Tags: Reviews
God, Guys and Guns. A review of The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
Posted: Thu, 14 Jun 2018 by Emma Park
Emma Park on what Margaret Atwood's modern dystopian classic (and its TV adaptation) tells us about the relationship between theocracy, gender and self-identity. Read More »
What comes after The Silence of the Liberals?
Posted: Fri, 16 Mar 2018 by Chris Sloggett
Nick Cohen has skewered the hypocrisy of leftists who apologise for Islamic intolerance, says Chris Sloggett. To defeat it we must assert the value of free speech as the most precious right which citizens share. Read More »
Book review: 'Persepolis'
Posted: Tue, 16 Jan 2018 by Megan Manson
In light of the recent protests in Iran, and the rise of Islamist extremism throughout the world, Megan Manson looks back at the graphic novel Persepolis, published nearly 20 years ago. Read More »
Book review: ‘The rage: the vicious circle of Islamist and far-right extremism’
Posted: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 by Dale Claridge
Julia Ebner's new book explores the symbiotic relationship between Islamist and (other) far right extremism, how Islamist and anti-Muslim narratives feed each other, and how we can challenge both. Read More »
Book review: ‘The Jesus Candidate: Political religion in a secular age’
Posted: Fri, 06 Oct 2017 by Megan Manson
Megan Manson considers the importance of the Christian secularist view in James Paul Lusk's book. Lusk argues that attempts to re-establish Christian religious privilege, and roll back equalities, undermine religious freedom. Read More »
Lessons from the frontline of Islamic fundamentalism
Posted: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 by Megan Manson
Megan Manson explores autobiographies by two Muslim secularists whose lives have been directly intertwined with Islamist extremism, and asks if the secular pluralism extremists most fear could be our best hope. Read More »
Review: The Battle for British Islam, by Sara Khan with Tony McMahon
Posted: Thu, 27 Oct 2016 by Benjamin Jones
There are three million Muslims in the UK. The evidence shows they are becoming more religiously conservative, thousands are thought to have joined Islamic State; vast majorities would criminalise blasphemy and homosexuality. What hope is there?
'The Battle... Read More »
Book review: 'Christian Nation' by Frederic C. Rich
Posted: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 by Alastair Lichten
Alastair Lichten explores the themes of identity, resilience and redemption in Frederic C. Rich's counterfactual dystopian novel and its defence of secular democracy. Read More »
Spotlight: This hard-hitting film salutes the journalists who exposed the power of a deeply corrupt institution
Posted: Thu, 28 Jan 2016 by Keith Porteous Wood
Keith Porteous Wood previews Spotlight, the hard-hitting film which depicts the Boston Globe's investigation into the cover-up of child sex abuse by the Catholic Church. Read More »
The English Catholic Church and the Sex Abuse Crisis
Posted: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 by Richard Scorer
In England, Catholic leaders have fostered the impression that the English church has been relatively scandal-free, and that such problems as did exist were eliminated by the Nolan reforms. A new book by Richard Scorer, head of the abuse unit at Slater & Gordon lawyers, interrogates that claim. Read More »
Book Review: The Public Woman by Joan Smith
Posted: Thu, 30 May 2013 by Elizabeth O’Casey
In her new book, The Public Woman, NSS Honorary Associate Joan Smith surveys the state of women's rights today and calls for a reconfiguration of the public space. Elizabeth O'Casey reviews it. Read More »
Where there is state religion, there is less freedom
Posted: Thu, 04 Apr 2013 by Elizabeth O'Casey
A recent paper by Professor Steven Kettell shows that state religion is consistently associated with lower levels of political and civil freedom, and suggests the secular model as the best means to protect and promote human rights and freedom. Read More »
Interculturalism: The new era of cohesion and diversity
Posted: Wed, 19 Sep 2012 by National Secular Society
In an important new book, Ted Cantle argues that multiculturalism, while seeking to protect minority communities and cultures, has led to a society of plural mono-cultures living alongside each other, where groups different than oneself are identified solely by their most visible characteristics. Read More »
Dare To Stand Alone: The Story of Charles Bradlaugh
Posted: Fri, 04 Feb 2011 by Terry Sanderson
Charles Bradlaugh, the man who founded the National Secular Society in 1866, had a short but dramatic life, which is vividly portrayed in this new biography. Reviewed by Terry Sanderson. Read More »
