In all her work for the humanist movement, Constance Dowman said little and did much… She was one of the […]
Humanism is a way to live, to give meaning to life and to find an understanding of our place in […]
David Pollock was a towering figure in the humanist movement. A longtime member, activist, trustee, and former Chair, he was […]
By Mia Nathan Constantly having to combat irrational and dangerous thinking is strenuous and sometimes tedious, but not necessarily boring. […]
The difference and variety of our human family more and more seems to me to be a wise provision that […]
Humanist ethics, as I understand them, are concerned with mankind. As humanists we believe in reason, but we also believe […]
Anna was not a religious person. As a humanist, she believed in the goodness of people and their ability to […]
As well as being one of the most distinguished musicians of his time, he was, like Sir Hubert Parry before […]
Because no one will believe without a splash from a fontTheir baby will howl in eternal cold, or fire,And no […]
When we stand up for freedom of conscience, for the rights of the individual, for the rational approach and against […]
To summarise why I have become a rationalist is a difficult task for one not educated in formal writing, but […]
It is essential to get it recognised that good and graceful living is sufficient in itself; further, that this is […]
Harriet Martineau described her escape to atheism like this: “I lingered long on the stages of speculation and taste, but […]
The obituary reproduced below was written by George Broadhead, and originally appeared in a 1997 issue of The Gay Humanist […]
The big problem of today is how shall we adjust these tremendous new forces so that they can be harnessed […]
I lost religion in a breath; Heaven fled from me on the wings of Reason… Doris Lessing, Under My Skin: […]
I remain an agnostic, and the practical outcome of agnosticism is that you act as though God did not exist. […]
John Curry was an English figure skater celebrated for revolutionising the sport by combining athleticism with balletic artistry. Openly gay […]
There is no hope but us. There is no mercy but us. There is no justice. There is just us… […]
Derek Lennard was a longtime member and former chair of LGBT Humanists—then known as the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Group […]
‘Being Rational About Being Gay’ was a talk given by activist Antony Grey (Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright) for the Gay […]
Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the […]
George Broadhead was a humanist activist and gay rights campaigner, motivated by a twin commitment to humanism and human rights. […]
The basic human value is freedom, which means the right of a human being to live a human life. V.M. […]
I am willing and eager to surrender as much of my personal sovereignty as is necessary, in order to secure […]
If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, […]
What primarily unites Humanists is not a set of propositions to be believed but moral values to be freely chosen… […]
Essentially, I am interested in this world, in this life, not in some other world or a future life. Whether […]
If any delegate present thinks that the Fabian Society was wise from the hour of its birth, let him forthwith […]
They weren’t just trying to sell something to parents, they were helping them to understand how to play with and […]
I like life with its mysteries. I don’t need my imponderables filled in for me. Michael Manley quoted by Rachel […]
A wide-ranging Humanism will always seek to extend to more and more people, through education and opportunity, the enrichment of […]
I think I was born a humanist. John D. Stewart, The Honest Ulsterman, May 1968 John D. Stewart was a […]
If the church was wrong, as of old, to trust to prayer in an epidemic, why shall she be right […]
Conscience is older than any existing Church or creed. George Peabody Gooch, Under Six Reigns (1958) George Peabody Gooch was […]
Harford Montgomery Hyde was a Belfast-born barrister, politician, author, and humanist, who championed humane legal reforms and progressive social attitudes. […]
I hold that a writer should not in any circumstances or for any cause surrender his duty to criticise and […]
Nina Spiller was a lifelong worker for women’s rights, who played an active role in the humanist movement for more […]
Universal rights are exactly that, universal, and one should not suddenly acquire different rights after a certain number of birthdays. […]
If he had ever worshipped at any shrine, it would have been one illumined with the flame of pure intellect. […]
Can there be a more important human condition than dignity? Without it, we are bitter, downtrodden, unheard, humiliated, embarrassed and […]
Prior’s Field School was founded in 1902 by Julia Arnold Huxley. Born in 1862, Julia grew up in an intellectual […]
I wish to live because life has within it that which is good, that which is beautiful, and that which […]
Wales has long been a nation of nonconformists, with a history of challenging the power and influence of the established […]
Every movement requires its handful of pioneers who are prepared to stand up and be counted — to be abused, […]
This article was written for Humanist News by Harold Blackham, who is viewed today as the architect of the modern […]
‘Separate Development? Out of the closet, into the ghetto’ was a talk given by writer and activist Maureen Duffy on […]
Bill Bynner was a humanist, socialist, and civil servant. As the editor of South Place Ethical Society‘s Ethical Record wrote […]
Mary Sheepshanks was a humanist who saw her feminist, pacifist, and cosmopolitan beliefs as being natural expressions of her humanist […]
