Humanism
13 March 2012
Our General Assembly and conference will this year be in Utrecht, Netherlands, on 25-27 May. Details of the General Assembly and Open Meeting on Friday 25 May are here. In parallel with these there will be a programme for European Humanist Professionals, details of which are here. Below are details of the conference on Humanism and Resilience, which runs from the evening of Friday May 25 to lunchtime on Sunday May 27. Details are… read more »
22 February 2012
Our General Assembly, Open Meeting and Conference this year will be held at the end of May in Utrecht, Netherlands. The General Assembly and Open Meeting are on Friday 25 May. The conference starts with a keynote speech on Friday evening and ends at lunchtime on Sunday 27 May. Under the title Humanism and Resilience we will explore how humanism can help us in our everyday lives as citizens. Details of the conference are here and on the… read more »
1 October 2011
The EHF was represented at the 2011 conference in Warsaw (left, general view from the NGO seats) by its President, David Pollock, by its OSCE representatives Hans Christian Cars and (from member organisations) by Vera Pegna of the Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti (UAAR) and Pierre-Arnaud Perrouty of the Centre d’Action Laique in Brussels. We made three interventions in the session on 27 September on “Freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief”. David… read more »
17 April 2011
Different countries in Europe have different histories, different institutions, different assumptions. The outlook and beliefs of non-religious people are naturally subject to these variations. In countries where the church remains very strong there is more emphasis on rejection of religion and its claims. In others, where rejection of religious belief is more common, there is more emphasis on a positive philosophy of Humanism. In countries with a ‘pillar’ constitution (where the state recognises and subsidises… read more »
3 March 2011
Humanism is an outlook inherent in our very lives as men and women living together in communities. Elements of humanist beliefs are found throughout history in all parts of the world – in the teachings of Confucius, for example. The most fundamental ethical principle – the Golden Rule or ‘do as you would be done by’ – is first found in Egypt almost 4,000 years go, and it re-appears in almost every religious and ethical… read more »
At their World Congress in 2002, celebrating the 50th anniversary of its foundation, the International Humanist and Ethical Union adopted the following statement on the nature of Humanism, which the EHF has endorsed: Humanism is the outcome of a long tradition of free thought that has inspired many of the world’s great thinkers and creative artists and gave rise to science itself. The fundamentals of modern Humanism are as follows: Humanism is ethical. It… read more »
17 January 2011
Humanists believe: that we have only one life that we can live good and fulfilling lives without religious or superstitious beliefs that we can make sense of the world by using reason, experience and shared human values that morality is a natural human attribute, the result of our long evolution (since before we were human) as social animals that we can ourselves create meaning and purpose for our lives that we should seek to live… read more »
What do we mean by Humanism? First of all, it is important that Humanism is not an ‘-ism’. That is, it has no source book of unquestionable rules, no leaders to define infallible doctrine. You don’t ‘convert’ to Humanism and then have to take the rough with the smooth. Instead, most people become humanists without contact with any humanist organisation, without even knowing the word. How is this? It is because Humanism is a label… read more »
20 December 2009
EHF member DFW organised a conference for young people at Klingberg, Germany, in November to discuss secular values. We have a full report on this successful event. The report is available in German (and with photos) here. DFW are planning a new conference for November 2010.
25 June 2006
I am honoured and flattered (as well as somewhat surprised) to be elected president of the European Humanist Federation. As I assume the role, I ask: what is the EHF for? Obviously, to represent and stand up for the godless in Europe and to resist the encroachment by religious moralisers who seek to impose their values on us by law or by force. But it is also to maintain and promote our shared positive values… read more »