Humanists Sweden () is the largest

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

/ rationalist organisation in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

with about 4,500 members. It is a member organisation of

Humanists International Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Fou ...

(HI) and the European Humanist Federation (EHF). Humanists Sweden work for a secular life stance founded on reason, compassion and responsibility. Its goals include a completely secular state, free of religious oppression, discrimination and other infringements on

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. Humanists Sweden also promotes science and philosophy as primary methods for finding general knowledge and answers to empirical questions, staunchly opposing

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

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Organisation and history

The organisation was founded in 1979 and was then called Human-Etiska Förbundet ("Humanist-Ethical Association"). The name was changed into the more international Humanisterna in 1999. David Rönnegard has been chairman of the organisation since April 202

There are eleven local groups, situated in

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat o ...

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 41,388 inhabitants in 2020 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södert� ...

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

, Väst,

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

, and

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

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Secular ceremonies

The majority of Demographics of atheism#Europe, Sweden's population is not religious and there is an increasing demand for secular alternatives to religious ceremonies. The ceremonies of baptisms, marriages and funerals are still largely carried out in churches, conducted by priests, even though the participants rarely are practicing Christians. Humanisterna offers help and advice in creating secular ceremonies for those who don't wish to employ the

Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden () is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.5 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest List ...

or other religious institutions. They also organize coming-of-age summer camps for teenagers where the participants get to discuss ethics, philosophy, religion, human rights, discrimination and other important issues. These are analogous to Christian

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

camps, although a person does not need to be a member of Humanisterna or share the humanistic worldview to participate and no

confession of faith A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds: ...

is made.

''Humanisten''

Humanists Sweden publishes a quarterly membership magazine called ''Humanisten'' ("the Humanist").

Hedenius Award

The yearly award commemorates the Swedish philosopher Ingemar Hedenius, whose views - expressed in his book ''Tro och vetande'' ("Belief and knowledge") - were instrumental in starting the cultural debate that eventually led to the separating of the Swedish church and state. Its purpose is to acknowledge and support individuals who have worked, as Hedenius did, for a humanistic life stance, rationalism and critical thinking. The award was founded in 2000.

Previous winners

Kristallkulan

Kristallkulan ("the Crystal ball") is a prize of 100,000 SEK that will be awarded to anyone who can demonstrate beyond doubt that they possess a paranormal or supernatural talent that cannot be explained by conventional science. The award is similar to the

One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge was an offer by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) to pay out one million U.S. dollars to any famous person who could demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under agreed-upon scient ...

offered by the

James Randi Educational Foundation The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dange ...

. The prize was instituted in 2005.

References

External links

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Humanisten
{{Authority control Skeptic organizations in Sweden Humanist associations Organizations established in 1979 1979 establishments in Sweden European Humanist Federation