Newsline 7 July 2017

Newsline 7 July 2017

The latest British Social Attitudes survey again highlights Britain's rapidly changing religious landscape. Despite a long-term decline in religiosity, and the waning influence of religious ideas on British people's views, religion's public role remains undiminished. In our schools it's growing.

Some regard Britain's Christian traditions and practices as a defence against radical Islam. But insincere lip service to Christianity will never defend us against the malign forces of theocracy and extremism.

If we are going to successfully uphold our common values, we need to express them in a language we all understand. Sincere believers and non-believers alike must stand in solidarity to defend hard-won rights and freedoms. Free speech; equality; freedom of and from religion; the liberal idea of separation between state and religion.

The National Secular Society will always stand up for and promote these principles – which are universal and shared, not religion-specific. This week London hosts its Pride parade, and as we look back on Pride Month we are reminded of the harm which religious fundamentalism can do, as LGBT people face discrimination from fanatics around the world.

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News, Blogs & Opinion

Women’s groups back appeal on gender segregation in schools

News | Fri, 7th Jul 2017

The schools inspectorate Ofsted is to appeal against a ruling on gender segregation in a landmark case at the Court of Appeal next week.

The appeal, which will be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday, is backed by two organisations which advocate for women's rights in minority communities. Southall Black Sisters and Inspire are submitting legal interventions, which allow third parties to present information for a court to consider.

They are seeking to overturn a ruling that gender segregation at an unnamed co-educational, voluntary aided Muslim school did not amount to sex discrimination. They say they are intervening to "show that the growing practice of gender segregation in schools is not benign" and to "ensure gender equality is placed at the heart of Ofsted inspections in all schools".

"This is a significant and potentially precedent-setting case about sex discrimination and equality," said the groups. "Ultra-conservative and fundamentalist gender norms are seeping into the everyday life of minority communities."

Boys and girls at the school are segregated throughout the day from the age of nine to 16. In the original case in November, X v Ofsted, a judge at the High Court ruled that this was not discriminatory because both boys and girls were "separated equally".

The case arose after the school was found inadequate during an Ofsted inspection and placed in special measures. The school took legal action in a bid to prevent Ofsted from publishing its report.

Ofsted's inspectors cited concerns about many leadership failings, including those which involved gender segregation. They said effective safeguarding procedures were absent and the school had an unchallenged culture of discrimination against girls and LGBT people.

They also found religious books which promoted rape, violence against women and misogynistic attitudes in the school library. Some girls anonymously complained about the impact of gender segregation on their ability to integrate into wider society.

The National Secular Society, which urged Ofsted to challenge the ruling, welcomed the appeal and intervention.

"We regret that Ofsted conspicuously failed to argue that the reason for such segregation was because of this school's particular Islamic ethos, which the evidence suggests, viewed girls as inferior. This meant that a fundamental issue in the case was left unaddressed."

After consulting with specialist lawyers the NSS also warned that "deference to an established religion may have obscured the court's analysis of the facts".

Southall Black Sisters is planning to protest outside the court and gain publicity for the case by tweeting under the hashtag #separateisnotequal.

Ofsted boss commits to tackling illegal schools

News | Mon, 3rd Jul 2017

The National Secular Society has welcomed a commitment by OFSTED's chief inspector to protect children in unregistered faith schools.

This weekend Amanda Spielman said the schools inspectorate would "do everything we can" to ensure schools comply with the law, including closing those operating illegally. She also called for the introduction of new laws to tackle unregistered schools.

"It is clear that weaknesses in current legislation allow some organisations to teach school-aged children religious texts full-time and avoid proper scrutiny," she said. "Action is also needed now to protect the children who attend these places."

The trend has led to concerns that children are receiving a narrow and intolerant education which often endangers their safety. One former pupil of a Hasidic Jewish school in north London told the Sunday Times that teachers had hit him on a "daily basis" for minor infractions such as asking difficult questions. Elsewhere inspectors have noted squalid conditions and failures to comply with fire regulations.

