Opinion
Same Sex Marriage Act - time to separate religion from politics
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill has passed with overwhelming support. It has done little more than re-brand civil... Read More »
How do we keep religious education out of the hands of the evangelists?
How can schools tell children about religion in a way that is fair, objective, unbiased and, most important, doesn't... Read More »
Free speech?
The controversy arising from Rowan Atkinson's comic relief sketch back in March, in which he poked fun at the newly... Read More »
Human rights are for humans, not for ideologies
A Jewish man has won an employment tribunal case for racial and religious discrimination after his employer made derogatory... Read More »
Will the UN finally bring the Vatican to account for its child abuse crimes?
As a United Nations Committee on children's rights confronts the Vatican on its abysmal record on clerical paedophilia... Read More »
Public perceptions and reality - have we got it wrong?
An Ipsos-Mori poll for the Royal Statistical Society tried to measure what people's perception of issues were as opposed... Read More »
Our secular society is wiser than the Church
"There was noticeable hostility to the view of the Churches," the Archbishop of Canterbury told the General Synod... Read More »
Channel 4’s call to prayer during Ramadan is more of the same old, same old
Channel 4 is airing the Muslim call to prayer during Ramadan every morning and also broadcasting a series of programmes... Read More »
Three cheers for Channel 4 for trying to move Muslims into the mainstream
Channel 4 has set the cat among the pigeons — as I suspect it intended to do — with its announcement that... Read More »
The “cutting season” and FGM in the UK: A national disgrace, a national shame
Last month, a coalition of Egyptian NGOs launched a campaign, 'Kamla' (meaning 'complete' in Arabic), against female... Read More »
The “cutting season” and FGM in the UK: A national disgrace, a national shame
Last month, a coalition of Egyptian NGOs launched a campaign, 'Kamla' (meaning 'complete' in Arabic), against female... Read More »
New EU guidelines on religion and belief make plain that no religion is entitled to special rights
The EU Foreign Affairs Council this week adopted a report with 71 Guidelines to promote the right to freedom of religion... Read More »
The issue of disestablishment won’t go away
The influential international business magazine The Economist carried an editorial last week calling for the Church... Read More »
A secular society is the key
Teaching science to Jewish children is not the enemy of knowledge but the prerequisite of it, declared the Jewish... Read More »
Why the Guides’ new Promise is something to be celebrated
The reaction to the Girlguides decision to amend their promise has been greeted in some quarters as if it signals... Read More »
Multiculturalism and Cultural Relativism
The Pro-Islamist Left relies on multiculturalism (not as a positive lived experience but as a social policy and political... Read More »
Conscientious objection in Scotland: a worrying precedent
With NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde seeking to appeal the ruling for the allowance of conscientious exemption from... Read More »
Conscientious objection in Scotland: a worrying precedent
With NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde seeking to appeal the ruling for the allowance of conscientious exemption from... Read More »
Conscientious objection in Scotland: a worrying precedent
With NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde seeking to appeal the ruling for the allowance of conscientious exemption from... Read More »
Reaction to Woking parking challenge reveals national implications
By Terry Sanderson
There has been some interesting reaction to our challenge to Woking Borough Council's policy of... Read More »
Secular petitions highlight the sectarian issues in Scottish education
The last few weeks have seen the topic of religious observance (RO) in schools hit the headlines in Scotland. Two... Read More »
Woking: equal treatment vs. religious privilege
This week, The National Secular Society launched legal action against Woking Borough Council over its policy of offering... Read More »
Turkey: What would Ataturk think?
The father of all Turks and founder of the modern secular Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, must be turning... Read More »
The Same-Sex Marriage Bill delivers a blow to the bishops in the House of Lords
So, the prospect of gay marriage took a mighty leap forward in the House of Lords this week as the intended "wrecking... Read More »
Questions raised about the running of the BBC’s religious affairs department
The latest Private Eye carries the following piece:
These are trying times for Aaqil Ahmed, head of religion and ethics... Read More »
