1. Why Humanism? Putting the non-religious into Religious Education
Luke Donnellan, Head of Education, BHA

2. What does the law say? High Court Judgment (November 2015)
Education secretary made ‘error of law’ on new religious studies GCSE – high court
Judge rules in favour of three families who argued Nicky Morgan failed to reflect the pluralistic nature of the UK in curriculum Guardian 25/11/15
High Court Judgment (November 2015)
‘the state has a duty to take care that information or knowledge included in the curriculum is conveyed in a pluralistic manner… the state must accord equal respect to different religious convictions, and to non-religious beliefs; it is not entitled to discriminate between religions and beliefs on a qualitative basis; its duties must be performed from a standpoint of neutrality and impartiality as regards the quality and validity of parents’ convictions.’ (Paragraph 39)

3. Over 50% of the population of the UK say they have no religion
Growth in “nones” likely to continue as young people are (on average) less religious.

4. Why teach Humanism? Intrinsic value History and Culture
Inclusivity and relevance
Opportunity and entitlement
Social cohesion and mutual respect

5. 69% of young people have no religion
The danger
69% of young people have no religion
‘Without god anything is permissible’
Fyodor Dostoyevsky

6. What challenges do we face?
Animosity
Subject knowledge
Fear
Time

7. Support
‘The phrase ‘religions and worldviews’ is used in this document to refer to Christianity, other principal religions represented in Britain, smaller religious communities and non-religious worldviews such as Humanism. The phrase is meant to be inclusive, and its precise meaning depends on the context in which it occurs, eg in terms of belief, practice or identity.’ (Page 11)
Religious Education council of England and Wales, National Curriculum Framework (2013)
‘Religious Education should move ‘towards a situation in which RE has to cover a wider range of religion and belief … including the study of humanism’
A New Settlement: religion and Belief in Schools, Charles Clarke and Linda Woodhead (page 39).
‘The content of many syllabuses is inadequate... a great many fail to include non-religious worldviews, for example humanism, and do not deal with competing truth claims. They do not, that is to say, deal with the full spectrum of religion and belief issues.’
Living with Difference: The Rt Hon Baroness Butler-Sloss CBE (4.15)
‘We recommend that suggested content should reflect the real religious landscape, as revealed by cutting edge theory and data, and should always include:
a) The study of a broad range of religions, beliefs and non-religion
b) Exploration of religion, belief and non-belief as a category...’
RE for REal

8. Problems with RE

9. How should Humanism be presented?
Challenges we face
Humanism is often defined negatively:
Don’t believe in god or afterlife
Accused of having no morality or being relativists

10. Humanism is a positive philosophy
Essential that it is not defined negatively
Not defined in opposition to religion: it would exist without religion
Stands on its own feet
Helps millions of human beings decide how to live their lives.

11. Understanding Humanism
Teaching Resources
Lesson plans
Classroom activities
Presentations
Videos
Humanist perspectives
School Speakers
Teacher Training / CPD
Guidance
understandinghumanism.org.uk
understandinghumanism.org.uk/speakers
@HumanismEdu

12. Can both statements be true?
I don’t believe in a god
My life is meaningful
I have reasons to be good to other people
I am special
I can celebrate at Christmas time
I can help make the world a better place
I can be happy
I can cope when bad things happen
I can live on after my death
I can get married
I can discover truths about the world
I don’t have to be afraid of dying
I am a good person

13. Beliefs and evidence for beliefs
Is the evidence good evidence for the belief?
I believe the world will end tomorrow because my mum told me
I believe Henry VIII had six wives because I read it in a book
I believe plants need water to survive because I did an experiment to check it
I believe = 4 because lots of people believe it

14. Possible ingredients of happiness

15. Example recipe for happiness / the good life
Ingredients:
Good health
Friends
Being good to other people
Curiosity
Method:
First, add a heaped tablespoon of good health to a bowl (stir it gently in order to avoid damaging it). Add a healthy mix of good friends (as many as you can manage but don’t spread them too thinly). Most importantly, stir in a large cup of kindness towards others. Before you bake, sprinkle a dusting of curiosity on top to add a little surprise to the finished flavour.
Warning:
Money can help sweeten the mixture, but be sure to avoid letting it overpower the other ingredients or your happiness might turn sour.
Can your write your own recipe?

16. Why wouldn’t you steal the sweets?
I might get caught and get in trouble.
The shopkeeper will be unhappy.
I wouldn’t like it if someone stole from me.
It’s against the law.
If everyone did it, then the sweet shop would have to close down.
I would feel like a bad person.

17. ‘You should never lie’ Is this a good rule? Moral dilemma:
You are playing football with your friend at lunchtime when your friend leaves to go to the toilet. While he is gone, an older child comes over and asks you where your friend is. You know that the older child doesn’t like your friend and plans to hurt him. But you have also been told that it is wrong to lie. There are no teachers around to help.
Should you tell the truth and let your friend get hurt or lie to the older child?

18. Dear Humanist…
Last week I was on a trip with three of my friends. I was put in charge of buying lunch and so at lunchtime I went to the shop. I wanted to do the right thing so I followed the golden rule.
My favourite sandwich is tuna mayonnaise so I bought tuna mayonnaise for everyone. However, when I handed out the sandwiches Caroline said she would have preferred cheese, Emma said she didn’t like tuna, and Jacob said he was allergic to mayonnaise!
Where did I go wrong?
Yours sincerely,
Sam
Could have done better than Sam?
What would you have done differently?
Did the golden rule not work or was Sam not using it appropriately?

