#ReligionintheUK and the National Secular Society - a personal view.

This is a personal view.

Let me make one or two fundamental things clear at the outset :-

In my view religious belief or not holding a religious belief is a personal issue. I believe everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe and to practice their own religion.

I also believe we are equal under the law of the land - or at least should be.

Where there is conflict between the law of the land and the practice of personal beliefs - the law must be paramount (prevail) - otherwise we are not equal under the law.

As far as I understand it this is the legal position in the UK but I question whether if it is in practice. I am increasingly concerned the principal of an equal society under the law of the land is being slowly but inexorably undermined - being trumped - by deferring to the pressure of religious groups and their sensitivities and beliefs. One most pressing and obvious example is the emergence of Sharia law in the UK.

The other day I came across an organisation (through their web site) that reflects my concerns. The organisation is The National Secular Society. It has a highly regarded intellectual history. I have downloaded some information about them from their web site as follows :

The National Secular Society https://www.secularism.org.uk/ champions the separation of religion and state and equal respect for everyone's human rights so no one is disadvantaged, nor privileged, because of their beliefs.

We campaign for a secular state in which all citizens are free to practise their faith, change it, or have no faith at all. We promote secularism as the surest guarantor of religious freedom and the best means to foster a fair and open society, in which people of all religions and none can live together as equal citizens.

Our story began in 1866 when a large number of secularist groups from around the UK came together to strengthen their campaigns. Their leader was Charles Bradlaugh. Since those early days the National Secular Society has pioneered many important social reforms and society has changed a lot.

For centuries, religion-based laws forbade entry for non-believers into parliament. They banned abortion, divorce, contraception, homosexuality, blasphemy and even cremation. Those laws have now been dismantled; human rights and equality for minorities are broadly accepted and protected by law.

In the struggles to bring about these reforms, the NSS has always played a prominent role and sometimes a decisive one.

To mark our 150th anniversary in 2016 the National Secular Society commissioned a portrait bust of Charles Bradlaugh which is now on display in the Palace of Westminster as part of the Parliamentary Art Collection. We also produced an anniversary brochure giving a potted history of our first 150 years.

We campaign for the law and the administration of justice to be based on equality, respect for human rights, and on objective evidence. In a secular democracy everyone is equal before the law, regardless of religion, belief or non-belief.

We seek to ensure that Human Rights do not lose out to religious demands, and challenge inappropriate or discriminatory exemptions to equality law for religious groups.

The secular law of the United Kingdom should protect the rights of people in all communities, and it should not be undermined or supplanted by any parallel religious system. People have the right to seek spiritual and religious advice. But misinformation and malpractice can risk religious rulings being imposed on vulnerable groups.

I have mentioned the emergence of Sharia law in the UK. I have copied and pasted below extracts from The National Secular Society website :

What’s the problem?

There are thought to be upwards of 100 sharia councils and tribunals operating in the United Kingdom, offering arbitration and mediation services, and dispensing religious rulings on marriage, child custody and divorce. These are not courts of law but there are concerns that Muslim women (especially those not born in the UK and/or unable to speak English) perceive them as having real legal authority.

Sharia is a system which leaves children vulnerable and discriminates openly against women, undermining their legal and political equality. Sharia Councils have been shown to have acted in ways contrary to the law and leaving women vulnerable to domestic abuse. As such, we argue that the state needs to better tackle the numerous problems and dangers the use of sharia councils brings with it.

To seek a religious divorce a woman must gain permission from these almost entirely male councils, and there are reports of women being denied this request even in cases where she had faced abuse.

If a woman is 'divorced' suddenly, or against her wishes, she can be left homeless and without any money or assets, because the 'marriage' has no legal force, giving her no rights or legal protections.

Protecting women's rights is the priority, but that isn't the only concern. The existence of these parallel legal systems poses a threat to common citizenship and undermines the integrity of secular law.

There is no easy answer to challenging the hold of sharia councils over these communities. The problem is not only one of supply, but also of demand. If there is no demand for sharia councils, the influence of these bodies will collapse. We believe the demand for sharia is best tackled in the education system as a part of citizenship education and this will be aided by anything that breaks down barriers between communities and reduces segregation.

What are we doing?

• We are founder members of the One Law for All Campaign which launched in 2008 to call on the UK Government to recognise that sharia and religious courts are arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular and that citizenship and human rights are non-negotiable.
• We recently submitted evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into Sharia Councils, arguing that the secular system must not be undermined. We have also been supportive of efforts in Parliament to tackle the inherent gender inequality and discrimination promoted by religious tribunals such as sharia councils.
• We are also advocating for an information campaign to reach out to women and inform them of their rights in law. All schools, both in the state and independent sector, should be under a duty to promote understanding of citizenship and legal rights under UK law so that people – particularly Muslim women and girls – are aware of and able to access their legal rights and do not regard religious 'courts' as sources of genuine legal authority.
• In addition, we successfully campaigned for the withdrawal of a Law Society sharia succession practice note which sought to assist solicitors in drafting 'sharia compliant' wills, arguing that by publishing the guidance, the Law Society was issuing religious rather than legal advice and effectively legitimising sharia and encouraging discrimination.

