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On Sunday hundreds of innocent people were targeted and slaughtered in the apparently Islamist attack in Sri Lanka.
The terrorists targeted Christians who were in church on Easter Sunday and tourists who were in hotels. They reminded us that the task of standing up to religious
intolerance, fundamentalism and violence should unite people of all faiths and none.
We argue that secularism – which seeks to balance everyone's rights and treat them fairly and equally regardless of their religious identities or beliefs –
provides the best framework for taking up this task.
We'll explore this more on Saturday 18 May, when we hold our Secularism 2019
conference on 'reclaiming religious freedom' at The Tower Hotel in central London. If you haven't yet got your ticket, you can buy it now. And if you support our aims, you might
consider joining or donating to the NSS today. Thank you for your support.
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News & Opinion
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The appalling attacks in Sri Lanka again highlight the growing global persecution of Christians. But there should be no hierarchy of
importance when it... Read More »
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Leading public figures and campaigners including the National Secular Society have urged the government not to fund new faith schools which can choose...
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The charity regulator has said it will investigate three Islamic charities which have linked to extremist content, after concerns were raised by the
National... Read More »
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The National Secular Society has welcomed a decision from a council in eastern Scotland to withdraw voting rights from unelected church representatives...
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The National Secular Society has welcomed the University of Aberdeen's decision to revoke a degree awarded to the sultan of
Brunei after his country introduced... Read More »
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The National Secular Society has called for scrutiny into charities within insular religious communities following an alleged money laundering scandal...
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More »
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When Rachel applied for a teaching position at a state funded faith school, she found that non-Catholics weren't welcome to apply. Although such
discrimination may be legal, she says it isn't necessarily moral.
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Other news
A damning report from a cross-party committee of MPs has said ministers must act
urgently to address human rights breaches faced by women in Northern Ireland who seek abortions.
The chairman of Poland's ruling party has
called the LGBT rights movement a foreign import that threatens the Polish nation and said questioning Poland's powerful Roman Catholic Church is
unpatriotic.
Dozens of members of parliament from 14 European countries have called
for an urgent investigation into who is bankrolling US Christian right groups that have spent at least $50m in Europe.
The Football Association is to end the
tradition of awarding a case of champagne to the FA Cup winners, partly out of respect for some players' religious beliefs.
New Jersey is now the eighth US state to allow terminally ill residents to end their
lives with medical help after the state's governor signed a bill into law.
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Read elsewhere
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By Deirdre Finnerty, for the BBC
An in-depth look at the treatment of unmarried girls and women at a mother and baby home in Ireland.
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By Jessica Glenza, for The Guardian
Janet Porter had one of the biggest victories of her career when the strictest anti-abortion law in the US passed in Ohio, in the latest step in a broader
fight which she is taking global.
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By Caroline Lowbridge, for the BBC
A 23-year-old man committed suicide after being circumcised, which he regarded as a "catastrophe".
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Buy your tickets: Secularism 2019
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There are just three weeks to go until our Secularism 2019
conference at The Tower Hotel in London on Saturday 18 May. You can buy your tickets now.
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Quotes of the week
"No doctor or religious cleric should cut off a natural part of another's body without the explicit consent of the person that it will matter to most. If you
grow up and you want to be circumcised as an adult, you should have that choice. Maybe you will find it easier to clean or more visually appealing, but that's
your prerogative. Not that of someone else."
Lee Suckling, lifestyle columnist for NZ Herald, on circumcision
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"In order to have true religious freedom in Australia, we must pursue secular policy. Secularism is not anti-religious; it simply ensures that no one is unduly
persecuted or privileged because of their beliefs. It promotes equal rights and representation for people of all religions, and for people of no religion, in the
public square."
Peter Monk, president of Australian campaigning group National Secular Lobby
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Petition comment of the week: against religious discrimination in school admissions
"When looking for a secondary school for our child, our nearest option is a Catholic school which is well known for rejecting anyone who isn't Catholic. This
means we either have to send our son to a school with a poor standard of education, or travel miles to another town for him to find another school. Why should he
be discriminated against and rejected from his local area because we, his parents, are not religious?"
Gabby, Surrey
Sign the petition and tell us why you want to end religious discrimination in school
admissions.
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Petition comment of the week: end non-stun slaughter
"The religious exemption means the number of animals suffering distress, fear and pain during slaughter is increasing. This is unacceptable in what is
supposed to be an advanced and humane society. It degrades us all."
Barbara, Buckinghamshire
Sign the petition and tell us why you want to end
religious non-stun slaughter.
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NSS speaks out
Our research which found that Muslim charities were linking to material promoting stoning to death was covered in The Sunday
Times, with our chief executive Stephen Evans quoted.
Stephen also signed a letter to The Sunday Times opposing a new wave of faith schools which will be allowed to select all their children on a
religious basis.
Stephen discussed the need to protect religious freedom on LBC after the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka.
And he was quoted in Asean Economist
as we called on British institutions to strip the sultan of Brunei of honours bestowed upon him.
Our communications officer Chris Sloggett was quoted in an article about the rise of secularism in Premier Christianity magazine.
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Support our work
Please support our work so we can make the case for a fairer secular democracy for all.
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Click the link if you'd rather read Newsline as a PDF.
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