A NEW NEWSPAPER for the Irish humanist community has been launched with its backers saying their aim is to reach a wider audience.
The Humanist Times will be published every two months by the Humanist Association of Ireland with its editor Arthur Deeny saying that they want to “get it into Easons”.
Speaking after the launch of the magazine, Deeny says the extra push to publicise their philosophy is about encouraging people to “come out” as atheist, agnostic or non-religious.
“The aim of the Humanist Association is to provide that sense of community for non-believers,” he says.
For all the young parents with unbaptised children, for all the young teachers in primary school who teach religion for half-an-hour every day even though they might have a different faith or no faith. And also for those people who might be reluctant to say they’re an atheist or a non-believer.
The Humanist Times will be sent to all members of the HAI but Deeny says its focus will be more mainstream and that it will be seeking to sell ads in the next issue.
He explains that humanists have been involved in campaigning on many issues and that these will be covered in the magazine’s content.
He points to issues such as the right to officiate at marriages and adds that members will be marching in the 24 September March for Choice.
In general, humanists follow a rational belief system that accepts only things which are proven as established fact.
Despite this, Deeny says a false impression has been created that humanist are inherently anti-religion, meaning that people are reluctant to identify that way.
“We are not banging on about religion as a bad thing,” he says, adding that religions can promote a positive sense of community.
“People who go to church on Sunday live longer and have a better life outcome. Now it’s not because there’s a big beardy man in the sky, it’s because churches deliver a sense of community and they look after one another,” he says, outlining that the magazine is partly about helping create that sense of community for humanists.
Part of the problem though, he says, is that people need to know that they are supported within that community.
“We’re in the same position as people in the gay community 20 years ago where we need to encourage people to come out and support them when they do. So we’re building a network.”
The Humanist Times has no digital presence as yet but Deeny said that is something that will be looked at in the future.
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