Editor’s introduction

This issue of Humanistically Speaking feels like one of our most searching and significant yet. Not because it offers a single, settled answer about the purpose and future of humanism, but because it allows a range of thoughtful, sometimes sharply contrasting voices to sit side by side and speak honestly about what we think is at stake. As editor, I'm particularly keen for Humanistically Speaking to stimulate and support this diverse ecosystem of humanist thought.

Maggie Hall is concerned with practical action in local communities and she confronts the unsettling question whether organised humanism at the local level has had its day. Sophy Robinson asks why public intellectuals such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali are reacting against the alleged ‘nihilistic vacuum’ of secular humanism and finding solace in Christianity. Anthony Lewis focuses on the challenge of reaching the growing number of people who identify as ‘nones’ – those who live without religious affiliation yet remain absent from organised humanism. John Coss and I take up this challenge, exploring how humanism can become a meaningful alternative to religion. Mike Flood provides a sobering survey of the health of the humanist movement while Jeremy Rodell defends the campaigning priorities of Humanists UK. James Croft argues that humanism is entering a period of profound challenge and he calls for a more confident, activist humanism.

Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson reflects on whether and how contemporary humanism is sustaining its commitment to epistemic humility, with reference to a recent exchange with the organisers of the World Humanist Congress, while David McKnight believes that humanism needs to give greater attention to how it encourages open dialogue, disagreement, and meaningful participation, allowing members to take part in democratic discussion without fear of being dismissed.

Humanism has always been a broad and sometimes uneasy family, spanning a wide range of political, philosophical, and cultural outlooks. This diversity of thought can be uncomfortable, but it can also be a source of strength, if we are willing to listen carefully to one another and resist the temptation to assume that our own position is simply the ‘normal’, moral, or self-evident one.

Humanism, in whatever form it takes, should be capable of speaking to the moral, social and existential questions we actually face as human beings. It should also result in practical action. Our friend in Uganda, Irumba Juma Siriwayo, is trying to raise funds to distribute his new handbook to communities which have been torn apart for decades by irrational beliefs and hatreds. Please respond generously if you can.

I hope you will share our articles on social media. You’re free to republish them in your own humanist newsletters and elsewhere, as long as you credit the author and provide a link to Humanistically Speaking. For more details, refer to our Creative Commons licence by following the links at the bottom of every page.

Thank you, as ever, for your encouragement and support. If you’d like to contribute an article or news report to our Spring issue to be published on 1st May 2026, do let me know.

David Warden