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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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
Warwick Student Union bans ex-Muslim activist and says speakers must “avoid insulting other faiths”
Posted: Fri, 25 Sep 2015 12:35
Maryam Namazie has been blocked from speaking to the Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists' Society after the Student Union said the ex-Muslim campaigner could 'insult' religion.
The National Secular Society has strongly condemned the decision. NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans commented: "Universities have barely returned to a new academic term and we are already seeing attacks on free speech. It is absurd and sinister that an atheist speaker should be banned from campus for their views, and that 'insulting other faiths' is grounds for a speaker to be banned.
"The reasoning behind banning Maryam Namazie from speaking is the kind of muddled thinking that results in the capitulation to an Islamist agenda, which seeks to shut down all criticism of Islam."
In a statement reprinted by Namazie, the Student Union said: "We have a duty of care to conduct a risk assessment for each speaker who wishes to come to campus."
Extraordinarily the Student Union said Namazie, an NSS honorary associate who campaigns for human rights and equality, could incite hatred.
"There a number of articles written both by the speaker and by others about the speaker that indicate that she is highly inflammatory, and could incite hatred on campus. This is in contravention of our external speaker policy".
Shockingly, the policy states that external speakers on campus must "seek to avoid insulting other faiths or groups, within a framework of positive debate and challenge".
Mr Evans added: "If we restrict expression in fear of it causing 'insult' we are handing huge power to oppressors to stifle our self-expression. Many hardline religious believers find the very idea of atheism and apostasy offensive. A speakers policy which bans 'insulting' religion is effectively a ban on apostate and atheist speakers. It could also be used to prohibit religious speakers asserting the validity of their faith over others. The policy is an atrocious restriction on free expression and no credible university could operate under such conditions."
Writing on the decision by the Student Union to exclude her, Namazie said: "Inciting hatred is what the Islamists do; I and my organisation challenge them and defend the rights of ex-Muslims, Muslims and others to dissent.
"The Student Union position is of course nothing new. It is the predominant post-modernist 'Left' point of view that conflates Islam, Muslims and Islamists, homogenises the 'Muslim community', thinks believers are one and the same as the religious-Right and sides with the Islamist narrative against its many dissenters."
She added, "These sort of Lefties have one set of progressive politics for themselves – they want gay rights, equality for women and the right to criticise the pope and the Christian-Right, and another for us."
The Warwick Student Union policy also says that speakers "must not spread hatred and intolerance in the community" or disrupt "social and community harmony".
**Update** Benjamin David (President of Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists) has published a response on the student union's website.
Bangladeshi secular activists remain defiant in face of death threats
Posted: Wed, 23 Sep 2015 16:19
Secular writers are defiant after Bangladeshi Islamists stepped up their campaign of murders with a global death list.
The Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), who are behind a spate of murders carried out this year, have escalated their campaign of intimidation and violence against secularists by releasing a list targeting secular bloggers in Bangladesh and overseas for death.
This has prompted fears of 'lone-wolf' attacks on the writers by Islamists inspired by ABT's list.
As well as those targeted within Bangladesh, the list includes nine bloggers based in the UK, with others in Germany, the United States, Sweden and Canada.
Ajanta Deb Roy, an activist who has been included on the list, told the National Secular Society that she "will not stop" until "my country is free of fundamentalism".
Commenting on the situation in Bangladesh, she said that Islamists had "created their own Islamic state within the state where they can threaten to kill anyone and everyone in the name of Islam."
She said that while many of the writers targeted are atheists, not all of them are, and all share a "common connection in their writing and activism – that is the demand for a secular Bangladesh".
Regardless of their personal religious beliefs or lack of them, all of the writers and activists had spoken out against Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh, she added.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating the threats and Ajanta Deb Roy is receiving various security instructions from police as a precaution.
"I will not stop my activism. I will not rest until my country is free of fundamentalism and become a properly secular country. I feel much safer in the UK but still live in a fear every day."
"I don't worry much for myself now but I am worried for my fellow bloggers and activists who are still in Bangladesh. They do not have any safety or security."
In May the National Secular Society joined calls urging the UK Government to do more to tackle violence and discrimination targeted against non-believers and secularists around the world.
See also: You can never kill ideas: an anonymous blogger on the deaths of secularists in Bangladesh.
