Humanist Journeys
Our Members share their Experiences of becoming a Humanist
Please tell us about the story of your journey to Humanism in Gaeilge or English ( in up to 800 words). Contributors can choose to remain anonymous.
As an assistance to contributors, here are a list of relevant matters that might be worth considering when writing:
My early life with parents/guardians
As an assistance to contributors, here are a list of relevant matters that might be worth considering when writing:
My early life with parents/guardians
- How religion influenced my childhood
- How I managed to resist or escape indoctrination
- How my life developed in adolescence
- Adult experiences- work, relationships, etc
- Influences on my thinking- books, media, friends etc
- “Coming Out” as a Humanist
- First Contact with The Humanist Association Of Ireland
- Summing Up- My hopes/fears for humanity in the future
Jayne Husband
I am a 51 year old woman living in Cork with my partner for the last 10 years.
I was born in Middlesbrough, in the north east of England, a town originally known for its iron and steel works, which is where my mother and father both worked. I am the youngest of three. My father died when I was 7 years old and my mother suffered from severe bouts of depression, and was often hospitalised on and off during my childhood. They were both 'Church of England' which seems to be a polite way of saying you don't follow any religion but haven't really bothered to think about it. We were all christened etc and when my brother and sister got married, it was in a church, but really the most significant thing about religion in my upbringing was its complete absence.
By the time I was in my mid to late teens I was starting to realise, or struggle with, the growing realisation that I am gay. I quickly got the impression that this was a bad idea - even though gay men seemed to be a little more visible and accepted (straight women seemed to like having them as friends), nobody seemed to like lesbians! So I ignored my feelings, got myself a nice boyfriend and hoped it would all go away. During this period of trying very hard to be straight, I had a very sensitive antenna for any negative comments about gay people. I noticed that religions had a lot of negative comments to make, but of course, I wasn't gay so it didn't apply to me!
I also went through a process of questioning what I thought of God and what place, if any, I wanted religion or faith to have in my life. I think this was relatively easy for me being in the UK, where the influence of religion is far less than in Ireland, and with no particular influence from my parents to contradict it.
So, fast forward to 2008, I am now living happily with a female partner in Cork. I have gone through all the growing pains of accepting my sexuality, coming out to my family, friends, workplace etc. I have also gone through the process of questioning religion and come to some conclusions i.e. that they all seem to be variations of a man made story to help illustrate a set of ideals. Certainly not literal events, and certainly not worth killing each other about.
I am living on the assumption that this is fine - I go about my life not believing in God and other people go about their lives believing in a God and we can all get along and not bother each other. And then one day in March 2008, I had to attend the 'Bon Secours' hospital in Cork for a minor day procedure. The hospital waiting room is well endowed with copies of 'The Catholic Voice' which I start to read. One article in particular catches my attention - it is about the need for all the good, decent, family orientated people of Cork to write to their TDs, urgently, to oppose gay marriage. It went on to describe how homosexuals are a devious and manipulative lot who are planning to steal the institution of marriage from ordinary God fearing folk and must be stopped. How homosexuals destroy the fabric of society and are an evil.....write immediately to your TD! (this was quite bad for my blood pressure ). But seriously, I remember sitting there with this paper in my hands and being shocked at the level of hatred and bigotry that I was witnessing. I realised, right there in the waiting room, that I wanted to be part of an organisation that gave a voice to the masses who DON'T believe, who don't want other people's religious beliefs to have any power over there lives. I joined the Humanists Association of Ireland at that time.
My second 'coming out' as a Humanist is ongoing. People who know me well find it no surprise, other people seem to find it a bit odd, even if they are disenchanted with the Church or say they don't know if there is a God or not. It seems that not thinking about it is more acceptable than thinking about it and nailing your colours to the atheist/humanist mast! I am happy to say I am a humanist, in the same way as I am now happy to say I am gay. I think that in a small way each individual person, trying to live their lives in a peaceful, ethical, positive way who identifies as being atheist, or a non believer, or a humanist, or whatever is helping dispel the myths about what those labels mean. I hope there is a small ripple effect going outwards from us that confirms that, hey, Humanists aren't all 'aggressive atheists' who don't think there is any magic or beauty in the world, that you can be Good without God.
I was born in Middlesbrough, in the north east of England, a town originally known for its iron and steel works, which is where my mother and father both worked. I am the youngest of three. My father died when I was 7 years old and my mother suffered from severe bouts of depression, and was often hospitalised on and off during my childhood. They were both 'Church of England' which seems to be a polite way of saying you don't follow any religion but haven't really bothered to think about it. We were all christened etc and when my brother and sister got married, it was in a church, but really the most significant thing about religion in my upbringing was its complete absence.
