National Secular Society

The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866 and is now a member organisation of Humanists International (formerly the International Humanist and Ethical Union), endorsing the Amsterdam Declaration 2002.[1]

National Secular Society
MottoChallenging religious privilege
Formation1866 (1866)
FounderCharles Bradlaugh
TypeNGO
Legal statusLimited company
HeadquartersLondon
Region
United Kingdom
Membership
International Humanist and Ethical Union
President
Keith Porteous Wood
Executive Director
Stephen Evans
Websitewww.secularism.org.uk
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See also
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Objectives

The NSS, whose motto is "Challenging religious privilege", campaigns for a secular state where there is no established state religion; where religion plays no role in state-funded education, does not interfere with the judicial process nor does it restrict freedom of expression; where the state does not intervene in matters of religious doctrine nor does it promote or fund religious activities, guaranteeing every citizen's freedom to believe, not to believe or to change religion.[2]

Although the organisation was explicitly created for those who reject the supernatural, the NSS does not campaign to eradicate or prohibit religion, arguing that freedom of religion, as well as freedom from religion, is a human right and that state sponsorship of selected religions encroaches upon that right. It holds that belief should be a private matter for the home or place of worship and does not belong in the public sphere. In seeking to represent the interests and viewpoints of atheists, the NSS is often critical of what it sees as the damaging effects of religion.[3]

History
Charles Bradlaugh, the founder of the National Secular Society.

The National Secular Society was founded in 1866 with Charles Bradlaugh as President and Charles Watts as secretary. There were a number of secularist groups around the UK and they joined up to coordinate and strengthen their campaigns. The word secularism was coined by George Holyoake in 1851. The NSS's principles asserted that "this is the only life we have, and that we should work for its improvement".[4]

In 1877 Bradlaugh and Annie Besant were prosecuted for publishing a book containing birth control information, The Fruits of Philosophy by the American doctor Charles Knowlton.[5] They were convicted, but acquitted on appeal. The issue of contraception divided secularists and a breakaway group, the British Secular Union, was formed. It closed after a few years.

Bradlaugh's struggle to enter Parliament became an important moment in the development of nineteenth-century secularism. He was elected for Northampton in 1880. He believed he had the right to affirm rather than swear on the Bible, but when refused, said he would take the oath. He was told that since he did not believe in the Bible he could not swear on it. For six years he struggled to overcome this problem, by legal and electoral methods. In 1886 a new government allowed him to be sworn in. He later brought about a change giving all MPs the right to affirm. He was a very active MP on behalf of the poor, the Irish and Indian independence.

Bradlaugh, who died in 1891, was succeeded as President by G. W. Foote, editor of The Freethinker. Foote noted that the death of Bradlaugh brought the "heroic period" of freethought to an end,[6] and he never succeeded in galvanising NSS members as Bradlaugh had done. Foote's successor was Chapman Cohen (president from 1915–1949), a prolific pamphleteer and author of books on religion and philosophy for a popular audience. In the first half of the twentieth century the NSS campaigned against the BBC's religious broadcasting policy, for disestablishment and for secular education.

Notable presidents in the second half of the twentieth century were David Tribe and Barbara Smoker, who did much to increase the use of the media to put across secularist views. In the twenty-first century, the NSS continues as an organisation campaigning in the UK and EU against what it regards as religious privilege in public life.

Organisation

The NSS is incorporated as a UK Company Limited by Guarantee, no. 01418145.[7] The Society's income in the year 2006-2007 was £232,149, as quoted in the Accounts submitted to the authorities at Companies House. It receives no funding from the government or outside bodies: its campaigning is wholly supported by membership subscriptions and donations. Membership numbers are not included on the NSS website, although an article in The Daily Telegraph on 13 February 2012 stated that the society had about 7,000 members.

Education and faith schools

Education is one of the NSS's prime concerns, and it continues to campaign against public funding of faith schools. It holds that morality, ethics and citizenship should be taught outside a religious framework. It also opposes the teaching of creationism, or intelligent design as an alternative to mainstream science. In addition, it is against the appointment of teachers and support staff according to religious criteria, as part of a more general campaign against exemptions from anti-discrimination legislation for religious bodies. The Society has successfully campaigned for the legal right of older pupils to opt themselves out of religious assemblies at school.

