Secularist conference to discuss rise of religious right

[cbayer]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/09/secularist-conference-religious-right

Richard Dawkins and AC Grayling among participants in London conference at which Isis will be key talking point

The Guardian, Thursday 9 October 2014 11.21 EDT


Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. Photograph: Geraint Lewis/Rex Features

Campaigners will gather in London at the weekend to promote an international front of secularism to counter the rise of extremist groups such as Islamic State (Isis) in the Middle East, Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Richard Dawkins, AC Grayling and the Algerian sociologist Marieme Hélie-Lucas will be among the participants at the two-day conference, titled the Religious Right, Secularism and Civil Rights.

Hélie-Lucas, one of the organisers of the event, said: “This century is not, as many still think, marked by a religious or spiritual revival. What we are actually witnessing is the rise of extreme right political movements, working under the cover of religion.”

Another organiser, Maryam Namazie, emphasised that the battle with groups such as Isis was not religious but political. “The way to push back Isis and other forms of the religious right – from the Hindu right, Jewish right, Christian right, Buddhist right and so on – is by pushing it out of the state and unequivocally defending secularism, universalism and citizenship rights,” she said.

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