Newsline 20 January 2017

Newsline 20 January 2017

This week we discussed the legacy of Charlie Hebdo and the future of free speech at an event in Parliament, at which we were very pleased to be joined by Caroline Fourest, who helped edit the 'Survivor's Edition' of the magazine (for which we named Charlie 'Secularist of the Year'). You can read more about what Caroline and our inspiring panel of speakers had to say below.

Which campaigner for secularism and human rights has inspired you this year? Secularist of the Year 2017 is fast approaching, and we need your nominations.

Our members enjoy a discounted ticket price, so if you aren't already a member of the Society, join us today.

News, Blogs & Opinion

Legacy of Charlie Hebdo honoured in event at Parliament

News | Thu, 19th Jan 2017

Members and supporters of the National Secular Society gathered in Portcullis House on Wednesday night to discuss the future of free speech, two years after the attack on Charlie Hebdo.

The Society was honoured to be joined by Caroline Fourest, who helped edit the 'Survivor's Edition' of Charlie Hebdo published shortly after the massacre.

She discussed the shameful treatment of Charlie Hebdo following the massacre by some UK media outlets: after the attack, Sky News cut her off in the middle of an interview when she tried to show a cartoon of Mohammed.

Those who defy Islamic blasphemy laws don't just face violence and threats, she said, but demonisation from the regressive left.

She stressed the need for secularists to condemn anti-Muslim bigotry but criticised the term 'Islamophobia', arguing that it conflated Muslims with Islam, and stifled discussion about the religion.

Introducing the event, Keith Porteous Wood, the executive director of the National Secular Society, said hopes that media organisations would publish the cartoons in solidarity with the magazine had failed.

The "heartening outpouring of solidarity, the sense of indignation and outrage, the crowds shouting 'Je Suis Charlie'" had offered a "brief glimmer of hope," he said.

"Following the attack, we could hope that perhaps liberal democracies all around the world had now finally grasped the extent, the power and the depth of the challenge and threat that had first been posed, in the western world, by the would-be assassins of Salman Rushdie, all those years ago.

"Perhaps now they had finally grasped the nature of the ancient mandate for violence that the killers had taken up.

"Maybe they had even realised that there could be no accommodation whatsoever, that defiance and solidarity were the only guarantees of values that we take for granted, but which atrophy and fade, values which can wither, rights that must be maintained and actively defended.

"But the solidarity didn't last, our collective outrage quickly gave way to bitter disputes, and bile against Charlie from those who blamed the victims for their own murder. The crowds went home."

The panel also featured writer and journalist Nick Cohen, Jodie Ginsberg of Index on Censorship and Martin Rowson.

Nick Cohen urged those present to buy Caroline Fourest's book, 'In Praise of Blasphemy', after she said that, despite it being a bestseller in France, no UK publisher would touch it. He accused people of making feeble excuses for not showing genuine solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, arguing that there were very good reasons to be frightened of publishing a Mohammed cartoon, but that few would admit that was the true reason.

Cohen also spoke powerfully on liberals' failure of Muslims by pandering to Islamists and reactionary community leaders as 'authentic' conduits to Muslim communities in the West.

Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship, said that a "pincer movement" was attacking free speech. She pointed to Government proposals for 'extremism disruption orders' as one example, and criticised Tony Blair and other politicians for calling for laws against offending "religious feelings."

She said that society lacked the ability to debate productively and that whatever you did, however innocuous you think it is, somebody will claim to be 'offended'.

People went very quickly after the attack from saying "Je Suis Charlie" to, "Je Suis Charlie, but…" and too many claim to "defend free speech" but in practice out only the "kind I like."

Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson spoke about the resistance of the paper to publishing a cartoon of Mohammed, and said that any organisation that did so would face tremendous threats, without the safety in numbers that might have been hoped for in the aftermath of the attack two years ago.

Rowson added that one of the great threats to freedom of speech was the belief that the greatest human right of all was a right to not be upset.

