their arguments were rejected in a judicial review last year.

Mary Doogan and Concepta Wood (right) said being forced to supervise Glasgow health board staff taking part in abortions violated their human rights. But Judge Lady Smith ruled against them, saying they were protected from direct involvement in abortion procedures by the 1967 Abortion Act.

The women argued that by delegating, supporting and supervising staff involved in the procedures they were being forced to enable the procedure.

Both women were midwifery sisters at the Southern General Hospital inGlasgow. Their counsel Gerry Moynihan QC told the court that the case may go to the Supreme Court from either side.

Mr Moynihan told Lord Mackay, sitting with Lady Dorrian and Lord McEwan, that in so far as the women were part of a team their right to conscientious objection extended to the whole of their duties, save for the provision that there was an obligation to participate in life-saving measures.

He said neither woman claimed any conscientious objection to the involvement in treatment that was necessary to save the life of the mother.

"In the 1967 Act what Parliament set out to do was to balance two objectives, conscious that abortion was a controversial matter," he said.

"What they sought to balance was the interests of those who wished abortion to be liberalised and carried out more safely, so it was not done by back street practitioners, and regulated. It decriminalised abortion in certain circumstances."

Mr Moynihan said parliament also recognised in the debate that having decriminalised it, it could then be that a superior could direct a junior person to participate in treatment to which they had a well-recognised conscientious objection.

"So what Parliament did was balance the interests of those who wished to liberalise the treatment while respecting the right of conscientious objection," he said. Much of the argument hinged on how narrow the meaning of the word "participation" should be.

Mr Moynihan said there was clear legal authority that the right to conscientious objection was intended to apply to the whole team whose involvement was necessary to achieve the procedure. He said that because the midwives let the administration know of their objection in advance the health board could manage its staff as a whole to respect their right to conscientious objection.

"The administrative convenience of the health board is irrelevant because the right is a balance between facilitating abortion while respecting the genuine conscientious objection of medical, nursing and ancillary staff," he said.

He told the court that the woman said that prior to 2007 there were "work around arrangements".

Mr Moynihan argued that "the dividing line" over what was exempt ought to be an individual's conscience and not a bureaucrat saying that was not in the literal meaning of participation.

Brian Napier QC, for the health authority, argued that having responsibility of a managerial, supervisory or support nature did not of itself trigger the right to conscientious objection.

The hearing continues

Jury dismissed in Leicester trial of man accused of ripping up his Koran – no retrial planned

News | Wed, 9th Jan 2013

The trial has collapsed of a Leicester man who was accused of causing "religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress by demonstrating hostility based on membership of a particular religious group". Peter James Crawford was said to have torn pages from his own copy of the Koran and thrown the book on the ground shouting "Your religion is a load of b***cks". He did this next to a stall run by the Islamic Information Centre, near the Clock Tower, in Leicester city centre, last May.

Kamran Qayyum, an employee of the IIC, told the court that Mr Crawford "started tearing up pages from a book and they were going on the floor. He wasn't saying anything. The pages covered a lot of ground, they were everywhere. I then noticed Arabic inscriptions and realised it was the Koran. I knelt down and was picking up the papers when he threw the Koran down, just missing me."

Mr Qayyum said: "The Koran is sacred to us and we honour it. We also have a Bible on our stand and we show the Bible the same respect. One of the laws of the Koran is it shouldn't be on the floor, it should be high up and our hands should be clean when it's touched. I was shocked."

Defence advocate Steven Newcombe said: "There are many who oppose Islam. Did you take it he was expressing anti-Islamic views and disrespecting the religion?"

"Yes," said Mr Quyyum, although he agreed that Mr Crawford did not threaten or provoke any violence.

Another stall volunteer, Zahid Hussein, said: "I saw him ripping up the book. I was in shock, disgusted. It's our life, our way of life and we live by that book – it's very sacred."

Mr Crawford claimed, in interview, that he was expressing his disagreement with religion of any kind. He told the police it was his own copy of the Koran he tore up, and he would have done the same with a Bible as he did not understand either holy book and "hated" all religion. "I'm not against the people, just their religion," he said.

James Bide-Thomas, prosecuting, said: "The real issue is whether Crawford was insulting and whether it was a crime that we say he committed. It's tradition in this country of freedom of speech and people are entitled to say what they want, as long as it's not illegal in relation to the law, which prevents people going out to cause harassment, alarm or distress by insulting behaviour, basically upsetting people.

"It's for you to decide whether what he did was insulting or whether it was a legitimate piece of freedom of speech being exercised or if what he did was deliberately calculated to upset the people from the Islamic Information Centre."

