Charity regulation in Scotland needs “urgent review”, according to the National Secular Society.
The organisation argued this week that the charitable purpose of “the advancement of religion” should be assessed, as it provides a “loophole” for charities to promote misogyny and homophobia.
This comes after OSCR, the Scottish charity regulator, reportedly refused to intervene on a number of charities NSS had reported.
Letter to cabinet minister
In a letter to the cabinet secretary for social justice, housing and local government Shona Robison MSP, the NSS urged her to take action “to ensure organisations cannot exploit the benefits of the charity sector to promote intolerance, hatred or discrimination”.
The NSS had reported Moray Coast Baptist Church to OSCR after finding a sermon which said women should submit to male authority.
In the sermon dated 2021, the church's pastor Donald Clough said the “primary function of a woman” is “to be married, to have children, and to tend to household affairs – the cooking, the cleaning, the washing up”.
OSCR said in response that there were “insufficient regulatory grounds” for it to act, adding: “The views expressed are likely to be held by virtue of a manifestation of a religious belief. Religious beliefs are protected under the Equality Act 2010.”
The NSS reported another charity for alleged homophobia and anti-vaccine rhetoric, on which OSCR again declined to act.
“We fail to understand why OSCR has apparently decided that religion should be prioritised over these protected characteristics by failing to prevent charities from promoting ideas which are clearly discriminatory to women and LGBT people,” the NSS said.
It said the charitable purpose of the advancement of religion is “exceptionalising” religious charities, allowing them to promote extremist ideas where charities registered under other purposes would not be able to do so.
In her response to the NSS in February, Robinson said she has committed to conducting a review of charity regulation in Scotland and that work will begin later this year.
Call to remove charitable status
Megan Manson, NSS head of campaigns, said: “OSCR's inability to stop charities promoting homophobia and misogyny simply because they're religious is worrying. The charitable purpose of 'the advancement of religion' has created a religious loophole to allow the promotion of bigotry.”
She added: “If the government is serious about tackling hate and promoting true equality for all in Scotland, it must stop feeding the intolerance promoted by religious organisations by cutting off their tax breaks and removing their charitable status.”
An OSCR spokesperson said: “OSCR conducted a thorough assessment of these concerns to determine if there were any regulatory matters for us to take forward.
“As stated in our response to the concerns, we cannot intervene in the activities of religious charities seeking to promote their religious beliefs unless their activities have the clear and direct effect of harming others or otherwise breach the law.”
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