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Thank you to everyone who helped to make Secularist of the Year such a success on Saturday. We hope you'll agree that Phil Johnson and Graham Sawyer were worthy
winners, and there were inspiring speeches from – or on behalf of – our other nominees. It was great to be reminded of the variety of activists who can be brought
together under the secularist banner. None of us stand alone in our campaigns for fairness and freedom of and from religion.
This week we've paid particular attention to a couple of concerning legal developments. Judgement has been reserved in the case of Mary Hassell, the North London
coroner who prioritises her work regardless of religious sensitivity. But we've expressed our concerns about the potential impact of the weight of political
pressure against her. We've also written to the lord chief justice over a judge's profoundly unwise decision to interpret Islamic scripture at the close of the
trial of the Parsons Green bomber. We'll keep you informed of the major developments in these cases.
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News & Opinion
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The National Secular Society has named Phil Johnson and Graham Sawyer as its Secularists of the Year for 2018.
Phil and Graham accepted a £5,000 prize... Read More »
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The NSS has asked if political interference has influenced a court case on a coroner's refusal to prioritise work for religious reasons.
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The National Secular Society has asked the lord chief justice to "ensure judicial office holders refrain from theological interpretation" after a judge...
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A parliamentary committee has said critics of religion are among those whose free speech is most likely to be restricted at universities.
A report by the... Read More »
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The National Secular Society has welcomed an initiative to mark the history of freethought and secularism throughout April.
American activist Luciano Gonzalez,... Read More »
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Other news
A bill to legalise same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland passed its first reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Armagh-born Labour MP Conor McGinn introduced the bill at
Westminster amid a continuing deadlock over power-sharing at Stormont. Marriage equality is one of the reasons why politicians in Northern Ireland continue to be
bitterly divided.
The Scottish National Party has made it party policy to abolish the blasphemy law. Last week we encouraged the Scottish government to get
on with repeal after it emerged that the SNP was considering adopting the policy.
The Los Angeles Press Club announced that it would honour the blogger Raif Badawi, who is in prison in Saudi Arabia for "insulting Islam". His wife, Ensaf Haidar, will receive
the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism at a gala on 24 June on Raif's behalf.
To get all the latest news and views on secularism from the media in your inbox every morning, you can sign up to receive your daily media briefing.
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Quotes of the week
"Two exceptionally courageous, tenacious and determined men who simply refused to give in to the lies and deceit of the church hierarchy."
Peter
Tatchell pays tribute to Phil Johnson
and Graham Sawyer at Secularist of the Year
"Following last year's terrorist attacks, a central government has again been forced to make it look like something is being done on integration. But once
again the administration of the day appears to have a faith schools policy that flies in the face of such a goal."
William Stewart, Tes reporter and twice national
educational journalist of the year in the CIPR Education Journalism Awards
"Those fighting injustice should be the last to demand censorship, the first to oppose it."
Kenan Malik calls for a
greater commitment to free speech
See our quotes of the week archive...
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NSS speaks out
Our decision to award Secularist of the Year to Phil Johnson and Graham Sawyer was covered in a variety of outlets: The Independent, Christian
Today, The
Argus, Premier Christian Radio, the Eastbourne
Herald and the Burnley Express.
Our chief executive Stephen Evans responded to the High Court challenge against a coroner who refuses to prioritise her work around the demands of religious
groups in The Times and
The Times Brief.
As usual at this time of year we were called upon to rebut drummed-up claims of a 'war on Easter'. Our communications officer Chris Sloggett went on
The Wright Stuff on Channel 5 on
Tuesday morning (the relevant section begins after one hour and 22 minutes). Stephen Evans went on BBC Radio Kent.
Last week our president Keith Porteous Wood, our vice-president Terry Sanderson and Chris Sloggett went on local BBC radio stations to discuss the decline of
religion among the young. Keith went on Radio Wales (he's
introduced 10 minutes in to the show); Terry appeared on Three Counties
Radio (from 1:12:43); Chris was on Radio Stoke
(from 22:06).
The chair of our Secular Medical Forum, Dr Antony Lempert, was one of the two guests on the first-ever head-to-head version of the Godless Spellchecker podcast. He debated
forced genital cutting.
Our chief executive Stephen Evans was quoted in Pink News on a court's decision to uphold a C of E bishop's right to veto the appointment of a gay man as an NHS
bereavement manager.
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Conference on 21st Century RE for All
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There are just two weeks to go until our 21st Century RE for All conference.
Thirty years after the introduction of a national curricular entitlement for all pupils, the religious education syllabus is still decided locally by committees of
faith representatives, or worse, by religious bodies responsible for running faith schools.
This one day event will explore the future of religion and belief education in schools, and how we can create a truly balanced and non-partisan approach.
It's on Saturday 14 April at Conway Hall in Central London.
Find out more...
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Other events
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Date: Tuesday 27th March 2018, 19:30 prompt start
Location: the Canal House, 48-52 Canal Street, Nottingham
Tickets: £2 on the door
Details: Tim Bell is a retired local man, whose working career... Read More »
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Date: Thursday 3 May 2018
Time: 19:30–22:00
Venue: 17 Queens Crescent, St Georges Cross, G4 9BL Glasgow, United Kingdom
Dr Ian Good and Dr Ealasaid Munro present some of the key findings of their AHRC... Read More »
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Date: Sunday 25 November 2018, 09:30 – 20:30
Location: Central London
Tickets: From £65.27
Details: Join notable secularists and veteran women's rights campaigners for a conference on Sharia,... Read More
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