Secularism as equality of religious and non-religious beliefs in British education politics

While sometimes equated with the separation of religion from politics (and sometimes from other spheres of life, such as education and employment), secularism is a complex, context-sensitive and contested set of norms that often make room for state intervention in religious organisations and practices (Modood, 2019; Modood and Sealy, 2024). In recent decades, secularist ideas and discourses have been shaped in part by the development of anti-discrimination laws and policies, which have protected some religious practices while restricting others (Meer, 2010; Lewicki, 2014; Dupont, 2022, 2016). Drawing on education-related statements issued by the National Secular Society and Humanists UK, two prominent charities that campaign for ‘secularism’ in Britain and beyond, this paper explores the influence and implications of a secularist ideal that foregrounds equality between all religious and non-religious beliefs. It also examines the extent to which this ideal aligns with the positions of majority and minority religious organisations, with a focus on the Church of England, the Catholic Church and Muslim groups (including the Muslim Council of Britain and Muslim Women Network). The paper argues that, by and large, British secularists have accepted (or at least refrained from opposing) the presence of religion in the public and political sphere, including in the form of religious dress, religiously motivated accommodation requests, and state-funded religious education. At the same time, they have vigorously opposed all religious exemptions from anti-discrimination provisions that may disadvantage non-religious people, religious minorities, women and girls, or LGBTQ+ people. Their radical egalitarian stance has put them on a collision course with the conservative Christians for whom anti-discrimination exemptions have primarily been crafted, but it has sometimes led them to make common cause with progressive Christians and especially Muslims, who have embraced anti-discrimination concepts and institutions in their struggle against Islamophobia (Torbisco Casals, 2016; Elshayyal, 2018; Dupont, 2018). This pattern can be seen in policy areas such as the selection/discrimination of students and teachers on religious grounds in faith schools; the curriculum for religious education and other subjects; and collective worship. In addition to reconfiguring political cleavages and coalitions, the emergence of secularism as equality of religions and beliefs in political debates raises at least two conceptual questions. The first is what analytical leverage is gained by applying the label of ‘secularism’ (rather than religious equality) to this idea, and whether secularism should be regarded as a category of practice rather than analysis. The second is whether progressive activists will continue to fly the banner of secularism despite the rather exclusive meanings it has taken on in European legal cases around equality and human rights.