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
1. 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.
2. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
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“Learning Jihad”: new report on campus extremism has launch event cancelled by the University of West London
Posted: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 13:30
A new report from Sharia Watch UK (SWUK) has revealed the shocking reach of Islamist speakers on UK university campuses. The report, which warned of the dangers of censorship on campuses, was due to be released on Wednesday 12 November at an event at the University of West London. However, the University has now cancelled the launch, apparently citing concerns over "PR" and the "balance" of the event.
The SWUK research is littered with examples of Islamist speakers making anti-Semitic remarks, deriding 'Western' notions of Human Rights, advocating female genital mutilation and calling for a raft of strict sharia punishments like stoning adulterers to death.
The speakers (all male) in question have all appeared between February and July of 2014 at events on British university campuses.
They include men like Saleem Chagtai, who equated apostasy with "treason", and Yusuf Chambers, who "supports the death penalty for homosexuality".
Other men to have spoken at UK universities include Azzam Tamini, who described suicide bombing as "a noble cause" and told an audience that "you shouldn't be afraid of being labelled extreme, radical or terrorist". Tamini is quoted as saying, "if fighting for your home land is terrorism, I take pride in being a terrorist. The Koran tells me if I die for my homeland, I'm a martyr and I long to be a martyr".
Another guest speaker, Asim Qureshi, made statements that Sharia Watch have called "direct incitement to engage in acts of terror". Qureshi said that suicide bombings should be called "martyrdom operations" and that it was "incumbent" upon all Muslims to "support the jihad of our brothers and sisters" when they are "facing the oppression of the west".
One of the common themes throughout the statements cited in the report is a complete rejection of any human-made law, in principle. Abu Salahudeen said his belief that, "voting for man to make law is shirk [forbidden]," was what "made him a Muslim", alongside "rising against the apostate leaders of Muslim countries today" and "believing that all innovations are bad".
Murtaza Khan, whom Sharia Watch call a "staunch misogynist, Islamic supremacist, and anti-Semite", argued that "the reality of Islamic law" is that "it has come to supersede, to override all other ways of life".
Many of the men in question are affiliated with the Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA), which is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission. The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain published research in May which labelled the organisation a hate group. It found iERA affiliated speakers had praised the holocaust, advocated for the "divine mandate" of domestic abuse of women and called jihad a "responsibility" for all Muslims.
Aside from collating statements made by Islamist speakers, the Sharia Watch report also draws attention to the growing danger of "censorship that is widespread on UK campuses on matters deemed insulting to Islam".
This also follows news last month that the National Union of Students had refused to condemn the Islamic State, after fears that the move could be seen as 'Islamophobic'. A vote on a new motion with alternative wording is now to be considered, but the University of Exeter is already holding a student referendum on whether to disaffiliate from the NUS after the Union's failure to condemn ISIS.
Anne-Marie Waters, of Sharia Watch UK, said that "none of the information we have put together in this report should come as any surprise. For decades now, Islamists have had a tight grip on British universities - much of it propped up by Saudi Arabia. We've seen a rise in anti-Semitism - even from lecturers towards Jewish students - gender segregation, anti-Western rhetoric, and all of it is facilitated and defended by a Left-wing elitism within student unions".
Waters added, "it is high time it was acknowledged and tackled, and it is time we recognised the impact that Islam on campus is having on young British Muslims, and their increasing contribution to global terrorism".
One 'judge' of the Islamic Sharia Council of East London, who spoke at British universities this year, is quoted asking: "Who is going to put a system to stop fornication? Or to lash those who fornicate? Who can put a legislation to stone the adulterers and the adulterer? Who can do that? It is the lawmakers. Those who can do that are the people in charge. Those who are having power. Those people they can establish the Islamic system in its totality."
The National Secular Society, which campaigns for the separation of Church and State, said that the "prevalence of Islamist speakers on UK campuses is extremely disturbing. Attempts to undermine, or replace, the institutions of the British state with parallel sharia systems must be exposed."
