Freedom of thought
We support the right of every person to freedom of thought and belief, to develop their ideas, express their opinions, have the opportunity to consider a range of views, and to change their minds.
We support a secular state as the best form of state to protect this freedom, treat everyone fairly in the exercise of this freedom, and to protect equal citizenship and peace in a plural society.
A secular state should:
- maintain and advance freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief for all people up to the limits of the rights and freedoms of others in a fair society;
- treat all people equally in law and policy regardless of their religious or non-religious beliefs;
- maintain separation between public institutions and religious institutions, ensuring no domination of one by the other.
Schools in particular have a special importance for all who care about freedom of thought. Every child has the human right to a broad education that will prepare them for modern life.
Every child should also be free to learn about the many perspectives and views that exist on all questions in human culture and have their own freedom of thought and conscience respected in line with their growing maturity.
Wider society also has an interest in making sure that citizens of the future will be critical thinkers, informed and able to participate in the life of the community.
A mind in blinkers is a mind that is unfree.
Susan Stebbing, humanist philosopher
Humanists recognise that it is only when people feel free to think for themselves, using reason as their guide, that they are best capable of developing values that succeed in satisfying human needs and serving human interests.
Isaac Asimov, author and humanist
Our work on freedom of thought
Below you can explore our current active campaigns relating to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief, and our policy briefings on a fuller range of issues under this heading.
Policy briefings
Blasphemy lawsEngland and Wales’ blasphemy laws were repealed in 2008, but now the Public Order Act is being used in novel ways to charge people for…Read the briefing →
Census and national dataData about the UK’s religious and non-religious demographic makeup is often misrepresented in public discourse due to the use of a leading question in the…Read the briefing →
Citizenship educationSome schools are not educating pupils about democracy, human rights, and critical thinking.Read the briefing →
Conscientious objectionConscientious objection laws exist to protect individual’s freedoms, but are under threat of extension to places where this would harm the rights and freedoms of…Read the briefing →
Employment in faith schoolsReligious state schools discriminate against employees based on religion.Read the briefing →
Equality law loopholes for public servicesPublic services are sometimes contracted out to be run by religious groups, which can discriminate against service users and employees due to loopholes in equality…Read the briefing →
Faith school admissionsReligious state schools select pupils by their family’s religion, driving religious, social, and ethnic segregation.Read the briefing →
Freedom of religion or beliefFreedom of religion or belief is not always protected equally. Too often, it is treated as applying mainly to religious people, leaving humanists and others…Read the briefing →
Government, religious groups, and civil societyGovernments often privilege religious groups over others in policy and in official recognition.Read the briefing →
Illegal religious schoolsIllegal schools in England are completely unregulated, often providing a religious-only curriculum and sometimes perpetrating physical and sexual abuse against children.Read the briefing →
Legal recognition of humanist marriagesHumanist marriages are not legally recognised in England and Wales.Read the briefing →
National ceremoniesPublic ceremonies of national meaning are almost invariably Anglican in nature in spite of only one in eight adults being Anglican and less than half…Read the briefing →
Private religious schoolsReligious private schools often fail to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, and deny young people their basic freedoms.Read the briefing →
Public service broadcastingThe BBC makes lots of programmes about religions or for religious people, and almost none about or for non-religious people.Read the briefing →
Relationships and Sex EducationOpt-outs built into relationships and sex education (RSE) mean that many children are not receiving fact-based, objective teaching about sex and relationships. Others aren’t receiving…Read the briefing →
Religious EducationIn many schools the curriculum teaches religions as true, and in many others it teaches about religions but not non-religious worldviews like humanism.Read the briefing →
Religious state schoolsReligious state schools are a growing part of the state system; they discriminate in admissions, employment, and the curriculum; and are privileged in decisions around…Read the briefing →
Religious worship in schoolsAll state schools are legally required to carry out daily worship. Many do so and almost invariably this worship must be exclusively Christian.Read the briefing →
Science educationSome schools teach creationism as true or fail to teach evolution as true. Others fail to teach well about the scientific method.Read the briefing →
Separating church and stateEngland is a legally Christian country with a minority Christian population, and that causes problems from reserved seats for bishops in the House of Lords…Read the briefing →
State chaplaincy and pastoral careMany institutions provide religious, often predominantly Anglican, chaplains, and fail to make equal provision for non-religious pastoral care.Read the briefing →
Strengthening children's rightsChildren's rights are not properly recognised in UK law, never mind upheld.Read the briefing →