Newsline 28 November 2014

Newsline 28 November 2014

Not a member? The most tangible way of supporting our work is by becoming a member and contributing funds to enable us to campaign effectively; the more we have, the more we can do. If you believe, as we do, that a secular Britain is our best chance to achieve true equality for all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, then please join us and become part of what is possibly the most important debate of the 21st century. Together we can create a fairer and more equal society.

News, Blogs & Opinion

The Law Society withdraws controversial Sharia guidance and apologises

News | Mon, 24th Nov 2014

The sharia succession practice note has been withdrawn by the Law Society, following widespread criticism for gender discrimination.

The note had advised solicitors that "illegitimate and adopted children are not sharia heirs" and that "the male heirs in most cases receive double the amount inherited by a female heir." The note also stated that "non-Muslims may not inherit at all" and that "a divorced spouse is no longer a sharia heir."

The note has now been removed from the Law Society website, and the society's president, Andrew Caplen has apologised for issuing the guidance. Caplen said that the note "was intended to support members to better serve their clients as far as is allowed by the law of England and Wales."

Caplen added that the Society had "reviewed the note in the light of criticism" and they had "withdrawn the note" and were "sorry".

The National Secular Society and the Lawyers Secular Society met with the Law Society in September and called for withdrawal of the guidance. The NSS objected to the practice note on the grounds that it encouraged discrimination, "legitimised sharia law" and was religious, rather than legal advice. The NSS also pressed home its concerns about the wider implications of this advice being issued, particularly for women.

The National Secular Society has welcomed the withdrawal of the guidance. Keith Porteous Wood, NSS executive director, said: "This is an important reversal for what had seemed to be the relentless march of sharia to becoming de facto British law. Until now, politicians and the legal establishment either encouraged this process or spinelessly recoiled from acknowledging what was happening. I congratulate the Law Society for heeding the objections we and others made. This is particularly good news for women who fare so badly under sharia, which is non-democratically determined, non-human rights compliant and discriminatory".

The Law Society thanked the NSS for raising concerns, and said that they hoped the NSS would "continue to engage with the Society and its work in the future".

Campaigners had previously called the guidance a "gross derogation of duty on both legal and moral grounds" and in an open letter published in September, campaign groups including Southall Black Sisters, One Law for All, Centre for Secular Space and LSESU told the Law Society that the note endorsed discrimination against minority women and children "on the grounds of their gender, marital status and religious backgrounds".

The open letter also drew attention to the fact that the advice note encouraged "legal and state welfare services to accommodate highly gender discriminatory religious that are being increasingly defined by religious fundamentalists in our society".

The campaigners had urged the Law Society to "adhere to the spirit of the equalities and human rights legislation and to its own equality policy by recognising that its main business lies in the promotion of a culture of human rights and norms based on principles of equality for all rather than on the promotion of 'sharia compliant' laws that discriminates against minority women and children in particular."

Religious influence in schools criticised in House of Lords “religion in public life” debate

News | Thu, 27th Nov 2014

The role of religion in schools has come under scrutiny during a House of Lords debate on the role of religion and belief in public life. The debate was called by the Rt Revd Lord Harries of Pentregarth, formerly the Bishop of Oxford.

The debate was wide-ranging, with discussion ranging from faith schools to social action, to the presence of Bishops in the House of Lords, though many speakers addressed education prominently in their speeches. Lord Harries, introducing the debate, acknowledged that there had been "major issues concerning religion in schools."

Baroness Falkner, an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, said that whilst parents' religious and philosophical convictions should be respected in the educational provision that the state offers, the demand for a religious education, wholly on parents' terms, was an "unreasonable and potentially divisive demand which must be resisted".

The Baroness said that "rather than facilitating the segregation of pupils along religious lines, we should be doing everything we can to ensure that children of all faiths and none are educated together in a respectful and inclusive environment."

The Baroness also drew attention to the "wider problem of faith-based schools narrowing the curriculum to suit their own particular religious ethos." She cited the example of the Yesodey Hatorah secondary girls' school, which recently admitted redacting exam questions on human reproduction, because they conflicted with the 'ethos' of the school.

Baroness Falkner also criticised the requirement for a daily act of 'broadly Christian' collective worship in schools, saying that the law is "unevenly applied, can reduce a broad and balanced approach, and seriously undermines parents' abilities to raise their children in accordance with their own beliefs."

