Tell the Government to end religious discrimination in society

The UK Government is holding a consultation on the role and impact of ‘faith’ within society, whether there’s freedom of religion or belief in the UK, and the relationship of government with ‘faith groups’. It’s also asking what people think about faith schools and chaplaincy.

This consultation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tell the Government to treat everybody equally, with no discrimination on the basis of religion. Will you respond?

With a majority of British adults now identifying as non-religious, it’s vital the Government hears from humanists, and not just from religious voices.

You can respond to the ‘Independent Faith Engagement Review’ call for evidence using the online form. Submissions need to be made by Friday 11 December.

You don’t need to answer every question. However, some key questions are:

  • Whether faith and religion are overall positive things for society
  • Whether you think faith schools are a good thing for society and if religious practices have a positive impact on children’s education
  • Equally, whether ‘secular or non-religious practices in schools have a positive impact on a child’s education’
  • About prison and military chaplaincy services
  • Whether freedom of religion or belief is upheld in the UK today
We’ve given our own answers below so that you can see what Humanists UK will be saying, but you should make your own response in your own words, even if you do draw on our suggestions. We know that officials often treat multiple identical responses to consultations as one contribution, meaning your effort has less impact than if you personalised your answers.

Respond to the consultation

Some suggested answers

Below we present some suggested model answers, but you should make your response in your own words, even if you do draw on our suggestions.

In your opinion, are Faith and Religion overall positive things for society?

You might say that although you believe that everyone has an equal right to live in accordance with their own values and beliefs, you do not believe anyone should have a right to impose those beliefs upon others. Regrettably, this is too often the reality of faith and religion in society, as religious groups have carved-out exemptions to equality legislation, and aren’t covered by human rights legislation, either, when contracted to provide public services. This means they often lawfully discriminate in the provision of services and in how they treat their staff, against those of other religions and the non-religious. Therefore, while we do not wish to question the right of someone to hold or exercise their religious beliefs, we do not believe the behaviour of religious groups has been overall positive for society.

Do you believe local councils and local public services like schools, the NHS and emergency services look for, and take opportunities to create, productive partnerships with local faith organisations?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘don’t know’ to the question: ‘Could the Charity Commission do more to support registered faith charities?’ You might say that the exemptions in equality and human rights legislation that allow religious groups to discriminate in the provision of services, in school admissions, in the school curriculum, and elsewhere, make it extremely difficult for local councils to look for and create productive partnerships with local faith organisations. It means that such partnerships frequently lead to discrimination against the non-religious and those of other religions.
The law urgently needs to change to remove exemptions that religious groups enjoy, when they are providing services paid for by the public. Only then can such productive partnerships be fostered, free from discrimination.
Furthermore, the needs of the non-religious in particular are frequently overlooked, whether that be in the school curriculum, in the provision of pastoral care in hospitals, or even in this question.

Do you feel that freedom of religion or belief is under threat in the UK today?

We think you should say ‘Yes’. This is true across public policy and public life. It can be seen from the discrimination in admissions, employment, and the curriculum, advanced by one-third of state-funded schools, on the basis of religion. Amongst OECD members, only Ireland, Israel, and Estonia permit religious discrimination in state-school admissions. It can be seen in the requirement for the other two-thirds of schools to hold daily Christian worship, regardless of the religion or belief of the pupils concerned (who may almost never be from Christian families, given that just 22% of young adults nowadays are Christian, yet one third of schools are Christian). The UK is the only country in the world that requires daily Christian worship in its state schools as standard.

It can be seen from the fact that more frequently than not, the school curriculum fails to teach in any detail at all about non-religious worldviews, such as humanism – instead only focusing on the major world religions. Faith schools almost never teach about non-religious worldviews at all, except to criticise them. The bodies that set the RE curriculum often also exclude humanists, and the Government has been unwilling to say that this is wrong.

It can be seen in the fact that our public broadcaster, the BBC, produces hundreds of hours of programming every year specifically about different religions, and even for religious people, but no programming specifically about or for the non-religious.

It can be seen in the fact that we have 26 bishops in the House of Lords, as of right, voting on all our laws, in a Parliament that already has a higher share of Christians than society as a whole. The only other sovereign state in the world that has religious leaders as of right is Iran. And then there is the fact that outside of the pandemic, those who get seats in the House of Commons (of which there are only two for every three MPs) are those who attend parliamentary prayers – meaning those who don’t want to attend such prayers have to choose between being forced to, or not getting a seat, limiting their ability to participate in popular debates or e.g. Prime Minister’s Questions, and their ability to serve their constituents’ needs.

It can be seen in the persistent failure, in England and Wales, to extend legal recognition to humanist marriages. This has been the subject of three government reviews over the last seven years, and persistent delay. Over 1,000 couples have a humanist wedding every year without legal recognition – putting humanist marriages behind only civil, Anglican, Catholic, and Methodist marriages in terms of popularity. And yet still the Government has refused to support such recognition.

It can be seen in the ample provision of pastoral care to religious people in general and Christians especially in hospitals, prisons, and the Armed Forces, without similar provision of non-religious pastoral care.

