Volume 119 Issue 5 September/October 2004

Cover Story

Assault on freedom: Nick Cohen deplores the sinister absurdity of Blunkett's latest proposal for dealing with religious hatred

Class Action: Marilyn Mason applauds the inclusion of humanism in the new Religious Education
Getting correctness right: Political correctness has gone mad, declared the Leader of the Opposition Michael Howard in a recent speech.
Heavenly bodies: Laurie Taylor finds himself at a feast thats impossible to swallow
Blunkett's folly: This might be one of the last issues of New Humanist you read. Our particular brand of God bashing could soon get us in quite a lot of trouble.
Tales from the city: Jon Binnie wonders whether gays really should be glad to be global
Blue Period: The reason its so tough being Tory leader, suggests Simon Hoggart, is that you just cant get the staff these days

One hellhole under God: Christopher Lord explains why American conservatives suddenly care about Sudan
Backlash in disguise: Eliane Glaser wonders why so many level-headed non-believers are suddenly falling for white dresses, bridesmaids and solemn vows
Turbulent priests: Lionel Fray Lewis reports from Spain on moves by the newly-elected socialist government to ex-communicate the Church
Searching for secular Islam: Ziauddin Sardar proposes new ways to separate religion and politics in the Muslim world
Anarchist with attitude: Laurie Taylor interviews Linda Smith: Comedian Linda Smith, who died in 2006, was the president of the British Humanist Association. In this interview from 2004 she talks to Laurie Taylor about atheism, authority and her passion for pricking pomposity
A woman's right to choose: As a number of backbenchers prepare to table Private Member's Bills on abortion in the coming term, activists demanding more stringent controls are now targeting women Labour MPs with hate mail. But far from pressing for a tighter law, argues Farah Reza, we should be campaigning for abortion on demand.
The elephant bird's tale: In an exclusive extract from his latest book, a Chaucerian pilgrimage to the remote past, Richard Dawkins roams the lost continent of Gondwana
Nowhere man: Elia Zureik – born Palestine, left Israel, lives Canada – discovers under interrogation at Tel Aviv airport that he has lost his identity