Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen (UVV), the Flemish umbrella organisation for Humanism in Belgium, is celebrating its 35th year this year. A report on some of the achievements of this IHEU Member Organisation.

Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen was founded on the 31st of March 1971 as a non-profit organisation. Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen wanted to offer a sympathetic ear to anyone who needed one and as such focused much of its attention on achieving this goal. UVV wanted to lay the foundations for moral assistance and for the creation of moral counsellors who would be at the service of the entire population. Counsellors would be readily available for anyone wanting to talk to them, or for anyone wanting to consult with them for help with different problems.

Other recognized religions and life stance organisations philosophies could already count on a professional staff that could handle this task, and this was funded by the state. It was only logical that the government should extend this possibility to the non- confessional lifestance represented by the UVV in the Flemish-speaking part of the country.

Soon after the creation of UVV, the Centraal Vrijzinnige Raad (CVR) came into existence (on the 14th of July, 1972). The CVR which is made of the Flemish UVV and its French-speaking Walloon sister organisation, the Centre d’Action Laïque, was founded to represent and coordinate organised Humanism at the national level. The CVR was of the utmost importance in the struggle for equal rights for free-thinkers in Belgium and Belgian Humanism succeeded in obtaining state support for its activities.

On 1st November 1981, 6 moral councillors were hired. Steps were also initiated to guarantee provision of Humanist moral counselling services across the Flemish territory and in the capital city of Brussels. By the beginning of 1983 the first moral consultants started working in the Centres for Moral Assistance (CMD) of Laeken, Ghent, Hasselt, Antwerp, Bruges and Leuven. Each CMD could also count on one staff member to lend practical support to the moral counsellors. UVV’s moral counsellors enjoyed a great deal of independence at this time to enable them to evolve specific approaches in their respective field of activity.

In the 1980’s the concept of moral assistance was fleshed out and defined more clearly: moral counselling now encompassed all activities concerning moral assistance and aid, all activities that gave meaning to life from a humanistic perspective that could benefit the freethinker community.

Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen also campaigned on behalf of various ethical issues such as the retraction of abortion and euthanasia from the Belgian penal code. The organisation supported the possibility of marriage and of adoption for homosexuals. The fight against the extreme right wing of Belgian politics has always been one of its central ideas.

In 1998, six provincial centres for moral assistance were founded. They were located in each of the capitals of Flemish provinces and in Brussels. These centres fulfilled a coordinating role for the Flemish freethinker community.

A key moment in the history of Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen was the promulgation of a law concerning the organisation of the non-confessional lifestance in Belgium. Promulgated on International Humanist Day, this 21st June 2002 law defines the entire functioning of the Centraal Vrijzinnige Raad (Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen and Centre d’Action Laïque): its structure, its functioning, its financial organisation etc.

To clearly define the tasks of organised freethinkers in the future, a scientific research was performed in 2005 by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the only Flemish University that has incorporated the principle of ‘free inquiry’ in its statutes. The results of the research help the Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen steer its policy in a better way.

Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen faces some very important challenges: the first phase of the development of UVV has to be concluded. A think thank has been established to prepare for the second phase. It’s very important that UVV creates and maintains a distinct profile for itself.

A lot has been achieved already, but clearly, there’s still lots more to be done…

Sofie Sfingopoulos and Klaas Nijs are Staff Members of Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen.

Ours is an evangelical culture. So many people convinced that they’ve been saved by Jesus, cured by homoeopathy or the laying on of hands, abducted by aliens or protected by angels seek public acknowledgement that their convictions are true. Imbued with messianic fervour, or simply seeking ‘validation’, they are not content to hoard the truth; they are compelled to share it and convert the unenlightened, relying on the force of their own intense emotions. Generally, the only proof offered for a fantastic belief is the passion it inspires.

Wendy Kaminer