Reading Time: 2 minutes In the recent and incredibly important annual Freedom of Thought Report, published by Humanists International, research shows that most of the world lives in countries that openly discriminate against the nonreligious. The report looks at every country in the world, looking at laws and policies that are in place and enacted to give a detailed […]
Humanists UK
Posted inHistory
Celebrating World Humanist Day: Meet Matthew Turner
Reading Time: 4 minutes On World Humanist Day, I’d like us to remember Matthew Turner, the first modern, publicly avowed atheist writing in English. He is a man who is our originator, arriving at many of our complaints about God 240 years before we did. In 1781, Turner, a British physician, surgeon, chemist, and classical scholar, published a little […]
Posted inEducation, The Secular
Faith Schools in the UK: An Ongoing Battle
Reading Time: 7 minutes Education in the UK is very different to what it is in the US for a whole host of reasons, one being the historical ties to religion and education. Though we are culturally a far more “secular” country, institutionally, we are not. Here, I will relate three articles from Humanists UK (I have permission to […]
Posted inResearch
First global study of apostates’ experiences reveals hidden abuse victims
Reading Time: 3 minutes This is from Humanists UK: The first study into the worldwide experiences of apostates – individuals who leave coercive or high-control religious groups or cults – within religious households has revealed a widespread culture of abuse hidden within the home, including intra-familial violence, domestic abuse, and honour-based shunning. The study was published last year and more recently […]
Posted inThe Secular
Humanist victory! Scotland drops plans to ban insulting religion
Reading Time: 2 minutes From Humanists UK: Scottish Justice Minister Humza Yousaf today announced that the Government will drop sections of the draft Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill that would have criminalised insulting religious beliefs. The Bill will now protect ‘antipathy, dislike, ridicule and insult’ of religious beliefs, as part of people’s legitimate right to freedom of expression. Humanists UK, which […]
Posted inPolitics, The Secular
UK Chancellor: ‘This is a secular country’
Reading Time: 2 minutes This is great to hear from someone high up in government (Chancellor of the Exchequer – holds the purse strings); from Humanists UK: In an interview with the BBC, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has described the UK as a secular country and explained how Christmas is a festival celebrated by everyone, of all religions or beliefs. Humanists […]
Posted inEducation, The Secular
Number of Pupils at CofE Schools more than Entire ‘Worshipping Community’
Reading Time: 3 minutes The UK education system is not secular in the way that the Us system is, even though we are a more “secular” country. Something like 37% of our primary schools are faith schools, often only nominally in name (it depends on the head teachers, Senior Leadership Teams, governors and dioceses of the school), but sometimes […]
Posted inDeath & Dying
Humanist Pastoral Carer Gets Volunteer of the Year
Reading Time: 4 minutes This is from Humanists UK: Charlie Barnes, pastoral carer and Manchester hospitals’ Volunteer of the Year: an interview Charlie Barnes is a humanist volunteering as a non-religious pastoral carer at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, providing valuable support as part of the hospital’s chaplaincy team. He is also the recipient of the Manchester University NHS Foundation […]
Posted inThe Secular
Humanists in Foxholes
Reading Time: 7 minutes This is from Humanists UK, and is particularly interesting, in my opinion, because of the complex relationship with the belief in God and higher powers, conservatism and traditionalism, and the armed forces. Also worth noting is the dislike of being called atheist compared to humanist. This makes for an interesting read: Humanists in foxholes: Roger […]
Posted inUncategorized
England: Waiting for Humanist Weddings to Be a Thing
Reading Time: < 1 minute This was a good little watch to brighten my morning. Long overdue. Let’s get it done, England. Stay in touch! Like A Tippling Philosopher on Facebook: A Tippling Philosopher You can also buy me a cuppa. Or buy some of my awesome ATP merchandise! Please… It justifies me continuing to do this!