Baroness Massey drew attention to a "mistaken confusion of education and indoctrination" and argued for education to "develop personal and social skills, good citizens and thinking skills based on dialogue and discussion rather than on one-dimensional doctrine."

Lord Warner noted testimony heard by the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group from the "original Trojan Horse whistle-blower" as well as a former student of an Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) school. Warner told the House how parliamentarians on the committee had been "truly shocked to learn what was going on in some of our schools in 21st-century Britain in the name of religious beliefs, and by the apparent inability of our legal and regulatory systems to safeguard our children from what can only be described as indoctrination and abuse."

Warner added that the curriculum in the ACE school system "is a fundamentalist Christian one that originated in the United States. It is widely considered to be creationist, homophobic and misogynistic. The teaching materials used in these schools that were presented to us certainly supported this view. Much of the material is in a comic strip format with characters that could only be described as risible if they were not being used to brainwash and indoctrinate young minds. It was very scary that the so-called science teaching was leading to certification that was being used to progress children to further education."

Lord Dubs criticised presence of Church of England bishops sitting in the legislature as of right. The Labour peer said that if he had to set a pub quiz question it would be "apart from the House of Lords, in which legislature in the world is a block of seats reserved for members of a religion?"

When he asked if there were "any takers", other peers responded correctly with cries of "Iran".

Turning to education, Lord Dubs warned "the more religious-based schools we have, the more divisive will be the consequences." He said faith schools were "having a damaging effect on our society and on the religions themselves."

Commenting on the role of religion in social action, Labour peer Baroness Sherlock, herself a practising Anglican, noted the "contribution that believers and faith-based organisations make to our national life". She stressed the need to "learn from the strength of faith-based work but recognise that there are risks, both to the state and to the groups, of drawing faith-based groups into delivery."

Promoting the role of religion in public life, Lord Singh of Wimbledon said "religious instruction" was required for society, stating that religious teaching was like an "ethical satnav". Lord Blair went further, and said that whilst atrocities had been committed in the name of religion, "worse has been done in the name of secularists creeds."

Conservative peer Lord Ahmad, responding on behalf of the Government, said he believed that faith was a "force for good". The Communities minister reinforced Secretary of State, Eric Pickles' warning about secularism "becoming so aggressive that it attacks religion in all respects and encourages intolerance towards others ". He said the best response was to "champion values that define our country", many of which he said were "founded in faith".

Lord Ahmad recognised the value of a broad-based education, and addressing Baroness Falkner's concerns directly, said it was "essential that all schools prepare children for modern life". He said the Government was "working with local school leaders and governors to ensure that children are not put at risk by the rise of extremism".

In closing, Lord Harries said there was a "need in our society to build common ground between religious believers and those who have no religion but regard themselves as humanists" and cited the moral philosopher Michael Sandel, criticising society for focusing on individual freedom alone, to the neglect of other values.

Commenting on the debate, Stephen Evans of the National Secular Society, said: "Britain's religion and belief landscape has changed dramatically over the past few decades and there is clearly a need to rethink the role of religion in public life.

"The increasingly diverse nature of society means the traditional manner of categorizing people by their faith identity is anachronistic and redundant, not to mention dangerous. If we are to avoid sectarianism becoming a major problem, the state needs to treat people as individual citizens rather than as members of a particular faith or belief group.

"It's time the public domain became wholly secular, leaving religion as a matter of private conviction – and not the basis on which we organise schools and other public services which we all share."

Read the debate in full at Hansard

Peer faces formal complaint after calling on Muslims to "address the violence in the Qur’an"

News | Wed, 26th Nov 2014

Lord Pearson of Rannoch is facing a formal complaint from Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, after calling on Muslims to "address the violence in the Qur'an."

Speaking in the House of Lords, Pearson, the former UKIP leader, said: "My lords, are the government aware that Fusilier Rigby's murderers quoted 22 verses of the Qur'an to justify their atrocity? Therefore, is the prime minister accurate or helpful when he describes it as a betrayal of Islam? Since the vast majority of Muslims are our peace-loving friends, should we not encourage them to address the violence in the Qur'an – and indeed in the life and the example of Muhammad?"

The Leader of the House of Lords dismissed his concerns, and now Labour MP Khalid Mahmood has stated his intention to make a formal complaint to the Lord Speaker over Pearson's question.

