About us
What do we do?
We are a group of people who meet to discuss a wide range of topics - philosophical, moral, social, political, scientific - and who work together to promote humanist ideas and values. We provide community and fellowship for humanists and we welcome anyone seeking a positive non-religious world view.
We meet about once a month, often with a speaker or a discussion topic, in a variety of venues. In addition, we arrange social events and are involved in raising money for charitable causes.
If you’d like to come to an informal meeting with one or two of our members to find out more about humanism and Birmingham Humanists, please contact us. We look forward to welcoming you.
As well as organising a monthly programme of speakers and events on topics relating to humanism or of interest to humanists, the group:
holds regular social get-togethers
produces a quarterly newsletter
brings humanism to the attention of the general public by having a stall at one of the local street festivals every year.
To find out more about the group, come along to one of our meetings.
Our history
The group was founded on the 23rd of May 1962 at the Arden Hotel in Birmingham, and is part of a network of autonomous humanist groups throughout Britain that are affiliated to Humanists UK, the national charity that supports and represents people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs. Humanists UK is in turn an influential member of Humanists International.
We changed our name to Birmingham Humanists (Brum Hums) in 2000 and voted to become a Partner Group of the BHA which changed its name to Humanists UK in 2017.
What is humanism?
Humanism is an attitude to life and to living.
Humanists see no plausible or acceptable reason for believing in a creator god, nor in any kind of omniscient, omnipotent deity or supernatural force which may affect, influence or help our individual or collective lives.
As humanists, we expect to live just this one life – so there is no afterlife and no god.
Since we believe that this is the only life we have, we try to make it as good as possible for everyone. This includes accepting responsibility for those yet to be born. We consider it our duty to help others wherever and whenever we can. We accept that giving such help is not always possible, and indeed not always wanted by some people.
Humanists wish to live in an open, just and caring society, where human rights and human dignity are respected. As humanists, we don’t all agree about everything, but we do share basic values and ideals..
We consider that we are responsible for our own actions, responsible for the kind of world we live in, responsible for conserving the earth’s resources and responsible for nurturing the next generation. We find morality in human nature and in human concern for each other, rather than in a divine authority. This means that we do not look to a supernatural being for answers to the problems of living.
We do these things because being good to ourselves and to others, is what we consider the right thing to do. We do not do them because a holy book tells us that a deity says it is the right thing to do.
We believe in looking seriously at the problems of life and considering them in a rational way, but we also find fun and happiness in the joys of living, in enjoying the company of family and friends, and in meeting new people. We regard love and friendship as the greatest sources of human happiness.
We turn to others, to our family and friends for support in times of trouble, hoping to solve our problems together. We also use our own internal strength to solve our problems for ourselves. We acknowledge that many people gain great emotional support and solace from their animal pets and from their deity.
We deplore prejudice and discrimination, on whatever grounds – gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or ability/disability – although most of us acknowledge that, as human beings, we can be subject to these failings ourselves. We fight such prejudice within ourselves where we recognise it. We hate all wanton cruelty and violence and try at all times to avoid them ourselves. However, many of us acknowledge that there can be occasions when violence may be necessary for the greater good.
A lack of religious belief does not make a person a humanist: humanism is a step beyond atheism. A person can easily be both atheist and secular without being a humanist: humanism requires the positive desire to help others, to improve the quality of life for others, and the ability to accept that there are people who do have a religious belief, without insulting that belief or that person for their belief.
To find out more about humanism and the Birmingham Humanists group, come along to one of our meetings – there is information about these on the Events page.
For more information about humanist beliefs, visit the website of Humanists UK at www.humanism.org.uk.