Congratulations to our founding editor David Brittain who has been invited to a Humanists UK dinner on Tuesday 4th November to celebrate the appointment of the UK Armed Forces first ever humanist pastoral carer. David led the UK Armed Forces Humanist Association at a critical juncture, helping to lay the foundations for its eventual success. Our main theme for this issue is radicalisation. ‘Radical’ is a word with an honourable past. It comes from the Latin radix meaning root

By David Brittain The appointment of the first Humanist chaplain in the British Armed Forces marks a historic moment – and one that has personal significance for our founding editor, who helped build the bridge between Humanists UK and the Ministry of Defence more than a decade ago. David is the Founding Editor of Humanistically Speaking and founder of the UK Armed Forces Humanist Association (UKAFHA). This month brings a remarkable milestone for the humanist movement in the

By David Warden In this article, David attempts to clarify what distinguishes humanist conviction from the kind of certainty that can tip into radicalisation. David is chairman of Dorset Humanists and editor of Humanistically Speaking . This month’s issue of Humanistically Speaking  examines radicalisation from multiple angles – from the grip of violent extremism explored by Anthony Lewis, to the contested boundaries of protest in Maggie Hall’s reflections on Just Stop Oil an

By Dr Anthony Lewis In this article, Anthony reflects on how violent extremism can take hold, as it did in Northern Ireland. He warns that extremists always seek to erode hard-won democratic freedoms through censorship, intimidation and terror. Although the processes of radicalisation are well understood, they are still not being effectively disrupted. Anthony argues that the best way to counter political extremism is to reassert – rather than restrict – the principles of

By Maggie Hall In this article Maggie questions the government’s decision to designate Palestine Action a terrorist organisation. Reflecting on the case of an 83-year-old retired vicar arrested for holding a placard, she explores how the definition of terrorism is being stretched to include non-violent protest. 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