There is no such thing as the Humanist viewpoint. Unlike revealed religion, Humanism has no prophets, high priests or holy texts. It has no dogma. Humanism is an ethical and rational approach to life, based on freethought and freedom of inquiry, that can be used to illuminate the examination of moral, cultural, social and ethical issues. Perhaps the best modern statement of Humanist principles is the Amsterdam Declaration 2002. This declaration was arrived at following several months of discussion and negotiation involving many of the world’s leading Humanists. The final text was agreed at the World Humanist Congress in the Netherlands in July 2002, adopted unanimously by the Congress, and ratified unanimously two days later by the IHEU General Assembly, the governing body of IHEU.

In this section of the website we have assembled articles, speeches and presentations from conferences, magazines, books, journals and international organisations intended to provide a comprehensive overview of modern Humanist thinking.

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• Humanism

  • The minimum statement

  • Amsterdam Declaration 2002

  • More about Humanism...

• Human rights

  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

    • Text of the UDHR (English)

    • Text of the UDHR (other languages)

    • Primacy of the UDHR

  • Women's rights (UDHR)

    • Female genital mutilation

    • More about women's rights...

  • Children's rights (UDHR)

    • Child marriage

    • More about age and youth (including children's rights)...

  • Freedom of expression

    • IHEU statement to the UNHRC, September 2007

    • IHEU condemns restrictions on freedom of expression at the UN (1)

    • IHEU condemns restrictions on freedom of expression at the UN (2)

    • Freedom of expression under threat at the Human Rights Council

    • Written statement (PDF)

    • More about freedom of expression...

  • Freedom of religion or belief

    • Freedom of religion or belief

    • More about freedom of religion and belief...

• Democracy

  • A secular vision for Europe

  • The Vision for Europe web site

• Morality

  • Origins of morality (in preparation)

  • Do we need God to be good? (in preparation)

• Bioethics

  • Bioethics

  • Abortion

  • Voluntary euthanasia

• Religion - general

  • Origins, function and purpose (in preparation)

  • Religion vs. morality

    • Holocaust denial

  • Blasphemy and "defamation of religion"

    • The war on human rights

    • Statement to UN on defamation of religion

    • 'Combating defamation of religion' unnecessary, flawed and morally wrong

    • How the Islamic states dominate the UN Human Rights Council

    • Restrictions on freedom of expression at the UN

    • Freedom of Expression under threat at the Human Rights Council

• Christianity

  • (in preparation)

  • More about the Roman Catholic church...

  • More about Christianity...

• Islam

  • Origins of Islam

    • Islam and modernity

    • Religion in education

  • Sharia Law

    • Why Sharia law must be opposed

    • Rid Pakistan of reactionary laws

    • Non-Muslims and the Sharia

  • Islam and Human Rights

    • Freedom of religion and belief in Islam

    • Laws that are abused

  • Islam and Women's Rights

    • Women's rights and the Sharia

    • The liberation of women in the Middle East

  • Islam and Secularism

    • St Petersburg Declaration

    • Islam and modernity

  • Political Islam

  • Islam and violence

    • Exorcising terror

    • Joint written statement on Hamas (PDF)

  • Islamophobia

    • The war on Human Rights

    • IHEU comments on Islamophobia report

    • “Islamophobia” and freedom of expression (PDF)

  • More about Islam...

• Hinduism and the caste system

  • Untouchability

  • The Dalit FAQ

  • More about Hinduism...

• Superstition

  • Superstition

• Secularism

  • State neutrality (in preparation)

  • Separation of religion and state

• Atheism, Freethought and Rationalism

  • Atheism, Freethought and Rationalism

• Population

  • Statement on Darfur and population

  • More about population...

• Environment

  • Environment

• Reproductive health and rights

  • Reproductive health and rights

• Development

  • (in preparation)

  • More about poverty...

• Education

  • Education

• Wars and conflict

  • Darfur

    • Joint statement on Darfur

    • Statement

    • Darfur and population

    • Written statement

    • Joint letter to HCHR on Darfur

  • Killing in the name of God

    • Joint statement on killing in the name of God

  • Lebanon

    • Letter to the President of Lebanon

  • More about wars and conflict...

  • More about terrorism and violence...

  • More about peace and disarmament...

• Other IHEU resolutions and statements