Tags: Community Cohesion
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Stop reflexively saying yes to religious groups
Posted: Fri, 21 Sep 2018 by Chris Sloggett
As councils in north London, police in West Yorkshire and politicians in Westminster pander to religious groups' demands, Chris Sloggett says public bodies should stop taking the line of least resistance.
When you're up against someone who wants something,... Read More »
We can’t build a shared society around segregated schools
Posted: Thu, 15 Mar 2018 by Alastair Lichten
Our education and schools officer examines the education proposals in the Government's new integration strategy, arguing they should lead to a wider discussion of children's rights and facing up to the religious segregation rife in education.
When we talk about... Read More »
'British values': a source of unity in polarised times
Posted: Thu, 05 Oct 2017 by Lottie Moore
Efforts to promote 'British values' in schools are being criticised, mainly on account of their name, but these four clear values already underpin our education, and are something to which we should aspire, argues Lottie Moore.
In 2014 the government made it... Read More »
The PM must be held to account for her faith school obsession
Posted: Thu, 20 Jul 2017 by Chris Sloggett
Theresa May's plans to expand faith schools in Britain are ill-judged. In response, Chris Sloggett argues, it is up to secularists to make a principled case: state education must be grounded in reason and free intellectual enquiry.
Books in the library promoting... Read More »
We need to defend both our lives and our way of life
Posted: Thu, 08 Jun 2017 by Stephen Evans
Terrorist atrocities have a way of bringing the nation together, albeit temporarily. We need a glue to keep us together, to protect our lives and our way of life, writes Stephen Evans.
There's a lot to be said for Britain's calm, defiant response to the threat... Read More »
Living better together: French secularism risks being destroyed by political ambition
Posted: Thu, 25 Aug 2016 by Terry Sanderson
Despite occasional conflicts, France's tradition of secularism has served both social cohesion and religious freedom well. Terry Sanderson argues that misusing secularism for political aims risks undermining both.
The French ban on so-called burkinis –... Read More »
Living better together: What role do Muslims have in building a secular UK?
Posted: Tue, 09 Aug 2016 by Tehmina Kazi
When people learn I run a secularist charity, many are confused about what secularism means and its consequences for non-Christians in the UK, writes Tehmina Kazi of British Muslims for Secular Democracy.
For the last seven years, I have been the director of... Read More »
Living better together: secularism and cohesion
Posted: Fri, 29 Jul 2016 by Stephen Evans
Later this year the NSS will mark its 150th anniversary with a special conference around the theme of 'living better together'. Campaigns director Stephen Evans explains why the time has come for people of all faiths to stand together in supporting secularist... Read More »
Living better together: Muslims and active integration
Posted: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 by Maajid Nawaz
On the theme of living better together, Maajid Nawaz argues that identity policing has further marginalised Muslims and that Britain was wrong to not expect minorities to embrace liberal values.
For years in Britain there has been a pernicious trend to shy... Read More »
David Cameron is right to raise the integration of Muslim women
Posted: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 by National Secular Society
The hysterical response to David Cameron's proposals to help the most disadvantaged Muslim women learn English and improve their lot in life will do far more to alienate British Muslims than anything he has actually said.
According to Government figures 22%... 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 »
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 »
Misrepresenting concerns about Islam won’t make society more cohesive
Posted: Wed, 08 Jul 2015 by Benjamin Jones
Recent polling found that 56% of Britons think Islam poses a threat to democracy. However this finding has been misrepresented to suggest that British people think Muslims themselves are a "threat".
When asked, "does Islam (not fundamentalist groups) pose... Read More »
Academics call for greater sensitivity about religion in universities, but students suggest it’s not an issue
Posted: Fri, 19 Jun 2015 by National Secular Society
Some academics are giving undue prominence to religion and religious students- when the evidence shows they are exaggerating the scale of the 'problem' they describe.
Tariq Modood, professor of sociology at the University of Bristol, and Professor Craig Calhoun,... Read More »
‘Spiritual influence’, democracy and free expression
Posted: Tue, 19 May 2015 by Alastair Lichten
Religious voting blocs and sectarian and divisive politics harm society and can undermine democracy. But are laws that potentially restrict free expression the answer? Alastair Lichten considers the charge of 'undue spiritual influence'.
Many student unions... Read More »
Most Britons aren’t religious- but are religious ‘voting blocs’ wielding increasing power in our elections?
Posted: Wed, 06 May 2015 by Benjamin Jones
Religious leaders are wielding disproportionate influence in this election. Benjamin Jones argues that this is likely to get worse, and politicians should resist the urge to treat religious people as blocs.
While the religious are declining as a share of the... Read More »
Even the chief architect of the expansion of religious schools is now having doubts
Posted: Wed, 01 Apr 2015 by Terry Sanderson
With the public, of all faiths and none, increasingly recognising the problems caused by faith schools, NSS president Terry Sanderson calls out politicians who complain about religious separatism on one hand while deliberately promoting it on the other.
Tony... Read More »
GP Taylor: Why faith has no place in our schools
Posted: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 by GP Taylor
Many principled people of faith oppose religious privilege in state schools. Former Anglican priest GP Taylor makes an impassioned case for secularism as a basis for equally inclusive education.
As a priest, I was always suspicious of the new parent lurking... Read More »
Britain First – foot soldiers of a ‘Christian Nation’?
Posted: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 by Alastair Lichten
When mainstream politicians endorse the 'Christian Nation' narrative they feed both Muslim and Christian persecution complexes and pander to the far-right, argues Alastair Lichten.
Elements in the current government like to promote the dog whistle message that... Read More »
Tower Hamlets and the Dangers of Communal Politics
Posted: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 by Rumy Hasan
Last week, the accountancy firm PwC, in its audit of Tower Hamlets Council and its Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, catalogued very serious failings. The case sheds light on a troubling phenomenon: communal politics. We are well aware of the divisive, sectarian politics... Read More »
25 years: women working against fundamentalism in the UK
Posted: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 by Nira Yuval-Davis and Sukhwant DhaliwalI
An interview with Nira Yuval-Davis and Sukhwant Dhaliwal, co-editors of the new book telling the story of Women Against Fundamentalism, an organisation set up in 1989 by women of many faiths and none to work at the interface of feminism and anti-racism. The... Read More »
Religion “mustn't cause violence”
Posted: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 by Alistair McBay
Both media commentators and politicians seem keen to claim religion as a cause for good deeds but determined not to acknowledge it as a contributing factor to bad ones, argues Alistair McBay.
An article in the Scotsman in May by Joyce McMillan ran with the... Read More »
Schools and the failure of multiculturalism and multifaithism
Posted: Tue, 17 Jun 2014 by Rumy Hasan
Rumy Hasan argues, faith based identity politics have contributed to an increasingly divisive school system, which undermines children's right to a broad, critical and tolerant secular education.
The spat between Michael Gove and Theresa May focuses on the... Read More »
Yes, “faith schools” really are the problem
Posted: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 by Terry Sanderson
Politicians are in denial over the problems caused by "faith schools" and religious influence in education, argues Terry Sanderson.
The National Secular Society has been saying it for years – "faith schools" are a bad idea. And despite the events of the... Read More »
'Trojan horses' in Birmingham schools should come as no surprise
Posted: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 by Rumy Hasan
With powerful religious agendas which reach far beyond faith schools and insufficient protections for community schools, Rumy Hasan argues, the so called 'Operation Trojan Horse' should come as no surprise.
The 'Trojan Horse' plot in Birmingham - where some... Read More »
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