Baroness Lynne Featherstone joins the podcast to discuss the tenth anniversary of the Equality Act 2010, the Act’s significance and the problems caused by continuing religious privilege, as covered in a recent NSS report.
Full show notes and subscriber information: https://www.secularism.org.uk/podcast/2020/10/ep36
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In this week’s episode, Emma Park speaks to Megan Manson about Operation Christmas Child, a programme that encourages schoolchildren and youth groups around the UK to send Christmas shoeboxes to children in developing countries. Those sending the shoeboxes may not be aware that they are being used as part of a conversion drive by an evangelical Christian charity, Samaritan’s Purse. The case raises the question of whether ‘the advancement of religion’ should still be a charitable purpose.
Emma then speaks to Alastair Lichten about the NSS’s revelation that 20,000 children have been assigned to faith schools in the state sector this year despite their parents opting for a non-faith school as their first choice.
The episode also features highlights from our 2019 Bradlaugh Lecture. Assistant head Andrew Moffat defended inclusive education in his talk ‘No Outsiders: Reclaiming Radical Ideas in Schools’.
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIQHMg3_wsY&feature=youtu.be
Transcripts: https://www.secularism.org.uk/transcripts
Notes
Does Operation Christmas Child benefit the public?
Samaritan’s Purse Mission Statement
https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/who-we-are/
Charities Act 2011, section 3: List of charitable purposes
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/25/section/3
Complete videos of the NSS’s Bradlaugh Lectures
https://www.secularism.org.uk/bradlaugh-lecture.html/
20,000 children sent to faith schools against parental preferences in 2019
Make a stand for freedom, fairness and human rights by adding your voice to the call for a secular democracy. Join the National Secular Society today https://www.secularism.org.uk/join
Support the podcast, share with a friend and leave a five star review everywhere you can.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Emma Park speaks to Stephen Evans, CEO of the NSS and Chris Sloggett, communications officer, about the NSS’s opposition to a definition of ‘Islamophobia’ which was proposed by a parliamentary group in November 2018.
Chris and NSS campaigns officer Megan Manson also join Emma to discuss two recent rows relating to infant circumcision.
Megan highlights a court case in which a Nigerian Christian woman, Martina Obi-Uzom, was given a suspended sentence for having an infant boy circumcised without his mother’s consent. And Chris discusses a speech by the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, in which he asked secularists and Humanists to stop campaigning against faith schools and infant circumcision.
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U28virLevfM&feature=youtu.be
Transcripts: https://www.secularism.org.uk/transcripts
Notes
The NSS’s criticism of the APPG’s definition of Islamophobia
https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2019/05/islamophobia-definition-unfit-for-purpose-say-campaigners
Concerns that the definition of Islamophobia would have a chilling effect on free speech
The NSS’s position on anti-Muslim bigotry
https://www.secularism.org.uk/hate-speech/position-statement-on-anti-musli.html/
Islamophobia Defined – the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims
Islamophobia: An Anthology of Concerns – essays critical of the APPG’s definition collected by Civitas, including one by the NSS
https://www.civitas.org.uk/publications/islamophobia/
The NSS’s concerns over the lenient sentencing of Martina Obi-Uzom in the forced circumcision case
The NSS’s response to Chief Rabbi Mirvis’s request that secularists stop campaigning against religious privileges
The speech by Chief Rabbi Mirvis
https://www.facebook.com/ChiefRabbiMirvis/posts/2303906899738431
Forthcoming NSS events
https://www.secularism.org.uk/events.html
Make a stand for freedom, fairness and human rights by adding your voice to the call for a secular democracy. Join the National Secular Society today https://www.secularism.org.uk/join
Support the podcast, share with a friend and leave a five-star review everywhere you can.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Continuing our series of discussions exploring religious freedom, Alastair Lichten spoke with Simon Barrow. Simon is the director of Ekklesia – a Christian think tank focusing on politics, social justice and belief. Simon is a commentator, journalist, publisher, NGO consultant, adult educator/trainer and theologian.
This is part of a series of interviews leading up to our major conference in May, Secularism 2019: Reclaiming Religious Freedom: https://www.secularism.org.uk/2019
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Q9XDrdnBS0s
Transcripts: https://www.secularism.org.uk/transcripts
Links from Simon
The Jesus Candidate: Political religion in a secular age, by Paul Lusk (NSS review): https://www.secularism.org.uk/opinion/2017/10/book-review-the-jesus-candidate-political-religion-in-a-secular-age
Faith and Politics after Christendom: by Jonathan Bartley: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faith-Politics-after-Christendom-Movement/dp/1842273485/?ie=UTF8&tag=natisecusoci-21&linkCode=shr&camp=3194&creative=21334
Words Out of Silence, by Jill Segger: https://www.bookdepository.com/Words-Out-Silence-Jill-Segger/9780993294280
Links from the NSS
Make a stand for freedom, fairness and human rights by adding your voice to the call for a secular democracy. Join the National Secular Society today https://www.secularism.org.uk/join
Podcast: Play in new window | Download