The Sharia Watch research also takes note of formalised links between British universities and the Islamic world, and the large number of donations to UK institutions from majority Muslim countries.
The report cites the example of the London School of Economics, who accepted a gift of £1.5 million from Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and names Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, University College London, the London School of Economics, Exeter, Dundee, and City University as recipients of donations from "Arab and Muslim donors".
The "Learning Jihad" dossier raises concerns that these donations are influencing the teaching at recipient universities, and serving to promote Islamism in British institutions.
The report is due to be released on the Sharia Watch UK website on the 13 November. At the time of writing, the University of West London has not commented on their decision to cancel the debate.
NSS calls on Welsh Government to review compulsory collective worship
Posted: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 14:40
The National Secular Society has called on the Welsh government to review the legal requirement on schools to provide worship after parents expressed concern about prayers being imposed on children in non-denominational schools.
A number of parents from Wales have contacted the National Secular Society (NSS) complaining of "excessive worship", with reports of children being made to pray up to four times a day – without parents being informed.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said the imposition of worship in schools is causing a "moral dilemma" for many parents who don't want a Christian upbringing for their child, but at the same time don't find withdrawal an acceptable solution due to the emotional upset this causes for very young children.
Mr Evans said: "We are increasingly hearing from parents concerned about proselytising within their children's schools, often in the form or excessive worship or assemblies being led by priests or evangelical groups. The obligation on all schools to provide a daily act of 'broadly Christian' worship is clearly providing a foot in the door for individuals and organisations with evangelistic intentions.
The National Secular Society has now written to the Welsh Minister for Education and Skills, Huw Lewis AM, calling on him to urgently review the legal obligation on Welsh schools to provide worship – and to ensure that schools properly respect their pupils' religious freedoms.
Simon Blake, whose son attends Cross Hands Community Primary School in Carmarthenshire, said he was shocked to find out that pupils are required to pray between three to four times every day.
According to Mr Blake, nursery school children pray before the day begins, during the roll-call. In addition, all children pray before lunch, at the daily afternoon assembly, and last thing before they leave for the day.
He said the nature of the worship makes withdrawal completely impractical.
Mr Blake told the NSS; "I attended a secondary school whose head and deputy were both church ministers, yet they never asked non-Christians to participate in any Christian assemblies, nor were we asked to pray at any other time. I attended school over twenty years ago in another Welsh valley which was every bit as Christian as this one is. This situation does seem to me to be abnormal and of great concern."
Another parent whose children attend a Welsh Medium School in Caerphilly has also complained of excessive Christian worship at his daughter's non-faith school.
He told the NSS: "Prayers are held before assembly, after assembly, before they eat their lunch and again before they leave school. My daughter has asked to be left out of worship, but the headteacher implied that it would be discriminatory to my child as they will have to be moved in and out of assembly twice, out of the dinner hall for a period and then out of the class/ hall at the end of the day."
"When I suggested that the way the school had set up collective worship makes it discriminatory towards pupils who don't wish to attend, I was told the school wouldn't be changing the set up."
Parents say that after lodging their concerns with the Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs) and Local Authorities, their objections have been brushed aside, with Local Authorities pointing out the legal requirement on schools to hold worship.
A compulsory daily act of collective worship is a legal requirement in England and Wales. Education is a devolved matter and the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Welsh Office Circular 10/94 set out the legal requirements for collective worship in schools in Wales.
The guidance in Welsh Office Circular 10/94 informs schools that collective worship must "reflect something special or separate from ordinary school activities and it should be concerned with reverence or veneration paid to a divine being or power." The inspectorate of schools in Wales, Estyn, has a remit to inspect acts of worship in all school that do not provide a denominational education.
Mr Evans said: "Any imposition of worship in schools encroaches on the civil rights of both parents and pupils. A law that requires worship cannot be justified on educational grounds and is incompatible with a genuine commitment to religious freedom. The time has surely come to consign laws requiring religious worship to history."
