Stephen Law

We are often told that "secularists" want to prevent religious point of view being expressed in the public sphere, or religious arguments being used in public debate. I recently commented on Jonathan Chaplin's claim that: Many secular humanists argue as if faith-based ideas should play no role in democratic discourse What secularists do want is a level-playing field, so that religious points of view are not given a privileged role by the state and/or public institutions. So secularists are typically against, for example, the state insisting every state-funded school should have an act of collective worship "of a broadly Christian nature", automatic allocation of 26 seats in the House of Lords to those of a particular faith, state funding for religious schools (that discriminate against pupils and employees based on faith), but not, say humanist schools. Yet all these privileges currently exist. They also object to, e.g. state protection of the right to wear reli...

THEOS has this interesting article . This is very a much a flavour of the month issue - Christians being persecuted and gagged because of their beliefs. Personally, I have no problem at all with Christians expressing their Christian points of view in the public sphere. I'd be interested to learn more about these cases. For often, on closer examination, they turn out to be a little different to the way they are initially presented. In this case, as in others, we have only heard one side of the story so far - it might yet turn out that the reasons for Mr Booker's suspension are not exactly as described. Here is an earlier example . SHOULD CONSCIENCE BE SILENCED? On 27 March 2009, David Booker was suspended from work for expressing his beliefs. This is the latest in a series of incidents involving Christians taking their faith into the workplace. Nurse Caroline Petrie was suspended for offering to pray with a patient (though she has now been reinstated). Council worker Duke Amac...

Interesting article in Ekklesia . It's hard to comment, though, without more information. [pasted in below] The head teacher of a Devon school has defended its actions in relation to the mother of a young child who upset a classmate by telling her that she would "go to hell" if she did not believe in God and Jesus. Gary Read, head teacher of Landscore Primary School, Threshers, in Credition, says he spoke "respectfully" to parent Jennie Cain - also the school receptionist - after her daughter had made the remark, and after the child herself was told it was inappropriate. Mrs Cain, who says her five-year-old's religious beliefs are "not being respected" is being backed by Christian campaigners who say that this is another case of "persecution" against Christians. But the school strongly denies this. Its governors are also challenging Mrs Cain over remarks she made about it's handling of the issue in an email sent to friends, which has ...