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.
Latest updates
Council withdraws advert from toilet after Hindu complaints
Posted: Thu, 13 Sep 2018 12:03
The National Secular Society has criticised a council in north London for removing an advert featuring a temple from a toilet after complaints from a Hindu group.
Brent Council took down a poster, which advertised the area as the "London Borough of Culture 2020", after complaints from the Hindu Council UK.
Dipa Das, a councillor in neighbouring Tower Hamlets who is also a representative member of the Hindu Council, complained about the poster on Twitter on Tuesday.
Das tweeted to Brent Council's customer services team: "Absolutely disgraceful way of promoting that you are a borough of culture, image of any place of worship on the toilet is totally unacceptable (sic), I urge the council to take immediate action and remove the temple picture from the toilet."
Her complaint was backed up by a group calling itself 'Indian Lib Dems'.
In response the council's team apologised and removed the posters.
"We apologise sincerely for this error as we recognise at the locations (sic) of some of the JCDecaux advertising sites were not appropriate given the content of this campaign, no offence was intended.
"As soon as we received the complaint we instructed our contractor to remove the posters and our contractors have confirmed that they have now been taken down."
NSS spokesperson Chris Sloggett said the decision was "a pathetic surrender to demands for a blasphemy code and a waste of council resources".
"Brent Council has given in to an unreasonable religious demand. It has taken the easy way out but in the process it's placed an unreasonable restriction on the freedom to advertise. And it's weakened its own ability, and the ability of other councils, to stand up for free expression.
"Upholding blasphemy codes doesn't create social harmony. It weakens it by encouraging religious groups of all stripes, and others, to insist that their hurt feelings also be recognised. It also wastes public resources.
"Councils, the state and wider society need to get much better at telling religious groups to accept the fact that sometimes in a free society they will be offended."
The Hindu Council welcomed the decision. In a statement on Facebook Sanjay Jagatia, its director secretary general, called the original placement of the poster "shocking".
Jagatia said it was "highly inappropriate to use Hindu deities, images, concepts or symbols for commercial or any other agenda".
He said the issue had "hurt the Hindu community very much" as "trivialisation of Hindu deities, symbols and concepts is disturbing to Hindus the world over".
He added that "Hindus are for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith is something sacred and attempts at trivialising it hurts (sic) the followers."
NSS to host major conference on reclaiming religious freedom
Posted: Wed, 12 Sep 2018 10:55
The National Secular Society will host a major conference in May 2019 under the tagline 'reclaiming religious freedom', with prominent figures from the UK and abroad confirmed to speak.
The one-day conference will take place on Saturday 18 May 2019 at the Tower Hotel in central London.
The conference will highlight the disconnect between genuine religious freedom for people of all religions and none and the 'religious freedom' commonly claimed by religious lobbyists.
The keynote speaker will be Rachel Laser, President/CEO of the US-based lobbying group Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The group advocates for the principle of church-state separation and the defence of freedom of and from religion for all.
Rachel was the architect of a bill in the US Congress which included comprehensive sex education and broader access to birth control. She was also the deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Also speaking at the conference will be:
- Sara Khan, Lead Commissioner for Countering Extremism
- Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
- Gita Sahgal, the executive director at the Centre for Secular Space
- Martin Rowson, one of the UK's leading satirists and cartoonists.
Panel discussions will focus on subjects including pluralism and religious orthodoxy, freedom of speech and healthcare.
The event will also feature the presentation of the 2019 Secularist of the Year award.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said the conference was "already shaping up to be an excellent opportunity to make the case for, and discuss how to advance, secularist principles in public life".
"This conference will make two substantial points about religious freedom: that it is for everyone and that it is a qualified right.
"Secularism defends both freedom of and from religion. It protects many freedoms which often get ignored in public debates around religious freedom, such as LGBT people's freedom not to face discrimination, individuals' rights to autonomy over their own bodies, and children's right to grow up and make their own minds up about religious or philosophical issues.
"Secularists also defend the idea that religious freedom should not be a reason for exemptions to laws which are otherwise deemed necessary. Too often, the concept of religious freedom is being distorted to mean religious privilege. This needs to be called out.
"We are excited by the early line-up of speakers and topics and we look forward to announcing more plans in due course."
Tickets will cost £50, with a 50% discount for NSS members (£25) – including those who buy a membership at the same time as their tickets. Student tickets are available for £10.