FAITH SCHOOLS

Previously I have written a blog about Faith Schools. Here is the link.

http://davidshoulder60onwards.blogspot.com/2018/02/faithschools-wake-up-dozy-britain.html

SEPERATION OF RELIGION AND FAITH

The National Secular Society have for 100 years campaigned for the disestablishment of the Church of England, and for a true secular democracy.
From their web site :

We campaign for the separation of Church and state and for the removal of the Bishops' Bench from Parliament.

In a secular democracy all citizens are equal before the law and parliament. No religious or political affiliation gives advantages or disadvantages and religious believers are citizens with the same rights and obligations as anyone else. In the 21^st century no religion should be granted a privileged position.

Secularism is crucial to successful democratic governance across the world: this is just as true in the UK as it is in the Middle East. We campaign for a secular democracy with a separation of religion and state, where everyone's Human Rights are respected equally.

Specifically The National Secular Society have campaigned for :

• Disestablishment of the Church of England
• Scraping of the Bishop's bench
• Ending of Government prayers
• State ceremonies - no specific religious content
• A secular head of state

I am pleased to have come across The National Secular Society. They have identified and expressed (and campaigned) very articulately, intellectually and peacefully on this area of real concern for me.

Please have a look at their website. https://www.secularism.org.uk

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PS. To make it easy I have reposted my Faith Schools blog here (posted 1/2/2018) :

#FaithSchools wake up dozy Britain

Today the Chief Inspector of Schools has issued a warning about the indoctrination of young and impressionable children by religious extremists. It is a chilling warning. Here is the BBC news report :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42902864

If you do not want to read the report - I have copied below some of the things the inspector has said.

"Ofsted inspectors are increasingly brought into contact with those who want to actively pervert the purpose of education.

"Under the pretext of religious belief, they use education institutions, legal and illegal, to narrow young people's horizons, to isolate and segregate, and in the worst cases to indoctrinate impressionable minds with extremist ideology.

"Freedom of belief in the private sphere is paramount, but in our schools it is our responsibility to tackle those who actively undermine fundamental British values or equalities law."

I do not really have the time to write a blog about it now but I feel compelled to at least say something so I will be succinct and you should do your own research.

• Historically in the UK we have always had Christian "church" schools - particularly C of E schools.
• As we have C of E schools of course we have Roman Catholic schools too. (and to some limited extent Jewish based schools)
• Generally the religious element in these schools has been pretty low key and they comfortably follow the National Curriculum.
• Generally these schools get good academic results which is why they are popular.
• Generally it is accepted they do not get good academic results because of religion but because these schools attract motivated aspirational parents - who will jump through hoops to get their child into the "best" local school available.
• Because academic results have been good (when government are desperate to find ways of driving up academic attainment) - governments have been supportive in allowing state "faith schools" to develop and for new state funded "free" schools to be opened.
• In todays multi cultural Britain it is only right and fair IF you are going to support faith based schools that any faith can back a school. As a result there has been significant growth in Muslim (particularly) and Hindu faith schools. 

While I agree Government should be striving to increase educational attainment it always seemed to me that by allowing schools to select pupils by religion we were building problems for the future - and so it has proved.

1. I believe it is immoral (and potentially dangerous) to allow young malleable innocent minds be indoctrinated by a particular religion. (I believe education offered by and through the state should be wholly secular with religions taught generally as an academic subject - to form the basis for children to make up their own minds about what they believe or not believe when they are old enough to do so.) An understanding and appreciation of other religions is surely essential in a properly integrated multicultural society.
2. On a practical level I cannot see how faith based schools can do anything to contribute to integration of religious groups in society - in fact the polar opposite. They have the clear potential to be isolationist and create suspicion.
3. It is clear there is a particular problems with some Muslim faith schools that have a "fundamentalist" belief that has been so damaging in our society.

What needs to happen now we have allowed this problem to develop.

• I recognise it will be hard to turn the clock back - and faith schools exist.
• I would immediately stop the expansion or opening of any more faith based schools in the state sector by withholding state funding. We have to treat all religions the same.
• I would be vigorous in ensuring (as recommended by the Ofsted Inspectorate) that all faith schools adhere to the teaching of the National Curriculum and core British values. Any school breaching this requirement should be deemed "failing" - placed in special measures and the governors/head challenged/replaced under the supervision of the Ofsted inspectorate. If necessary funding should be withheld or the school closed (as already can happen with failing schools).

It never ceases to amaze me how by being a tolerant and fair society we fail to see that highly motivated unscrupulous people can exploit us. My concern is our overweening political correctness will not allow us to deal with this potentially dangerous and definitely negative development.