Mahmood told the Guardian: "I find it absolutely offensive that this guy is still able to say this. I will actually tomorrow make a complaint formally to the lords speaker on this issue. This is not tolerable and it should not be tolerated at all."

Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South East, said: "These are lies. Trying to say this comes from some text in the Qur'an or there is some justification in the religion – it isn't there."

Ms Qureshi said that Muslims should not have to "take responsibility" for the actions of extremists, though Lord Pearson had only actually called on Muslims to "address the violence in the Qur'an."

Lord Pearson did not say that Muslims were responsible for the actions of extremists, and was clear to state that the "vast majority" of British Muslims were "our peace-loving friends".

National Secular Society executive director Keith Porteous Wood, said: "Nothing in our society should be beyond discussion or debate. But Lord Pearson is now facing a formal complaint for expressing a view in Parliament. This is a type of farce we should have left behind long ago."

"If Khalid Mahmood – or anyone else – disagrees with Pearson so strongly, then they should challenge him to a public debate or write an article rebutting his arguments. We don't have freedom of speech so that we can only discuss things we're all comfortable with."

Lord Pearson has previously warned of the threat posed by Islamism; in 2013 he said: "What baffles me completely is that when we do speak against these things, when we dare to say that they come from within Islam, we are told that we are the guilty ones, that it us who are stirring up hate."

Secularists call for citizenship studies to include stronger focus on human rights

News | Mon, 24th Nov 2014

In a response to a Department for Education (DfE) consultation on draft changes to the GCSE citizenship studies subject content, the National Secular Society has called for pupils to be educated about the relationship between equality, human rights and equal citizenship.

The NSS response called for the course to explicitly teach pupils about human rights and child rights, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 29 of which requires education to be directed to "the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations".

Along with significant changes to the course content the subject will become 100% exam assessed from 2016. Responding to fears that the subject could be downgraded the Government has said that citizenship studies will continue to count in school performance tables. The number of students taking citizenship studies reached a peak in 2010, but has since then declined dramatically, with uncertainty over the subject's future blamed by many for the drop.

The Citizenship Foundation, which has been encouraging its supporters to take part in the consultation, expressed concern that the "breadth of content" and its weighting towards specific detailed knowledge could leave students with little time to develop skills and understanding related to active citizenship.

Under the topic of "Democracy and politics" pupils will learn about issues including: government, political institutions, elections and the media in the UK, as well as politics beyond the UK.

In the full course, pupils will be expected to compare citizenship in democratic and nondemocratic states. This was welcomed by the NSS, which also called for it to be included in the short course – and to include a study of the different models of citizenship that underpin secular versus theocratic states.

Citizenship has been part of the national curriculum in secondary schools in England since 2002, with the majority of citizenship studies students taking the short course rather than the full GCSE, although the trend in recent years is away from the short course to the longer course in most schools. In its response, the NSS shared the Citizenship Foundation's concerns that the new short course will not leave enough room for students to develop a full understanding of what active citizenship means for them. The NSS also expressed concern that human rights and equality principles could be squeezed out of the short course.

Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, said: "Principles of equality and human rights are the foundation of the equal citizenship; this should be central to young people's education about citizenship.

"There is a real need to ensure that young people develop into citizens who are capable of living together in 21st century Britain. By empowering the next generation of active citizens, and educating them together regardless of their religious or belief backgrounds, we can hopefully to move closer to that ideal of equal citizenship."

Theresa May announces new measures to curb extremism

News | Mon, 24th Nov 2014

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has announced a raft of new measures to prevent extremism, radicalisation and terrorism, ranging from direct intervention by the Home Office to block extremist speakers from university campuses, to a ban on insurance companies paying ransom money to kidnappers.

Mrs May said that the threat from Islamist terror was "greater than it has been at any time before or after 9/11" and called for more powers for the police and intelligence agencies.

The Home Secretary reiterated the Government's view that teaching 'British values' in schools was crucial in preventing home-grown extremism, a policy decision which has led to Ofsted downgrading several schools in recent months (including six independent Muslim faith schools and one Church of England school last week).

In her speech on the Government's new Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill, which is due to be introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, the Home Secretary also set out plans to stop British-born Islamic State fighters from returning to the UK, including the option to remove passports from teenage militants and the use of "no-fly" lists. Additionally, elements of the previous government's axed control orders will be reintroduced, to strengthen the existing Terrorism Prevention and Investigations Measures (TPIMS). This will include the power to order terror suspects moved to different areas of the country. Mrs May is pushing to have the law fast-tracked through parliament.