But the eight women and four men on the jury sent a note to the judge saying there was no prospect of them reaching either a unanimous or a majority verdict on which at least 10 of them agreed.

Crawford was released on bail with a condition imposed that he should not to go within half-a-mile of the Clock Tower on Saturday afternoons.

The Crown Prosecution Service has, in such cases, 14 days to decide whether or not to proceed with a retrial. The NSS Wrote to the CPS expressing some concern about the free speech implications of this case.

Ann Meatyard, the District Crown Prosecutor, replied:

The CPS takes allegations of religiously aggravated offending extremely seriously, because of the impact these offences can have on our community. We therefore prosecute such cases robustly, according to the facts in the case. In this instance it was determined that there was a realistic prospect of a conviction, so we felt that it was important for a jury to be able to consider all the facts in the case.

There are a number of factors that I took into consideration in deciding whether a second trial should be sought. After looking at all the factors in this case I decided that the most appropriate course of action was not to seek a retrial on the same evidence, following the jury being unable to reach a verdict in the first trial.

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, commented: "The Muslim volunteers put themselves out there in a public place with an idea that should not have special protection from argument or strong disapproval. We would protect the right of the Islamic Society to distribute their propaganda, but, providing it is done non-violently, we should also protect the right of those who dispute it to freely express their disproval."

See also: Charlie Hebdo and its right to lampoon Mohammed

Sheffield hospitals plan to charge for non-medical circumcision

News | Thu, 10th Jan 2013

Hospitals in Sheffield carry out about 200 non-medical male circumcisions a year, costing the Health Authority in the region of £170,000. Now, in an attempt to save money, the NHS Sheffield's Clinical Commissioning Group has proposed to make families who want their sons circumcised pay for the procedure. Each operation costs about £1,000.

But Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, who is a director at the Pakistan Muslim Centre in Sheffield, is worried about the potential knock-on effects.

He told Postcode Gazette: "I'm very concerned. Whilst it may seem like an easy saving, this could lead to a serious increase in backstreet operations. This is a dangerous path to tread and as a result may actually lead to parents seeking emergency treatment and actually increase burden on the NHS."

Dr Margaret Ainger, a GP from Page Hall medical practice on Owler Lane and lead for children's services in the NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "We understand that for some, circumcisions are an important part of their religion and therefore our doctors are working with our key community groups on how best we could make advice and guidance available to those who need it. Conversations with these groups are planned and we are keen to get people involved in tailoring this advice."

The cut is set to come into force in the 2013/14 financial year. The commissioning group has been in discussions with Sheffield Children's Hospital about the possibility of instead providing a private service at the hospital.

A report to be presented at a council meeting next week states: "(The team is) exploring the potential to develop a service which will provide care under local anaesthetic on a private basis and paid for by the children's parents."

Dr Ainger added: "No decision has been made as of yet but we are exploring what options would be available to the Sheffield public by working in partnership with both the Children's Hospital and local authority to make sure that any family wishing to circumcise their sons have the best possible advice and guidance available."

Male circumcision, which is the surgical removal of the foreskin, is often carried out for non-medical reasons such as religious beliefs or personal preferences. It is common in both the Muslim and Jewish communities.

According to national guidelines from the Department of Health, circumcisions should not be funded when they are requested for non-medical reasons. The proposals bringSheffieldinto line with this national guidance.

Dr Ainger said: "Non-therapeutic circumcisions are not clinical interventions and as a group, we would not want anybody to undergo a medical procedure if there was no specific clinical need."

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, commented: "This is yet another example of public money being used for religious purposes. There is absolutely no need for children to be subjected to such a procedure – in fact there are plenty of arguments why they shouldn't be. The idea that scarce NHS funding is being used for something that has only religious and no medical significance is scandalous.

"There is however a real danger that those seeking circumcisions will turn to practitioners without medical qualifications. We call on the Government to amend Child protection legislation to make it unlawful for anyone other than qualified medical staff to circumcise minors for any reason. This is just a first step, though. We believe that non-therapeutic circumcision should not be permitted until the boy is old enough to give informed consent.

"Non-therapeutic infant circumcision is a breach of children's rights and it's time legislators reconsidered the current carte blanche afforded to infant circumcision on the basis that the parents' freedom of religion is the only consideration. This approach has already been taken by a Cologne Court and is backed by reputable medical bodies including the Royal Dutch Medical Association."

Secularists: put your principles into action and support the NSS

Opinion | Thu, 10th Jan 2013

With so much at stake, we are eagerly awaiting the result of the four European Court cases that will decide whether Christians are entitled to special treatment at work.

