Golders Green, antisemitism, and the right to criticise Israel
Six days after the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, London, on 29 April, Prime Minister Keir Starmer warns Iran that fomenting hatred in the UK will not be tolerated. Given the number of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Honoured in the breach: a review of ‘Love Thy Stranger’ by Bart D. Ehrman
The subtitle to Love Thy Stranger is How the Teachings of Jesus Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West. Author Bart D. Ehrman, a former Episcopalian, later fundamentalist Christian who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Online Extremism’s Challenge to the Enlightenment
We uphold the importance of free inquiry and the free exchange of ideas. But what happens when they lead someone to mass murder? In an interesting and often-overlooked passage in his foundational work...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Big Bang, animal suffering, and debunking apologists: interview with Phil...
Introduction Phil Halper is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a science communicator and sceptic with a large online following. On his YouTube channel, he engages with some of the biggest...
View ArticleJudeo-Christian religionists cannot ‘liberate’ Muslims (or Iran)
In a Pentagon press briefing this month, amid the ongoing war with Iran, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quoted Psalm 144: ‘Blessed be the lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Islam’s tyrannical costumes
Jeunes mères et grandes soeurs aux regards pleins de pèlerinages, sultanes, princesses de démarche et de costumes tyranniques… —Arthur Rimbaud, Illuminations The female veil provides a rich...
View ArticleIran: Between Bombs and Theocracy
In this compilation of various interviews for WBAI NYC Radio, BBC 5 Live, and Times Radio, which has been edited for clarity, Maryam Namazie argues that the real struggle in Iran is not between rival...
View ArticleA Thought for Darwin Day: The Perfect Scam
To celebrate Darwin Day (Charles Darwin’s birthday), let’s look at how Darwin, unwittingly and unfortunately, played into the hands of his detractors. Unwisely, he used a word that stimulates...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trains of (Free)Thought #4: On Liberty, Lightning, Luther, and Lawrence
Trains of (Free)Thought is a four-part series of reflections prompted by the author’s travels through France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany between 26 August and 23 September 2025. Other instalments...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Anatomy of Zionism: Interview with Shlomo Sand
Shlomo Sand, 2014. photo: Michel Abada. CC BY-SA 3.0. Shlomo Sand is an Israeli historian and the author of many books about Judaism, Zionism, and the Israel-Palestine conflict, including The...
View ArticleThe Christmas Story
Many well-known ancient characters, both real and fictional, were alleged to be the products of miraculous births, usually fathered by a god and an earthly mother. Perseus and Heracles’ dad was Zeus,...
View ArticleOn Israel, Hamas, and Refusing the Binary
Maryam Namazie spoke about the undoubted harm that militaristic, Islamic organisations such as Hamas pose to women—that was the bit that proved contentious because, while there wasn’t much there to...
View ArticleIran-Israel, and beyond: the religious perspective
The religious dimension of the open war between Iran and Israel has tended to take a back seat to other issues in analyses of the situation. The spotlight has favoured factors whose driving force,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Badenoch, Starmer, ‘Adolescence’, and the ignored problem of religious misogyny
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, was recently confronted by the presenters of BBC Breakfast in a compelling discussion about the Netflix show Adolescence. This gripping show, which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From the archive: the case for free speech and against anti-prejudice...
Reproduced below is an evergreen article by David Tribe arguing the case for free speech in the context of proposed (and, in the end, unsuccessful) anti-prejudice legislation. Though it was published...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Do as I say, not as I do’: a review of ‘Dominion’ by Tom Holland
In the city of Valladolid, Mexico (not to be confused with Valladolid in Spain, the capital of the ‘Catholic monarchs’ Isabella and Ferdinand, but clearly also religion-centred like its eponym), there...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Satan Will See You in Court: A Florida Battle for Religious Freedom
‘The Satanic Amendment’, by Paul Fitzgerald, AKA Polyp.Does Religious Freedom Apply to Everyone?In the United States, particularly here in South Florida, the principle of religious freedom is supposed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Books From Bob’s Library #6: Charles Southwell and ‘The Oracle of Reason’
Books From Bob’s Library is a semi-regular series in which freethought book collector and National Secular Society historian Bob Forder delves into his extensive collection and shares stories and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Buddhism: The Religion That Wasn’t—And Now Is (Part Two)
painting of the wheel of samsara in the temple of one thousand buddhas, France. photo: Moreau.henri. CC BY-SA 3.0.As readers of Part One of this article will recall, one question that has long troubled...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Israel in Gaza: Humanity’s Canary in a Coal Mine?
damage in gaza strip, october 2023. source: Palestinian News & Information Agency (Wafa) in contract with APAimages. CC BY-SA 3.0.IntroductionAs many readers will recall, the phrase ‘canary in a...
View Article
/pic9814888.png)
/fit-in/580x348/filters:format(webp)/english-betterindia/media/media_files/2026/09/17/balaghat-3-2026-09-17-18-46-40.png)
