The UK is one of the last western democracies with a state religion: the Church of England.
The Church's entanglement with the state is bad for both.
Join our campaign to disestablish the Church.
CAMPAIGN ALERT: Support the disestablishment bill
In November 2023, a private member's bill to disestablish the Church of England was selected in the ballot.
Please write to your MP and urge them to support this bill, to make the UK are more equitable and democratic country for people of all religions and beliefs.
Since our founding in 1866, one of our primary objectives has been disestablishment of the Church of England: its formal separation from the state.
More than 150 years later, census figures show most people in England and Wales are not Christian. Surveys consistently reveal a similar picture in Scotland. The case for disestablishment has never been stronger.
Disestablishment means the Church would no longer have privileged input into government - but also that government could not involve itself in the running of the Church. Both sides would gain autonomy. This is why support for Church-state separation can be found within the CofE itself.
There have been many proponents, religious and non-religious, for church-state separation, and there are a wide variety of motivations for supporting this reform.
The existence of a legally-enshrined national religion privileges one part of the population, one institution and one set of beliefs. Removing all symbolic and institutional ties between government and religion is the only way to ensure equal treatment to citizens of all religions and none.
The Church of England has enjoyed significant privileges relating its established status for many centuries. These privileges have remained largely unchanged despite the massive and continuing reduction in support for the Church in the UK. It is highly likely that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future, making the Church of England's continuation as the established church unsustainable.
- Christians are a minority in Britain. In Wales and Scotland the majority have no religion.
- Just 1% of 18-24 year olds say they belong to the Church of England.
- Less than 1% of the population regularly attend Church of England church services.
The Church of England is also out of step with the UK public on several key issues: it remains opposed to same-sex relationships and allows parishes to reject women as bishops and priests. These discriminatory positions cannot be reconciled with the Church's status as part of the UK state.
And no institution with the shameful historical record of the Church of England safeguarding and abuse should retain its privileged role in the British establishment.
The existence of a legally enshrined national religion privileges one part of the population, one institution and one set of beliefs. Removing all symbolic and institutional ties between government and religion is the only way to ensure equal treatment of citizens of all religions and none.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to support the separation of church and state
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Turkish President restates his belief that Muslims discovered America
Posted: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 13:45
Christopher Columbus has been removed from the Turkish school syllabus after President Erdogan claimed Muslim sailors discovered the Americas in the 12th century.
In his initial remarks, reported over the weekend, Erdogan said; "it is alleged that the American continent was discovered by Columbus in 1492. In fact, Muslim sailors reached the American continent 314 years before Columbus, in 1178."
The President has since defended his comments, which were widely mocked, stating that his critics "have never believed a Muslim can do such a thing."
Columbus has now been removed from Turkish school textbooks, and President Erdogan said that "an objective writing of history will show the contribution of the East, the Middle East and Islam to the sciences and arts."
In spite of apparently widespread derision, including criticism from opposition newspapers, Erdogan stood by his comments. Suggesting that his theory should be taught in Turkish classrooms, he said that "a big responsibility falls on the shoulders of the national education ministry."
"If this history of science is written objectively, it will be seen that Islamic geography's contribution to science is much better than what's known."
The Turkish President hit out at critics, saying that "very respected scientists in Turkey and the world" agree with his theory but that "some youth of our country have begun objecting to this without doing any research or paying attention to discussions. Not only youths, but also some very senior figures have begun disputing it."
Erdogan's claim is based on a description in Columbus' diaries, where the explorer described a mountain as being Mosque-like. The Times (£) reports that "most historians believe it was a metaphor to describe the shape of a mountain" rather than a literal description of an actual Mosque.
Erdogan is seen to have moved Turkey away from secularism in the past decade, and today Mark Lowen reports for the BBC that "Erdogan's 'New Turkey' drifts towards isolation." Erdogan's rule has also seen several steps towards authoritarianism and Islamism, The Economist reports that the number of Sunni clerical schools has doubled in the past five years alone.
