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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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
Section 5 free speech campaign passes a major hurdle with Lords victory
Posted: Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:19
The Reform Section 5 campaign chalked up a spectacular victory for freedom of expression on Wednesday evening when the House of Lords passed an amendment to remove the word "insulting" from section 5 of the Public Order Act. The win was by a comfortable margin, 150 votes to 54.
The victory was almost unprecedented, because it was achieved in the face of outright opposition from both Conservative and Labour frontbenches, who whipped against the amendment (requiring their members to vote against).
Number 10 admitted that it had not anticipated the defeat, which was a humiliation for the two main parties. To their credit, the Lib Dems, for whom this change is party policy, gave their complete support.
The amendment was tabled by independent peer Lord Dear, himself a former chief police officer. He told peers that "The amendment would herald a very significant victory for freedom of expression". He listed a sample of the many distinguished individuals and organisations that had supported the amendment, including the current and previous Directors of Public Prosecutions, a former Lord Chancellor, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Liberty, Justice, the Peter Tatchell Human Rights Foundation, the Christian Institute and the National Secular Society.
Peers queued up to speak in support of Lord Dear. Not a discordant note was struck until the opposition frontbench peer, Baroness Smith of Basildon, announced that: "We do not want to risk removing a useful tool which currently enables the police to address homophobic and religiously offensive issues." She sought to justify this by giving an example of homophobic bullying which she claimed needed the retention of the word "insulting". Humiliatingly for a frontbench spokesperson, no one else agreed: they were adamant that there were plenty of other parts of the Public Order Act that could be used to prosecute this antisocial behaviour.
The Government spokesperson winding up did little better and was equally unpersuasive. He maintained that the amendment would remove the police's "flexibility ...to respond to hate crime and to defuse tension quickly in public order situations".
Lord Dear insisted on taking it to a vote, pointing out how many peers had come from all corners of the country to take part in this debate: "We have waited far too long for this."
This victory, remarkable as it is to have been achieved in the face of such opposition, is not the end of the fight, however. The Bill revised by this amendment will need to be approved by the House of Commons, where there is also an energetic, supportive campaign led by Rt Hon David Davis MP. So it is to the Commons that we now need to turn our focus.
Earlier there had been wry smiles all round when Lord Dear observed that "The National Secular Society and the Christian Institute are often at odds, but here they stand shoulder to shoulder supporting the amendment." Last night was the culmination of an intense and vigorous campaign by both organisations and Peter Tatchell, who yesterday appeared on the BBC Daily Politics programme taking part in an amusing stunt involving a pantomime horse outside the Home Office. This was preceded by a persuasive appeal by comedian Rowan Atkinson.
The Christian Institute and the NSS, who both accept that they couldn't have achieved this victory without a joint campaign, have lobbied relentlessly and twice written joint letters to peers. Simon Calvert, Campaign Director of RS5, said he was "delighted" at the result and commented: "Freedom of speech is such a vital part of British heritage but this law has seen many people suffer – simply for speaking their mind. Tonight we have seen that the House of Lords does not want this to continue. Now it's up to the Government to decide whether it's going to allow tonight's vote to stand. We hope they'll see sense and allow this important reform to become law."
Watch the House of Lords debate on reforming Section 5. (Runs from 19:07 to 20:08)
Click link to see which Peers voted to remove the word 'insulting' from Section 5
Below: The BBC's Daily Politics discusses reform of Section 5.
Kuwait introduces death penalty for ‘cursing God and prophets’
Posted: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:51
Kuwaiti MPs this week approved a law with a death penalty for Muslims who curse God, the Koran, all prophets and the wives of Islam's Prophet Mohammed. Non-Muslims who commit the same offence face a jail term of not less than 10 years, according to the bill.
Defendants who repent in court will be spared capital punishment but will get a jail sentence for five years and a fine of $36,000 or one of them, while repentance by those who repeat the crime is not acceptable, the bill says.
"We do not want to execute people with opinions or thought because Islam respects these people... But we need this legislation because incidents of cursing God have increased. We need to deter them," opposition MP Ali al-Deqbasi said during the debate.
Shiite MPs also demanded that the bill impose the death penalty on anyone who curses their sect's 12 revered Imams, but the Sunni-dominated parliament rejected their request.
The bill becomes effective after the government accepts it, the emir signs it and it is published in the official gazette within one month.
Shiite MP Abdulhameed Dashti said the bill was unconstitutional and against the principles of Islam. "Why are we trying to show Islam as a religion of death and blood when it is actually the opposite of that," he asked.
In March authorities arrested a Shiite man for allegedly cursing the Prophet Mohammed, his wife and some companions in a tweet. The suspect, Hamad al-Naqi, is being detained pending trial later this month.
Kuwaiti courts have in the past several months jailed activists from both sects over religious offences.
