By Maggie Hall In this article, Maggie considers the future of organised humanism at the local level, questioning whether campaigning and discussion are enough – or whether humanist groups need to find new, more practical ways to serve their communities. Maggie is a retired teacher of speech and drama, a former Chair of Brighton Humanists, a member of the Humanists UK Dialogue Network, and a Humanists UK School Speaker. I have no doubt that humanism itself does have a future. There will...

Maggie Hall highlights a Gaza debate and this year’s Reith Lectures as thought-provoking viewing and listening for readers interested in the words we use to describe conflict and moral change. Also featured are discussions about John Stuart Mill ’ s essay On Liberty and male circumcision. Can we talk about ‘genocide’ in Gaza? I don’t usually include YouTube content in Media Watch  because, frankly, much of it is rubbish. However, this discussion, recorded last October, addresses an issue...

Valerie Mainstone By Maggie Hall Maggie is a former Chair of Brighton Humanists. There cannot be many funeral ceremonies that include people dancing in the aisles, but that is exactly what happened on 31 October last year at the funeral of my dear friend and humanist mentor, Valerie Mainstone. I first met Valerie in 2008, when I joined Brighton Humanists – or the Brighton and Hove Humanist Society, as it was then. We served on the committee together for several years, and much of what I...