IHEU supports projects in the Indian sub-continent and in Africa. The plans which IHEU has already announced are bound to give a great boost to the humanist movement in those parts of the world where Humanism is desperately needed. However, this does not mean that all is well in Europe and in the Americas. Indeed there is a lot of work ahead.

IHEU’s next World Humanist Congress will be held in Washington DC in 2008 which we expect will be a significant contribution by International Humanists to our colleagues in North America. The forthcoming General Assembly of IHEU will be held in Europe. Very recently, in November 2006, Roy Brown, Roar Johnsen, Rob Buitenweg, Babu Gogineni and myself were in Stockholm for the 1st Baltic Humanist conference which IHEU co-sponsored.

Humanism in Eastern Europe

In several former communist countries it is difficult for Humanists groups to attract new members, or to even get organised in the first place. To understand the problem we have to take stock of the way in which the former discredited regimes presented themselves.

They called themselves atheists, and under their rule religions were oppressed and traditions were abolished. Religious ceremonies were frequently replaced by ‘official’ ones. While some churches and their leaders collaborated with the regime, many other religious leaders provided a silent alternative to the oppressed. A few even rebelled and created protest movements. When the communists lost power, people were lost in the cultural and social vacuum. The only groups which were organised enough to offer a social structures and an alternative to them were the religions.

To the newly liberated societies Humanists are atheists, and ‘therefore’ communists. I am horrified that I should be branded along with Stalin, but it will take rather a long time to prove that Humanism and Communism are not synonyms. Also, since the previous regimes did not allow their people to think for themselves and to act freely, the transition has not been easy.

Instead of moving in creatively new directions, those countries with strong conservative religious traditions before they were crushed returned eagerly to their religious past. The difference between the former East Germany (German Democratic Republic) and Poland is immense. The first decisive protests against the communist regimes were organised in protestant churches in Leipzig, but the protesters did not automatically turn to strict traditional religious traditions: their religious culture allowed them to examine what was said, and even their holy book was the subject of investigation. Poland, on the contrary, had a strict Catholic tradition which preached that the priest was always right and that the ‘holy texts’ had to be accepted as God’s word. So in today’s Poland the revival of the power of the Polish catholic church is immense – women, gays and non-catholics are all suffering, not to speak of atheists.

Long Way to Go for Secular Europe

Some of these countries from Eastern Europe are already members of the European Union, but it is clear that they have a long way to go in terms of ensuring equal rights for all, implementing a neutral regime where religion is a private affair for private individuals. And in the political and economic structures of Europe that the East Europeans are joining, after one failed attempt, there are attempts again to adopt a European constitution in which Europe’s Christian roots and Christian values will be recognised. The Berlin Declaration issued on the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome was German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s attempt to achieve precisely this.

IHEU’s counter initiative has been to work with the European Humanist Federation and Catholics for Free Choice, and to produce the Brussels Declaration which makes it clear that in a modern Europe there is no room for official recognition of, or preference for, any religion. As it happens, and surely because of efforts of the kind we Humanists were involved in, the Berlin Declaration turned out to be a victory for secularism, with no mention of God, Christianity or any religion. I would like to acknowledge and thank Roy Brown for all his efforts in this regard. The way to live in modern society is to respect civil rights, civil laws and to eliminate all privileges. Individuals and groups need enough space to live their own lives. It is not enough to be persuaded of the right way of living, our conviction must transform into practice and we must also strike a balance between theory and practice; between general principles and respect for particularities. It will be a very difficult exercise but there is no other way available for those who wish everyone’s humanity to triumph.

Admiration for Indian Humanists

I wish to end with words of admiration for what I saw in India during my recent trip: I saw in Madanepalle and in Punganur towns, and in various little villages and hamlets the heroic and wise social movement that is being organised to fight the caste system. I witnessed how emancipation of people is becoming a reality and I am proud that IHEU is a part of this historic movement.

It is not an easy struggle. While it is crucial that the biggest victims of the caste system – the so-called untouchables – themselves lead an active movement that will ensure their human dignity, the work that needs to be done should not stop there. The newly formed Society for Promotion of Humanism and Social Change works also to liberate the upper castes – be they the Brahmins or the other upper castes – from their prejudices. Humanists in India are showing a
viable way forward, and this is a struggle which needs the help of Humanists from all over the world.

The caste system affects the lives of millions of people, and yet it is difficult for those who are not part of Indian society to fully comprehend the immensity and complexity of the problem. The international community fought against Apartheid. Apartheid had government sanction; untouchability does not and so we must assist the Indian government to eliminate this scourge. Changing laws, or implementing them, however necessary it maybe, is not enough. It is the mind, the way of thinking that has to change as well. And for this we should also assist our member groups in the Indian sub-continent who are fight against the very caste system which has made untouchability possible. Abolishing the caste system is the only sure means of making the practice of untouchability disappear.

We can all do our bit – we can lobby internationally, we can raise the issue at Human Rights forums, we can strengthen the hands of our Indian member groups and we can increase the moral pressure which will help change things.

Sonja Eggerickx