19. What does it mean to be a humanist?
‘I believe in living, the enjoyment of being, the fulfillment of our powers, the wonders of nature, the marvels of the cosmos. We don’t have to bother ourselves too much about what lies behind it all. It’s there. We are here. What is is. Our job is to get on with things, trying to make life better as we go.’
Claire Rayner
‘The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference... our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfilment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.’
Stanley Kubrik
‘In life, the meaning comes in living, as wholly as we can, as abundantly as we can, as bravely as we can, here and now, sharing the experience with others, caring for others as we care for ourselves, and accepting our responsibility for leaving the world better than we found it.’
James Hemming
‘You are an intelligent human being. Your life is valuable for its own sake. You are not second-class in the universe, deriving meaning and purpose from some other mind. You are not inherently evil - you are inherently human, possessing the positive rational potential to help make this a world of morality, peace, and joy. Trust yourself.’
Dan Barker in Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist

20. Key humanist attitudes towards death
Death is not necessarily to be feared
Death is the end of individual existence
Funerals should be about celebrating a life that has been lived
Funerals should be for the living
The absence of an afterlife means we need to make the most of the one life we have
We can live on after we die through our atoms, genes, works, or shared ideas and experiences

21. Humanist funeral extracts
 A humanist ceremony is an opportunity to join in taking leave of someone we have loved… but it is more than that. It is a celebration of the life and personality that have been.
 We know that the value and the meaning in life consist in living it – and living it well. People who have been a strength and comfort to others and have worked for future generations, deriving fulfillment and satisfaction from so doing, these are the people who create the value and meaning in life.
 All that has life has its beginning and its end. Life exists in the time span between birth and death and, for those of us who believe that death brings the end of individual existence, life’s significance lies in the experiences and satisfactions we achieve in that span of time.
 The comfort of having a friend may indeed be lost, but the comfort of having had that friend is never lost. To match the grief in losing him you have the joy of having known him.
 For those of us who believe that death brings the end of individual existence, recognition of our responsibility for, and dependence on, each other gives life a purpose and significance.
 No life is ever completely lost: we live on through the influence we have had on the lives of those who remain.
 What matters is not that someone has died, but that they have lived. Let us concentrate today on the delight and wonder of their lives.
 I now ask you to remain silent for a moment or two so that you can each remember her in your own way.
 His body we commit to its natural end, its transformation into the ultimate elements of the universe.
 We have been remembering with love and with gratitude a life that has ended. Let us now return to our homes and our work, resolved that we who live on will use our lives more fully and to better purpose for having known her and for having shared in her life.
 We have been remembering and reminding ourselves that the dead reside not in the grave, but in the hearts and minds of the living.

22. Humanists on euthanasia
If voluntary euthanasia is ‘playing god’ then so is all medical intervention such as taking drugs or vaccinations to help us live longer.
I use evidence to help me decide what to do and I see no good evidence that legalising voluntary euthanasia will lead to a ‘slippery slope’. People recognise a clear distinction between voluntary and involuntary euthanasia.
Human life is valuable but we should also consider quality of life and if an individual has decided on rational grounds that he or she wants to end their life, then we should respect that decision
We should consider the consequences of our actions on other people. However, in the case of a terminally ill and suffering patient, assisted suicide can sometimes be a merciful release for everyone involved.
Active euthanasia can often be quicker and involve potentially less pain than passive euthanasia. There is no moral distinction between the two. The intention and outcome are the same (the death of the patient).
Euthanasia is not a replacement for palliative care. Both can be part of a patient-centred approach to end of life care.

23. Is it still possible? If the following events happened…
a) Is it still possible that a god exists?
b) Is it still possible that a god doesn’t exist?
The prime minister announces that he believes in god.
An earthquake kills thousands of people.
Someone in your family is cured of a serious illness that you did not think she would recover from.
You pray asking for a sign that God is truly there, and nothing happens.
A space probe reaches the end of the universe and returns with clear scientific evidence that there is no heaven.
We discover an alien species on another planet and they tell us they believe in god.
Extensions questions:
Would any event make it impossible that a god exists?
Would any event make it impossible that a god a does not exist?
Is it possible to be certain about the existence or non-existence of god?

24. An alternative wager
Pascal’s wager suffers from a number of flaws:
The many different religions propose many different gods. What if we choose to believe in the wrong one? What if the real god is none of those worshipped by religious believers?
Would a god be happy that we believed based only on a calculation or a gamble?
We can’t all simply choose to believe in something. We can’t switch our beliefs on or off. We either believe or we don’t. Would a god be happy if we simple feigned a belief?
The argument only analyses whether we should believe: it says nothing about whether a god actually exists
The Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, proposes an alternative gamble:
‘Live a good life. If there gods and they are good, they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you because of the values you have lived by. If there are gods that are not good, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods at all, then you will be gone, but you will have lived a noble life that will continue in the memories of your loved ones. I am not afraid.’

25. Understanding Humanism
Teaching Resources
Lesson plans
Classroom activities
Presentations
Videos
Humanist perspectives
School Speakers
Teacher Training / CPD
Guidance
understandinghumanism.org.uk
understandinghumanism.org.uk/speakers
@HumanismEdu

26. understandinghumanism.org.uk
Understanding Humanism
39 Moreland Street
London
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