Democracy cannot exist without the right to free speech.
Free speech should be robustly defended as a fundamental freedom.
The National Secular Society has defended free speech from religious threats since our founding. We played an instrumental role in abolishing "blasphemy" laws in Britain, but serious concerns remain. Blasphemy laws still exist in Northern Ireland. And throughout the UK, religious fundamentalists seek to impose their blasphemy taboos on others through violence and intimidation.
There are also increasing attempts to categorise offending religious sensibilities as 'hate speech', making criticism, mockery or perceived 'insult' of religion a criminal act akin to racial hatred or inciting violence – in other words, a 'blasphemy law by the back door'.
Without free speech no search for truth is possible; without free speech no discovery of truth is useful; without free speech progress is checked… Better a thousand fold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech.
We are further concerned by a developing 'culture of offence' in which any speech or action deemed likely to offend religious sensibilities is considered taboo. Enforced by a toxic mix of terrorism and religious deference, this is chilling free speech through self-censorship.
We also campaign against blasphemy laws around the world, where they continue to be used to target religious and political minorities. These are sometimes described by UK politicians as 'misuse' of blasphemy laws, but we contend there are never any legitimate uses for blasphemy laws.
Being offended from time to time is the price we all pay for living in a free society. Rather than trying to silence those we disagree with, we believe the answer to speech we don't like is more speech – better speech.
We therefore campaign to protect and preserve freedom of expression, including offensive, critical and shocking speech.
What you can do
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Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
NSS discuss rise in religious hate crime with Communities Minister
Posted: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:34
The National Secular Society has met with the Department for Communities and Local Government to discuss the rise in religious hate crime and the ways in which it is tackled.
Fears over anti-Semitic attacks have been particularly acute since the Paris attacks in January, and the NSS has called for more sophisticated tracking of hate crime statistics and trends, to help reduce the instance of religiously-motivated hate crimes, and so that police resources can be best deployed.
At the meeting, NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood and honorary associate Lord Avebury urged DCLG Minister Stephen Williams to consider collecting and publishing more detailed information on hate crimes, so we can better understand the source of the problem. Lord Avebury noted that the dramatic rise in hate crime meant there was a particular urgency to identifying its origins and reducing it.
New figures from the Community Security Trust, an expert body monitoring anti-Semitism in the UK, revealed there were 453 antisemitic incidents which showed far right, anti-Israel or Islamist beliefs or motivations alongside antisemitism in 2014, making up 39% of the overall total of 1,168 antisemitic incidents, compared to 130 incidents showing such ideas or motivations (24%) in 2013.
According to the report: "Of the 453 antisemitic incidents in 2014 showing ideological motivation or beliefs as well as antisemitism, 256 showed anti-Israel motivation or beliefs; 159 showed far right motivation or beliefs; and 38 showed Islamist motivation or beliefs. During the months of July and August [during the Israel–Gaza conflict], the proportion of incidents that showed political motivation alongside antisemitism rose to 54% of the overall total, of which 76% showed anti-Israel motivation alongside evidence of antisemitism."
Mr Porteous Wood said: "Gathering more data about the perpetrators of hate crimes would seem an obvious first step to help stem such crime. There is chronic underreporting of such crimes, and even of those which are reported, very little data is collected; and even less has been published in recent years. There is a suspicion that this has been for reasons of political correctness, which undermines any attempt to tackle the problem effectively."
During the meeting a DCLG representative admitted that the facility to record the religion or belief of both victim and perpetrator already existed, but was seldom used.
The NSS argued that misplaced political correctness should not be allowed to prevent accurate figures on religion and its role in hate crimes from being collected and released, and that, where relevant and verified, the religion of both victim and perpetrator should be recorded in statistics.
The NSS also conveyed concerns to the Minister over religiously-aggravated offences under the Public Order Act, which can result in prison sentences of seven years with a very low prosecution threshold.
The NSS urged the Government to consider increasing the prosecution threshold, reducing the maximum prison sentence, and introduce necessary freedom of expression safeguards.
Given recent events and the climate of fear around terrorism and anti-Semitism, the NSS warned against "knee-jerk reaction" which could damage freedom of expression, whilst urging the Government to do more to build up an accurate statistical model of what was causing religious hate crimes, and where police resources can best be targeted to stopping them.
Also see: Why can't we know the religion of those who commit crimes?
French religious leaders asked to sign free speech declaration
Posted: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 16:34
Reporters Without Borders is asking French religious leaders to sign a statement declaring that "everyone is free to express criticism… of any system of political, philosophical or religious thought."
The Declaration on Freedom of Expression is part of the "Freedom of expression has no religion" campaign.
The push comes amid widespread fears about de facto Islamic blasphemy laws in Europe, and after the Pope made clear his view that freedom of expression has limits where matters of faith and religion are concerned.
The declaration states that "no one's concept of what is sacred may be imposed on others."
The campaign is asking leaders of many different faiths to sign the statement, including Muslims, Christians and Jews. Reporters Without Borders state that they have "sought the support of representatives of France's leading religious organizations" and that several senior figures have already signed the statement, including Dalil Boubakeur, head of the Paris Mosque and the French Council of Muslim Worship; François Clavairoly, who leads the Protestant Federation and Marie-Stella Boussemart, president of the French Buddhist Union.
Grand Rabbi Haïm Korsia is said to support the declaration in principle, and is calling for a "collective response from all members of the French Conference of Religious Leaders", including the "French Conference of Bishops and the French Assembly of Orthodox Bishops."
Reporters Without Borders explain that their goal is "to draw attention to the close relationship between freedom of expression and religious freedom" and "to combat the temptation to restrict freedom of expression."
Jean-Louis Bianco, president of the Secularism Monitoring Centre, said: "This important declaration stresses that freedom of conscience and freedom of expression are closely linked and complementary. Secularism is what unites them because it constitutes a framework that allows the expression of any opinion or belief, within the limits of the freedom of others."
