It was also among the first organisations to protest Section 28 in the late 1980s, and was one of the most vocal and longstanding advocates of a ban on gay conversion therapy, which it denounces as "religious pseudoscience" with harmful consequences. Ayer. speak, and believe, as they wish. [68], Prior to the creation of a President of the Union of Ethical Societies in 1918, and that of Chair in 1916, several others held the equivalent role of Chair of the Annual Congress. We provide a meeting place for humanists in … ... Our aim is to provide a safe, comfortable space for members to learn more about humanism and themselves, as well as build friendships with like-minded individuals. I was born into an orthodox English Roman catholic family of three girls and four boys. Humanists urge commuters to ponder meaning of life", Annual Reports of the Union of Ethical Societies, "BHA mourns Linda Smith, BHA President 2004-2006", "Jim Al-Khalili named President-elect of British Humanist Association", "Shappi Khorsandi named new President of the British Humanist Association", "Acclaimed scientist and broadcaster Alice Roberts appointed President of Humanists UK", Papers of Individual Members and Humanists, "Anthony Grayling named new British Humanist Association President » British Humanist Association", "Anthony Grayling has decided not to take office as BHA President", "Richy Thompson appointed new BHA Director of Public Affairs and Policy", "Humani: The humanist association of Northern Ireland", "What is a good death? Humanists UK believes that this supposed overstatement of religious belief creates a situation where "public policy in matters of religion and belief will unduly favour religious lobbies and discriminate against people who do not live their lives under religion". [57] Robert Winston criticised the campaign as "arrogant". [90], The humanist funeral for former Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan at the Welsh Assembly was conducted by a Humanists UK celebrant, Lorraine Barrett and was the first national funeral in the United Kingdom to be led by a humanist celebrant. After announcing that it intended to replicate it in other UK cities,[66][67] the campaign moved to bus posters in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool for four weeks in November and December 2014, this time depicting humanist responses from Jim Al-Khalili, Jawaharlal Nehru, Natalie Haynes and Russell once again. Humanists UK runs a prestigious annual events programme, including the Darwin Day Lecture (on themes connected with Darwin's work and humanism), the Rosalind Franklin Lecture (commemorating women in humanism), the Voltaire Lecture (on humanism more generally), the Bentham Lecture (co-hosted with University College London's philosophy department), the Holyoake Lecture (held in Manchester and covering humanism and political thought), and an annual convention which moves around the UK from year to year. The charity has also sponsored philosophical debates[109] at HowTheLightGetsIn Festival. [25], Through its education website Understanding Humanism, the charity also provides resources to teachers who want to include humanist perspectives and information about humanism in lessons. Humanist Society Scotland is a Scottish charity, no SCO26570, and a Scottish company limited by guarantee, no SC413697. Maddy is the Humanist Heritage Coordinator for Humanists UK, researching and writing about the history of humanism to celebrate the organisation's 125th birthday. Past winners are: Earlier awardees include A.J. [44], The charity has been consistently supportive of LGBT rights across its history. treated with dignity and respect, and to be allowed to The very first of these was a woman, the philanthropist and activist Lady Elizabeth Swann, who was the wife of a prominent liberal MP. Persistent campaigns include defending legal abortion in Great Britain and securing its decriminalisation and its legalisation in Northern Ireland,[34] defending embryonic stem cell research for medical purposes,[35] challenging the state funding of homeopathy through the National Health Service,[36] and calling for consistent and humane law on the slaughter of animals. Members Humanists UK. Humanists UK News. [99][100][101], Numerous prominent people from the worlds of science, philosophy, the arts, politics, and entertainment are publicly aligned with Humanists UK, including Professor Alice Roberts, Tim Minchin, Stephen Fry, Matty Healy, Sandi Toksvig, Philip Pullman, and Dan Snow. Couple win challenge to lack of legal recognition of humanist marriages in Northern Ireland", "Humanists launch Northern Ireland's first billboards advertising legal same-sex marriages", "Meaning of 'Public Authority' » British Humanist Association", "Blasphemy » British Humanist Association", "New Commons push for an end to Britain's blasphemy laws", "Blasphemy Law is dead | Rationalist Association", "Working towards a Single Equality Act: The Government's Equalities Review and Discrimination Law Review", "Atheist Bus Campaign Official is fundraising for British Humanist Association", "Stephen Green challenges Atheist Bus adverts: BHA responds » British Humanist Association", "The One Show – Backstage Blog: What did you think of the show? It seeks to act as a representative body for non-religious people in the UK. 2) Meet regularly to discuss the affairs of the day that have a moral content, in the light of humanistic ideas. Prior to the creation of a President of the Union of Ethical Societies in 1918, and that of Chair in 1916, several