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OXFORD UNION DEBATE: Abdullah al Andalusi argues that UK State should not end preferential treatment towards religion

By Abdullah al Andalusi on February 29, 2016 • ( 0 )

On the 21st May 2015, the famed Oxford Union held a debate at Oxford University on the motion “This House would end the state’s preferential treatment of religion”.

Below is the except of Abdullah al Andalusi’s presentation in the debate.

The list of speakers invited were:

PROPOSITION

Daniel Bregman

Dan is a winner of the Koc debating championship, as well as the Westminster and Birmingham Intervarsitys. He has adjudicated the knock-out rounds at the European and World Championships and is a former Chair of the Debate Selection Committee at the Union.

A C Grayling

A.C. Grayling is a prominent philosopher and founder of New College of the Humanities. He is often described as the Fifth Horseman of New Atheism.

Lord Taverne QC

Lord Taverne is a member of the House of Lords, sitting as a Liberal Democrat. He is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association, as well as a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group.

Anne Marie Waters

Anne-Marie Waters is a member of the council of the National Secular Society and former co-director of One Law for All. She is also the founder of Sharia Watch UK.

OPPOSITION

Jamie Jackson

Jamie won the Birmingham and Westminster IVs with Dan, and was also the 2nd best speaker at the recent English Debating Championships. He will be speaking for Oxford B at the upcoming European Championships, and is the current Chair of the Debate Selection Committee.

Vaughan Roberts

Vaughan Roberts is the rector of St Ebbes Church, Oxford and the President of the Proclamation Trust, an evangelical Christian association dedicated to training preachers in expository preaching.

Abdullah al Andalusi

Abdullah al Andalusi is a public intellectual and activist for Islam and Muslim affairs. He is the founder of the Muslim Debate Initiative, a public forum for political, religious and social debate.

Julian Brazier MP

Julian Brazier has just been re-elected MP for Canterbury. A practising Roman Catholic, he is a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship and the traditionalist Cornerstone Group.

The full video will be uploaded by the Oxford Union in due course.