By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Tell us about your family background — to give some groundwork. My mom is a singer/actress, my father is a music graduate who became a tax officer when I was born. Everyone in my family is nominally Catholic and I was also baptized, but my family never went to church except… Read more »
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s delve a little bit into your background to provide a foundation for the conversation. Do you have a family background or only a personal background? Julia Julstrom-Agoyo: A family background, my mom loves to tell the story about how she grew up in Lima, Peru and at the age… Read more »
Was there a family background in humanism and skepticism? To be honest, no. My family, being ethnically Norwegian, has strong ties to the Lutheran church, going back generations. My great grandfather was a missionary in Africa. Of course, he was an older kind of missionary, meaning his mission was in part to better the physical… Read more »
*This interview has been mildly edited for clarity and readability.* Tell us about yourself — family background, culture, first language, and religious/humanist background. I was born and raised in St. Louis. My parents were raised Catholic. Independently, they decided Catholicism and Christianity were not for them. They didn’t want to follow that any further.
As our correspondence has unfolded, I have discovered that, not only you but, your family is steeped in ethical humanism, and ethical societies. So what is the deal? Where did your family first come into contact with ethical humanism? My parents were married at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture by an Ethical Culture… Read more »
Marieke Prien is the President of the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation (IHEYO), which is part of IHEU. In this educational series, we will be discussing international youth humanism.