Today, May 21st, Church and State moved a little further apart in Norway. The reality is not as dramatic as many of the international headlines stating that Norway has disestablished its State Church, but it is a major step towards the ultimate goal of completely separating the Lutheran Church of Norway from the Norwegian State.

Matt Cherry represented the International Humanist and Ethical Union at the Fourth Annual Global Sikh Civil and Human Rights Conference at the United Nations Church Center on April 24. The conference brought together more than a hundred Sikh leaders and human rights activists from across the globe.

The Malta Humanist Association (MHA) has launched a campaign calling for Malta to adopt a secular constitution. The campaign comes during a public debate, led by the president of Malta, to discuss constitutional reform in the Mediterranean island nation.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has today launched a campaign to remove reserved seats for the Bishops from the House of Lords. The campaign, “Holy Redundant”, follows on from the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill reporting on Monday in support of the Government’s proposals to keep reserved seats for Bishops in a reformed second chamber by a vote of 13-7.

On March 29th the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion and Belief, NY, and the NGO Committee on Human Rights, NY, sponsored a meeting to discuss the topic of blasphemy. The presenters were Austin Dacey from the International Humanist and Ethical Union and Pamela Takiff of Human Rights First.

Human Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was the winner of this year's award for Secularist of the Year. He was presented with the £5,000 Irwin Prize by the author and freedom of expression campaigner Nick Cohen at an event hosted by the National Secular Society last Saturday, March 17. The audience included prominent scientists, journalists, campaigners and writers including Richard Dawkins, Lord Taverne, Joan Smith, Oliver Kamm, Professor Peter Atkins and Maryam Namazie.

Following a tour that began in Sydney, Australia last September, an extraordinary theatre production called “Can We Talk About This?” opened at the National Theatre in London on 9 March.

I’m a Pakistani by birth, a Canadian by choice and Islam is my spiritual journey. I use the term spiritual intentionally, because it’s important to clarify right at the beginning that faith is not politics, and politics is not faith.