All posts tagged: Secular

Reform and Restore councillors object to secular reflection

Reform and Restore councillors object to secular reflection

Published by Sam Flores

Reform UK councillors have made a complaint after a council meeting opened with a nonreligious reflection and a moment of silence instead of prayers. At East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s full council meeting last week, Liberal Democrat council chair Linda Johnson delivered a “secular reflection” due to the absence of her chaplain. She requested the reflection be followed by a moment’s silence. However, a Restore Britain councillor interrupted the silence by reciting the “Lord’s Prayer” as soon as the council rose for the observance. The incident follows the imposition of the Lord’s Prayer on at least three Reform-controlled councils and attempts by Reform to restrict Islamic prayers at two others. Council chair reads “secular reflection in the interest of inclusivity” Opening the meeting, Cllr Johnson said she is “very conscious that there are councillors here from different religions and worldview backgrounds”, which is why she prepared “a more secular reflection in the interest of inclusivity rather than the Lord’s Prayer”. Her reflection said: “We are gathered here to serve our community bringing with us different …

Pope Leo tells secular Spain not to leave Catholic faith in the ‘museum of the past’

Pope Leo tells secular Spain not to leave Catholic faith in the ‘museum of the past’

Published by Sam Flores

MADRID (RNS) – Over 1.2 million people gathered at Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid on Sunday (June 7) to catch a glimpse of Pope Leo XIV celebrating Mass and leading the Corpus Christi procession, a major celebration where the Eucharist is paraded through the streets. During his homily, Leo urged Catholics to “remember” and “return” to their faith, using the procession as an opportunity to renew Catholic beliefs in a secularized Spain. “The task of Spain,” Leo said, is “to ensure that the religiosity which has shaped and defined this country for centuries is not a museum of the past to be visited, but a school of faith from which to draw even today.” Embracing faith means drawing away from “our selfishness and indifference, of a comfortable, private faith,” he continued. Only this way can Catholics become “builders of a new world,” he said. The event occurred on the second day of the pope’s week-long trip to Spain, the first major European destination of his pontificate. While the majority of Spaniards still identify as Catholic, …

Thirty years of fighting for a secular Britain

Thirty years of fighting for a secular Britain

Published by Sam Flores

Keith Porteous Wood joined the National Secular Society in 1996 as executive director. He became president in 2017. Helen Nicholls spoke with him about three decades of campaigning. You’ve been with the National Secular Society for thirty years now. What first brought you to the organisation? I heard about the National Secular Society through being an active member of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association. The NSS’s relevance seemed compelling. As a gay rights campaigner, I felt the main obstacle to equality was religious interests, and I soon became a volunteer. I had been in fairly high-flying finance posts, but I wanted to do something more consequential as a second career and was prepared to take a huge salary drop to do it. I should say that it was Terry Sanderson who persuaded me to apply for the job. Terry was my partner, and he later became NSS President himself, serving from 2006 to 2017. He died in 2022, after several years of illness, and his absence is still keenly felt. Marking thirty years of …

Is a secular religion propelling the AI race?

Is a secular religion propelling the AI race?

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Last month, a man hurried up the driveway of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco compound hours before sunrise and lobbed a flaming Molotov cocktail at the gate.  No one was injured, and shortly after, a suspect was arrested outside the offices of OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, allegedly threatening to “kill everyone inside.” Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, who has no prior criminal record, has been charged with 13 felonies, including attempted murder. Moreno-Gama’s parents and lawyer have said he has a history of mental illness, but his digital footprint also shows he was deeply concerned that artificial intelligence would lead to human extinction. He frequented an anti-AI Discord server, where he mused in a chat about violent acts against tech leaders like Altman. And in a podcast interview recorded in January, he described himself as an “AI safetyist” and cited the influence of Eliezer Yudkowsky, a prominent AI theorist who argues that if anyone builds superintelligent AI, everyone will die.  The attack on Altman has ratcheted up existing tensions in Silicon Valley. …

Trump’s clash with the pope reenacts a 1,000-year-old question: What happens when sacred and secular power collide?

Trump’s clash with the pope reenacts a 1,000-year-old question: What happens when sacred and secular power collide?

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — Alarm over the war of words between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV has escalated with remarkable speed, from The New York Times to the Daily Beast and local television. The pope has repeatedly called for peace in the Middle East since the start of the Iran war, insisting that “God does not bless any conflict” and warning against the “delusion of omnipotence.” On April 12, in a lengthy social media post, Trump derided Leo as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” telling him to “focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.” His Truth Social account posted, then deleted, a Christ-like image of Trump appearing to heal a man. At stake in this public feud is an old question: Can a religious leader challenge political power, especially a ruler of one of the most powerful countries in the world? As a medieval historian and lead editor of “The Cambridge History of the Papacy,” I cannot help but see a familiar pattern. For many people, Trump’s rant against …