By the time I was in my mid to late teens I was starting to realise, or struggle with, the growing realisation that I am gay. I quickly got the impression that this was a bad idea - even though gay men seemed to be a little more visible and accepted (straight women seemed to like having them as friends), nobody seemed to like lesbians! So I ignored my feelings, got myself a nice boyfriend and hoped it would all go away. During this period of trying very hard to be straight, I had a very sensitive antenna for any negative comments about gay people. I noticed that religions had a lot of negative comments to make, but of course, I wasn't gay so it didn't apply to me!
I also went through a process of questioning what I thought of God and what place, if any, I wanted religion or faith to have in my life. I think this was relatively easy for me being in the UK, where the influence of religion is far less than in Ireland, and with no particular influence from my parents to contradict it.
So, fast forward to 2008, I am now living happily with a female partner in Cork. I have gone through all the growing pains of accepting my sexuality, coming out to my family, friends, workplace etc. I have also gone through the process of questioning religion and come to some conclusions i.e. that they all seem to be variations of a man made story to help illustrate a set of ideals. Certainly not literal events, and certainly not worth killing each other about.
I am living on the assumption that this is fine - I go about my life not believing in God and other people go about their lives believing in a God and we can all get along and not bother each other. And then one day in March 2008, I had to attend the 'Bon Secours' hospital in Cork for a minor day procedure. The hospital waiting room is well endowed with copies of 'The Catholic Voice' which I start to read. One article in particular catches my attention - it is about the need for all the good, decent, family orientated people of Cork to write to their TDs, urgently, to oppose gay marriage. It went on to describe how homosexuals are a devious and manipulative lot who are planning to steal the institution of marriage from ordinary God fearing folk and must be stopped. How homosexuals destroy the fabric of society and are an evil.....write immediately to your TD! (this was quite bad for my blood pressure ). But seriously, I remember sitting there with this paper in my hands and being shocked at the level of hatred and bigotry that I was witnessing. I realised, right there in the waiting room, that I wanted to be part of an organisation that gave a voice to the masses who DON'T believe, who don't want other people's religious beliefs to have any power over there lives. I joined the Humanists Association of Ireland at that time.
My second 'coming out' as a Humanist is ongoing. People who know me well find it no surprise, other people seem to find it a bit odd, even if they are disenchanted with the Church or say they don't know if there is a God or not. It seems that not thinking about it is more acceptable than thinking about it and nailing your colours to the atheist/humanist mast! I am happy to say I am a humanist, in the same way as I am now happy to say I am gay. I think that in a small way each individual person, trying to live their lives in a peaceful, ethical, positive way who identifies as being atheist, or a non believer, or a humanist, or whatever is helping dispel the myths about what those labels mean. I hope there is a small ripple effect going outwards from us that confirms that, hey, Humanists aren't all 'aggressive atheists' who don't think there is any magic or beauty in the world, that you can be Good without God.
Kevin Sheehan - Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland
Kevin is a member of Humanists West and kindly agreed to share his story here to get us started.
I was born in 1949 of Irish father and English mother and was brought up and educated in England. My family life was very simple and did involve being baptised and taken to church whilst a baby/young child.
My first school was a state school for a one year before moving house and placed in a roman catholic primary school. My memories are not too comprehensive apart from extremely strident nuns and the mother superior. Catechism was strictly enforced and I suppose the inevitable dogma that age has fortunately forgotten about, apart from some latin phrases from the mass. Arguably the mass in latin was excellent because you had no idea what was going on.
I do remember attending church as a choir boy and swirling the incense around and other ritualistic activities.
My liberation came from my mother allowing me to go to a state run secondary school where I was able to avoid prayers and religious instruction. So I was lucky to escape indoctrination from 11 onwards. So I became an unwitting refugee from Catholicism.
I was chased by the parish priest because I never turned up to be an alter boy again. It think it was the black dress and white frock that did not suit me.
So I cannot profess to an intellectual metamorphasis from religion to Humanism. That came later when the experiences of the world opened up the world of science and through much reading and thought I was led to the idea of truth. On the way I visited atheism but found that just complaining about religion was not enough for me and left everything in the negative.
Humanism however opens up the possibility that human beings might be able to co-operative together and live a moral / ethical / rational life in a world of freedom (with responsibility ), universal human rights, Full democracy and liberty. All fired by human creativity and imagination and Humanist community structures.
The only caveat to this world is that it will not exist believing in the supernatural. Let us hope that Humanism will help us get there.
Kevin Sheehan
I was born in 1949 of Irish father and English mother and was brought up and educated in England. My family life was very simple and did involve being baptised and taken to church whilst a baby/young child.