Jim Fitzpatrick MP, who sponsored the room for the NSS, congratulated the Society on hosting the event and said that it was inspiring to hear such a strong defence of free expression.

Buy Caroline Fourest's book, 'In Praise of Blasphemy'.

The need for a secular state “has never been greater”, says new report

News | Wed, 18th Jan 2017

A secularist report produced by academics and campaigners has urged the Government to reject calls for more religious privilege.

In late 2015 the Woolf Institute's Commission on Religion and Belief (CORAB) in Public Life published a report which made sweeping recommendations on the role of religion in Britain, with proposals that would have given minority faiths similar privileges to those enjoyed by the Church of England, including seats in the House of Lords.

Just one of CORAB's twenty-one commissioners was from a non-religious organisation and many groups, including the National Secular Society, declined to submit evidence to the Commission over concerns about its unrepresentative membership.

Academics, secularists and campaigners have now produced "A Secularist Response" to the Commission's findings, drawn up by Dr Steven Kettell at the University of Warwick, and based on the deliberations of an expert panel which met last year.

Dr Kettell wrote that the flaws in the CORAB report "are evident from the outset."

"Despite acknowledging the decline of religion, along with the rise of non-religion and the growing diversity of religion and belief in Britain, CORAB sought to promote an enhanced and more prominent role for faith in British public life."

"Secular voices were also given insufficient weight," the secularist response says.

"With a growing proportion of Britons now identifying as non-religious, and with levels of cultural pluralism and diversity on the rise, the need for a political and legal system capable of giving equal weight and recognition to all citizens has never been greater," Dr Kettell wrote.

CORAB's 37 recommendations were "at odds with the realities of modern British society," the response says, and a new path is needed to recognise growing pluralism, diversity and secularisation.

Instead of the multi-faith approach taken by CORAB, the secularist response advocates "a secular state, impartial to all systems of religion" to guarantee "equality for all citizens" and as "the best mean of fostering a free, inclusive and democratic society".

No religious group should be given "an automatic right to representation in Parliament," the response says, in contrast with the Woolf Commission's call for imams and rabbis to join Anglican bishops.

Dr Kettell's response echoes recent proposals made by the National Secular Society in its new report, 'Rethinking religion and belief in public life: a manifesto for change', which also rebutted recommendations made by the Woolf Commission.

Where the Woolf Commission did make nods towards secular reforms, in line with Britain's largely irreligious population, they were typically limited in scope and practicality. On faith schools, the Commission simply said that leaders should "take measures to reduce selection of pupils and staff on grounds of religion".

Both Dr Kettell's response and the NSS' manifesto call for an end to faith schools.

CORAB "fails to engage" with the debate around religion and education, Dr Kettell wrote and neither justifies the presence of faith schools in the state sector, not provides "any empirical evidence in defence of faith schools themselves."

The new secularist response also said that current levels of support for faith schools looked "set to unwind as the secularisation of British society increases and as the intake of faith schools themselves becomes increasingly secular", a situation which is "likely to become increasingly untenable."

Speaking at the Report's launch at London's Shard, National Secular Society executive director, Keith Porteous Wood, said: "The need to implement the noble secularist principle of equality for all irrespective of religion or belief becomes all the more pressing as society becomes less religious and more diverse. But too many institutions seem hell-bent on obstructing that equality."

You can read the full report here.

Local community rallies against religious ethos for new school

News | Tue, 17th Jan 2017

Hundreds of people have protested against a new school in Bala having a Church in Wales ethos, and a local councillor has called on the Church to back away from the project.

The Diocese of St Asaph said they were "concerned" that changing the designation of the new Bala school could "jeopardise the whole project."

Councillor Dilwyn Morgan accused the Church of sending a "threatening legal letter to the council".

He said that a religious designation for the school "won't improve the education itself, it'll only to improve the Church's standing".