The Society argues that children of families of no-faith and "the wrong faith" are being increasingly discriminated against in admission procedures, because of the high number of religious schools.[8] Together with City Technology Colleges (which also have admissions privileges), the Society would like to see these schools become community schools, although it accepts the need for a transition period to achieve this goal. The NSS has drawn attention to recent statistical research supporting its claims of discrimination in faith schools, based on selection of pupils from wealthier families.[9] Specifically, religious schools take in 10% fewer poor pupils than are representative of the local area. However, both representatives from the Church of England and a separate Parent Association denied the existence or evidence of selection to their own schools being based on social background, and a spokesman for the Centre of Economics has indicated that the bias in social background may stem from those more likely to apply to a religious school, not the selection process.[10]

The NSS has claimed that faith schools exacerbate religious, ethnic and cultural divisions, by separating children from those of other faiths and cultural backgrounds. In 2010, the NSS instigated a judicial review to test the legality of prayers being part of the official business of Council meetings, as it believes politics and religion should be kept separate.

Other campaigns

The NSS has campaigned on a number of other issues. These include the successful abolition of the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom; removal of the 26 bishops from the House of Lords; exemption of religious organisations from discrimination and equality laws; withdrawal of state funding of chaplains in prisons, hospitals and armed services; the end of tax exemption for churches; and stopping public funding of religious broadcasting (the NSS has long argued, for example, that Thought for the Day is religious propaganda broadcast by the BBC at licence-payers' expense).[11]

Further campaigns are concerned with the conscientious objections by doctors and pharmacists to refuse to administer certain procedures or treatments; the religious exemption from laws requiring stunning of animals before slaughter[12] and for the labelling of meat produced without stunning (much of it is currently sold to the general public unlabelled, both in shops and in restaurants); and the reform of the Scouts movement to remove references to God from their promise.

The NSS is frequently invited to submit consultation documents to Government and major UK organisations. For example, it has written about faith-based welfare; doctors' conscientious objections; the prosecution of racist and religious crimes; the census; organ donation; and equality issues.

It co-sponsored the launch of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and a conference for International Women's Day – Women's Rights, the Veil and Islamic and Religious Laws.

As well as its activities in the UK, the NSS has been active in Europe and at the UN, often as a representative for the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU). Most notable have been interventions at the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

At a Council of Europe conference in San Marino, its interventions caused the closing communiqué to be changed to require consultation on inter-cultural matters, giving much more emphasis to civil society, as opposed to religious bodies. In Strasbourg, the NSS argued against what it saw as undue religious influence on the Council of Europe. Close links have been maintained with the politicians and secretariat.

The NSS started assisting Roy Brown on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and continues on a broader front, raising awareness of its problems with a growing list of international bodies.

In the European Parliament (EP), the NSS is involved with the Separation of Religion & Politics Working Group, and attended the launch of the Brussels Declaration. The organisation's President, Keith Porteous Wood, also spoke at a meeting in the EP sponsored by Catholics for Choice on Religion & Politics in the New Europe, and made a representation in a debate to the EP President about an invitation to the Pope to address the EP. The Society continues to be consulted by politicians seeking information or proposals. Wood spoke about problems with the United Nations Human Rights Commission at a UDHR 60th Anniversary Conference in Brussels, and at the Libre Penseé Conference at the Senate in Paris.

On 2 December 2011, the NSS and an atheist councillor took Bideford Town Council to the High Court over prayers held during council meetings.[13] The High Court ruled on 10 February 2012 that the town council was not acting lawfully, as under Section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972 councils could not do anything they were not specifically permitted to do by the act. As prayers were not mentioned by the act, they could not be held as a formal part of the meeting.[14] However, the judge tempered this ruling by rejecting Councillor Bone's argument that his human rights had been breached, stating that prayers could be held as long as councillors were not summoned to attend and they did not appear as an item on the agenda.[15] Mr Justice Ouseley declared that the fact that atheists might feel uncomfortable during prayers was not a reason for them to be granted the protection of the state under human rights law, which had been the argument of the NSS's counsel.[16] At the time of the case, the 1972 act was being superseded by the Localism Act 2011, which gave councils a general power of competence 'to do anything individuals may generally do.'[17] In light of the ruling, the law was brought into force ahead of schedule in February 2012, and its general power of competence was asserted to have restored the ability of councils to hold prayers as part of the meeting should the majority of them wish to do so.[18] To remove any remaining confusion, in March 2015 the Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Act 2015 was granted Royal Assent, explicitly restoring the right of councils to hold prayers as a formal part of meetings should they wish.[19]

The NSS has campaigned against the practice of some local authorities in granting parking concessions to churchgoers. In 2011, the NSS announced its intention to take forward a legal challenge against Woking Borough Council, which allowed those attending services in churches close to the town centre to claim a refund of their parking charges.[20] The policy was retained following a review, but the council indicated the scheme could be extended to members of all religious communities or voluntary organisations on a case by case basis.[21][22] Some councillors were critical of the challenge and the amount spent on defending the policy,[23] with one councillor referring to the National Secular Society as 'bullying and intolerant.'[24]

Secularist of the Year award
Main article: Secularist of the Year

Each year, the NSS holds the Secularist of the Year award ceremony at which the Irwin Prize of £5,000 is presented. Nominations for the Secularist of the Year are made by members of the National Secular Society; the winner is chosen by the Officers of the Society, along with Michael Irwin, who has donated the funds which underpin the award. Previous prize winners include former Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, Lord Avebury, Sophie in 't Veld MEP and Peter Tatchell.