In all of these ways, the UK discriminates against the non-religious. Every year, Humanists International produces a ranking of how much countries discriminate against the non-religious. For these reasons, the UK is ranked 132nd out of 196 countries – below almost all of the other Western countries.

Are there areas of religious or faith-based practice which cause you serious concern?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘don’t know’, or ‘prefer not to say’ to the question: ‘Do you feel that freedom of religion or belief is under threat in the UK today?’
We think you should say ‘Yes’. You might say that you are seriously concerned about religious discrimination in schools, whether it be collective worship, faith-based admissions, or faith-based teaching – as per our suggested answer to a previous question.
You might say that you are also seriously concerned about the lack of support for apostates, i.e. those who leave coercive or high control religions. Such individuals often find themselves cut off from all their friends and family, and may be lacking the education and skills to survive in the wider world. They need support, but public services are generally ill-prepared to provide them with this help – often being entirely unaware of their unique needs. This is something that Faith to Faithless is working to change.

Do you feel confident that local and national Government and public servants have a good understanding of different faiths, religious practices and issues?

We think you should say ‘No’. The serious discrimination against the non-religious that we have outlined in our previous suggested answers shows how bad the Government is at dealing with religion or belief.

In your opinion, how could Government and Public servants improve their faith literacy?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘don’t know’, or ‘prefer not to say’ to the previous questions, starting with: ‘Do you feel confident that local and national Government and public servants have a good understanding of different faiths, religious practices and issues?’
You might say that the very omission of non-religious views inherent within this question, demonstrates that the Government just doesn’t have good religion or belief literacy. If it did, then it would recognise the impossibility of trying to understand religious perspectives while ignoring non-religious perspectives. The Government should provide comprehensive training on humanism to all public servants.
One further area that you might highlight that would particularly benefit from greater attention is the safeguarding concerns faced by apostates when leaving high control religions. There is a very low-level awareness of these challenges.

More than a third of all state-funded schools and academies are faith-based. Do you think that faith-based schools are good for society?

You might say that you are strongly opposed to the existence of religiously selective faith schools and believe they have a detrimental effect on society. By enabling schools to adopt discriminatory admissions and recruitment policies, non-religious children are often unable to attend schools in their local area, whereas those in attendance at faith schools often learn in a socially selective environment. Indeed, there is a great deal of robust evidence to show that religious selection not only segregates children by religion, but also along ethnic and socio-economic lines, as well as by their prior attainment.

To highlight but one example, evidence from the Fair Admissions Campaign shows that, overall, comprehensive secondaries with no religious character admit 5% more pupils eligible for free school meals than live in their local areas. But comprehensive Chuch of England secondaries admit 15% fewer; Roman Catholic secondaries 28% fewer; Jewish secondaries 63% fewer; and Muslim secondaries 29% fewer. There are more school places that are subject to religious selection criteria than there are places at private schools, grammar schools, and single-sex schools combined. As such, faith schools deny children the ability to mix and make friends with other people from different backgrounds and beliefs. Thus, faith schools are not positive for society as they insulate pupils from different backgrounds from each other, preventing a wider sense of respect and tolerance for others.

Do you believe that Religious and Belief Education (often referred to as ‘RE’) is comprehensive enough within the English education curriculum to provide a good understanding of different faiths and beliefs?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘don’t know’, or ‘prefer not to say’ to the question: ‘More than a third of all state funded schools and academies are faith-based. Do you think that faith-based schools are good for society?’
You might say that at present, the teaching of humanism is far too absent from RE. Moreover, this is unlikely to change given that the lack of humanist representatives on Local Authority Standing Advisory Councils on RE (SACREs) is an exacerbating factor in many areas.
The Welsh Government has said that in its view, the Human Rights Act means that humanism needs to be treated equally in RE to the major religions, and humanists need to be admitted to SACREs. In fact, it is presently changing education law to reflect this. But the UK Government, in spite of having identical education law, and having lost a court case on this in 2015 (Fox v Secretary of State for Education), is refusing to take a position. This is seriously harmful to religious pupils’ ability to understand the beliefs of their non-religious peers, and non-religious pupils’ ability to explore and develop their own beliefs. It is bad for social cohesion and bad for society.
In view of this, you could say you strongly support the Commission on RE’s report Religion and Worldviews, which has also been endorsed by the Religious Education Council for England and Wales, and calls for the law to be changed to make explicit the inclusion of humanism. You could urge the Government to fully implement its recommendations.
Do you think that faith-based or religious practices in schools have a positive impact on a child’s education?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘don’t know’, or ‘prefer not to say’ to the previous questions starting with: ‘More than a third of all state funded schools and academies are faith-based. Do you think that faith-based schools are good for society?’We think you should say ‘No’. We believe that discriminatory faith or religious practices, such as faith-based RE in faith schools, and the requirement in many schools for daily acts of Christian collective worship in other schools, negatively impact children’s education. There is no principled justification for requiring non-Christian children to engage in acts of Christian worship when this is incompatible with their most fundamental beliefs; nor is there for denying them a right of conscience by only giving an opt-out to the parents of those below sixth-form age. In many cases, parents will not want to single their children out by removing them from school worship or deny them valuable elements of school assemblies. Indeed, this is compounded by the fact that in most cases schools do not provide any meaningful alternative. In an open and fair society, no-one should feel wrong for not sharing the religious beliefs of their peers or teachers and therefore religious practices should not be imposed on non-religious children.
In addition, you might say that you are concerned that carve-outs for faith and religion in relationships and sex education permit schools to teach certain subjects in a homophobic or gender-discriminatory way. For example, this includes the teaching of abstinence-only education instead of teaching about contraception and abortion, or failing to deliver inclusive education that recognises and is accepting of same-sex families.
Do you think that secular or non-religious practices in schools have a positive impact on a child’s education?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘don’t know’, or ‘prefer not to say’ to the previous questions starting with: ‘More than a third of all state funded schools and academies are faith-based. Do you think that faith-based schools are good for society?’
First, we think this question is extremely confused, in conflating secular practices, such as teaching PE, geography, or English, with non-religious practices, such as teaching about humanism.
With that said, we think you should say ‘Yes’. You might say that you believe all children, no matter their background or belief, should be able to engage with each other, learn about beliefs different from their own, and to form their own views about the world. In an increasingly divided society, the ability to speak and understand the views of others is essential. As such, you could say you believe our school system should equip children with these skills by fostering an environment that’s inclusive and respectful of everyone’s religion or belief. In line with our previous suggested answer, the problem is in fact that there is not enough of this sort of education.
Do you feel that (sic) all faiths are people of faiths are treated equally in the British Military?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘prefer not to say’ to the question: ‘Do you currently, or have you ever served within the British Military?’