We believe that the British courts were right to reject these cases.

Although they were presented in the press as "Christian persecution", they were nothing of the sort. For every privilege that religious believers gain in the workplace, someone else is going to be disadvantaged.

The National Secular Society was the only organisation that intervened in these cases to argue that the courts had got it right. And we will continue to argue this, because the Christian activists behind these challenges to equality law are not going to go away. They will bring one case after another in the hope that eventually they will secure the privileged place for themselves that they feel is theirs by right.

The NSS throughout its long history has supported progressive causes, and we will go on doing so, particularly when religion is standing in the way of human rights and fair treatment for all. We will, as we have done in the past, support the call for full gay equality, for the right of women to decide for themselves about family planning and abortion.

We will continue to escalate the call for disestablishment of the Church of England, for an end to bishops in the House of Lords, for an end to the vast amounts of money being spent on religious propaganda and separatism in our state education system. In these times of financial strictures there is no justification for the state to pay the salaries of clergypeople in hospitals, prisons and the armed forces (and increasingly in schools, too).

We need to reinforce our struggle against the so-called "sharia courts" operating in this country that continue to mete out injustice and inequality to women and children. We need to protect free expression from the demands of religious leaders who want to outlaw criticism of their beliefs.

We can only fight these battles with your help. The NSS depends entirely on its members for its existence. We receive no outside support.

But as much as the financial contributions that members provide are essential, we need to be able to show that there is a significant body of support for our aims and objectives. Please consider joining if you aren't a member, rejoining if you are a lapsed member or renewing if needs be. Don't watch from the sidelines – be part of the struggle for a secular society.

Members who are paying an annual subscription (rather than paying by standing order) are due to renew their membership this month. If you joined after September last year, your subscription is good for the coming year.

We certainly hope you will stay with us as we fight to hold back the tide of religious demands for privilege.

You can do all this simply, quickly and securely with your credit card here. If you'd prefer to send a cheque, our address is NSS,25 Red Lion Square,LondonWC1R 4RL.

We've got another big year coming up and the strength of our voice is crucial. Please be part of it. Put your principles into action today.

Join or renew your membership to the National Secular Society

Take part in the Scouts and Girl Guides consultations on the promise

Opinion | Tue, 8th Jan 2013

Despite describing themselves as "open and inclusive" organisations, both the Scouts and the Girl Guides currently insist that new members take a 'Promise' that includes a religious oath. However, this could all be about to change.

The Scouts have launched a consultation to ask their members, and the wider public, whether an alternative non-religious version of the Promise should be developed for those who feel unable to make the existing commitment.

The Girl Guides have also launched a consultation to discuss the wording of their Promise. This consultation is also open to the general public and they're particularly keen to hear from parents, potential members, volunteers and supporters.

We have longed campaigned for an end to the exclusion of the non-religious in the Scouts and Girl Guides. Most recently, in November 2012, we launched a petition calling on the UK Scout Association to open up Scouting to all. We also wrote to Girlguiding UK (pdf) asking them to do the same. Finally, it appears public pressure is paying off.

The Scout Promise requires scouts to "to do my duty by God". The Girl Guides promise includes the line "to love my God". We argue that the current wording acts as a religious barrier to full membership to a significant proportion of young people – and potential volunteers.

The Scout Association and the Girl Guides, which are not religious organisations, have made efforts to accommodate followers of many different religions, and we argue that they should now do the same to welcome people of no religion.

If you agree that the Scouts and the Girl Guides should be welcoming to non-religious — and not expect young people to lie about their beliefs in order to join — please take part in these important surveys. With your help, 2013 could be the year that our campaign to make the Scouts and Guides more inclusive finally succeeds.

Take Part!

Scouts:
Full information about the Scouts consultation
The Scouts consultation will remain open until Thursday 31 January 2013.

Guides:
Full information on the Guides consultation

The Guides consultation will remain open until Sunday 3 March 2013.

Also see: Girlguiding UK Promise Consultation Frequently Asked Questions

Secularist of the Year – make sure you’re there!

News | Thu, 10th Jan 2013

Tickets are still available for the premier secular event of the calendar – Secularist of the Year. This congenial annual prize-giving is our opportunity to honour those who have done more than their bit to further the cause of secularism.

It's an opportunity to meet some of our distinguished honorary associates as well as other NSS members and friends from around the country.

As well as a welcome cocktail to get the party started, there is a three course lunch followed by tea or coffee and then the presentation of the £5,000 Irwin Prize for Secularist of the Year.

