Podcasts

Ep 27: Unregistered (illegal) schools with Eve Sacks

Ep 27: Unregistered (illegal) schools with Eve Sacks

Posted: Thu, 4th Jun 2020

In this episode, Emma Park discusses unregistered faith schools, particularly in the Hasidic community, with Eve Sacks of the Jewish anti-extremist organisation Nahamu.

Eve has spent years engaging with members of the ultra-orthodox community in London. They discuss issues in registered independent schools and the prevalence of unregistered schools where boys aged 13 to 18 are sent to receive religious instruction with little or no secular education. There is also evidence that boys who do not perform well in their studies receive corporal punishment. The result is that they leave school utterly unequipped to participate in civil society.

Efforts to tackle these 'schools' and similar abuses of children's rights in the registered independent sector have been slow going, while members of the Hasidic community who want a different education for their children often experience severe pressure to conform.

After the interview, Emma speaks to Alastair Lichten, head of education at the NSS, to reflect on the fascinating insights provided by Eve, and the NSS's position on unregistered and faith schools.

Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts

Notes

Preamble to the Indian Constitution

Ep 26: Hindutva with Gita Sahgal

Posted: Thu, 21st May 2020

In this episode, Emma Park speaks to Gita Sahgal, a human rights activist and honorary associate of the NSS, about secularism in India, and the threats it is facing from the Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) movement endorsed by Narendra Modi's government.

Modern India has been a secular state since its foundation in 1947. But since the first election of Modi's government in 2014, as Gita explains, Indian supporters of secularism, pluralism, and the rule of law have been targeted, silenced, and in some cases imprisoned or killed; and the coronavirus pandemic has been used as an opportunity to clamp down on them further.

Gita and Emma also consider how the ideology of Hindutva is bringing its version of Hinduism closer to a monotheistic religion, and how this reinforces its intolerant stance towards Indians who are not Hindus, in particular, the large Muslim minority. Finally, Gita discusses her current work with One Law For All, which is campaigning against sharia law and other religious laws in the UK.

Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts

Notes

Bonus Ep 2: Leo Igwe #FreeMubarakBala

Bonus Ep 2: Leo Igwe #FreeMubarakBala

Posted: Fri, 8th May 2020

This podcast gives an emergency update on the plight of Mubarak Bala, president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria (HAN). Bala was arrested in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, by the police on 28 April, effectively for blasphemy against Islam.

Although he has not yet been formally charged, he remains in custody, probably in Kano state, which is under Sharia law. He appears to be without access to a lawyer or contact with friends or family.

Leo Igwe, founder of the HAN, speaks to Emma Park about what has happened to Bala, why his situation is so dangerous, and what the international community can do to support him. As this emergency podcast has been done at short notice, we apologise for any dip in quality.

Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts

Notes

Image credit: #FreeMubarakBala, Humanists At Risk Facebook page.

Ep 25: American religious exceptionalism and Covid-19

Ep 25: American religious exceptionalism and Covid-19

Posted: Thu, 7th May 2020

This episode is about secularism in the USA, its basis in the American constitution, and its opposition by the religious right.

The NSS's Alastair Lichten interviews Andrew Seidel, an attorney at the Freedom From Religion Foundation. They discuss the narratives of religious exceptionalism and persecution propagated by some on the Christian right – and other tactics which they have used over many years to build up their political influence.

Andrew argues that the Christian right is using a misinterpretation of the first amendment to justify religious gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. He also reveals what organisations like the FFRF are doing to challenge them.

Alastair is then joined by Emma Park to reflect on similarities and differences between the place of religion in the US and UK, and what British secularists can learn from organisations like the FFRF.

Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts

Notes

Ep 24: The history of the NSS – Interview with Bob Forder

Ep 24: The history of the NSS – Interview with Bob Forder

Posted: Thu, 30th Apr 2020

How did the secularist movement begin in Britain? And why should modern supporters of secularism care about its history?

In this week's episode, Emma Park speaks to Bob Forder, a member of the NSS Council and former history teacher, about the origins of secularism in Britain. Bob explains how the secularist movement was, from its early years, bound up with the story of the National Secular Society.

From its origins in local working-class associations, he argues, secularism has always been a socially progressive if not radical movement that has challenged the established hierarchy.

Issues like freedom of speech and of conscience, abolishing the blasphemy laws and providing scientific information about birth control have been at the heart of secularist campaigns, and supported by the NSS, for over 150 years. And, Bob argues, understanding the history of secularism can help reinforce its supporters' sense of purpose, and their shared identity, even today.

Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 Link | Transcripts

Notes

Josephine Macintosh

Ep 23: The NSS at the UN - interview with Josephine Macintosh

Posted: Thu, 16th Apr 2020

In this week's episode, Emma Park speaks to Josephine Macintosh, a solicitor and vice president of the National Secular Society, about her work representing the NSS at the United Nations.

Earlier this year, Josephine attended the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council at Geneva. She made submissions on behalf of the NSS on its objections to male circumcision, proposed reforms to Italian law to counter child abuse in the Catholic Church, and the need for the UK to legislate explicitly against caste discrimination.

She discusses the content of these submissions, the process of presenting them at the UN and lobbying for support, and why it's vital for the NSS to be represented at the international level. She also talks about the constraints that the coronavirus is likely to place on the UN's human rights work.

Follow Emma on Twitter: @DrEmmaPark

Watch this episode on YouTube | Direct MP3 link | Transcripts

Notes

43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council

Protect all children from ritual genital cutting, NSS tells UN

NSS raises Italy's response to child abuse in Catholic Church at UN

The Vatican Is Talking About Clerical Abuse, but Italy Isn't – New York Times

Outlaw caste discrimination

NSS urges UN to push government to pass law on caste discrimination

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