National Secular Society

The National Secular Society is a British organisation which promotes secularism, the separation of Church and State, to make society fair for everyone, whatever their belief or lack of one. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of religion. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866. The society is a member organisation of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and endorses the Amsterdam Declaration 2002.

Objectives

Under the banner "challenging religious privilege," the society campaigns for: the disestablishment of the Church of England; the withdrawal of state subsidies to religious schools; the end of tax exemption for churches and an end to the public funding of chaplains in prisons, hospitals and the armed services. It was recently highly involved in the abolition of the Blasphemy Law.

Although the organisation was explicitly created for those who reject the supernatural, the NSS does not campaign for an end to 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. 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.

Honorary Associates

Honorary Associates of the society include:

Professor Peter Atkins Iain Banks Michael Cashman MEP Nick Cohen Professor Richard Dawkins Michael Foot Professor A. C. Grayling Dr Evan Harris MP Patrick Harvie MSP Christopher Hitchens Paul Holmes MP Ted Honderich Sir Ludovic Kennedy

Graham Linehan Sir Jonathan Miller Maryam Namazie Taslima Nasrin Harold Pinter Philip Pullman Claire Rayner Joan Ruddock MP Dr David Starkey Polly Toynbee Gore Vidal

Secularist of the Year award

In October each year, the NSS holds the Secularist of the Year award ceremony at which the Irwin Prize of £5,000 is presented.

Previous winners of the Irwin Prize have been:

• 2005 - Maryam Namazie, a strong defender of women's rights and the right to freedom of expression.
• 2006 - Steve Jones (biologist), a biologist well known as the author of a number of books defending evolution.
• 2007 - Mina Ahadi, German founder of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims.
• 2008 -

Nominations for the Secularist of the Year are made by members of the National Secular Society, and the winner is chosen by the Officers of the National Secular Society along with Dr Michael Irwin, who has donated the funds which underpin the award.

Presidents

• Charles Bradlaugh 1866-1890 (A. Trevelyan held the Presidency, 1871-1872)
• GW Foote 1890-1915
• Chapman Cohen 1915-1949
• R.H. Rosetti 1949-1951
• F.A. Ridley 1951-1963
• David Tribe 1963-1971
• Barbara Smoker 1971-1996
• Daniel O'Hara 1996-1997
• Denis Cobell 1997-2006
• Terry Sanderson 2006 - to date

Bibliography

• 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
• 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

See also

• British Humanist Association (BHA)
• Rationalist Association (RA)
• South Place Ethical Society (SPES)
• International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU)

External links

• National Secular Society (NSS)
• International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU)