NSS Opinion
National occasions need not be dominated by religion – as France’s commemoration ceremony so poignantly demonstrated
Posted: Tue, 01 Dec 2015 by Keith Porteous Wood
France's recent ceremony for those killed in the Paris attacks was a moving demonstration that religiously neutral ceremonies are a powerful way to unite people regardless of faith or politics; it is something the UK could emulate for our own public ceremonies,... Read More »
Time for the Church to come clean on the ‘Just Pray’ controversy
Posted: Tue, 01 Dec 2015 by National Secular Society
With a considerable media firestorm the Church launched a crafty piece of marketing for their 'Just Pray' campaign – centred on the accusation that their Lord's Prayer advert had been "banned" because it was "offensive". One week on, new facts raise... Read More »
So called Lord’s Prayer ‘Ban’: It’s Winterval all over again
Posted: Mon, 23 Nov 2015 by Stephen Evans
The controversy over cinemas rejecting religious advertising appears to be another attempt to reignite the Christian victimisation narrative, argues Stephen Evans
Praising the Church of England isn't something I often find myself doing, but you've got to take... Read More »
A timid defence of free speech is no match for Islamism. We must do better.
Posted: Wed, 18 Nov 2015 by Benjamin Jones
Society needs a much more vigorous defence of free speech than the one we are getting, with the 'elite' of society in academia, religion and politics offering a feeble and timorous defence, writes Benjamin Jones.
Speaking at a debate on "freedom of speech... Read More »
Scottish evangelists identify Paganism as one of the “biggest threats to Western civilisation”
Posted: Mon, 16 Nov 2015 by Alistair McBay
After the world suffered another grim reminder of the merciless Islamist ideology, the Solas Centre for Public Christianity warned instead that the re-emergence of Paganism in Scotland was one of the biggest threats to civilization.
On Sunday 15 November 2015... Read More »
Operation Christmas Child: Christian fundamentalism, gift-wrapped
Posted: Thu, 12 Nov 2015 by Stephen Evans
The Operation Christmas Child 'shoebox' appeal is a front for a project to convert children in predominantly Muslim countries to literalist Christianity. Parents should give it a wide berth, argues Stephen Evans.
My heart sank this week when picking my daughter... Read More »
Mammon, not God, should reign on Sundays
Posted: Thu, 12 Nov 2015 by Oliver Kamm
Sunday trading laws frustrate free enterprise and fail to boost religion. It's time to scrap these petty, scolding restrictions, argues Oliver Kamm
Every Sunday evening from October to April I turn up to the Conway Hall in central London, hand over a tenner... Read More »
Ted Cruz says the President of the United States should be “on his knees” before God “every day”
Posted: Mon, 09 Nov 2015 by Benjamin Jones
Young Americans might be turning away from Christianity, but the American religious right is more audacious than ever – and their rhetoric about 'religious freedom' barely conceals their theocratic aspirations, writes Benjamin Jones.
Ted Cruz, advocate... Read More »
Publicly funded services shouldn't be a platform to proselytise
Posted: Fri, 06 Nov 2015 by Stephen Evans
Any attempt to give faith-based organisations more room to discuss religion when running public services risks making their services less inclusive. Besides, public money shouldn't be funding evangelism, argues Stephen Evans.
A new report from the Christian... Read More »
Bishops show why Church and State should split
Posted: Wed, 28 Oct 2015 by GP Taylor
The Church of England is now widely regarded as irrelevant in the political and secular society that it seeks to minister and its bishops have no right to be part of our legislature, argues best-selling author and former Anglican priest GP Taylor.
I am not... Read More »
Some good news for free speech on campuses
Posted: Wed, 21 Oct 2015 by Benjamin Jones
With too many instances of campus censorship to list, it's easy to be pessimistic about freedom of expression on campus, but there are a few promising signs of progress, led by students, writes Benjamin Jones.
I've spoken on two university campuses in the past... Read More »
The unreasonableness of ‘reasonable accommodation’
Posted: Fri, 16 Oct 2015 by Stephen Evans
Calls to introduce a new workplace duty of 'reasonable accommodation' for religion and belief are a flawed solution to a problem that doesn't really exist, argues Stephen Evans.
The UK has some of the most comprehensive anti-discrimination laws in the world.... Read More »
God “is the man who saves people” – a parent discovers what Religious Observance in school has taught their child
Posted: Wed, 14 Oct 2015 by A Parent
A parent writes of their shock at discovering Religious Observance in the non-denominational Scottish school attended by their daughter, and gives their perspective on the problems caused by archaic Religious Observance rules in Scottish schools.
