Opinion

Classroom

The government should stand up to parents who want religious opt-outs

Giving ground to religious groups' individualistic demands for opt-outs from relationships & sex education undermines... Read More »

Medical scissors

The BMA’s genital cutting guidance is a disturbing departure from evidence-based, patient-centred policy making

The body which represents doctors has missed the opportunity to take a stand against medically unnecessary child circumcision... Read More »

Ealing Abbey

IICSA's Ealing hearings showed the Catholic Church can't be trusted to police itself

An inquiry has highlighted the Catholic Church's lamentable failings over child abuse at an abbey and school in west... Read More »

Pope

21 steps the pope would take if he was committed to tackling child abuse

As the Catholic Church unveils another inadequate plan to tackle child abuse, this open letter from Keith Porteous... Read More »

Ballymena church

Northern Ireland: where Protestants and Catholics don’t need to be Protestants or Catholics

Northern Ireland's equalities practices are furthering the harmful narrative that the country is made up of two communities... Read More »

Faith schools protest

Integrated communities require inclusive, secular schools

A government plan on integration sets out a positive vision on education - but faith schools remain the elephant in... Read More »

Doctor and patient

Religious dogma still clouds assisted dying debate

As the Royal College of Physicians consults its members over assisted dying, Stephen Evans says we should be aware... Read More »

Catholic abuse scandals: why self policing always fails

Catholic abuse scandals: why self policing always fails

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has turned its attention to child sexual abuse at Ealing Abbey and... Read More »

A secular education system would mean community schools for all

A secular education system would mean community schools for all

The 1944 Education Act set many of the foundations of our education system. At the time the Church of England –... Read More »

Barbara Smoker

Barbara Smoker’s remarkable life should inspire us all

Former NSS president Barbara Smoker's book My Godforsaken Life: Memoir of a Maverick reminds us of the value of ordinary... Read More »

Prayers

Institutionalised prayer doesn't belong in parliament

As MPs launch a motion against parliamentary prayers, NSS CEO Stephen Evans says ending the anachronistic custom would... Read More »

Hospital A&E

The NHS’s pastoral support shouldn’t be based on religiosity

Moves to introduce humanist chaplaincy services in some NHS hospitals paper over the cracks in a discriminatory service,... Read More »

Sheep

Defending one law for all is the only sustainable way to beat reactionaries of all stripes

As a ban on non-stun slaughter comes into force in northern Belgium, Chris Sloggett says there should be no religious... Read More »

Peace walls... of Belfast, via Wikimedia Commons, © diego_cue [CC BY-SA 3.0]

Northern Ireland's children and families are paying the price of faith schools’ failure

Over the last five years schools in Northern Ireland have experienced a 10% funding cut. While the classroom population... Read More »

Pope Francis

The pope's empty words and meaningless gestures won't tackle clerical abuse

One of the pope's Christmas messages urged clerical abusers to hand themselves in. Keith Porteous Wood asks how effective... Read More »

Hand holding

Weaponised unreasonableness: father claims school standards violate his rights

After a father threatens the government with legal action over a requirement to teach about LGBT people in independent... Read More »

Relativism is undermining liberalism from within

Relativism is undermining liberalism from within

In her book Identity, Islam and the Twilight of Liberal Values, Terri Murray explores attacks on liberalism from the... Read More »

Students should be free to excuse themselves from worship

Students should be free to excuse themselves from worship

After two students pushed the Welsh government for a response to a petition to remove schools' obligation to hold... Read More »

My children’s school has become Christian by default

My children’s school has become Christian by default

Lee Harris didn't choose a faith school for his children. But when he challenged evangelism at his local school, he... Read More »

Unravelling the choice delusion

Unravelling the choice delusion

We often hear that faith schools improve choice. But an NSS report shows that choice centred narratives mischaracterise... Read More »

The gatekeepers of public debate can’t patronise away anti-Muslim bigotry

The gatekeepers of public debate can’t patronise away anti-Muslim bigotry

A parliamentary group's proposal that the government define 'Islamophobia' is a misguided power grab, says Chris Sloggett.... Read More »

Peterloo’s heroes represented the finest traditions of secular democracy

Peterloo’s heroes represented the finest traditions of secular democracy

The film Peterloo is a reminder of the close links between the campaign for church-state separation and the push for... Read More »

Genital cutting and the laws of unintended consequences

Genital cutting and the laws of unintended consequences

This week's developments on ritual genital cutting in the US and Denmark highlight the need to adopt a consistent... Read More »

How secularism protects people who have religious faith

How secularism protects people who have religious faith

For Interfaith Week 2018, campaigns officer Megan Manson explains how the National Secular Society's work protects... Read More »

Time to end criminality and cover-up in the Catholic Church

Time to end criminality and cover-up in the Catholic Church

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has turned its attention to abuse in the Catholic Church's archdiocese... Read More »

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