Since January 2016 inspectors have identified 286 schools suspected of operating illegally in England. They have inspected 116 and issued 36 warning notices. In February Ofsted told the National Secular Society that it suspected at least 20 of the first 24 schools to receive notices had a religious ethos. These included Muslim, Jewish and Christian fundamentalist centres. Ofsted added that it is not always possible to determine a school's religious character.

Last month Spielman told the Festival of Education that she had "exactly the same zeal and passion" for tackling extremism as her predecessor, Sir Michael Wilshaw. Under Wilshaw's leadership, Ofsted created a taskforce on unregistered schools and began publishing regular advice to the education secretary on the issue.

Spielman also said schooling should be based on "the active promotion of British values" and explain to children "how they make us a beacon of liberalism, tolerance and fairness to the rest of the world".

The National Secular Society has long campaigned for tougher action on unregistered faith schools. Recently there have been signs that its message is being heard. In March Lord Nash, the schools minister, told NSS that the government "shares your concerns about unregistered schools which are illegal, unsafe and are denying pupils a good education".

Today Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns director, said: "Amanda Spielman's willingness to confront unregistered faith schools, and call for government action, are encouraging. For too long policy makers turned a blind eye to this problem. The wishes of religious communities must not be allowed to trump young people's right to an inclusive education which opens their minds."

NSS joins calls for inquiry into funding of Islamist extremism

News | Thu, 6th Jul 2017

The National Secular Society has joined calls for a public inquiry into the funding of Islamist extremism in Britain after a damning investigation by a prominent think tank.

In a report published yesterday, the Henry Jackson Society said there was "a growing body of evidence" that foreign funding was contributing to terrorism in Britain and other western countries. It said the money comes mainly from governments and state-backed foundations in the Gulf and Iran.

It claimed Saudi Arabia was the chief foreign promoter of Islamist extremism in the UK. It said the Kingdom has promoted Wahhabi Islam "across the Islamic world, including to Muslim communities in the West" since the 1960s. It added that Saudi Arabia has spent at least £67 billion over the last 30 years in this endeavour.

Saudi Arabia has given endowments to mosques and Islamic educational institutions in the UK. These have then played host to extremist preachers and distributed extremist literature. British Muslim religious leaders have been trained in Saudi Arabia. Saudi textbooks have been used in a number of the UK's independent Islamic schools.

The report suggested the problem was much more widespread than has been publicly acknowledged. It cited "numerous cases" of British individuals joining jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria who are thought to have been influenced by foreign funded radical institutions and preachers.

Tom Wilson, the report's author, said: "There is a clear and growing link between foreign funding of Islamist extremism and the violent terrorism we have witnessed across the UK and Europe. Research indicates that some Saudi individuals and foundations have been heavily involved in exporting an illiberal, bigoted Wahhabi ideology."

Several other western governments have faced this issue in recent years. Last year, for example, intelligence agencies said some Gulf countries had undertaken a "long-running strategy to exert influence" in Germany.

Some have proposed using the law to address it. In 2015 Austria introduced legislation banning the foreign funding of mosques and imams. In 2016 the French prime minister suggested implementing a temporary ban on the foreign funding of mosques.

The report said the UK government "should consider measures that would block certain funding altogether". But, it added, "it remains unclear what the government intends to do practically" to address the problem.

The society said an inquiry was justified because there was "a clear lack of publicly available information on this subject". Some have claimed the findings of an internal government investigation into extremism funding are being buried to prevent embarrassing Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's London embassy said the report's accusations were "baseless and lack credible evidence". The UK government said it was "determined to cut off the funding which fuels the evils of extremism and terrorism".

The Foreign Office said: "The government is determined to cut off the funding which fuels the evils of extremism in the UK.

"In 2015 the government commissioned a review into the funding of Islamist extremist activity in the UK, including any overseas sources. The review reported to the home secretary and prime minister in 2016 and it has improved the government's understanding of the nature, scale and sources of funding for Islamist extremism in the UK.

