Trouble reading this email? View newsletter in your browser | Add to your safe senders

National Secular Society

secularism.org.uk

Challenging Religious Privilege

Donate

Join us

Your daily media briefing - Tuesday 20 August

  

In the Media, our daily collection of news and commentary related to secularism, is one of the most popular features on our website and now available delivered to your inbox.

  

Secularism in the media

 

‘Let’s replace religious assembly in schools with a “thought for the day”’

Compulsory Christian worship is divisive and excludes many children, says Laura McInerney. Why not teach them all to think about religions and philosophies instead?

The Guardian

 

Edinburgh education chief criticises claims of plot against Catholic Church ahead of voting rights debate

Edinburgh City Council's education committee convener has hit back at misinformation and claims of a "secret plot" against the Catholic Church. His comments come as the council prepares to decide whether to strip religious representatives of their voting rights on the committee.

Edinburgh Evening News

 

‘Don’t shoot the messenger, your eminence’

This editorial says the gross evil of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy would have gone unexposed had it not been for three principal agencies, all secular.

The Tablet (£)

 

Number of victims of FGM in the Lancaster and Morecambe district on the rise

More victims of female genital mutilation in Morecambe Bay were seen for the first time by health services last year, figures show.

Lancashire Post

 

‘Why was a GCSE student disqualified for criticising halal meat?’

Brendan O'Neill says we have to distinguish between genuine anti-Muslim bigotry and perfectly legitimate questioning or ridicule of Islam.

The Spectator

 

MMR vaccine: one in seven five-year-olds in England may not be immunised

One in seven five-year-olds may not be up to date with their MMR immunisation, Public Health England has warned, rising to one in four in London.

The Guardian

 

El Salvador rape victim acquitted over stillbirth murder charge

A young rape victim who was suspected of having an abortion and charged with homicide after having a stillborn child has been acquitted by a judge at a retrial in El Salvador.

The Guardian

 

Belgium tests EU rules on halal and kosher slaughter

From 1 September the French-speaking region of Wallonia will be the second Belgian authority to prohibit killing animals without prior stunning.

Politico

 

‘India is committing human rights abuses in Kashmir - Boris Johnson has a duty to act’

Khalid Mahmood MP says proposals to sell land which has been held for generations by Kashmiri Muslim farmers, in order to settle Hindu nationalists loyal to the current Indian government, is ethnic cleansing.

Politics Home

 

Questions over Germany’s church taxes as Catholic Church reports growing income

The German Catholic Church's income has risen as questions are being asked over the country's compulsory church tax.

The Tablet (£)

  

Latest from the NSS

 

Jewish school may severely restrict families’ IT use, says DfE

The government has said it will not prevent a Jewish school from severely restricting families' IT use after the NSS raised concerns.

  

Viewing this online?

If you're viewing this online and would like to receive the daily media briefing straight to your inbox, click subscribe.

  

While you're here

Please support our work so we can make the case for a fairer secular democracy for all.

  

Disclaimer: Links are provided to external websites for information and in the interests of free exchange. We do not accept any responsibility for the content of those sites, nor does a link indicate approval or imply endorsement of those sites.