The removal of Christopher Columbus is not the only change made to Turkey's beleaguered textbooks. Two weeks ago, AFP reported that pictures of genitals in biology textbooks had been replaced with images of "fluffy ducklings, cute polar bears and a human mother with her newborn baby."
After new "moral codes" were introduced by Erdogan's government, a number of "sexually explicit" words like "breast" have also been removed, according to the report.
Erdogan's remarks are similar to improbable claims made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, who argued that genetic science and cosmetic surgery were first invented by ancient Indians.
Modi cited Karna and Ganesha as evidence of this ancient scientific knowledge and said: "We can feel proud of what our country achieved in medical science at one point of time. We all read about Karna in the Mahabharata. If we think a little more, we realise that the Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his mother's womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is why Karna could be born outside his mother's womb."
"We worship Lord Ganesha. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time who got an elephant's head on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgery."
Glasgow University investigates impact and extent of religious privilege
Posted: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 10:23
Researchers in the history and law departments of Glasgow University are beginning a research project to map the historical and current religious privileges in Scotland's laws. The report will look at many areas including education and marriage as well as religious exemptions to equality laws.
The 10 month project will be led by History professor Callum Brown and law professor Jane Mair along with Dr Thomas Green, a research assistant in the School of Law. Dr Green, who holds a PhD in ecclesiastical history from the University of Edinburgh's School of Divinity, will be carrying out much of the research. Dr Green told the Herald Scotland that such studies were previously carried out by ecclesiastical lawyers but that his research would be a 21st century version.
Professor Callum Brown, a social and cultural historian whose research interests include the social and cultural history of religion and secularisation, said that project would be the most complete guide to the role of religion in the Scottish state since the Victorian Age.
Professor Mair said that legal study of religion has long been seen as an historical rather than living subject and that contemporary legal systems were viewed as essentially secular. However recently "Driven by a combination of different and quite separate forces religion has re-emerged in law as a complex and highly contested concept."
Mair, who has written extensively on discrimination in employment and family law – including the implications of religious exemptions, said some of the rise in the interest could be attributed to, "the protection of religious thought and belief through human rights and equality legislation; by the strong sound of religious voices in public debate and political consultation and by the visible presence of migrant communities who wish to live according to their own religion."
Mair added that such issues are not only the subject of public debate but are increasingly being tested in courts: "With increasing regularity, judges are being faced with very difficult decisions: what is religion, how should it be defined and how, if it all, can or should it be distinguished from other forms of belief; to what extent should religious employees be permitted to wear the symbols of their belief at work; should civil courts take account of religious arbitration in resolving family disputes and how should religious beliefs be measured against the belief in equality?"
Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) chief executive Douglas McLellan told the Herald Scotland that he was "delighted that this opportunity has arisen. The HSS is investing £40,000 in this project to provide an exceptional level of research into the privileges enjoyed by religion in Scots law."
"The HSS believes that for Scotland to progress as a fair and equal nation, it needs to be a nation with no special laws, practises or exemptions for religions or religious organisations."
Professor Brown said: "We're interested in religious privilege, which is by and large now being eroded by human rights legislation from the EU, Westminster and Holyrood. Recent legislation has specifically sought to create an equality between those who have a religious belief and those who do not."
The National Secular Society said it was looking forward to reading the projects findings and expressed hope that it could lead to a renewed academic interest in studying religious privilege as a legal and social phenomenon, in the same way that other forms of privilege have been increasingly well studied over the last three decades.
The research, which covers all religions, was labelled 'anti-Christian propaganda' by Rev David Robertson, recently named as the new moderator of the Free Church of Scotland Robertson appeared to suggest that Professor Brown identifying as a humanist would inherently bias the academic study. A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow however welcomed the "area of legitimate research".
Alastair McBay, the National Secular Society's spokesperson for Scotland, said: "The study of privilege is well-respected and covered in countless university courses across Scotland. To object to such an academic study simply because the form of privilege under investigation is religious reflects a desperate desire to keep such privileges beyond question."
See also: A Religious Revival, an article by Jane Mair on why her research is an important area of legal interest.