First of all, the very language of this question is not treating all people equally, in excluding the non-religious. If the answer was asked in an inclusive way, then the answer would clearly be ‘No’.You could explain that non-religious personnel now account for nearly a third of the serving armed forces in this country, and over a quarter of its regular reserves. It is not uncommon for those serving in the military to deal with a range of difficult experiences and complex emotions, especially around a sense of loss and bereavement. As such, there can be no excuse for the fact that the chaplaincy provision is entirely religious, and overwhelmingly Christian at that. There is a continued lack of any non-religious pastoral care in the military. There is no good excuse for this, especially when there are clear precedents from other countries such as Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Australia for the provision of humanist pastoral care.

Do you feel that the faith or belief of prisoners, visitors and professionals is respected?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘prefer not to say’ to the question: ‘Do you have any personal or professional experience of the criminal justice system?’
We think you should say ‘No’. You could highlight that Humanists UK’s Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network (NRPSN) operates in fifteen per cent of prisons across England and Wales. However, that still leaves 85% where non-religious pastoral carers are not allowed entry. And there is not a single paid post for a non-religious pastoral carer, in contrast to the hundreds of paid posts for religious chaplains and Christian chaplains in particular. Further, you might say that the lack of representation of the non-religious and involvement of the NRPSN at Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s Chaplaincy Council raises serious questions about the level of respect shown towards the beliefs of non-religious prisoners.
Overall how well is the prison chaplaincy service managed?
Please note you will only be asked to answer this question if you click ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘prefer not to say’ to the question: ‘Do you have any personal or professional experience of the criminal justice system?
’You might say that considering that nearly a third of prisoners in England and Wales identify as non-religious, it is lamentable that not a single non-religious pastoral supporter is employed within a prison chaplaincy team in England and Wales. Despite a clear need for more than 25,000 prisoners to receive high-quality pastoral support from like-minded individuals, frequent analysis of chaplaincy and pastoral support adverts demonstrates that the non-religious are ineligible for up to 73% of vacancies. In the absence of paid workers, the growing non-religious prison population, therefore, depends upon the support of voluntary carers including Humanist UK’s Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network. However, in the absence of any endorsement for the presence of non-religious pastoral carers, managing chaplains often feel emboldened to prevent the non-religious from applying to volunteer.
In view of this, you could strongly recommend that Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) issues a statement in support of the presence of non-religious pastoral carers in prison, and clarifies good practice to make sure non-discrimination in both recruitment for paid and voluntary roles, as well as in the delivery of services for prisoners.

If you would like to add any further thoughts not already provided within this call for evidence, please do so here.

We suggest you highlight that repeatedly, throughout almost all of this consultation, language is used which is not inclusive of the non-religious. That includes the exclusionary language deployed for questions about the Government and public servants’ ‘faith literacy’ and the treatment of ‘people of faith’ within the military. These and other questions exclude the experience and views of the non-religious. This underscores how bad the Government’s understanding and engagement with the non-religious is. It shows the need for the Government to provide training on humanism to make sure everyone is treated equally regardless of their faith or belief.

In addition, you could strongly object to the implicit view articulated in this questionnaire that only faith organisations or members of religious communities have supported their neighbourhood throughout the COVID pandemic. This question engenders a negative view of the non-religious and overlooks the positive contribution made by thousands of non-religious people throughout the pandemic, including those who have participated in mutual support groups and the efforts of ‘key workers’ including humanist pastoral carers and celebrants.