My first school was a state school for a one year before moving house and placed in a roman catholic primary school. My memories are not too comprehensive apart from extremely strident nuns and the mother superior. Catechism was strictly enforced and I suppose the inevitable dogma that age has fortunately forgotten about, apart from some latin phrases from the mass. Arguably the mass in latin was excellent because you had no idea what was going on.
I do remember attending church as a choir boy and swirling the incense around and other ritualistic activities.
My liberation came from my mother allowing me to go to a state run secondary school where I was able to avoid prayers and religious instruction. So I was lucky to escape indoctrination from 11 onwards. So I became an unwitting refugee from Catholicism.
I was chased by the parish priest because I never turned up to be an alter boy again. It think it was the black dress and white frock that did not suit me.
So I cannot profess to an intellectual metamorphasis from religion to Humanism. That came later when the experiences of the world opened up the world of science and through much reading and thought I was led to the idea of truth. On the way I visited atheism but found that just complaining about religion was not enough for me and left everything in the negative.
Humanism however opens up the possibility that human beings might be able to co-operative together and live a moral / ethical / rational life in a world of freedom (with responsibility ), universal human rights, Full democracy and liberty. All fired by human creativity and imagination and Humanist community structures.
The only caveat to this world is that it will not exist believing in the supernatural. Let us hope that Humanism will help us get there.
Kevin Sheehan
James Croft - Honorary Member
While I was raised nonreligious, I didn’t consider myself a committed Humanist until I reached University. I had gone to Cambridge to study Education, inspired by the idea that people have great potential waiting to be unleashed, and driven by the knowledge that I had a responsibility to help people realize that potential. And, like many leaving home for the first time, I took the opportunity to explore my religious identity, voraciously devouring the major texts of many of the world’s great religions. I discovered the grand tales of the Mahabharata, the poetry of the Quran, the sparse beauty of Zen kōans, and great psalms of the Bible (many of which I had sung as a choirboy). I read gnostic and mystical works, apocryphal gospels and religious apologetics. I read widely in theology, philosophy and psychology of religion (Abraham Maslow and William James were early favorites, as I’ve explored before). And although I found much of value (alongside much to abhor) in ancient religious texts, I found nothing that was convincing to my young philosopher’s mind. It was clear to me that religions, and whatever was of worth within them, are human cultural constructions, and that ethics, community, aesthetics and values can exist – might even exist more purely – outside a traditionally religious framework.
Nor did I find anything that truly captured the values I had been brought up with – no religion I investigated wholeheartedly and unequivocally embraced science and learning. None made a clear commitment to the equal dignity of every individual (and most were extremely disparaging about gay people, women, and people of different tribes). And many had a dismal view of the human future, painting a hopeless picture of sinful, broken human beings facing apocalyptic catastrophe.
Then I stumbled across the second Humanist Manifesto. How I first encountered it I don’t remember, but it was a seismic moment in my development: here, for the first time, was a document which espoused, in clear and unequivocal prose, the values I was beginning to shape my life around. I remember printing the whole thing off – all seventeen statements – and reading through it again and again, making so many notes that I had to print a new copy. I started to buy books by the great Humanist thinkers and writers (Dewey, Sartre, Russell, Rogers), started to view my political activism through the lens of Humanism, and started to debate with my religious friends from a staunchly Humanist perspective. I joined the British Humanist Association. I began to call myself a Humanist. In short, I’d found something to believe in.
Check other blog posts by James at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/templeofthefuture/author/jcroft/
Nor did I find anything that truly captured the values I had been brought up with – no religion I investigated wholeheartedly and unequivocally embraced science and learning. None made a clear commitment to the equal dignity of every individual (and most were extremely disparaging about gay people, women, and people of different tribes). And many had a dismal view of the human future, painting a hopeless picture of sinful, broken human beings facing apocalyptic catastrophe.
Then I stumbled across the second Humanist Manifesto. How I first encountered it I don’t remember, but it was a seismic moment in my development: here, for the first time, was a document which espoused, in clear and unequivocal prose, the values I was beginning to shape my life around. I remember printing the whole thing off – all seventeen statements – and reading through it again and again, making so many notes that I had to print a new copy. I started to buy books by the great Humanist thinkers and writers (Dewey, Sartre, Russell, Rogers), started to view my political activism through the lens of Humanism, and started to debate with my religious friends from a staunchly Humanist perspective. I joined the British Humanist Association. I began to call myself a Humanist. In short, I’d found something to believe in.