Presidents

Secretaries
1866: Charles Watts
1876: George Standring
1877: Robert Forder
1892: Edith Vance
1927: John Seibert
1951: P. V. Morris
1955: Colin McCall
1963: William McIlroy
1970:
1972: William McIlroy
1977: Jim Herrick
1979: Terry Mullins
1996: Keith Porteous Wood (executive director)
2017: Stephen Evans (chief executive officer)

Honorary Associates

The NSS describes Honorary Associates as "our distinguished supporters in politics, human rights, science, philosophy, the arts, journalism and broadcasting."[27]

Honorary Associates of the society include:

Bibliography
  • Cohen, Chapman (1940). Almost an Autobiography: confessions of a freethinker. London: Pioneer Press.
  • Royle, Edward (1974). Victorian Infidels: the origins of the British Secularist Movement, 1791-1866. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-0557-4 Online version
  • Royle, Edward (1980). Radicals, Secularists and Republicans: popular freethought in Britain, 1866-1915. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-0783-6
  • Smoker, Barbara (2002). Freethoughts: atheism, secularism, humanism - Selected Egotistically from "The Freethinker. (Selections of contributions to The Freethinker). London: G.W. Foote & Co. ISBN 0-9508243-5-6.
  • Tribe, David (1967). 100 Years of Freethought. London: Elek Books.
  • Tribe, David (1971). President Charles Bradlaugh, MP. London: Elek Books. ISBN 0-236-17726-5
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See also

References
  1. "About the National Secular Society". National Secular Society. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  2. "Secular Charter". National Secular Society. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  3. "What is Secularism?". National Secular Society. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  4. "History of the National Secular Society". National Secular Society. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  5. Knowlton, Charles (October 1891) [1840]. Besant, Annie; Bradlaugh, Charles (eds.). Fruits of philosophy: a treatise on the population question. San Francisco: Reader's Library. OCLC 626706770. A publication about birth control. View original copy.
  6. Cited in Royle, Radicals, Secularists and Republicans, p.38.
  7. "Companies House". Companies House. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  8. "Faith Schools". NSS. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
  9. Asthana, Anushka (2 March 2008). "Religious schools show bias for rich". London: The Observer. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  10. "Melanie Mcdonagh: Faith schools work. Until you take the faith away". London: The Independent. 31 August 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
  11. Conlan, Tara (17 November 2009). "BBC rejects call for non-religious speakers on Thought for the Day". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  12. "Leading vet calls for an end to religious slaughter". National Secular Society. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  13. "National Secular Society - Prayers during Council meetings: Bideford Town Council and the NSS battle it out at the High Court". www.secularism.org.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  14. Ouseley, Mr Justice (10 February 2012). "National Secular Society, Mr Clive Bone -v- Bideford Town Council" (PDF). Royal Courts of Justice. p. 18. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  15. "Bideford Town Council prayers ruled unlawful". BBC News. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  16. Chaplin, Jonathan (13 February 2012). "Why the Bideford ruling on council prayers is a setback for secularism". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  17. Pickles, Eric. "Localism Act 2011: Preamble". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  18. Ross, Tim (18 February 2012). "Council's prayers are answered as court ban on worship overturned". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  19. "Local Government (Religious etc. Observances) Act 2015". www.parliament.uk. Parliament. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  20. "Free parking for churchgoers to be reviewed". Surrey Advertiser. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  21. "Woking Borough Council to keep free parking for churchgoers". Woking News & Mail. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  22. "Free church parking could become multi-faith". Surrey Advertiser. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  23. "Secularists force review of churchgoers free parking". Christian Institute. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  24. "Woking Borough Council to keep free parking for churchgoers". Woking News & Mail. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  25. The Freethinker, 26 June 1971, p205: "Mrs Ethel Venton was the only candidate for the presidency and was duly elected."
  26. Ethical Record, July/August 1972, p27: : "Barbara Smoker has been elected president, National Secular Society..."
  27. "Honorary Associates". NSS. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
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