others held the equivalent role of Chair of the Annual Congress. If you are a funeral director and would like more information on becoming an Associate Member please see here for more information. [106], Humanists UK has traditionally worked closely with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which was founded by the President of Birmingham Humanists, sexologist Martin Cole, in 1968. It has always sought an "open society". The first, called "That's Humanism! "[17], While the organisation is opposed to faith schools receiving any state funding whatsoever, it supports the Fair Admissions Campaign which has a more limited scope because "it furthers our aims of ending religious discrimination and segregation in state schools; and secondly because we know how important this particular topic is. Humanists International is also a 'doing business as' name of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), a not-for-profit organization registered in New York, USA (501(c)3). [81], The charity also contracts an officer on the ground both in Wales and Northern Ireland, who coordinate its national sections (or branches) Wales Humanists and Northern Ireland Humanists. [56], In 2011, Humanists UK campaigned to get atheists, agnostics and other non-believers to tick the "no religion" box in response to the optional religion question in the 2011 census (as opposed to writing in either a joke religion like "Jedi" or ticking the religion one grew up in). [47] In 2008, the blasphemy law was repealed, an issue over which Humanists UK had long campaigned. [43] After campaigning to legalise same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland, it celebrated its success with a promotional billboards across Belfast emblazoned, 'Love wins for everybody', advertising humanist ceremonies. The project was initiated by data evidence which suggested that non-religious patients and inmates often refused support from a chaplain if they were themselves non-religious. [15], The organisation opposes faith schools because "The majority of the evidence [...] points towards their being an unfair and unpopular part of our state education system which the majority of people in Britain want them phased out. On 21 October 2008, Humanists UK lent its official support to Guardian journalist Ariane Sherine as she launched a fundraising drive to raise money for the UK's first atheist advertising campaign, the Atheist Bus Campaign. 285987 Humanists UK Humanist Ceremonies Wales Humanists Northern Ireland Humanists. By continuing to browse the site you agree to our, Religion and belief – surveys and statistics. [95] Since 2014, the National Offender Management Service has recognised the legal right of prisoners to access non-religious pastoral carers,[96] and since 2015, NHS England has recommended that every hospital in England offers a voluntary or employed non-religious carer. We think it’s vital that every young person learns about the different religions that are common in the UK today, as well as humanism. [11], In the 1960s, the organisation campaigned for reform of the 1944 Education Act's clauses on religion in schools and it was active in the campaign to legalise abortion and homosexuality. The group is a membership body composed of student societies in higher education institutes across the UK and Ireland. [38] Jersey followed in 2019, to be followed by England in 2020. My email sent 19 August 2018 I’m surprised and concerned to hear of a rumour that Humanists UK are intending to respond or have already responded to the government consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in such a way as to support a move towards self-identification of gender. The campaign aimed to raise funds to place the slogan "There's probably no God. The organisation opposes the teaching of creationism in schools. are separate from religious organisations, and everyone Join us. I was introduced to the Humanists UK by a friend of mine from school and university, and joined when I was 23. We work to ensure that such education is critical, objective, and pluralistic. [128] After consultation with Humanists UK over a five year period, Girlguiding UK in June 2013 and eventually the UK Scout Association in October 2013 recognised the discrimination and amended their oaths to accommodate non-religious young people from 1st January 2014. [97] The current chair of NRPSN is Amy Walden. Anyone who is on the group’s mailing list, or signed up in some other way (such as through Facebook), is a supporter. "[16] In addition, they argue that faith schools are "exclusive, divisive and counter intuitive to social cohesion" and blame religious admissions procedures for "creating school populations that are far from representative of their local populations in religious or socio-economic terms. In 2019, the charity backed two parents to take a human rights challenge to those laws, arguing that the state had a duty to treat non-religious pupils equally and by effectively isolating those who withdraw from compulsory worship, discrimination occurs. [60], The Census results for England and Wales showed that 14.1 million people, about a quarter of the entire population (25%), stated they had no religion at all, a rise of 6.4 million since the 2001 census. The organisation also campaigns on marriage laws, demanding full equality for same-sex and humanist marriage ceremonies throughout the UK. The organisation was founded in 1896 by American Stanton Coit as the Union of Ethical Societies, which brought together existing ethical societies in Britain. They believe that "all pupils in all types of school should have the opportunity to consider philosophical and fundamental questions, and that in a pluralist society we should learn about each other's beliefs, including humanist ones".