Councillor Morgan added, "I can't see any reason why the Church will need to be involved." He said the Church should "step back gracefully".

The £10 million project replaces a high school, which is not a faith school, and two primary schools, of which only one is a Church in Wales school.

The local newspaper reports that the faith ethos is "strongly opposed by locals" who want a community school, not a religious one.

In December the Daily Post reported that "Hundreds of local people had been strongly opposed to the new school being given any kind of religious status".

Over 300 people have signed a petition calling for the school to be a community school rather than a Church one, and urging the council to "end its partnership with the Church and to re-launch the project, granting 'community', non-denominational status to the new school."

Petitioners have raised fears of being forced to send their children to a religious school without any other alternative.

The Church says it wants to "share governance of the new school with other denominations," ignoring non-religious and non-Christian families.

It says it recognises "all the various Christian traditions associated with Bala."

The National Secular Society has written to Gwynedd Council, urging it to protect community school provision and respect the wishes of non-religious parents.

Stephen Evans, the campaigns director of the National Secular Society, said: "Like many people across Britain the local community in Bala is opposed to the idea of the Church using local schools to impose religion on pupils and families.

"Education policy in 21st Century Britain should be about educating children together in secular and inclusive schools – not about imposing Christianity on people –whether they want it or not.

"There has been a real push in recent years for more religious control over the education system, and it's good to see people standing up for secular and inclusive schools."

The National Secular Society has recently called for a statutory right to a secular education, meaning that all parents would have guaranteed access to a local non-religiously designated school.

Latest religious takeover will see two community schools run by the Church

News | Tue, 17th Jan 2017

Two community schools in Kent are to be folded into an academy trust under Church control, in the latest Church takeover of community schools, a trend warned of by the National Secular Society last year.

Under the plans an existing partnership between four schools, including two community schools and two Church schools, will become the Unitas multi-academy trust (MAT).

Despite the two Church schools in the partnership having only 105 and 125 pupils each, compared with the community schools which have 270 and 400 pupils each, the trust which governs Unitas will have three of its five members appointed by the Church of England.

Unitas promises a "shared moral purpose" for its schools and describes the Diocese of Canterbury as a "core partner".

It pledges that no school's "individual identity and ethos will be changed in any way", but this assurance does nothing to stop the school from converting to become a faith school at a later date once it is part of the Unitas MAT. This has happened with other schools entering mixed multi-academy trusts.

One parent concerned about the plans wrote to the NSS after seeing the Society's work on this issue.

He said he had "grave concerns regarding the proposed Unitas Multi-Academy Trust."

He described it as a "clear attempt by the Church of England to recruit new church-goers and enforce their religious views via the school curriculum. It is against the wishes of the parents of Swale, like myself, who wish to send their children to a secular, non-religious school."

Another former parent at the school told the NSS "I don't like this at all - it's a step in the wrong direction. Appointing a majority church controlled board means more christian influence - and I sent my son to a non-faith school for a reason."

In July 2016 the NSS warned that informal partnership arrangements were being used by some dioceses to gain influence in non-religious schools.

NSS campaigns officer Alastair Lichten said, "We have little confidence that a community school's ethos will be protected in these circumstances.

"The loss of secular school provision is particularly acute in rural areas, where a faith school may already be the only option for parents.

"The growing religiosity of our education system sets up a conflict between our increasingly non-religious population, with parents and pupils among the most secular cohorts of our society, and a Church which is intent on using schools to stop its seemingly terminal decline.

"In recent months headteachers, church-appointed faith school governors and parents have all spoken out against growing religious influence over our education system. The process of converting a school into an academy provides many opportunities for religious groups to exert more influence and control over the education system."

An online consultation on the proposals runs till Tuesday 10 February 2017.

Tickets on sale and nominations open for Secularist of the Year 2017!

News | Thu, 12th Jan 2017

It isn't long until Secularist of the Year 2017, and the National Secular Society is seeking your nominations for the award.