Towards the... Read More »
Peter Ball sex abuse case: 20 questions that must be answered
Posted: Wed, 07 Oct 2015 by Keith Porteous Wood
Any genuine inquiry into the handling of allegations of child sex abuse by Bishop Peter Ball must answer key questions about alleged cover-ups by the Church, police and CPS, argues Keith Porteous Wood
The National Secular Society has been closely monitoring... Read More »
Warwick Student Union have now done the right thing – but universities themselves must step up to defend free speech
Posted: Mon, 28 Sep 2015 by Benjamin Jones
After taking relentless criticism on Twitter and Facebook, Warwick Student Union has reversed its decision to block Maryam Namazie from speaking on campus. Though the right decision has been made in the end, universities themselves must step up to defend free... Read More »
A parent’s perspective: collective worship and evangelism in schools
Posted: Thu, 17 Sep 2015 by A Parent
Even where parents have the option of a community school, securing a secular education can be difficult. One parent offers their perspective on negotiating appropriate boundaries which respect children's rights to form their own beliefs.
My support for secular... Read More »
Assisted Dying Bill: The Church has no right to deny dignity in death
Posted: Thu, 10 Sep 2015 by Keith Porteous Wood
The media give too much weight to the views of faith leaders who have failed to deal with the central issue of assisted dying, which is alleviating the suffering of others, argues Keith Porteous Wood.
While religious leaders are as entitled as anyone else... Read More »
The media now say ‘Islamophobia’ without question; but insist on the “so-called Islamic State”
Posted: Thu, 10 Sep 2015 by Benjamin Jones
Reporting of the deeply troubling rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim attacks demonstrates that the term 'Islamophobia' has, worryingly, been widely accepted by the media.
The recent media coverage which accompanied the release of worrying hate crime statistics... Read More »
Sectarianism in modern Britain
Posted: Wed, 09 Sep 2015 by Iram Ramzan
From Iranian dissidents fearing deportation after seeking asylum from theocracy, to ex-Muslims driven from their homes in Bradford, Iram Ramzan looks at some worrying examples of sectarianism threatening Britain's reputation for tolerance.
Peyman (not his real... Read More »
Let Ofsted inspect religious education in faith schools
Posted: Wed, 09 Sep 2015 by Stephen Evans
Religious education should receive the same scrutiny as any other area of the curriculum – and be inspected by Ofsted, argues Stephen Evans.
I recently came across a local newspaper headline about a school being praised for its religious education. As... Read More »
The encroachment of reactionary Islamism in academic life
Posted: Tue, 08 Sep 2015 by Stefano Bonino
Universities and academics seeking to challenge anti-Muslim prejudice should promote genuine Muslim human rights groups rather than unrepresentative Islamists seeking to advance their own reactionary agenda, argues Dr Stefano Bonino.
Professor Max Farrar, a... Read More »
Students forced to lead prayers and made to attend Mass – the reality of faith schools for non-religious pupils
Posted: Thu, 03 Sep 2015 by A Pupil
A Sixth Former gives a student's account of what it's like to attend a faith school if you aren't religious, and shows the reality of some faith schools for pupils who don't share the school's enthusiasm for religion.
One might be forgiven for thinking that... Read More »
The BBC is failing to respond to fair criticism of its religious output
Posted: Tue, 11 Aug 2015 by Keith Porteous Wood
The NSS has objected numerous times over the past half century to the exclusion of non-believers from BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day but it now seems as though the BBC will not even consider objections to the programme, raising questions about how the Corporation... Read More »
We need a Robert Conquest figure to demolish the pro-Islamist left
Posted: Thu, 06 Aug 2015 by Benjamin Jones
The late historian Robert Conquest exposed the true horror of Stalinism; and the 21st century badly needs a similar expose to break the pro-Islamist left away from their cruel sympathy with another totalitarian system, argues Benjamin Jones.
Robert Conquest,... Read More »
Christians shouldn’t put self-interest above Britain’s need to better integrate
Posted: Fri, 31 Jul 2015 by Stephen Evans
The long history of Christian involvement in state education shouldn't stand in the way of a more integrated education system, argues Stephen Evans.
No sooner had David Cameron finished delivering his landmark speech on extremism which stressed the need for... Read More »
