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    <title><![CDATA[Programme of Lectures, Meetings and Events]]></title>
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      <title><![CDATA[Why you should volunteer - Dr Mehdi Barghchi]]></title>
      <link>http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/calendar/view_entry.php?id=1120&amp;friendly=1&amp;rssuser=__public__&amp;date=20120520</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Dr Mehdi Barghchi, as Postgraduate skills training co-ordinator at Leicester University, looks at volunteering on both sides and considers its wider implications.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 20 May 2012 17:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[General Meeting]]></title>
      <link>http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/calendar/view_entry.php?id=1107&amp;friendly=1&amp;rssuser=__public__&amp;date=20120527</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This is a members only meeting to allow the Leicester Secular Society Board to report back to members and for members to raise issues with the Board]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 27 May 2012 14:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[General Meeting (cont.)]]></title>
      <link>http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/calendar/view_entry.php?id=1107&amp;friendly=1&amp;rssuser=__public__&amp;date=20120528</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This is a members only meeting to allow the Leicester Secular Society Board to report back to members and for members to raise issues with the Board]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 27 May 2012 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA[Charity fun day in aid of the Royals]]></title>
      <link>http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/calendar/view_entry.php?id=1058&amp;friendly=1&amp;rssuser=__public__&amp;date=20120603</link>
      <description><![CDATA[See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8429635/Queens-Diamond-Jubilee-Pageant-grandest-since-Charles-II.html
See also http://republic.org.uk]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA['Secularism and Islamic Practice in Turkey'  Ekmel Gecer]]></title>
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      <description><![CDATA['Secularism and Islamic Practice in Turkey'

Ekmel Gecer

Practising Islam or any other religion does not contradict secular life as long as it does not restrain the people from practising their daily life. In this regard, a Muslim is a Muslim, he or she is not secular, but Islam itself tells the followers to live in peace with any 'humanistic' life system and practice.
Furthermore why should people be forced to give up their religious practice if they are neither bothering others nor violating their rights and freedoms?  What if 'secularism' itself intends to force people to live without any religious practise in their daily life?  Is it even possible? On the other hand, some would argue that secularism is itself a 'religion' which has been produced by modern and non-religious concerns.
Turkey in recent years has been famous for its non-democratic bans, such as banning headscarves (hijabs) from the public areas and not providing any place for Muslims to practise Islamic duties in shopping malls. The aim is to enforce only secular life in the society. France is trying to do the same nowadays. However both of these countries criticise Iran for forcing people to wear hijabs. Would it ever be righteous to criticise a non-democratic state behaviour while they are doing the same? Aren't all these states the same? Aren't all these states the same when it comes to 'autocratic pressure'?

Ekmel Gecer is a freelance journalist who contributes to print and online titles in both the UK and Turkey. He also has a theology degree and an MA in Religion Psychology in Turkey; an MA in Media and Communication at University of Leicester and will soon complete his PhD in Media and Communication studies from Loughborough University. As well as possessing a broad knowledge of media and communication issues, Ekmel Gecer specialises in journalism, media-democracy relations, media ownership, sociology of news, television and popular culture and the impact of new media.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 03 Jun 2012 17:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title><![CDATA['Is communal living sustainable? - a case study in Northern Spain'  Peter Goffin]]></title>
      <link>http://www.leicestersecularsociety.org.uk/calendar/view_entry.php?id=1111&amp;friendly=1&amp;rssuser=__public__&amp;date=20120610</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Peter Goffin went on a pilgrimage to the Cantabrian Mountains to try out a commune in an abandoned village. He reports on what he found and contrasts it with his experiences in Britain and El Salvador.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 10 Jun 2012 17:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
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