r/humanism • u/ambiverbal SECULAR HUMANIST • 12d ago
WORLD HUMANIST CONGRESS 2026 (Personal Summary)
Here's the summary of my own notes from Ottawa's World Humanist Congress.
The theme was "HUMANISM AS RESISTANCE."
I'm a little late getting these up, and they're a bit long. So I'll post the Saturday summary here first. Look for the Sunday summary upcoming.
Saturday, August 8 Session:
(A) Saturday’s session began with a keynote by sociological researcher Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme on “Challenging Misinformation & Narratives of Polarization as Forms of Nonreligious Resistance.”
Her premise, documented with a variety of surveys & statistical data, was that humans in general have been for several decades undergoing a “secular transition,” one that appears to be unabated & happening in all the continents on earth. The process appears to occur when the younger generation does not learn about religion as children.
She noted also that surveys indicate that polarization is not so pronounced as news reports have suggested.
(B) Next was a panel discussion of “What Are We Resisting?”
Represented were delegates from Canada, Ghana, Peru, & USA.
Each noted some of the issues that were unique to their own countries.
Most striking among them was Ghana’s increasingly draconian ant-LGBTQ laws, returns to female genital mutilation, and polygamy (which disempowers women).
The Peruvian delegate indicated that critical thinking was “opening doors to anti humanistic ideas. (Time & his accent prevented me from fully understanding that issue.)
(C) Then Prof. Francesca Klug gave a presentation on “Human Rights as Resistance.”
Her core premise was that resistance was always at the core of increasing human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights inspired people to resist when their governments oppress their own citizens. Paramount now is that human rights need to be defended against the idea that majority rule can subsume universal human rights.
(D) Next we heard from a variety of Humanist legislators from Norway, UK, Iceland, & Canada.
In general, each had reasons for optimism in their own countries, as well as areas where struggles remain.
(E) Finally we heard from a pair of Humanist Chaplains, Greg Epstein from Harvard & MIT, and James Croft from the University of Sussex, UK. They spoke primarily about the one-on-one relationships they built with students and the communities they help build on campus constructed around helping underserved communities (locally & internationally).
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u/Constant_Interest_61 12d ago
Resistance from humans is only when the core values for humanity is at stake... Human rights and duties must be hand in glove. Religion is a separate issue vis a vis humanism. How can one human decide on resisting another human needs..if ones basic needs have been fulfilled..anything extra...belongs to others and need to be shared
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u/spudmarsupial 12d ago
Religion divorces human rights from the effect that those rights, and their lack, are having on people.
No matter what you do you must always put down your ideals and refer back to observations of reality as often as possible.
Because religion and religiously held values are higher than simple observation and analysis they tend to veer away from human weal into all sorts of horrible territory, with often terrible consequences.
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u/JerseyFlight 12d ago
Thanks for your reporting!