The Secular Humanist League of Brazil, or LiHS, [1] is a nonprofit organization dedicated to skepticism, separation of church and state, scientific literacy and human rights, tenets of secular humanism.
It was founded in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on February 1, 2010. Its foundation was preceded by the activities of its blog, Bule Voador, [2] arguably the largest secularist website in Brazil. The name "Bule Voador" stands for "Flying Teapot" in Portuguese and alludes to Bertrand Russell's teapot.
LiHS took part in the 100 cities against stoning protest on August 28, 2010, a campaign for saving Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and others from execution in Iran. [3] The Secular Humanist League of Brazil had also broad local media coverage from the 10:23 campaign against homeopathy, [4] and also supports local meetings of Skeptics in the Pub and LGBT rights campaigns.
The Brazilian Supreme Federal Court lists LiHS as one of the speakers against religious teaching in public schools in an upcoming trial. [5]
The organization has reported to have 2,530 members in November 2012. [6]
Among the honorary members are human rights activist Maryam Namazie, [7] anthropological linguist Daniel Everett, philosopher Daniel Dennett, human rights academic Debora Diniz, Brazilian congressman and gay rights activist Jean Wyllys, among other Brazilian humanists. [8]
LiHS has organised the first Secular Humanist Congress in South America, taking place in the city of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, with the support of the International Humanist and Ethical Union and Atheist Alliance International. [9]
The event featured prominent humanists such as Portuguese philosopher Desidério Murcho, Brazilian skeptic Kentaro Mori, Brazilian astrophysicist Horacio Dottori, among others. [10] Atheist Alliance International declared the event was a success. [11]
Porto Alegre is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the 12th-most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fifth-largest metropolitan area, with 4,405,760 inhabitants (2010). The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian state.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism.
Humanists International is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Founded in Amsterdam in 1952, it is an umbrella organisation made up of more than 160 secular humanist, atheist, rationalist, agnostic, skeptic, freethought and Ethical Culture organisations from over 80 countries.
The Secular Coalition for America is an advocacy group located in Washington D.C. It describes itself as "protecting the equal rights of nonreligious Americans."
Gravataí is a Brazilian municipality near Porto Alegre at the Rio Grande do Sul State. Its population is approximately 280,000 people, making it the sixth most populous city in the state.
Maryam Namazie is a British-Iranian secularist, communist and human rights activist, commentator, and broadcaster. She is the Spokesperson for Fitnah – Movement for Women’s Liberation, One Law for All and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. She is known for speaking out against Islam and Islamism and defending the right to apostasy and blasphemy.
Atheist Alliance International (AAI) is a non-profit advocacy organization committed to raising awareness and educating the public about atheism. It does this by supporting atheist and freethought organizations around the world through promoting local campaigns, raising awareness of related issues, sponsoring secular education projects and facilitating interaction among secular groups and individuals.
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain or CEMB is the British branch of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims. It was launched in Westminster on 22 June 2007.
Non-Prophet Week is an annual charity week for the irreligious in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is coordinated by the Humanist Students. During the week, AHS societies and similar organisations in Ireland and the UK are encouraged to run charity events. The week has had different themes. Sometimes a charity has been chosen, other times groups have been encouraged to volunteer their time, donate blood and raise money for any cause or issue that they feel is important. So far over 200 Non-Prophet Week events have taken place in around 30 different cities. Over £12,000 has been raised and donated to charity.
Sikivu Hutchinson is an American author, playwright, director, and musician. Her multi-genre work explores feminism, gender justice, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, humanism and atheism. She is the author of Humanists in the Hood: Unapologetically Black, Feminist, and Heretical (2020), White Nights, Black Paradise (2015), Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels (2013), Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars (2011), and Imagining Transit: Race, Gender, and Transportation Politics in Los Angeles (2003). Her plays include "White Nights, Black Paradise", "Rock 'n' Roll Heretic" and "Narcolepsy, Inc.". "Rock 'n' Roll Heretic" was among the 2023 Lambda Literary award LGBTQ Drama finalists. Moral Combat is the first book on atheism to be published by an African-American woman. In 2013 she was named Secular Woman of the year and was awarded Foundation Beyond Belief's 2015 Humanist Innovator award. She was also a recipient of Harvard's 2020 Humanist of the Year award.
The Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics, or ATEA, is a Brazilian atheist activist nonprofit organization founded in August 2008. The organization advocates the separation of church and state and promotes atheism and agnosticism. Although Brazil is legally defined by its Constitution as a secular state, the organization has voiced its concern that this is not observed in practice.
Sonja Albertine Jeannine Eggerickx is a Belgian secular Humanist who was president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), now Humanists International, a position she held for nine years until stepping down in 2015. In 2016 she was awarded the Distinguished Services to Humanism Award 2016 for her ground-breaking work in secular education and ethics.
Irreligion in Bangladesh is rare and uncommon publicly. A Gallup survey conducted between 2014 – 2015 found that approximately 5% of Bangladeshis were non religious and less than 1% identified as convinced atheists. Bangladesh has 157.8 million people as of 2015 estimation.
The secular movement refers to a social and political trend in the United States, beginning in the early years of the 20th century, with the founding of the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism in 1925 and the American Humanist Association in 1941, in which atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, freethinkers, and other nonreligious and nontheistic Americans have grown in both numbers and visibility. There has been a sharp increase in the number of Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated, from under 10 percent in the 1990s to 20 percent in 2013. The trend is especially pronounced among young people, with about one in three Americans younger than 30 identifying as religiously unaffiliated, a figure that has nearly tripled since the 1990s.
Among Nonbelievers is a 2015 bilingual English–Dutch documentary on the situation of endangered nonbelievers, especially ex-Muslims, around the world. Set in the United Kingdom, Turkey, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the film is directed by Dorothée Forma and produced by HUMAN with the support of the Dutch Humanist Association. In 2016, it was succeeded by Non-believers: Freethinkers on the Run, which dealt with the fate of apostates and freethinkers in Dutch refugee camps.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Association of Black Humanists is a British organisation based in London, England. It encourages humanists and atheists to meet up, socialise, share information and support other atheists as they "come out" to friends and family, particularly people in ethnic minorities and people of the African diaspora.