• ESS member Norman Bonney, is off to Luxembourg as an invited contributor to an international summit on religion and secularism

    He will join a conference of religious representatives and leading scholars from across Europe and North America who will be debating the relationship between religion and government. The conference is organised by the Luxembourg International Institute for European and International Studies

    Professor Bonney, an emeritus professor at Edinburgh Napier University and member of the Council of the National Secular Society, will be arguing that religious and political freedom is best guaranteed by a strict separation of religion from the state. People should be free to follow their own religious preferences but the state should not be involved in supporting or propagating any specific religious beliefs.

    Commenting on the event Norman Bonney stated that one outcome of the event should be to assist the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to develop a consistent policy towards religious matters.

    Read more...
  • Scottish Campaign meeting

    I am pleased to announce that Edinburgh Secular Society, in partnership with University of Edinburgh Humanist Society, will be hosting a Scotland Campaign meeting on Saturday 22nd June at 2pm in Teviot Row Dining Room.

    The day will consist of a series of talks and presentations from prominent Scottish secularists, humanists, skeptics and others, at the meeting various organizations from across Scotland will be asked to sign a motion calling for the Scottish Government to take action to remove the requirement for Religious Observance in Scottish Schools.

    The day will culminate in an event at 7.30pm.

    See here for details.

    Gary McLelland, ESS Chair

    Read more...

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Secularism is . . .

Who we are

We are a group of people based in the Edinburgh and Central Scotland area who support the idea of a secular society, in which people of all religions - and none - should be treated equally.

We support the Charter of the National Secular Society and meet regularly to discuss secular issues, listen to guest speakers, organise campaigns and have the occasional social evening.

Secularism protects

We are not anti-religion. We oppose discrimination against religions and discrimination by religions equally but we believe that religion is a private matter for individuals and that the privileged position of religion and the self-interest of religious leaders is one that should be challenged.

You can read more by clicking the Secularism tab at the top of the page.

We look forward to meeting you

Please have a look at the website and, if you like what you see, why not come along and join us at one of our meetings?

There are no obligations on anyone who would like to join us other than a broad agreement with the Secular Charter, which you can read via the Secularism page. A modest annual membership fee is made.

Full membership details and online applications are available via the Join Us page.

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