Opinion
Beware the drip drip of religious exemptions
As a theme park lifts its ban on Sikh ceremonial swords, NSS campaigns director Stephen Evans questions the wisdom... Read More »
Ireland’s hospitals: some welcome secularisation
NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood detects a long-overdue and decisive turn towards secularism in publicly... Read More »
The confessional shouldn’t shield child abuse from reporting
The Australian abuse commission is right not to exempt the confessional from reporting obligations, and its rigour... Read More »
Newcastle: what's faith got to do with it?
A group of mainly Muslim men has been convicted for sexual abuse in another British city. Amid a predictable response,... Read More »
Food for thought! Imposing worship in Australian schools
Blinkers go on when the topic is religion. So one parent in a Queensland school thought she would use food to explain... Read More »
Sam Brownback: Trump’s new man is no fan of religious freedom
The record of President Trump's new nominee exposes the hypocrisy of the US religious right. Chris Sloggett argues... Read More »
The BBC is overdoing religion
New figures show that the BBC is devoting hundreds of hours of programming to religion each year. NSS president Terry... Read More »
Church of England’s links with insurer undermines justice for survivors of clergy abuse
Anglican abuse victims believe the Church's close links with its insurer results in lower settlements to victims.... Read More »
Intolerant religion mustn’t dictate England’s education policy
The government is under fire over proposals to lift the cap on faith-based admissions in faith schools. Stephen Evans... Read More »
Never mind joining SACREs, we should be abolishing them
A parent's legal challenge to the exclusion of a humanist representative from the local body responsible for overseeing... Read More »
The PM must be held to account for her faith school obsession
Theresa May's plans to expand faith schools in Britain are ill-judged. In response, Chris Sloggett argues, it is up... Read More »
Separate is not equal – not in this ‘faith’ school
Turning a blind eye to discriminatory gender discrimination in Islamic schools would be disaster for future generations... Read More »
The greater the religious fervency, the greater the homophobia
On Pride weekend, NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood highlights the interconnectedness between the fight for... Read More »
The Church can’t be allowed to carry on marking its own homework
The Church concealed evidence of criminality and colluded to protect an abusive bishop. Only external oversight will... Read More »
Anti-Muslim hate must be challenged. Silencing criticism of Islam won’t help
Both the Government and civil-society have a role to play in challenging anti-Muslim hate, but efforts to silence... Read More »
Abortion ruling is a missed opportunity to recognise the disparity in women’s reproductive health rights across the UK
Ensuring that NHS abortion services are made available, free of charge, to UK citizens travelling from Northern Ireland... Read More »
Was Tim Farron a secularist?
Tim Farron was a classic secularist, but found himself unable to reconcile his personal faith and his party's socially... Read More »
Scottish care provider’s decision to drop faith test should prompt a rethink over equality exceptions
When religious organisations are delivering state-funded public services they should neither discriminate nor proselytize... Read More »
“Glastonbury of Freethinkers”: conference on freedom of conscience and expression
Saturday 22 – Monday 24 July will see activists from around the world gather for a weekend of discussions and... Read More »
What happens next? Some thoughts on the election and the challenges to come
The dust is beginning to settle. Whether you're delighted, dismayed or just surprised by last night's results there... Read More »
We need to defend both our lives and our way of life
Terrorist atrocities have a way of bringing the nation together, albeit temporarily. We need a glue to keep us together,... Read More »
Irish National Maternity Hospital: “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries!”
The determination to give a hospital to a disgraced religious order, in spite of public outrage, is the very antithesis... Read More »
What do the main parties have to say on secular issues?
The Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties have all released their manifestos for the General Election.... Read More »
Why we need a 21st century RE for all
2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the Education Reform Act 1988 which saw the introduction of a national curricular... Read More »
The Catholic Church’s abuse scandal shows no sign of abating
After forty years the Catholic Church is still more interested in protecting itself and its clerical culture than... Read More »
