The All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) met yesterday to discuss The Little Book of Humanism, co-authored by Humanists UK President Professor Alice Roberts and Chief Executive Andrew Copson. The event formally introduced Alice to parliamentarians in the Group and saw the APPHG Chair Crispin Blunt MP host a wide-ranging discussion on the book.
In its first meeting via Zoom due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Group was introduced to President Alice Roberts, an evolutionary biologist, osteoarchaeologist, author, and broadcaster of considerable acclaim who shared her views and motivations on being a humanist, stating ‘Like many people, I was a humanist for a long time before I had a label for it… This really is how I feel about the world.’
Following this, the APPHG discussed The Little Book of Humanism with co-authors Alice Roberts and Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson. The book shares over two thousand years of humanist wisdom through an uplifting collection of illustrations, stories, quotes, and meditations on how to live an ethical and fulfilling life, grounded in reason and humanity.
The authors answered questions from MPs and peers and explained they collaborated to create a book to ‘open up humanism’ and focus on the emotional and lived aspects of humanism rather than simply focusing on definitions. Responding to questions regarding whether the book should be given to school children to aid their learning about humanism, Andrew Copson said ‘Humanism is increasingly on the school curriculum. This would be a really good way of reaching out to them.’
The All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group is a cross-party group of Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords of all the main parties. The Group is co-chaired by Crispin Blunt MP and Baroness Bakewell, and has over 115 members. Humanists UK provides the secretariat.
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For further comment or information, please contact Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson at press@humanists.uk or phone 020 7324 3072 or 020 3675 0959.
Read more about The Little Book of Humanism.
Read more about the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group
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