My name is Andrew Copson. I'm the Chief Executive of Humanists
UK and the current President of Humanists International.
Humanists UK is the national organisation that for the last
125 years, has advocated on behalf of the non-religious for
their freedom of belief, freedom of conscience and their equal
rights. Humanists International does the same job globally, and
is the umbrella body for humanist organisations across
the world – a fast-growing movement.
Humanists are people who have a non-religious worldview. The humanist approach
to life is one that sees the universe as a natural phenomenon
with no supernatural side, a universe that doesn't have any
discernible purpose or meaning of its own. But instead,
humanists see that it's human beings that give meaning and
purpose and fulfilment to our own lives. Humanists put human
welfare and human fulfilment, and the welfare of other
suffering animals, at the centre of our morality.
This means that humanists have often been defenders of and protectors of human rights.
One of my favourite humanist philosophers is
John Stuart Mill, the 19th century liberal philosopher. And he said,
'Human nature is not a machine to be built after a
model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it. But a
tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides,
according to the tendency of the inward forces, which make it a
living thing'. That is really what freedom of thought,
conscience, and religion or belief is about for me. It's the
freedom for us all to shape our own lives in accordance with our
own developing values and convictions and beliefs and
opinions, without external constraints – apart from, the
same constraint that everyone must give into in a liberal
society, which is the rights and freedoms of others.
We all want to be free to do this. And in the modern world of human
rights, it's Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights that puts this into practice.
'Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
This right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and
freedom, either alone or in community with others, and in
public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship, and observance.'
The humanist approach to life is an example of a belief in the meaning of
the Universal Declaration. And that's the way in which the
protection of humanist opinions has made its way into
international law. The word 'belief' in human rights law
means something quite big. It's not just, you know, a little
belief in this, a little belief in that. It refers to a
worldview; a comprehensive approach to life. And that's
what the humanist approach to life is for many non-religious people around the world.
What Article 18 protects is the full
diversity of human experience. And it means that no-one can
hold you back from that personal development: not the law, not
religious institutions or leaders, not your parents, and
not the state. Every individual human being has the right to the
development of their own religion or belief, thought, or
opinion.
Humanists and other non-religious people around the
world are discriminated against in a great number of ways today,
ranging from the relatively mild – having their children shut out
from access to state-funded schools; having their
citizenship on a lower level than the citizenship of people
with religious beliefs – to the very, very severe. In some
countries to set up a humanist organisation is a crime. To
declare yourself non-religious on any official forms is also
unlawful and in some countries being non-religious, and
specifically, often, leaving a religion to become
non-religious, which is a protected human right of every
human being in this world, can be punishable by death.
Gulalai Ismail is a feminist, human rights activist, and humanist organiser from Pakistan.
Accused of sedition under anti-terrorism law, she was first detained in 2018 as she returned to
Islamabad from a Humanists International meeting in
Birmingham. When she spoke at a protest in May 2019, criticising
the police's slow action in investigating the rape and
murder of a 10-year-old girl, she was arrested, and although
she was released on bail, her passport was confiscated.
Assisted by Humanists International she escaped
Pakistan and fled to the United States, and is on track to be granted asylum there.
Avijit Roy and Bonya Ahmed were
husband-and-wife humanist bloggers in Bangladesh. While
walking back from the Dhaka book fair, they were set upon by
members of a local Islamist group wielding machetes and
cleavers. A local Islamist group had produced a deathlist of
humanist bloggers that they wanted to eliminate. Avijit was
hacked to death and Bonya survived the attack, but lost a
thumb, and was severely traumatized.
Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was a humanist activist and rationalist in
India. He worked in favour of equality for Dalits, against
caste discrimination – as many humanist activists in India have
– and criticised many 'godmen' and those who proffered 'miracle
cures'. While he was out on a walk in 2013, he was shot dead
by two gunmen in a planned assassination. Seven years
later, the investigation into his murder remains incomplete,
and more humanist activists have been murdered with impunity.
Mubarak Bala is the president of the Humanist Association of
Nigeria. Without serious charge, without trial, and without
access to his legal team or his family, he's been held in
isolation in Kano state, imprisoned since April 2020.
Humanists UK helps non-religious people who have been
discriminated against or persecuted domestically in a
number of ways. First of all, by working actively with the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which has a good track record of
promoting freedom of religion or belief. Secondly, by advocating
in our own jurisdiction, where laws are still heavily in favour
of the Christian religion, for those laws to change to bring
equality on grounds of religion or belief in this country. And
also by helping asylum seekers and refugees who are fleeing
persecution because of their humanist beliefs to gain asylum in the UK.
Humanists International is very active at
the international institutions: the United Nations; the Human
Rights Council; but also the Council of Europe; the African
Commission on Human and People's Rights; and other global
regional bodies, to make sure that the non-religious are
clearly included in all conferences and protections and
conventions that try to protect the right to freedom of religion
or belief. Because of history, or present-day prejudice,
non-religious people are often excluded from the protection of
that right in a lot of jurisdictions, and Humanists
International, as well as advocating in the international
institutions for those people's rights, also supports humanist
organisations on the ground: human rights activists who are
pressing for freedom of religion and belief, in Africa and Asia
in particular, but also humanist organisations that may be
struggling to start up in very hostile environments and need
international support in order to exercise the freedom that
international human rights treaties have guaranteed them,
but is so often denied to them in practice.
Humanists are not only interested in protecting the freedom of belief of
non-religious people. Humanists have a commitment to the human
rights and to the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
or belief of all people. And this universal nature of this
freedom is an important part of the humanist commitment.
That's why humanists prefer to see these issues through the framework
of universal human rights in the international treaties
That's why Article 18, which guarantees freedom of religion or
belief is so important to humanists And it's not just important
because humanists have a commitment to individual freedom.
A humanist view of human life is also one that celebrates
the rich diversity, that humam freedom leads to. Human freedom
naturally leads to a diversity of thought and opinion, and a
diversity of thought and opinion is one of the best ways to
guarantee human progress. It's also something beautiful in its own
right to be celebrated, as far as the humanist is concerned.
And I'd like to finish with another quote from John Stuart Mill
that I think reflects that. 'It isn't by wearing down into
uniformity, all that is individual in themselves, but by
cultivating it and calling it forth, that human beings become
a noble and beautiful object of contemplation. And
as the works partake the character of those who do them, by the
same process, human life also becomes rich, diversified,
and animating, making the whole infinitely better
worth belonging to. In proportion to the development of his individuality
each person becomes more valuable to himself, and is
therefore capable of being more valuable to others.