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The Norwegian Humanist Association ( no, Human-Etisk Forbund; HEF) is one of the largest
secular humanist Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality ...
associations in the world, with over 130,000 members. Those members constitute 2.3% of the national population of 5.47 million, making HEF by far the largest such association in the world in proportion to population. The association publishes the magazine '' Fri tanke'' (Free Thought).


History and activities

Founded in 1956, the HEF is a member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU). The Norwegian Humanist Association is an organisation for people who base their ethics on human, not religious values. Most of members are agnostics or atheists. HEF supports the following statement of the IHEU: :Humanism is a democratic, non-theistic and ethical life stance which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their lives and therefore reject supernatural views of reality. Former HEF secretary general,
Levi Fragell Levi Fragell (born 30 March 1939) is a Norwegian humanist. He has been chairman and secretary of the Norwegian Humanist Association, and was President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) between 1987–1990 (as one member o ...
, was president of the IHEU (1988–2003) and later Chair of IHEU's Committee for Growth and Development. Since September 2021, Christian Lomsdalen is
chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
of the organization. According to its bylaws, the organization works to ensure access to humanist ceremonies and spreading knowledge of humanism. The organization previously also worked for a
separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...
(the Evangelical-Lutheran
Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church ...
was the
state church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
of Norway until 2012). A civil confirmation organized by HEF has gained popularity among the Norwegian young during recent years. About 19 percent of Norwegian 15-year-olds were in 2018 taking part in HEF's civil or humanist confirmation, whereas 56% took part in the ceremonies of "state church", with the ceremonies of HEF increasing in popularity while the opposite happens to the church ceremonies. Locally the percentage of humanist youth ceremonies have been significantly higher and also significantly lower in the churches. On July 9, 2006 a prominent member of the Norwegian Humanist Association, Jens Brun-Pedersen, called for prime minister
Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...
to advocate the separation of church and state. He argued that the second article of the
constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction = Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , ...
which defines the "Evangelical-Lutheran Religion" as "the official religion of the State" and the 12th article of the constitution which requires half of the ministers of the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
to be members of the state church is
discriminatory Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...
, and that Norway can't criticise countries advocating
sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
law when the constitution favours Lutheran members of society. The Norwegian Humanist Association hosted the 18th World Humanist Congress of the IHEU. The Congress was held at the Oslo Congress Center in Oslo, Norway, on the 12–14 August 2011. The theme was Humanism and Peace. HEF also hosted the 3rd in 1962 and the 9th in 1986. Although raising public awareness of scepticism is not a primary goal of the Norwegian Humanist Association, an online campaign was organized in 2011 called ''Ingen liker å bli lurt'' (No one likes to be fooled) which led to media debate of the issues. The campaign was kicked off by three appearances in Norway by
James Randi James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928 – October 20, 2020) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. Rodrigues 2010 ...
, a Canadian-American retired stage magician and a scientific skeptic who has extensively challenged paranormal and pseudo scientific claims. A youth wing of the HEF, Norwegian Humanist Youth (''Humanistisk Ungdom''), was founded in August 2007. The current President of the Board is Sina Inngjerdingen.


See also

*
Norwegian Heathen Society The Norwegian Heathen Society ( no, Det norske Hedningsamfunn (''DnH'') or ''Hedningsamfunnet'' for short) is a non-partisan irreligious society that was established in 1974 and whose main focus is counteracting the Church of Norway and Christian ...


References


External links

*
Member magazine - Fri tanke

Norwegian Humanist Youth
{{Authority control
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
Secularist organizations Secularism in Norway Church–state separation advocacy organizations Skeptic organisations in Norway Organizations established in 1956 1956 establishments in Norway European Humanist Federation Secular humanism