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
Charlie Hebdo awarded Secularist of the Year prize for response to Paris attacks
Posted: Sat, 28 Mar 2015 15:12
The National Secular Society has awarded Charlie Hebdo the annual Secularist of the Year prize, for its courageous response to the terror attack on its Paris office.
Just one week after the attack on 7 January 2015, in which 12 people were killed, the remaining staff of Charlie Hebdo published an edition of the magazine featuring a depiction of Mohammed and an editorial making a passionate defence of secularism and the right to free expression.
NSS president Terry Sanderson said: "Since the events of 7 January in Paris, Charlie Hebdo has become more than a magazine – it has become an ideal, a symbol of democracy, a rallying cry to those who value freedom and openness in public debate.
"The Charlie Hebdo horror has now joined the endless stream of other outrages committed in the name of Islam. The difference is that it prompted a commitment to free speech and secularism on the part of millions of people.
"Looked at objectively, blasphemy is a ridiculous concept, transparently invented to protect eminently arguable ideas from challenge.
"Ridiculous it may be, but it is also lethal.
"From the forty or so nominations that we received, there was one that could not be ignored, that was the obvious and only possible winner."
The award was presented at the annual Secularist of the Year event, hosted by the NSS at a lunch event in central London. The lunch was attended by members, supporters and honorary associates of the National Secular Society, including Professors Richard Dawkins and AC Grayling. Also present were a number of progressive Muslim campaigners and representatives of organisations working to combat Islamic extremism.
Martin Rowson, the Guardian cartoonist, accepted the award on behalf of the staff of Charlie Hebdo.
Charlie Hebdo said it would donate the £5000 prize money for the award to the fund supporting the families of the murdered cartoonists.
In addition to the main Secularist of the Year award, the NSS also acknowledged a number of others for their work in the past year.
Lord Avebury was recognised with a special award for his invaluable support of the NSS, and for being a tireless advocate for secularism. He recently tabled a Bill to abolish chancel repair liability and has spoken out in Parliament against collective worship in schools and new legislation allowing prayers to be held as part of council meetings. The Lib Dem peer was also instrumental in the successful campaign to repeal the British blasphemy laws in 2008.
Maajid Nawaz, who couldn't attend the event, was recognised for his work at Quilliam, countering Islamic extremism and promoting secularism.
Helen Bailey and Elaine Hession were acknowledged for their efforts in helping the National Secular Society campaign to abolish chancel repair liability.
A number of previous Secularist of the Year winners attended the event, including Peter Tatchell, who was awarded the prize in 2012, and Safak Pavey, the Turkish opposition MP who was named Secularist of the Year in 2014.
Jordan proposes ban on “insults to religions” at next Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting
Posted: Wed, 25 Mar 2015 16:21
Jordan has introduced an emergency item to the next meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, calling for a ban on insulting religion or religious symbols.
The draft resolution says insults to religion represent a "danger to all humanity."
The Speaker of Jordan's House of Representatives has written to the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to introduce an emergency item titled "respect for religions and religious symbols, respect for freedom of opinion and expression."
Although the title feigns acknowledgment freedom of opinion and expression, the resolution does nothing of the kind.
The IPU is the international organization of parliaments and describes itself as "the focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue" and "works for peace and co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy."
The draft resolution argues insulting religion feeds "religious extremism and fanaticism, terrorism and violence" and says that a way to "remedy the problem" is to "promote mutual respect among believers".
The memorandum says: "Insults to religions and religious symbols are uncivilized actions that have very serious consequences on all humanity, as they prevent the meeting of minds and dialogue and feed religious extremism and fanaticism, terrorism and violence.
"The followers of Islam acknowledge the existence of other religions. Islam also gives the followers of those religions the right to exercise their religious practices freely within Islamic States, and regards non-Muslims as citizens and an integral thread in the fabric of the nation.
"Freedom of opinion and expression should not be used as a pretext for insulting others' lives, reputations, religions, holy shrines or practices. In today's world, the term 'religious symbols' refers to prophets, places of worship and holy books. As a gesture of commitment, the religion of Islam obliges all its followers to believe in and respect all prophets, and to believe in holy books."
The Speaker has also called for an "international convention to prevent disrespect for religions and religious symbols."
Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said the resolution was the latest in a long line of attempts to impose a global blasphemy law and called for it to be "fiercely resisted".
Free speech campaign organisation Article 19 have denounced the proposal and warned that it would "legitimise criminal prohibitions on religious insult or so-called 'defamation of religions'" and warned that the introduction of prohibitions on insulting religion must be resisted in other international forums, after campaign groups saw recent success in seeing off attempts to introduce de facto blasphemy bans at the UN.
A woman in Afghanistan was recently beaten to death by a mob in central Kabul, after she was accused of burning a copy of the Koran. A large crowd cheered while men kicked her on the ground and pelted her with rocks. Her body was then set on fire and thrown into a river.
The NSS has recently warned of attempts by groups in the UK to introduce blasphemy norms. The Muslim Action Forum, which protested outside Downing Street with a banner reading "be careful with Mohammed", claims to have launched a "legal strategy" in the UK to stop publication of insults to Mohammed to and to promote what they call "global civility."
