This is an ongoing and new series devoted to the South African Secular Society (SASS) and South African secularism. The Past President, Jani Schoeman, and the Current President, Rick Raubenheimer, and the current Vice-President, Wynand Meijer, will be taking part in this series to illuminate these facets of South Africa culture to us. The whole SASS-y gang join us.
Here we talk about support from the international community.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s start with some commentary on the international community. Secular communities can vary in size and scope and depth per region and per country of the world.
How important is joining up with that global culture, that international community, of secular people?
Rick Raubenheimer: Well, it’s nice to have, I think, because we can exchange useful views, and there was the talk of possibly funding a conference in Africa. That would be useful, because we don’t have the funds to do something big ourselves. Otherwise, I must say we haven’t had much contact with them except for them asking us to join.
Jacobsen: When they reached out, what was the reasoning behind the decision to accept the offer or the invitation to join them?
Raubenheimer: The idea of them funding an African conference in South Africa was motivation.
Jacobsen: If you’re looking at Uganda or Botswana, or Ghana, and elsewhere, these individual organizations can only do so much and joining up with international contexts or an entire region of like-minded people can, basically, help them share information, strategies, things that have worked for them.
Things that have not, for them. Do you see that other organizations can find a benefit in joining up with a larger community of like-minded people?
Raubenheimer: I can imagine in the abstract that that would be the case. I don’t have contact with the other organizations to be able to say specifically that this has been the case.
Jacobsen: Moving forward, what are some early benefits that have come from being part of Humanists International? What, more particularly, would you like to see as some benefits coming from Humanists International?
Raubenheimer: In terms of what benefits have come so far, I would imagine the only benefit, so far, has been that we are listed on their website and people willing to dive into the website and locate the map to locate us on would be able to find us. That’s the only benefit I can see we’ve had so far from it.
In the future, more contact, I guess, I hope. I would’ve thought they might have an email newsletter, periodically, but I’ve heard nothing from them, and perhaps more contact in the conference I mentioned.
Jacobsen: I’m out of questions [Laughing].
Raubenheimer: I thought it would look like it would not be a very deep topic to mind, shall we say.
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Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the Founder of In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal and In-Sight Publishing. He authored/co-authored some e-books, free or low-cost. If you want to contact Scott: Scott.D.Jacobsen@Gmail.com.
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Canadian Atheist Associates: Godless Mom, Nice Mangoes, Sandwalk, Brainstorm Podcast, Left at the Valley, Life, the Universe & Everything Else, The Reality Check, Bad Science Watch, British Columbia Humanist Association, Dying With Dignity Canada, Canadian Secular Alliance, Centre for Inquiry Canada, Kelowna Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists Association.
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Other National/Local Resources: Association humaniste du Québec, Atheist Freethinkers, Central Ontario Humanist Association, Comox Valley Humanists, Grey Bruce Humanists, Halton-Peel Humanist Community, Hamilton Humanists, Humanist Association of London, Humanist Association of Ottawa, Humanist Association of Toronto, Humanists, Atheists and Agnostics of Manitoba, Ontario Humanist Society, Secular Connextions Seculaire, Secular Humanists in Calgary, Society of Free Thinkers (Kitchener-Waterloo/Cambridge/Guelph), Thunder Bay Humanists, Toronto Oasis, Victoria Secular Humanist Association.
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Other International/Outside Canada Resources: Allianz vun Humanisten, Atheisten an Agnostiker, American Atheists,American Humanist Association, Associação Brasileira de Ateus e AgnósticoséééBrazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics, Atheist Alliance International, Atheist Alliance of America, Atheist Centre, Atheist Foundation of Australia, The Brights Movement, Center for Inquiry (including Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science), Atheist Ireland, Camp Quest, Inc., Council for Secular Humanism, De Vrije Gedachte, European Humanist Federation, Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, Foundation Beyond Belief, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Humanist Association of Ireland, Humanist International, Humanist Association of Germany, Humanist Association of Ireland, Humanist Society of Scotland, Humanists UK, Humanisterna/Humanists Sweden, Internet Infidels, International League of Non-Religious and Atheists, James Randi Educational Foundation, League of Militant Atheists, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, National Secular Society, Rationalist International, Recovering From Religion, Religion News Service, Secular Coalition for America, Secular Student Alliance, The Clergy Project, The Rational Response Squad, The Satanic Temple, The Sunday Assembly, United Coalition of Reason, Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics.
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Photo by Tim Johnson on Unsplash