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
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2. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Release British doctor accused of blasphemy, urges UK human rights group
Posted: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 12:26
A UK-based human rights organisation is calling on the authorities in Pakistan to release a 72-year-old doctor who was arrested for 'posing as a Muslim' after being secretly filmed by a patient at his surgery.
Global Minorities Alliance, a Glasgow-based human rights organisation that advocates for the rights of minority communities the world over, denounced the imprisonment as a further example of Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws being used to persecute minorities and whip up religious hatred rather than seek justice in a country that is increasingly being divided by violence.
Mr Masood Ahmad, a member of the Ahmadiyya community, was charged under Pakistan's anti-Ahmadiyya blasphemy legislation after a religious leader posing as a patient attended his homeopathy clinic in Lahore and secretly recorded him reading a verse from the Quran.
Mr Ahmad, who has dual Pakistani/UK nationality and previously lived in London, was arrested shortly after and is now in prison awaiting trial. He has been refused bail and there have been calls from the angry mobs that gathered outside the courthouse for him to face the death penalty.
"In the past the police and the courts generally did not accept such accusations where the accuser had himself approached an Ahmadi at his home or job to discuss faith matters" said a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan. "It is noteworthy that while the political leadership repeatedly condemns sectarianism and extremism in public, it encourages its law officers to upgrade and intensify religious prosecution of Ahmadis".
Ahmadis belong to the minority Ahmadiyya sect, which has the Quran as their holy book but believes that there was a Prophet after Muhammad. In 1984 they were declared 'non-Muslims' under Pakistani law. The Pakistan Penal Code 298- C states:
"An Ahmadi who refers to his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates his faith, or invites others to accept his faith, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims will be punished with up to three years in prison and is liable to pay a fine."
Laws like this leave Ahmadis at frequent risk of persecution, as accusations of blasphemy are often levelled in situations where there are personal grudges to be settled or where religious extremists have previously preached against the community; for example, some hard-line Mullahs claim that killing an Ahmadi would earn someone a place in heaven.
Speaking on the phone to Global Minorities Alliance, Mr Ahmad's son, Abbas Ahmad, said:
"My father has not made any mistakes or acted against the law. Anyone can listen to or read the Quran. He has never done anything wrong.
"We urge the Pakistan government to release my father so that he can be reunited with his family. I have been born and brought up in Pakistan and we believe the anti-Ahmadi laws are being misused by the public. Ahmadis are given less protection and such laws should be abolished".
Shahid Khan, Vice-Chairperson of Global Minorities Alliance, echoes Mr Ahmad's calls:
"We call on the Pakistan government to better protect its minorities to stop people like Mr Ahmad from being imprisoned over very trivial matters.
"We also demand that the government repeal anti-Ahmadiyya legislation. People are having their livelihoods destroyed and their families left devastated, all because they said the wrong thing to the wrong person and live in a country governed by laws which are used to persecute rather than prosecute. In this case it was even a private conversation which Mr Ahmad did not realise was being recorded, and one where he was encouraged to discuss religion by someone who was deliberately trying to entrap him.
"The government of Pakistan deliberately looks the other way while more and more people from the various minority communities are imprisoned for blasphemy. This is discrimination rather than justice and should stop before more violent acts are committed against minorities in the name of protecting the majority".
Mirza Waqas Ahmad, President of the UK Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, said:
"Dr Masood Ahmad is yet another victim of the infamous blasphemy laws, which specifically target and infringe on the basic human rights of Ahmadi Muslims and are a root cause of extremism and violence in Pakistan today. The international community needs to take collective action to bring an end to this state sponsored persecution of Ahmadi Muslims".
Abdul Abid, President of the Ahmadiyya Community in Scotland, agrees:
"It is not the fault of extremists who are using the law. It is the fault of the state that these laws were introduced on the demand of extreme members of the clergy, thus the government encouraged extremism and is now paying the price as the situation is out of control".
Pakistan's blasphemy laws do not only disadvantage Ahmadis, however. Last year, two bomb blasts in a Peshawar church left more than 60 dead and more than 100 injured. The church had previously received bomb threats but the authorities did not follow up on them, meaning the minority Christian community was not protected. In the aftermath of the attacks, Christians were arrested on blasphemy charges for protesting.
"This shows what can happen if the persecution of a minority community is allowed to continue unchecked," said Mr Khan. "Mr Ahmad may be one case but that is just the tip of the iceberg; around 20 Ahmadis were murdered in 2012 for their faith, and if the Pakistan authorities continue to do nothing then this will only escalate".
This article originally appeared in Pakistan Christian Post and is reproduced with kind permission.
Parliamentary candidate Maajid Nawaz under pressure for posting Jesus and Mo cartoon on twitter
Posted: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 21:03
A petition has been set up on Change.org in support of Maajid Nawaz, the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, who posted an innocuous 'Jesus and Mo' cartoon on his Twitter timeline and stated that he, as a Muslim, was not offended by the content.
His tweet followed a BBC Big Questions programme in which the cartoons were discussed and Maajid Nawaz was included as a studio guest. The cartoon depicts Jesus and Mo saying 'Hey' and 'How ya doin'" to each other.
Maajid is the co-founder and chair of the anti-extremism think tank Quilliam.
Following his tweet on 12 January, Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation, Muslim commentator Mo Ansar and Bradford Respect MP George Galloway all took to Twitter calling for calling for Maajid Nawaz to be ousted from the post of the Liberal Democrats' PPC. A petition was then set up calling on Nick Clegg to remove Nawaz.
A counter petition has now been set up calling on the Liberal Democrats to give Nawaz their full support.
Organisers of the petition said: "Islamists and political opponents have mounted a campaign against Maajid Nawaz, resulting in numerous threats to his life. We note that this campaign, rather than being based on legitimate concerns of Muslims, is a political campaign which is being spear-headed by a group of Muslim reactionaries with a track record of promoting extremism. They are seeking to use Muslim communities in order to whip up hatred against a liberal and secular Muslims. We are concerned that this campaign will also be used by anti-Muslim extremists as evidence of Muslim intolerance and incompatibility with liberal values which could, in turn, fuel anti-Muslim bigotry."
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society said: "We simply can't have a climate where politicians are intimidated into silence by people who believe they have a right not to have their religious sensibilities offended. Anything other than complete Liberal Democrat support for Maajid could have a very chilling effect on free speech in this country."
You can add your name to the petition in support of Maajid here.