Check other blog posts by James at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/templeofthefuture/author/jcroft/
Peter Ferguson
I was born in 1984 to a fisherman and a fisherman’s wife. My parents were never particularly religious but they did take us children to mass, as was expected of them. My earliest memory of religion was being forced to go to church every Sunday and remembering how boring it was. I used to hide behind the couch every week to avoid mass, and as I never changed my hiding place I was quickly found every week; I wasn’t a very bright child. My first doubts regarding religion occurred when I was 8 while I was being chastised by my third class teacher for asking a priest where God came from. This had “embarrassed” her, and I should simply accept what I was told without question. I treated religion rather flippantly from then on, and as something that simply must be endured. My parents finally gave me the choice of whether or not I would like to continue to go to mass at the age of 13 and I haven’t stepped foot in a church since bar official occasions.
Even though I wasn’t religious in any manner, I would still call myself a Catholic, simply because I never thought about the topic and mindlessly accepted the status quo, (an attitude I fear many among my generation have). I went through my education with the delusion it was pointless, even trying to drop out at junior cert level as I felt the leaving cert was “unnecessary”. Luckily my parents forced me to stay and I eventually scraped past my leaving cert. After 4 years of working in various factories an opportunity came to go to New Zealand, which I immediately took. It was during this trip, at the ripe age of 22, that I began to read for leisure for the first time; this ignited my ascent from quasi-Catholicism to Humanism. While staying in a TV-less hostel, out of sheer boredom I began to read The Science of Discworld, a fantastic book which flamed an interest within me in both fantasy and science. Throughout the year I read some more and met numerous people who broadened my mindset and opened me up to different ideas and philosophies.
On my return from New Zealand I decided to continue my new found love of education by embarking on a degree in Classics and History, it was during this time that I became increasingly perturbed by religion’s influence, both past and present. I began to identify with the term atheist and started reading the usual atheistic literature. However, I quickly realised the term “atheist” was meaningless in many ways and wholly insufficient as it is a label which states what I am not, not what I am. I quickly found Humanism as the answer I was looking for: as a philosophy it encompasses my ethics, morals, respect of art, literature and science, and most importantly, respect for humanity. It not only describes my rejection of religion, god(s), and superstition, but it also embraces my belief in a rational, ethical world without the need for divine revelation. To this end I have decided to continue my studies, I am currently doing PhD in Classics focusing on the interactions between Paganism and Christianity in the Roman Empire. In 2012 I established the Humanist Atheist Society in NUI Galway in the hopes that it will encourage people to consider their beliefs and question the role and function of religion in today’s society. It is through Humanism that I plan to live by example and demonstrate that an ethical and moral life is easily achievable without the need for dogmatic religion.
You can read more of Peter's musings at his blog www.skepticink.com/humanisticas/
Even though I wasn’t religious in any manner, I would still call myself a Catholic, simply because I never thought about the topic and mindlessly accepted the status quo, (an attitude I fear many among my generation have). I went through my education with the delusion it was pointless, even trying to drop out at junior cert level as I felt the leaving cert was “unnecessary”. Luckily my parents forced me to stay and I eventually scraped past my leaving cert. After 4 years of working in various factories an opportunity came to go to New Zealand, which I immediately took. It was during this trip, at the ripe age of 22, that I began to read for leisure for the first time; this ignited my ascent from quasi-Catholicism to Humanism. While staying in a TV-less hostel, out of sheer boredom I began to read The Science of Discworld, a fantastic book which flamed an interest within me in both fantasy and science. Throughout the year I read some more and met numerous people who broadened my mindset and opened me up to different ideas and philosophies.
On my return from New Zealand I decided to continue my new found love of education by embarking on a degree in Classics and History, it was during this time that I became increasingly perturbed by religion’s influence, both past and present. I began to identify with the term atheist and started reading the usual atheistic literature. However, I quickly realised the term “atheist” was meaningless in many ways and wholly insufficient as it is a label which states what I am not, not what I am. I quickly found Humanism as the answer I was looking for: as a philosophy it encompasses my ethics, morals, respect of art, literature and science, and most importantly, respect for humanity. It not only describes my rejection of religion, god(s), and superstition, but it also embraces my belief in a rational, ethical world without the need for divine revelation. To this end I have decided to continue my studies, I am currently doing PhD in Classics focusing on the interactions between Paganism and Christianity in the Roman Empire. In 2012 I established the Humanist Atheist Society in NUI Galway in the hopes that it will encourage people to consider their beliefs and question the role and function of religion in today’s society. It is through Humanism that I plan to live by example and demonstrate that an ethical and moral life is easily achievable without the need for dogmatic religion.
You can read more of Peter's musings at his blog www.skepticink.com/humanisticas/
