A ground-breaking case on the right to a pluralistic education in Northern Ireland is currently being considered by the High Court.
Full shownotes and subscriber information: https://www.secularism.org.uk/podcast/2021/12/ep-63
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Opinion Out Loud brings you a selection of the National Secular Society’s opinion pieces in audio format.
As a bill to reform collective worship progresses in parliament, Stephen Evans argues that the time has come for lawmakers to recognise that laws mandating worship have no place in modern Britain.
Read this original opinion piece: https://www.secularism.org.uk/opinion/2021/09/schools-should-be-liberated-from-the-compulsion-of-worship
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Opinion Out Loud brings you a selection of the National Secular Society’s opinion pieces in audio format.
The Church of England’s new evangelical missional strategy should lead us to question its entitlement to proselytise in schools, argues Stephen Evans.
Read this original opinion piece: https://www.secularism.org.uk/opinion/2021/07/schools-arent-there-to-save-the-church
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In this episode, Emma Park speaks with Lee and Lizanne Harris about their experience of the collective worship requirement in schools.
The Harrises recently initiated judicial review proceedings against the primary school attended by their children. They challenged its decision to provide no alternative to a proselytising Christian assembly once a week conducted by representatives of the local C of E church.
Lee and Lizanne discuss their children’s experiences of these assemblies, what happened when they withdrew them, and the school’s failure to provide a secular alternative until they were forced to by the threat of legal proceedings.
The Harrises’ case may encourage other parents to speak up about concerns that their children will be indoctrinated if they participate in religious assemblies, and excluded from school life if they do not.
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Oh0Sv2Je824
Transcripts: https://www.secularism.org.uk/transcripts
Notes
Lee Harris’s 2018 blog for the NSS
https://www.secularism.org.uk/opinion/2018/12/my-childrens-school-has-become-christian-by-default
C of E trust to introduce alternative to worship after legal challenge
More information and guidance from the NSS on collective worship: https://www.secularism.org.uk/end-compulsory-worship/
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