"Ministers are considering advice on what is able to be published in the report and will update parliament in due course."

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "Islamic extremism – or, come to that, Christian extremism – poses a threat to the rights of those who don't adhere to those particular beliefs. It needs to be challenged.

"Allowing foreign powers – however lucrative they might be as trading partners – to undermine our democratic system and the human rights that spring from it must stop. Saudi Arabia is a particularly egregious offender. Its plan to undermine the West through this kind of infiltration is clear to anyone with eyes to see.

"The time must come when we must put a value on the safety and unity of this country. It would be painful fiscally to sever ties with Saudi, but if the arms deals we have with them comes at the cost of our human rights and the cohesion of our country, then it is a pain we may have to bear."

Carey junior’s special pleading “an insult to victims”, says NSS

News | Tue, 4th Jul 2017

The son of the former Archbishop of Canterbury has said "changing attitudes" are behind criticism of his father's handling of a sexual abuse scandal.

Last week an independent report criticised the Church of England's response to abuse carried out by disgraced bishop Peter Ball. It severely censured Lord Carey, who led the Church from 1991 to 2002. In response he resigned from an honorary role in the Church, under pressure from Justin Welby, the current Archbishop of Canterbury.

The National Secular Society has described Andrew Carey's remarks as "an insult to the victims". In 2015 Ball was imprisoned for grooming and abusing 18 young men between 1977 and 1992. He was first accused in 1992 and cautioned for gross indecency in 1993. One of his victims, Neil Todd, committed suicide in 2012 – although his abuse first came to light in 1993.

The review found that Ball had escaped justice for 20 years and Lord Carey, who led the Church from 1991 to 2002 and spoke out in Ball's defence, had "colluded" with him.

In his regular column for The Church of England newspaper yesterday, Andrew Carey wrote that he was "struck by the absence of any public expression of sadness and sympathy for my father from the current crop of archbishops and bishops".

"He has been criticised over handling safeguarding," he added. "To be criticised like this is like the sin against the Holy Spirit, unforgivable in the Church of England.

"It's no matter that the term 'safeguarding' hadn't even been coined when Bishop Peter Ball's crimes were first reported. Twenty-five years later you are held accountable for cultural attitudes and standards that are totally different today."

Keith Porteous Wood, NSS executive director, said Andrew Carey was "trying to place his father beyond judgement".

"Such attitudes held by self-styled princes of both Catholic and Anglican churches are a major contributory cause to the widespread and longstanding clerical abuse of minors.

"Over decades lives were ruined and a man killed himself before Ball was brought to justice. The explanation that Lord Carey's intransigence and collusion were the products of a different time simply does not hold water.

"I am less concerned about him being above criticism, though, than above the law. When are we going to hear from the police that Lord Carey is helping them with their enquiries?"

More Brits than ever are non-religious, NSS analysis suggests

News | Thu, 6th Jul 2017

More British people are becoming non-religious, according to the National Secular Society's initial analysis of the latest British Social Attitudes survey.

Data hidden within the report, which was published last week, suggests that just over half of British people are non-religious. The proportion of those sampled who declared they had no religion was 51%. After weighting for various other factors, the data suggested that 53% of the British public was non-religious.

The NSS analysis also suggests that 15-18% of the public is Anglican; around 9% is Catholic; 17-18% are from other Christian denominations; and 5-6% follow other religions.

The final data on British people's religious affiliations will be published later this summer.

In last year's survey 48% of people said they had no religion. The survey has never found that more than 51% of people are non-religious.

The NSS said the findings should prompt an urgent re-think of the role of religion in public life.

Almost 3,000 people took part in the study. Survey results on British people's religious beliefs often vary. But questioners tend to find that around half of the British population is non-religious when they ask 'Do you consider yourself to have a religion?' and 'If so, which one?' Last week's Scottish Social Attitudes survey found that an even higher proportion of Scots (58%) had no religion.