The new measures announced also include a "statutory duty on schools, colleges, prisons and local councils to help prevent people from being drawn into terrorism", the Guardian reports. If the bill is passed into law, the Home Secretary will also have the power to order speakers off university campuses, should organisations fail in their statutory duty to prevent extremism.

Two weeks ago, Sharia Watch UK released an extensive report on radical Islamist speakers addressing UK students, including one man who said he took "pride in being a terrorist" and another who called upon Muslims to "support the jihad of our brothers and sisters".

The report was due to be released at an event at the University of West London, however the launch was cancelled by university authorities just 24 hours before it was due to begin. The university claimed that the event had been stopped due to incorrect room booking procedures and "insufficient stewarding arrangements."

In her remarks this morning, the Home Secretary said that "we are engaged in a struggle that is fought on many fronts and in many forms. It is a struggle that will go on for many years". Since 2010, according to figures cited by Mrs May, 753 people have been arrested for terrorism-related offences whilst 212 have been charged.

Fears of an IS or Islamist inspired terror attack in the UK continue to mount, and over the weekend Labour MP Khalid Mahmood claimed that 2,000 British Muslims are now fighting for ISIS, a figure which is four-times higher than official estimates.

Head of Russian Orthodox Church says secularization in Europe has reached “apocalyptic dimensions,” calls for “Christian values”

News | Tue, 25th Nov 2014

Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, has told an audience in Serbia that Europe has abandoned its "Christian identity" and that the "process of secularization" has reached "apocalyptic" levels.

The Patriarch blamed homosexual unions, assisted dying and abortion for starting a "locomotive of destructive processes" across Europe. Kirill lambasted the "de-Christianization of European society" which he said had given up the "fundamental Christian values in its life and activities."

Kirill criticised the "denial of absolute truth" and the "elimination of the concept of sin from the public consciousness." The Patriarch, who was speaking at the University of Belgrade, "called on the people of Serbia to help bring Europe back to Christian values." He also quoted the Bishop of Ohrid, who wrote that "Christ is leaving Europe."

Patriarch Kirill said that he regretted that "many European countries have given up their Christian identity."

The Church has very close ties with the Putin regime, and a long history of supporting authoritarian Russian leaders. After supporting the Tsarist regime as a "pillar" of the imperial state, the Orthodox Church fell under brutal attack during the first two decades of Bolshevik rule, when the League of the Militant Godless ransacked churches and killed clergymen. The Church found favour from the state once again and was reinstated, by secular authorities, during the Great Patriotic War (WW2) by Stalin; who was himself a former pupil of an Orthodox seminary and who hoped the church would improve Russian morale.

After the Cold War, the church became increasingly close to Putin, a former KGB agent. The leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Patriarch Kirill himself, are widely thought by critics to have had close ties with the KGB during the last years of the Cold War, and in more recent years Kirill has been effusive in his praise of the Putin regime.

Back in 2009, when Kirill I was first elected to lead the Russian Orthodox Church, Forbes predicted that the church was "likely to emerge as an even stronger supporter of dictatorship and anti-Western ideology" because of the Patriarch's leadership, and that Putin ran both the Russian state and the Orthodox Church. The Patriarch has previously described Putin's regime as a "miracle of God", and said that the Pussy Riot protestors were doing the work of Satan.

Kirill has praised the Byzantine concept of "symphonia", where Church and State remain closely dependent on one another, and in 2006 he accused the West of behaving "dictatorially" by promoting human rights for gay people.

NSS Speaks Out

We were widely quoted in the national press following the Law Society's decision to withdraw its controversial guidelines for solicitors on how to compile "Sharia compliant" wills. Coverage included the Guardian, Times, Independent, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Economist, Third Sector the Christian press and various legal press.

We were also quoted in the BBC's coverage of Ofsted's reports into six Independent Muslim faith schools, which were judged to be leaving pupils at risk of extremist views and radicalisation. Our campaigns manager, Stephen Evans, debated the wisdom of faith schools on LBC and was quoted in a Jewish Chronicle report about the NSS's reporting of a Jewish faith school to Ofsted over concerns about the school's narrowing of the curriculum.

NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood was also quoted in a Church Times (£) article about a private Members' Bill seeking to restore the right of local councils to pray at meetings.