[19]. The more people that get involved, even in a small way, the bigger the impact is. She responded that this was the very point of the campaign: that she, like many other parents, had little choice over where to send her child[132] and that she would have preferred a non-faith school option local to her. according to the religious beliefs of their parents. It failed ...", "Scout's oath 'is religious discrimination, "Scouts offer atheist options – but cling to Christian oath", "Stop funding faith, says BBC presenter Alice Roberts with children at church school", "Thousands of children given faith schools against parents' wishes", "Response to Sunday Times piece regarding Alice Roberts", Archives of the BHA at Bishopsgate Library, Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti, Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association (Siðmennt), Allianz vun Humanisten, Atheisten an Agnostiker, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Humanists_UK&oldid=999094808, Organisations based in the London Borough of Islington, 1896 establishments in the United Kingdom, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The association currently has 70 affiliated regional and special interest groups and claims a total of approximately 85,000 members and supporters. Elsewhere, couples having a humanist ceremony must also have a separate civil marriage. February 13, 2020 Swindon Humanists Humanism, Humanists UK Humanists UK has appointed Sir Paul Nurse as a patron. [24] Later that year, Humanists UK launched a new website, Assemblies for All, which compiles school assembly resources from NGOs, charities, government sources, the BBC, and businesses to make it possible for teachers and school leaders to put on "inclusive assemblies" on diverse topics – including the environment, mental health, and public holidays – as opposed to the collective worship required by law. [32] In February 2019 they helped form the Assisted Dying Coalition, a group of like-minded campaign groups seeking to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill or incurably suffering.[33]. Maddy is the Humanist Heritage Coordinator for Humanists UK, researching and writing about the history of humanism to celebrate the organisation's 125th birthday. "[27] It points to issues such as the joint role of the British monarch (both Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Head of State), the reserved places for bishops in the House of Lords, the status of the Church of England (the officially established church[28]), and other "discriminations based on religion or belief within the system" such as those in education and Public Services. [95] In 2018, Lindsay van Dijk was appointed as the first humanist to lead an NHS chaplaincy team at the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS trust, which includes the world-renowned spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandeville hospital. "[18] The organisation campaigns for reform of Religious Education in the UK including a reformed subject covered by the national curriculum which is inclusive of non-religious viewpoints, such as "Belief and Values Education". [22] In 2019, Humanists UK's Wales Humanists branch revived the campaign in partnership with David Attenborough after the Welsh Department of Education omitted to include similar safeguards against teaching creationism in schools. Wales Humanists and Northern Ireland Humanists each have an advisory committee drawn from the membership and a development officer. Humanists UK,[2] known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs" in the United Kingdom[3] by campaigning on issues relating to humanism, secularism, and human rights. We believe individuals should have a right to decide to Since 2016 it has been presented at a special reception event. The videos, which were widely shared on social media, were intended to introduce non-religious people who were humanist in their outlook to the existence of a community of like-minded people living their lives on the basis of reason and empathy. Ritual, whether religious or not, still counts", "Humanist Weddings and Partnership Celebrations", "Public humanist funeral for Rhodri Morgan at National Assembly for Wales", "Rhodri Morgan funeral to be held at the Senedd, Cardiff", "First legal humanist marriages in Northern Ireland since Court ruling to occur this weekend", "The North's first legal humanist weddings take place this weekend", "NHS appoints humanist to lead chaplaincy team", "2018 Darwin Day Lecture explores origins of human morality", "Owen Jones delivers the Holyoake Lecture 2016", "Philip Pullman awarded for services to Humanism", "Richard Dawkins awarded for services to Humanism", "Terry Pratchett receives 2013 Services to Humanism Award", "Gulalai Ismail wins International Humanist of the Year Award", "Wole Soyinka wins International Humanist of the Year Award", "Alice Roberts wins Humanist of the Year at BHA Annual Conference 2015", "Lord Dubs awarded Humanist of the Year 2016", "Lord Alf Dubs awarded Humanist of the year 2016", "Joan Bakewell wins Humanist of the Year 2017", "Northern Ireland marriage and abortion rights campaigners win 2018 Humanist of the Year Award", "Labour promised social justice along with economic competence. 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