The £5,000 Irwin Prize for Secularist of the Year is presented by the NSS to an individual or an organisation considered to have made an outstanding contribution to secularism and human rights.

The prize money is kindly donated by NSS honorary associate Dr Michael Irwin.

NSS president Terry Sanderson said: "This event is a great opportunity to mark the hard work and dedication of a group or individual committed to secularism.

"Who do you think has been the best advocate for secularism in the past year? Send us your nominations."

Last year the winner of Secularist of the Year was Educate Together, the educational charity which runs inclusive, non-religious schools in Ireland and the UK, modelling what a secular education system would look like.

Previous winners include Charlie Hebdo, who received the award in 2015 for their courageous response to the terror attack on their Paris office and subsequent survivor's edition, and their editorial defending laicite and the right to free expression.

Turkish opposition MP Safak Pavey won the award in 2014, and in 2013 Plan UK received the prize money in honour of Malala Yousafzai.

Peter Tatchell was named Secularist of the Year in 2012 for his lifelong defence of human rights in the face of religious fundamentalism and previous winners include Sophie in' t Veld MEP, the Southall Black Sisters, former LibDem MP Evan Harris and Lord Avebury who given the award jointly for their work on the abolition of the blasphemy law, Mina Ahadi of the German Central Council of Ex-Muslims, Professor Steve Jones, and Maryam Namazie.

Other awards are also presented by the Society at the event, to note contributions of a large number of campaigners in many different fields who work to promote secularism.

The awards will be presented at a lunch event in central London on 18th March 2017.

Ireland to consider banning schools from using religion in admissions

News | Mon, 16th Jan 2017

The Irish Minister for Education and Skills has set out plans to tackle the religious discrimination endemic in the Irish education system, hitting out at the unfairness of a baptism requirement for school places.

But the proposals to reduce religious discrimination in the Irish education system have been described as "deeply flawed" by Irish secularists.

90% of primary schools in Ireland are under the control of the Catholic Church, with a further 6% controlled by other religious groups including Protestants.

In his speech, education minister Richard Bruton said religious parents' wishes to educate their children in their faith should be respected but that non-Christian parents should not be unfairly disadvantaged.

The requirement for parents to baptise their children to gain a school place was unfair, he added.

The minister set out four options aimed at removing discrimination against families who don't share a school's faith, but secular campaigners have criticised all of them as inadequate.

The four options include a proposal to stop schools discriminating against local non-religious families in favour of more distant religious ones, or an option of allowing priority on religious grounds, but only when children already live within a school's catchment area.

Mr Bruton also set out how a quota system could work, with a "limited proportion of places" reserved on religious grounds.

The last option mooted is an "outright prohibition on religious schools using religion as a factor in admissions".

Education Equality welcomed the Irish Government's acknowledgement that reform was needed, but said that three of the four proposals would "continue some form of religious discrimination." Only an outright ban on using religion in admissions would remove discrimination in that area, they said.

However Education Equality spokesperson Sarah Lennon said that the public consultation was "nothing more than a delay".

Without more fundamental reform to the religious ethos of Irish schools and "a workable approach to opting out of religious instruction and faith formation, then 4 and 5 year old children will still experience segregation and exclusion during the school day," she added.

Atheist Ireland warned that the proposals could actually be counter-productive and could expand the ability of the Catholic Church to evangelise within the state-education system.

They said that mandating Catholic schools accept non-religious and non-Catholic pupils was not a solution: "Some in the Church would prefer to only teach already committed Catholics, but the Church officially sees schools as a way of evangelising minorities."

Atheist Ireland cited a Vatican document urging schools to "seize" the opportunity of a "large non-Christian presence" as part of a "tradition of [the] Church's missionary activity."

NSS Speaks Out

Our executive director Keith Porteous Wood spoke to Radio France about sharia councils, and we were quoted in Spiked on the policing of newspaper opinion about Islam.