We can’t help the universe, but at least we can do something to help ourselves. Can’t we? John Boyd, Across […]
Belfast-born Jack McDowell was an activist, educator, politician, and atheist, whose humanism was evident in a lifetime of work for […]
In the beginning natural philosophers tried to understand the world around them. Trying to do that they hit upon the […]
Against the militarist totalitarian state, I have striven. For the freedom of the human spirit to develop under the kindly […]
Humanists UK began as the Union of Ethical Societies in 1896, becoming the Ethical Union in 1920, the British Humanist […]
People have always looked for ways to mark significant events in their lives, and though many ceremonies have often been […]
Our goal must be the good of the whole human society. Henry Noel Brailsford, Olives of Endless Age: being a […]
I suggest that the assembly we really want is an act of celebration, rather than worship. There is value in […]
Humanism is a philosophy of life based on a concern for humanity rather than a belief in god. Humanists believe […]
This conference is resolved to strive for the achievement of peace, justice and tolerance in Ireland, and holds that outmoded […]
No law can be effective which has not behind it the sanction of the people. Dorothy Thurtle, quoted by David […]
I believe in the supreme virtue of exploring. I believe in finding out. Even if I don’t succeed, I still […]
He was the people’s First Minister, and this is a people’s ceremony. He wouldn’t want heavy mourning. This is a […]
The one thing in which I am interested wholly and completely is the getting to know something about human society […]
When Nigel Lawson said in 1992 that the National Health Service was the ‘closest thing the English have to a […]
We are living in critical days. It is not enough to desire peace or to talk peace. We must make […]
To all those who have established and who are maintaining the right to refuse to kill. Their foresight and courage […]
William Pirrie Barbour was a classicist, codebreaker, teacher, and activist. A rationalist and humanist, Barbour championed integrated education in his […]
Now art, certainly literary art, is ‘existential’ and has to be so. It is, if nothing else, about the real […]
We are (of all the synonyms I most prefer to ‘humanist’) freethinkers. We are deprived of nothing. We have lost […]
Humanists believe that this is our world, our responsibility, our possibility. If you agree, would anyone know? Peter Draper, ‘Values […]
The Open University was founded in 1969 with the ambition of providing access to higher education for people who had […]
The principles of humanism are positive and exacting commitments. People do not become Humanists merely on rejecting supernatural beliefs. But […]
To say that “God moves in mysterious ways” is to put up a smokescreen of mystery behind which fantasy may […]
Humanism involves not just the deletion of God from moral thought, but the development of humanity on a rational and […]
… the responsibility for our ethical decisions is entirely ours and cannot be shifted to anybody else; neither to God, […]
Glasnevin Cemetery is a nondenominational cemetery in Ireland, first opened in 1832. The brainchild of Catholic rights leader Daniel O’Connell, […]
The Progressive League was an organisation dedicated to the advancement of scientific humanism, founded by author H.G. Wells and philosopher […]
Humanism is less concerned with what to believe than with how to live. The meaning it gives to life lies […]
It is in service to others, it is as members of the community, that our existence lies. Hermann Bondi, Humanism […]
My chosen ground Inscription on the John Hewitt Cairn John Harold Hewitt (1907-1987) was the most significant Ulster poet to […]
Harry Stopes-Roe was one of the most tireless and dedicated humanist campaigners of the 20th century. Son of the influential […]
Antony Flew was a British philosopher and was, for much of his life, a renowned atheist and eloquent proponent of […]
A brief history of humanism and secularism in Northern Ireland Organised humanism began in Northern Ireland in the 19th century, […]
As well as being home to Conway Hall and its humanist library, Red Lion Square contains statues of two prominent […]
Bessie Braddock was a trade union activist and politician, who devoted her life to improving the lives of others. She […]
Humanism is an attitude to life that has solidly practical implications… it implies a commitment to helping run the community […]
Its main concern is with peace and security and with human welfare, in so far as they can be subserved […]
Without this mutual trust and dependability amongst people who differ radically, there cannot be political and religious freedom. H.J. Blackham […]
I think that believing in the brotherhood of man is not just a matter of signing these letters, it is […]
The Humanist Broadcasting Council was established in 1959, in consultation with the BBC, to advocate for the inclusion of humanist […]
I see this kind of love – the empathy that should be common to all living creatures – rather than […]
The realisation of the possibility of a secular rational morality opens up a new perspective before the modern world… It […]
If living does not give value, wisdom and meaning to life, then there is no sense in living at all. […]
How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose […]
He was a great humanist whose religion lay in loving his fellow men and trying to serve them. These are […]
The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery primarily located in London but with various satellite outstations located elsewhere in […]
The Humanist Housing Association began in January 1955, founded as the Ethical Union Housing Association to provide affordable homes for […]
