---
title: "British values: the autumn 2017 New Humanist"
date: "2017-08-17T11:21:22+01:00"
modified: "2017-08-17T11:21:22+01:00"
url: "https://newhumanist.org.uk/2017/08/17/british-values-the-autumn-2017-new-humanist/"
post_id: 6680
categories: ["Uncategorised"]
---

# British values: the autumn 2017 New Humanist

***![Cover](https://newhumanist.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/1708-1-Cover-WEB-VERSION.jpg)***

***The Autumn 2017 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! [Subscribe here](/subscribe) for just £27 a year.***

British Values: reflections on a divided society
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**Exit strategies**

After a spate of terrorist attacks on European soil, getting deradicalisation programmes to work has become more important than ever, writes **Samira Shackle**.

> There appears to be growing acceptance that rehabilitating extremists is better for society as a whole. But the parameters must be clearly drawn, or a well-intentioned measure could be at best ineffective or at worst a drastic state incursion on free speech.

**Disestablish and be damned**

The Church of England continues to hold incredible constitutional power, to the detriment of the UK. Can this be challenged, asks **Richard Scorer**?

> It is absurd to suppose that the modern Church of England – insipid, inward-looking, riven with internal obsessions about the status of women and homosexuality, and now fending off child-abuse scandals on a scale previously only associated with the Catholic Church – can claim to offer a coherent source of moral guidance.

**Making a killing**

An examination of Britain’s arms trade tells us who we are as a country and what our role in the world really is, writes **David Wearing**.

> In Yemen, it is a statement not of rhetoric but of fact that Washington and London have spent the last two years acting as accessories to mass murder.

**Let’s move forwards**

**Selina Nwulu** on a bold new book by Reni Eddo-Lodge, which tackles race and racism in Britain both past and present.

**Art and authenticity**

Grayson Perry’s craft-based artworks tell us much about class in Britain today, writes **Huw Lemmey**

***The Autumn 2017 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! [Subscribe here](/subscribe) for just £27 a year.***

Also in this issue:
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![bertram](https://newhumanist.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/autumn-preview-bertram.jpg)

- **JP O’Malley** talks to **Angela Saini** about how sexism through the ages has distorted the science on women’s bodies and behaviour
- The struggle to accommodate the world’s refugees raises a wider question, says **Chris Bertram**: do states have an absolute right to control borders?
- As Vladimir Putin seeks to extend his rule, Russia’s Orthodox religious right is on the rise. **Marc Bennetts** reports from Moscow
- **Rosa Ellis** on how a growing population is leading to radical new solutions for the disposal of bodies
- Can the BBC remain impartial in an age of polarisation? **David Stubbs** on telling the truth in chaotic times
- **Andrew Copson** tackles the dangerous myth that there is something uniquely open and tolerant about “Christian” civilisation
- People have kept diaries for centuries – and now they’re being reinvented for the era of social media. But, asks **Caroline Crampton**, what purpose do they serve?
- What does brainwashing actually mean? **Richard Smyth** explores
- It is often derided, but background music has been at the heart of many utopian visions for society. **Robert Barry** on the history of muzak
- How hot is the sun? asks **Marcus Chown**
- Columns from Michael Rosen and Laurie Taylor; the latest developments in biology, chemistry and physics; cartoon by Grizelda; book reviews; cryptic crossword and Chris Maslanka’s quiz

***New Humanist is published four times a year by the Rationalist Association, a 132 year-old charity promoting reason, science and secularism. Our journalism is fiercely independent and supported entirely by our readers. To make a deeper commitment, why not* *[donate to the Rationalist Association](https://www.justgiving.com/rationalistassociation)?***