100 year old secular school saved from faith school takeover

100 year old secular school saved from faith school takeover

Published by Sam Flores

Parents and the National Secular Society have welcomed the Government’s refusal to allow a secular school in Bristol to be taken over by a Church of England school. The Department for Education (DfE) has declined an application to amalgamate Hotwells Primary School with Cathedral Primary School, according to a communication sent yesterday to parents by the schools’ academy trust. The plans would have resulted in one school spread over the sites of both schools which would take on the name and Church of England ethos of Cathedral Primary School. The plans sparked protests from parents of children at both schools. Locals objecting to the merger included TV presenter David Dimbleby, who supported parents by helping to distribute leaflets. Parents were also supported by the National Secular Society, which responded to Cathedral School Trust’s (CST) consultation on the plans and wrote to the DfE Regional Director for the South West. Parents: Plans would have meant “losing the only local secular primary choice” In June, parents at Hotwells launched a campaign website and a petition urging the …

EHRC opposes ‘Islamophobia’ definition | National Secular Society

EHRC opposes ‘Islamophobia’ definition | National Secular Society

Published by Sam Flores

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has set out strong opposition to a proposed non-statutory definition of ‘Islamophobia’. Responding to a consultation from a Government appointed working group on Islamophobia / anti-Muslim hatred, the EHRC said no definition should be adopted. The National Secular Society has long campaigned against adopting a definition of Islamophobia. It also engaged and met with the working group to express its concerns. Definition risks “being unhelpful or merely duplicative” The EHRC noted the Equality Act 2010 and the criminal law already protects Muslims. A non-statutory definition “risks being unhelp or merely duplicative”, it said. Both the Government and the working group failed to identify “what specific problem a new non-statutory definition would solve” and had not “provided analysis of why existing statutory provisions are insufficient”. A definition “could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression” and, if applied by public authorities, “could lead to unlawful restrictions on political speech”. This could lead to “further harm to community cohesion”. It also stated that Islamophobia is not a form of …

Growing Interest in Faith-themed Secular Music – OpentheWord.org

Growing Interest in Faith-themed Secular Music – OpentheWord.org

Published by Sam Flores

Alex Warren’s hit single, ‘Ordinary’, has been on the Billboard’s Hot 100 list for over 20 weeks. Just recently it became the number one song in America. Warren started his career on TikTok and YouTube, where he initially posted prank videos before moving into music. What makes ‘Ordinary’, unusual, is its focus on spirituality and traditional conservative values. Though I could find no evidence that Warren is a Christian, the lyrics speak about angels, holy water, altars, heaven and the Lord. It is a song about how thankful he is for his wife, who is actually featured in the video. But equally curious is that people are listening to it. The song which was posted on YouTube at the end of February 2025 has 84 million views. According to a recent article on Breitbart, Warren’s hit song reflects a resurgence of what is referred to as ‘Tradpop’ or songs that promote traditional conservative values. Other songs and singers promoting faith and/or traditional conservative values are seeing similar popularity. It is a mark contrast to the …

NSS urges trust to halt faith school takeover of secular school

NSS urges trust to halt faith school takeover of secular school

Published by Sam Flores

The National Secular Society has told a multi-academy trust its plans to merge a nonreligious school into a faith school would be “a step in the wrong direction”. The Bristol-based Cathedral Academy Trust (CST) is consulting on plans to merge Hotwells Primary School, which has no religious character, into Cathedral Primary School, which is a Church of England school. The resulting school would be spread over the sites of both schools but would take on the name and Church of England ethos of Cathedral Primary School. The plans have prompted protests from children and parents at both schools. Hotwells Primary parents have launched a campaign website and a petition urging CST not to “erase Hotwells Primary school, losing the only local secular primary choice”. The petition has over 1,200 signatures, while a separate petition by parents as Cathedral Primary has over 600 signatures. The NSS is supporting parents opposing the plans. Majority of Bristol residents are nonreligious Responding to the consultation, the NSS told CST the loss of the local area’s only nonreligious primary school …

Parents protest secular school takeover plans

Parents protest secular school takeover plans

Published by Sam Flores

The National Secular Society is supporting parents and children in Bristol campaigning to stop a secular school being taken over by a faith school. The plans would see Hotwells Primary School, which has no religious ethos, amalgamated into the Anglican Cathedral Primary School. The resulting school would be spread over the sites of both schools but would take on the name and Church of England ethos of Cathedral Primary School. Parents with children at Hotwells Primary have launched a campaign website and a petition urging the schools’ academy trust not to “erase Hotwells Primary school, losing the only local secular primary choice”. Parents and pupils have held a public protest outside Hotwells Primary. TV presenter David Dimbleby (pictured below, with his daughter Kate and former Hotwells pupil Lila Howe), whose grandchildren are understood to have attended Hotwells, has also supported parents by helping to distribute leaflets. A merger or closure of Hotwells Primary would mean all primary schools in the Clifton and Hotwells and Harbourside wards would be Church of England faith schools, even though …