While there is much that we do not know, humans are responsible for what we are or will become. No […]
The time has arrived for us humans to stop leaning on ideas for a creator god; we should get down […]
Godlessness is negative. It merely denies the existence of god. Atheism is positive. It asserts the condition that results from […]
Girton College at the University of Cambridge has educated and employed a host of remarkable humanists and freethinkers, many of […]
Bishopsgate Institute was built ‘for the benefit of the public’ in 1894, intended to provide opportunities for education and recreation […]
University College London was founded in 1826 as the University of London; the city’s first university, and a consciously secular […]
Conway Hall has effected a transformation. From the day of its opening the life of the Society has been full […]
I might fill columns with tales of the debaters, co-operators, socialists, individualists, critics, artists, scientists, clergy and cranks, who, as […]
The National Secular Society is a campaigning organisation, founded in 1866 to champion the principles of secularism and the separation […]
Humanists International was formed in 1952 as the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU): a federation of the American Ethical […]
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) began as the Birmingham Pregnancy Advisory Service, created to provide access to safe, legal, […]
From the outset IAS aimed to have an open approach to prospective adopters irrespective of their race, religion and creed, […]
The… women on the early ALRA committee were similar in background and outlook. Most of them were active members of […]
Formed in the wake of the Gay News blasphemy trial, GALHA (now LGBT Humanists) came into being in 1979 as […]
The old teaching was that we must worship not truth, beauty and goodness, but their source, and that their source […]
The writer, TV and radio personality and social campaigner, Claire Rayner, best known for her agony aunt columns, spent most […]
Good writing excites me, and makes life worth living. Harold Pinter Harold Pinter was one of the 20th century’s most […]
I don’t understand people panicking about death. It’s inevitable. I’m an atheist; you’d think it would make it worse, but […]
I agree that faith is essential to success in life (success of any sort) but I do not accept your […]
Ludovic Kennedy was a writer, journalist, and broadcaster, known for his investigations into miscarriages of justice. A human rights campaigner, he […]
It was the start of opening up society to be more caring and sensitive. One was battling for all men […]
Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA, the biological molecule of hereditary information, and cracked the genetic code by which […]
In common with other humanists, I believe that the only possible basis for a sound morality is mutual tolerance and […]
I am a humanist, a rationalist. My mother said to me, some weeks before she died, that she would die ‘an unrepentant […]
The notion that a man shall judge for himself what he is told, sifting the evidence and weighing the conclusions, […]
I fear their creed as we have always fearedthe lifted hand against unfettered thought. John Hewitt, ‘The Glens’ in Collected […]
Jennie Lee (also known as Baroness Lee of Asheridge) was a Scottish politician and journalist, known for her upfront orating […]
With these basic [humanist] beliefs there go commonly two corollaries. First, that virtue is a matter of promoting human well-being, […]
Faith without works is not Christianity, and unbelief without any effort to help shoulder the consequences for mankind is not […]
The actress turned campaigner and human rights activist Sylvia Scaffardi was a co-founder of The Council of Civil Liberties, along […]
Rose Bush was a member of the South Place Ethical Society for over 50 years, and a driving force in […]
It is in fact a strength, not a weakness, of a secular morality that it must stand upon its own […]
I had long put on one side the purist pacifist view that one should have nothing to do with a […]
What the sciences discover about the natural world and about the origins, nature and destiny of man is the truth […]
Humanism could (better) be honoured by reciting a list of the things one has enjoyed or found interesting, of the […]
I am a feminist, a rebel, and a suffragist – a believer, therefore, in sex-equality and militant action. I desire […]
… in broad terms, with our lecturers we attempt to define our intellectual standpoint; with our music we try to […]
The tremendous influence of Moore and his book on us came from the fact that they suddenly removed from our […]
Bessie Mabbs was a teacher, school principal, and active member of the Union of Ethical Societies (now Humanists UK), chairing […]
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Neither love without knowledge, nor knowledge without love […]
But in the more civilised communities, as in ancient Greece, there has always been a minority who, through some speculative […]
But however little it conforms or tenders allegiance, no life worth having can be isolated from the lives of others. […]
F.J. Gould was an influential educationist, writer, and humanist, whose tireless work towards secularising education helped to lay the groundwork […]
Not by the Creed but by the Deed. Motto of the Society for Ethical Culture of New York, founded in […]
Under its successive names, adopted or given… is traceable a constant endeavour to study carefully, and keep abreast of, the […]
The Rationalist Press Association (now the Rationalist Association) had its origins in the London print works of Charles Albert Watts, […]