The BSA report also showed that non-religious people were more socially liberal than believers on a wide range of issues. Almost nine in ten people with no religion in 2016 said pre-marital sex was "not wrong at all". This was compared to 73% of Anglicans, 76% of Catholics, 62% of other Christians and 33% of non-Christian religious people.

A similar pattern emerged on same-sex relationships: 76% of non-religious people said they were "not wrong at all". The corresponding numbers were 55% of Anglicans, 62% of Catholics, 53% of other Christians and 30% of non-Christian religious people.

Non-religious people are more likely to believe that prejudice against transgender people is always wrong; that adults should be allowed to view whichever films they like; and that women should be allowed abortions. Non-religious people are also more likely to accept euthanasia than the religious.

And although religious people remain more conservative than the non-religious, their attitudes towards premarital sex, same-sex relationships and abortion are becoming more liberal. In some instances, the change is rapid: for example, the proportion of Anglicans who accept pre-marital sex has risen by 19% in four years. This suggests the influence of religious ideas on social attitudes is waning.

The findings add weight to the arguments made in the National Secular Society's secular charter and recent report, Rethinking religion and belief in public life: a manifesto for change.

The report said that there should be no established religion and the state should not intervene in the setting of religious doctrine. It called on the government to emphasise individual rights and social cohesion and move away from the outmoded concept of state multiculturalism.

Religion should play no part in schools. Free expression should not be restricted by religious considerations. There should be no religious exemptions from the law. Public and publicly-funded service provision should not discriminate on religious grounds.

Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns director, said: "As Britain becomes more religiously diverse, and at the same time, increasingly non-religious, it is ever clearer that the UK's political structures, education system and laws should be reformed so they reflect society as it is today.

"The National Secular Society's manifesto for change is an exciting blueprint for the UK's future. Whilst Christianity has played a role in shaping modern Britain, it is now appropriate to call time on the many vestiges of religious privilege ­– not least the seats given as of right to 26 Anglican clergy in our legislature, and religious groups' considerable influence over our publicly funded schools."

NSS calls for consistent action on religious persecution

News | Wed, 5th Jul 2017

The National Secular Society has reiterated the need to defend all victims of religious persecution after a government minister said the UK would focus "in particular" on Christian communities under threat.

In Westminster Hall yesterday MPs discussed the plight of persecuted Christians around the world. Twenty-one backbenchers from various parties debated a motion proposed by Jim Shannon of the DUP.

"Conflict along religious lines remains a consistent feature of human life and a considerable barrier to building stable societies," Shannon said. "Those who suffer violence are often targeted because of their beliefs or because of the faith group of which they identify."

The debate, and an accompanying briefing, highlighted several specific examples of discrimination against Christians. Islamic State has massacred Christians in Libya, Syria and Egypt. In Iraq and Syria, the Christian population is dwindling fast. Russia has banned the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses.

In Eritrea, the authorities reportedly rounded up and detained 122 Christians in May. Many have been subject to torture. The Eritrean Orthodox Patriarch, 89-year-old Abune Antonios, has spent more than 10 years under house arrest.

Labour MP Christian Matheson expressed concern that organised criminals are increasingly targeting religious groups in Colombia and Mexico. The debate highlighted some of the difficulties facing those who wish to speak out about their treatment. And Shannon raised the "clear" link between religious persecution and broader violence.

The persecution of Christians is most acute in North Korea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan, according to the NGO Open Doors. Questions have also been raised in parliament about the situation facing Christians in Jordan, China, Vietnam and Mexico.

In April 2017 the Foreign Office said: "The government supports the right of people of all religions – and non-religious people – to practise their beliefs in peace and safety." It said it has lobbied host governments, engaged in multilateral efforts to tackle persecution through the UN and supported relevant grassroots organisations.

