Freethought for the week, 4-12 June: Blasphemy and more

Dear reader,

It's been a busy week at the Freethinker as we continue with Blasphemy Month. We can now bring you a detailed update on the trial of humanist Mubarak Bala, sentenced to 24 years for blasphemy in northern Nigeria. You can read the Facebook posts which got him into trouble and part of the transcript of the judgment, as well as an account of the prison conditions he is experiencing.

We also have a review by Nathan Alexander of a new book on Victorian secularism and its uneasy relationship to empire. Finally, I have been musing on the meaning of 'blasphemy' and its importance to freethinkers.

New articles
- The price of criticising Islam in northern Nigeria: imprisonment or death
- Secularism and the limits of progress? by Nathan Alexander
- Blasphemy Month at the Freethinker

Jubilee poll: Defender of the Faith?
The results are in for our Jubilee poll on whether the monarch should keep the title of 'Defender of the Faith' – or whether, indeed, there should be a monarch at all. Read more here.

Coming up later in Blasphemy Month
I'll be writing again soon with features, reviews and more, including an interview with a particularly eminent blasphemer.

As always, if you like what we do, please spread the word, and let us know if you have any questions or comments.
 
Best wishes,

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