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This week we've been standing against religious incursions on LGBT+ rights, children's rights, patient autonomy, animal welfare and more. We're continuing to push
back against powerful religious groups, who enjoy constitutional and social privileges which undermine attempts to make society freer and fairer.
We can only do this with your support. If you value our work, you can join or donate
to the NSS today. Alternatively, if you're interested in the debate around religious freedom and its limits, why not come along to our
Secularism 2019 conference on 18 May? Tickets are just £50 – or £25 if you
are (or become) a member.
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News & Opinion
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A psychologist who has publicly encouraged Muslims to adopt a "psychological" or "mental health" response to same-sex attraction is being professionally... Read More »
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The National Secular Society has welcomed a government plan requiring local authorities and families to register children outside mainstream education,...
Read More »
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A group of cross-party MPs is calling for meat produced from religious non-stun slaughter methods to be clearly labelled to allow consumers to make an...
Read More »
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Five out of six people in Britain are prepared to support the legalisation of assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults, a poll has...
Read
More »
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A Jewish faith school where male and female pupils receive separate RE lessons and curricula has finalised plans to split into two separate schools.
Hasmonean... Read More »
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As a regulator issues patronising advice to advertisers in the run-up to Easter, Chris Sloggett takes a look at its guidance on religious offence –...
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The government has warned six faith schools over their failures to meet safeguarding standards in its latest round of warning notices to independent schools...
Read More
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News: published on Monday
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The government is set to announce that a Jedi academy will be among a series of new schools which it plans to open in England.
The secondary school in Bedfordshire,... Read More »
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Other news
Brunei's strict new Islamic laws that
make gay sex an offence punishable by stoning to death have come into force.
Pope Francis has defended his
decision to reject the resignation of Philippe Barbarin, the French Roman Catholic cardinal convicted on charges of failing to report sexual abuse.
An Islamic State fighter held in Syria has told the BBC he was one of at least seven
students and ex-students from the University of Westminster to join IS.
The education inspectorate Ofsted has found homophobic and
misogynistic books at an independent Islamic primary school in east London.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to attend
a meeting organised by a Charedi activist who has strongly opposed the government's plans to make
teaching about LGBT people compulsory.
A newborn boy has become the latest
child to die after a ritual genital cutting in Italy.
The World Congress of Families, a coalition of far-right politicians, conservative activists and religious leaders, was staged over the
weekend in the Italian city of Verona.
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Read elsewhere
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By Liz Lightfoot, for The Guardian
Andrew Moffat, who drew up an award-winning lesson programme for equality and diversity, has been targeted and effectively silenced.
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By Oliver Harvey, for The Sun
Angry demonstrations over lessons about LGBT relationships have spread from Parkfield Community School to Anderton Park School in Birmingham.
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By Emily Shugerman, for The Daily Beast
The idea of 'heartbeat' abortion bans used to be viewed as ridiculous, but is now mainstream among US Republicans.
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Buy your tickets: Secularism 2019
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There are just six weeks to go until our Secularism 2019
conference at The Tower Hotel in London on Saturday 18 May. Tickets are selling fast - you can buy yours now.
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Quotes of the week
"We are educators. Our role is teach children to divide fractions, to know what a fronted adverbial is, or the positive impact of ancient Greece on modern
society. But it's also to help children to be kind, to resolve differences, to know they can have friends of different backgrounds and faiths, to know that black
people are equal to white people, and gay people are equal to straight people, and women are equal to men."
Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson,
headteacher of Anderton Park Primary School in Birmingham, on protests from mainly Muslim parents against teaching about diversity
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"The left is rightly outraged, but the cause lies at its own door. In sidelining the universal values of human rights and secular justice for identity
politics, it has emboldened conservative Islam."
Janice Turner, Times
columnist, on the row over diversity teaching
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"Christmas has not been cancelled. I would encourage that information should be factual."
Joe McHugh, Ireland's minister for education and skills, on Catholic schools' claims about what will happen if schools change
hands
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Sign the petition – say No More Faith Schools
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Schools are for teaching, not preaching. And we should stop dividing our children by their parents' religion. Sign our petition and tell us why you're saying No More Faith Schools.
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NSS speaks out
We were quoted in The Observer over the Health and Care Professions Council's decision to investigate an anti-LGBT psychologist in response to
our concerns. The story was subsequently picked up by the Mail
Online and various other media outlets. Further coverage followed in the Independent and the BBC after the British Psychological Society also decided to act on NSS concerns.
Our exclusive on the government approving the UK's first Jedi faith school made it into the Guardian's
round-up of the best April Fools' Day jokes.
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NSS scholarship
The NSS is keen to support original research that supports the evidence base of our campaigns work and improves public understanding of secularism. Applications
for the latest round of funding are currently open.
Our scholarship committee will particularly be looking for applications which demonstrate:
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A significant contribution to the evidence base of one of our existing campaigns.
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The ability to improve understanding of secularism among both academics and the wider public.
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That the applicant has the necessary experience to complete the research to a high standard.
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Applicants are strongly recommended to make reference to existing NSS campaigns and our Secular Charter.
Find out more and apply here.
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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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