Elective Tyranny; Thomas Paine; Flying Spaghetti Monsters –
Freethought for the week, 2-8 July

Dear reader,

It's been an eventful week in UK politics. In light of which, the Freethinker presents an analysis of Boris Johnson's government by decree (or by social media) during the pandemic, by David McGrogan, Associate Professor of Law at Northumbria University. McGrogan argues that the government has increasingly sought ways of legislating without proper Parliamentary scrutiny. This has led to the implementation of bad policies, and puts our democracy in a weak position.

Our first article on Pastafarianism, by Derk Venema and Niko Alm, is about the right to wear a colander on your head in your ID photo. More fundamentally, it asks how far established religions should benefit from privileges and exemptions not open to the rest of us, and examines the response of European courts to the Pastafarian challenge.

Paul Fitzgerald, aka Polyp, introduces his new graphic novel on the life of Thomas Paine, 'the world’s least known revolutionary freethinking hero', and shares a three-page extract on Paine's iconoclastic work, The Age of Reason. Polyp has also drawn this week's Flying Spaghetti Monster cartoon.

New articles
- ‘To protect us all’: the UK government’s contempt for Parliament during the Covid pandemic, by David McGrogan
- Judging the Flying Spaghetti Monster, by Derk Venema and Niko Alm
- Introducing ‘Paine: A Fantastical Visual Biography’, by Polyp
- Pastafarian Month at the Freethinker, with cartoon by Polyp

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy this week's articles. As usual, if you like what we publish, please do help us to spread the word and reach a wider audience.

Best wishes,

Emma Park
Editor, The Freethinker
editor@freethinker.co.uk
freethinker.co.uk