Following the announcement that the Iraq war inquiry will be held in private, the thinktank Ekklesia has today proposed that Armed Forces Day should be an opportunity to think honestly about military intervention rather than an excuse to divert attention away from the realities of war.

A letter from members of nine religious traditions calling for an end to religious discrimination in schools has been published in the Times. The plea coincides with the first day of the Equality Bill’s committee stage.

A public opinion poll by ComRes, commissioned by the religion and society thinktank Ekklesia, has challenged the Archbishop of Canterbury's suggestion that democracy will be damaged by the revelations about MPs expenses

* 78% say independents should stand where MPs have behaved ‘unethically’
* 63% believe British democracy would be strengthened if there were more independent MPs
* 53% say they would ‘seriously consider’ voting for an independent candidate at the next general election

The religion and society think-tank Ekklesia says that today's installation of the new Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, may signal an important move away from an unhelpful 'persecution complex' which has been developing in certain sections of the churches in the last few years.

Church of England schools have been urged to practise what they preach following the launch by the Church of England today of a new promotional website entitled ChristianValues4Schools.co.uk.

Symon Hill is to join Ekklesia as associate director from 1 June 2009, enabling what the think-tank describes as "a continued expansion" of its work in "creatively re-thinking the role of religion in contemporary society."

The Liberal Democrats have become the first mainstream political party to acknowledge that many faith schools currently pursue unnecessary practices in admissions and employment which work against inclusion - and pledge to challenge them.

Rather than resorting to fearful rhetoric about 'marginalisation' or 'persecution', Christians and people of faith in Britain have a real opportunity to contribute to the public good and to defend the civic freedoms upon which we all rely

Several groups of evangelical Christians who believe that the churches need a positive change of heart and mind on the issue of homosexuality have called on church organisations condemning an American anti- gay hate group to face up to their own discriminatory policies and behaviour.