We've had some interesting nominations this year and the winner is bound to be surprising and deserving. The prize will be presented this year by senior MEP and NSS honorary associate Michael Cashman CBE.

Tickets are £45 and can be purchased securely online here and we'll look forward to seeing you there.

Even fewer identify as Christian in latest opinion poll

News | Wed, 2nd Jan 2013

Hard on the heels of the release of the 2011 religious census results for England and Wales comes the publication (on 18 December 2012) of a very large opinion poll which collected information about another facet of religious identity. It was commissioned by Lord Ashcroft (international businessman, author, and philanthropist) as part of his regular series of polls on political issues. This one focused on the UK Independence Party. The survey was conducted online between 9 and 19 November 2012 among a sample of 20,066 Britons aged 18 and over.

The religion question asked was: 'To which of the following religious groups do you consider yourself to be a member of?'. This differed from the census question, which asked: 'what is your religion?'.

In reply, 55% of Ashcroft's interviewees said Christian, 6% non-Christian, and 36% none, with 2% refusals.

The most substantial demographic variations were by age and voting intention. The proportion of Christians was lowest (36%) among the 18-24s and rose steadily throughout the age cohorts to stand at 73% with the over-65s. For those saying they were members of no religious groups, the trend was in the opposite direction, starting high at 50% for the 18-24s and falling to reach 22% of the over-65s. Conservatives were 14% more likely to be Christians than Labour voters and 15% more than Liberal Democrats; and they were 11% less likely than the other two main parties to have no religion.

For more details, see table 88 of the data tables at: http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/UKIP-poll-full-tables.pdf

Putin’s privileging of the Orthodox Church in Russia may go too far, even for the patriarch

News | Wed, 9th Jan 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new bill into law that makes religious education mandatory for all schools in the country.

The legislation concerns a course on the fundamentals of religion that will be taught at all schools, the Moscow Times reported, although it did not specify which religions will be discussed in classrooms. The law was approved by the Federation Council on 26 December 2012, and will go into effect on 1 Sept 2013.

Putin, an Orthodox Christian, has been privileging the Russian Orthodox Church, the dominant religion in the country. The Church's leading bishop, Kirill I of Moscow, has often acted as adviser to the president, although that has also sparked some dissatisfaction among Russians who insist that church and state should remain separate.

A protest on this issue by the punk band Pussy Riot in February last year in Moscow's main cathedral led to two members of the band being imprisoned for offending religious feelings. This has led to the pro-Kremlin United Russia party proposing a new law with even more severe punishments for offending religious sentiments.

The proposals have even alarmed Bishop Kirill who welcomed the jailing of Pussy Riot, and he has asked the Kremlin not to go too far.

In remarks published on the eve of Russian Orthodox Christmas, Kirill, who has likened Putin's long rule to a "miracle of God", told the Interfax news agency that Russia needed stiffer punishments for offences against religion.

"A fine of several hundred roubles (about $10) for blasphemous inscriptions on a church, a mosque or a synagogue signals that society does not fully realize the importance of protecting ... religious feelings of believers," he said.

But in his most extensive comment on the proposed law, he said it should not limit citizens' rights.

"Any regulatory acts regarding the protection of religious symbols and the feelings of believers should be scrupulously worked through so that they are not used for improvised limitation of freedom of speech and creative self-expression."

The remarks were in line with indications that Putin, while wanting to make clear that actions such as the Pussy Riot protest are unacceptable, is wary of undermining the balance between religions in the diverse country.

See also: Indonesian government intends to replace science classes with increased religious education

Catholic priest in Netherlands denies he’s trying to pressure people to stay in the Church

News | Wed, 9th Jan 2013

After a rush by Catholics in the Netherlands to resign from the Church, a priest, Harm Schilder (right), is putting up the names and photographs of parish members who are attempting to leave "as an encouragement for them to stay".

Schilder said: "This is a large parish, and I don't know everyone: by putting up the photos I thought someone might recognise someone they know who they could try to make stay in the Church."

Mr Schilder denied that it was a form of blackmail. He said: "This isn't about pointing a finger, naming and shaming"; he intended for the community to pray for the people attempting to leave the church and to "persuade them to stay."

Members of the church wishing to leave are required to send a letter to their priest along with a photocopy of their identity papers. It is photographs from these documents that will be displayed in the entrance porch to Schilder's church in the southern city of Tilburg.

Last December, Tom Roes, who runs the website aimed at helping people leave the church, said visits to his site had gone from 10 a day to 10,000 after the pope made a particularly vicious anti-gay speech. He said: "Of course it's not possible to be 'de-baptised' because a baptism is an event, but this way people can unsubscribe or deregister themselves as Catholics."