Responding to the debate on behalf of the government Mark Field, the minister for Asia and the Pacific, said the UK was determined "to stand up for religious freedoms and in particular for Christian communities in some of the most politically unstable and unpredictable corners of the globe".

The National Secular Society has consistently called on the government to defend victims of religious persecution.

Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns director, said: "The treatment of Christians around the globe represents a major human rights violation. Too often, public debate in Britain focuses on petty disputes and grievances that feature Christians claiming 'persecution' when none exists. These bogus cases belittle the very real persecution that too many Christians face internationally.

"The grim reality is that people of all faiths and none face mistreatment around the world because of their religious beliefs or lack of them. We urge the government to robustly defend freedom of belief, and do everything it can to tackle religious persecution, at home and abroad, irrespective of the beliefs of those being persecuted."

Single-religion schools and compulsory worship banned, South African court rules

News | Tue, 4th Jul 2017

Schools may not teach one religion at the expense of others or hold compulsory religious observances, a court in South Africa has ruled.

The Johannesburg High Court declared last week that six predominantly Christian schools had illegally promoted one religion and excluded others.

Judge Willem van der Linde said religious observances may be conducted at state or state-aided voluntary institutions. But he added that they must be held on an equitable basis and that attendance must be optional.

"Neither a school governing body nor a public school may lawfully hold out that it subscribes to only a single particular religion to the exclusion of others," he said.

The court was responding to an application by the Organisation for Religious Education and Democracy (OGOD) for a restraining order to prevent the schools from taking part in 71 instances of religious conduct. Although it did not grant the order, the court ruled that the schools had breached the Schools Act.

"The overarching constitutional theme is that our society is diverse, diversity is to be celebrated and specific rights are conferred and dealt with in pursuance of that principle," the judgement read. "Public schools are public assets which serve the interests of society as a whole."

South Africa's national department of education said the ruling was consistent with its own policies. "The aim is not to ban religious practices in schools, but about protecting children and emphasising that schools should engage in religion education rather than religious instruction and not promote one religion over another," a spokesperson said.

The ruling was welcomed by the South African Human Rights Commission and many representatives of faith organisations.

South African Muslim Network chairperson, Dr Faisal Suliman, said fostering a culture of inclusion should be a "natural, human inclination". "We are trying to build social cohesion. How do we do that? We try to understand each other: it starts here, at our schools. This will go a long way in eradicating extremism too."

The Reverend Ian Booth, chairperson for the Diakonia Council of Churches, also backed the ruling, saying "it was not the responsibility of schools to teach children about their faith".

"This is for places of worship to do. We would support this judgment as it is in keeping with our constitution", he said.

Stephen Evans, National Secular Society (UK) campaigns director, welcomed the verdict.

"The court has rightly reaffirmed the principle that schools should not indoctrinate children in one particular religion. Governments in many other countries, including the UK, should take note.

"But there is still room to go further than this ruling and undertake root-and-branch reform to the religious character of many schools. The whole concept of sectarian, faith-based education needs a rethink."

The National Secular Society argues that all schools should be inclusive and equally open to children from a range of backgrounds. In the UK, the NSS campaigns for the phasing out faith schools, an end to religiously discriminatory admissions, an end to the legal requirement on schools to hold acts of collective worship and reform of religious education.

Essays of the Week

Breaking the silence in the world capital of female genital mutilation
Hawa Aden Mohamed, executive director of the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development, CNN

Pakistan's jirgas: buying peace at the expense of women's rights?
Ayesha Khan, researcher on gender and development issues, Open Democracy

NSS Speaks Out

This week we voiced our support for ending the requirement on schools to hold collective worship. Keith Porteous Wood, our executive director, appeared on BBC Radio Wales; our campaigns director Stephen Evans was on BBC Radio Leeds. Keith appeared on various local radio stations to express support for new guidelines which require pharmacists to put patient care ahead of their religious beliefs. He also criticised the Vatican response to child abuse on Turkish television station TRT World.