Services funded by public money should be open to all, without alienating anyone.
The recent drive to contract out public services to faith groups risks undermining equal access.
Help us keep public services free from discrimination and evangelism.
The government is increasingly pushing for more publicly-funded services to be provided by religious organisations.
Many faith-based groups have carried out social service without imposing their beliefs. But religious groups taking over public service provision raises concerns regarding proselytising and discrimination.
65% of people have no confidence in church groups running crucial social provisions such as healthcare with only 2% of people expressing a lot of confidence.
Any organisations involved in delivering public services should be bound by equality law and restrictions on proselytisation.
Those advocating for faith organisations to take over more public services risk undermining these restrictions, which exist to protect both the public and third sector.
"We have concerns that some religious groups that seek to take over public services, particularly at local level, could pursue policies and practices that result in increased discrimination against marginalised groups, particularly in service provision and the employment of staff. Non-religious people and those not seen to confirm to the dominant ethos of a religious body, such as being in an unmarried relationship or divorced and being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered, could find themselves subject to discrimination."
Unitarian Church (Submission to the Parliamentary Public Administration Select Committee about the Big Society agenda)
There are also concerns about faith-based mental health and pastoral care in public institutions, including chaplaincy programmes in the NHS and the armed forces. Where such services are funded by the state, they should not be organised around religion or belief.
Religious commentators are often keen to document the contribution of religious organisations to the third sector and social activism. But they fail to demonstrate why it should be the state's role to build this capacity or why local authorities shouldn't have legitimate concerns about religious groups running services.
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1. Write to your MP
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3. Join the National Secular Society
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Latest updates
Who does the multi-faith prayer room belong to?
Posted: Fri, 18 May 2012 11:50
A religious conflict has arisen at a Dorset hospital over plans to convert its Christian chapel into a "multi-faith centre". The changes are part of a £30million refurbishment of St Ann's psychiatric hospital in Poole.
The Reverend Stewart Timbrell — who raised £15,000 for furnishings to the hospital chapel — is furious at the plans and claimed it was another example of Christianity being marginalised. He has worked at the chapel for fifteen years.
The chapel may now be dismantled and all Christian artefacts removed so the room can be used by people of different religious beliefs. Christians will be allowed to bring in crosses and Bibles with them – but must take them out afterwards.
Mr Timbrell told the local paper: "They are going to put a multi-faith room in instead, which is a room with nothing in it, so it won't offend anybody. With mental illness, people are very conscious of empty space within themselves. To put in an empty space devoid of any vestige of Christianity is outrageous."
A spokesman for the Dorset HealthCare Trust said a Christian altar and embellishments that had been donated to the chapel would not be destroyed but the trust is looking for a suitable new home for them.
The Reverend Michael Oates, the trust's co-ordinating chaplain, added: "There will be a multi-faith, spiritual space to meet the needs of our multicultural service users. We will retain the well-attended Sunday services as well as encourage opportunities for Christian worship."
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "This shows the controlling, exclusive and selfish face of Christianity. But Mr Timbrell will soon see that other faiths, too, like to have things entirely to themselves, and there will soon be arguments over who the space belongs to. Muslims have shown in other hospitals and institutions that they are even less inclined than Mr Timbrell is to share worship space." See here and here and here for examples.
Protest as Gideons’ attempt to get Scottish police forces to hand out Bibles
Posted: Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:20
Gideons International has offered commemorative editions of the New Testament and Psalms to the Scottish police forces for them to give out to their employees ahead of an amalgamation of the forces.
Gideons International wrote: "In light of the current situation with regards to the future amalgamation of the eight independent police forces in Scotland, we want to make the following offer: that as a memento, but more importantly as a valuable guide to life, we wish to make available a dark blue slimline New Testament and Psalms, duly badged, for each force wishing to accept them. These can be offered to all members of the individual force, both serving police officers and civilian staff."
It's understood that of the eight forces asked, Strathclyde Police,Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the Central Scotland Police Force have so far turned down the offer of Bibles. Grampian Police confirmed it has accepted the offer.
The move has been criticised by the Unison trade union and the Gay Police Association (GPA) which argue that the police should not be seen to be promoting one particular religion.
The GPA said: "The police must be seen to be representative of all peoples including their cultures, faiths and identities. If Gideon or, for example, the Christian Police Association wish to extend this offer to police officers and staff, then surely this can be done without the actual involvement of the police force concerned."
A Grampian Police spokesman told the press: "Grampian Police has accepted the offer of free Gideon New Testaments for police officers and staff. The commemorative Testaments were offered at no cost to the force and will only be issued to staff who request them. No offers have been received in relation to other scriptures or narratives from other faith or non faith groups and if they were, they would be considered in a similar manner."
Supporting forces who had declined the offer of badged Bibles, a UNISON spokesperson said: "It is not the role of a Police Force either to provide official endorsement of any religion or foist religious views on its staff.
"Police forces exist to serve people of all religions and none. As employers they should be aware that their staff are drawn from people of all religious outlooks and none. We are pleased that the majority of Scotland's police forces take their role as employers and impartial servants of the public seriously enough to reject this offer. We hope that the remainder will do likewise."
