Modern Humanism is an attitude to life and living based on human experience, knowledge and ethics. It is underpinned by the belief that the universe and all that happens within can be explained – at least one day – by science and reason. It is an active, positive philosophy and not just a negative response to religion.
As humanists, we expect to live just this one life, having found no convincing evidence for an afterlife or gods. Since we believe that this is the only life we have, we try to make it as good as possible for everyone – in fact for all living things – which includes our responsibility to future generations.
Humanists wish to live in an open, honest, fair, equal, inclusive, and caring society, where human rights and human dignity are respected and nurtured. As humanists, we don’t all agree about everything, but we do share basic values and ideals:
“We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.” Jo Cox, late Member of Parliament and humanist
Many people discover humanism during their lifetime, and realise it is a philosophy of life they already held! We are often delighted and reassured to find that many other people, including some of the greatest thinkers of the past and present, have reached similar conclusions about how we should live. If you’d like to delve deeper, this Wikipedia article isn’t a bad place to start.
Or find out more about Humanists UK at https://humanism.org.uk/humanism/
If you’re a teacher, check out these free-to-download resources: https://understandinghumanism.org.uk/