Mr Schilder said he had received four requests from people wishing to leave the church over the Christmas period.

Around 28% of the Dutch population is Catholic, while roughly 44% is not religious

Obama calls religious opt-out in new defence bill “unnecessary and divisive”

News | Wed, 9th Jan 2013

President Barack Obama called a conscience clause for military chaplains in the National Defence Authorization Act "unnecessary and ill-advised."

The NDAA provision ordered that no member of the armed forces may require a chaplain to perform a rite or ceremony that violates the chaplain's beliefs, and that chaplains may not be disciplined for refusing to perform such a ceremony.

The provision, which was introduced by now-former Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, was a response to Obama's 2011 repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Activists seeking religious privilege claimed that army chaplains would be required to "violate their consciences" by administering sacraments to gay people or officiating at gay weddings.

The clause in the bill reads: "The Armed Forces shall accommodate the beliefs of a member of the armed forces reflecting the conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of the member and, in so far as practicable, may not use such beliefs as the basis of any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment."

But Obama, who declared his personal support for gay marriage last year, said the bill's concerns are unfounded.

"The military already appropriately protects the freedom of conscience of chaplains and service members," Obama wrote on 2 January in announcing his signing of the bill. "The Secretary of Defense will ensure that the implementing regulations do not permit or condone discriminatory actions that compromise good order and discipline or otherwise violate military codes of conduct."

Obama signed the NDAA on 2 January in Hawaii after it passed the Senate on 21 December, saying that although he did not agree with each provision in the 680-page bill, "the need to renew critical defence authorities and funding was too great to ignore."

USA enacting more and more legal restrictions on abortion

News | Wed, 9th Jan 2013

In 2012, 19 states in the USA enacted 43 provisions that "sought to restrict access to abortion services," according to the Guttmacher Institute.

"Although some of the most high-profile debates occurred around legislation requiring that women seeking an abortion be required to first undergo an ultrasound or imposing strict regulations on abortion providers, most of the new restrictions enacted in 2012 concerned limits on later abortion, coverage in health exchanges or medication abortion," the institute said in its 2012 state policy review.

The institute, named after a former president of Planned Parenthood, seeks "to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights."

Meanwhile, Catholic representation on Capitol Hill has reached an all-time high, with 163 members of the new 113th Congress identifying themselves as Catholic.

A new study by the Pew Forum found that the overall Catholic membership of both houses of Congress was up by 7 members, and the proportion of Catholics in the legislature had jumped from 29.2% to 30.6%.

Catholics form by far the largest single religious bloc in Congress. Although Protestants, taken as a single group, maintain their majority status with 56% of the membership, no single Protestant denomination is close to the size of the Catholic bloc.

There are 136 Catholics in the House of Representatives and 27 in the Senate. The Democratic Party enjoys a comfortable edge in Catholic representation in both houses: 75–61 in the House and 18–9 in the Senate.

One Law for All’s ‘Sounds of Freedom’ Song Competition –calling for entries.

News | Thu, 20th Dec 2012

The One Law for All campaign is inviting musicians and songwriters to create and submit their original material for a song competition.

"Change comes about by breaking taboos and pushing aside that which is deemed sacred and art is such an important way of doing this" says Maryam Namazie, Spokesperson of One Law for All

Song entries should be focused on issues that relate to the work 'One Law for All' is engaged with, discussing themes like religion, freedom, secularism, Sharia law, equal rights & religious arbitration.

Submissions must include a recording of the song and a lyric sheet sent either by email to soundsoffreedommusic@gmail.com or as physical CD to:

BM Box2387,London. WC1N 3XX. United Kingdom

Entrants may enter as many songs as they wish. Judging will not be based on the quality of the recording but it needs to be audible. A concert showcasing the entrants will be held on Saturday December 7th 2013 and the finalists will be invited to perform at the five year anniversary celebration of One Law for All in December. The final date for submissions is September 30th 2013. We look forward to hearing your entries.

NSS Speaks Out

The NSS was quoted in the Times Educational Supplement on the topic of unfair "faith schools" admissions policies, a story that was subsequently picked up by the Daily Mail.

The TES also quoted Terry Sanderson on the topic of nativity plays.

Scottish spokesperson Alistair McBay had a letter in the Dundee Courier, this letter and this letter both in the Scotsman, and this one in the Scottish Herald.

Keith Porteous Wood was on the BBC World Service talking about religion in the workplace and also on BBC 3 Counties radio. Terry Sanderson was on BBC Radio Kent talking about the girl guides consultation on their promise.