This has reference to Iain Middleton’s article, ‘Humanism in New Zealand’ in the February 2009 issue of the IHN. Contrary to Mr. Middleton’s claim that the Humanist Society of New Zealand is the ‘first and only exclusively Humanist Society’, there are three, four or five Humanist organisations in New Zealand, depending on how one understands the word. The Sceptics support scientific arguments against supernaturalist or new age phenomena, the Sea of Faith and the Unitarian Church articulate religious Humanist points of view and the NZ Association of Rationalists & Humanists (NZARH) represents a secular Humanist perspective. The NZARH can variously be traced back to a foundation date of 1927, 1923, 1910 or 1890, depending on how one interprets the history. Either way, it is considerably older than the HSNZ. The same is true of the Unitarians. As far as activities of the HSNZ are concerned, many of them are in collaboration with the other Humanist groups, primarily the NZARH. The actual history of Humanism in New Zealand is far more varied, and far more interesting, than Middleton allows. My objection to Mr Middleton’s article is not simply that some other organisation is being denied its place in the sun. The whole Humanist movement – all of our organisations – is weak and of marginal importance, even in a society as strongly secular as New Zealand. And we should be looking at ways to work together.

Bill Cooke

(Bill Cooke has written widely on the meaning and history of Humanism. His latest book, A Wealth of Insights: Humanist Thought Since the Enlightenment, is due out later this year. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.)