Freedom of Thought Report Global Launch Event
Details
Please join me on Thursday, December 8th, from 2:00 PM — 3:30 PM Eastern Time for the global launch of The Freedom of Thought Report, the flagship publication of Humanists International, highlighting the discrimination and persecution faced by atheists, humanists, secularists, and other non-believers around the world.
The report documents discriminatory national laws (e.g., in education, state-funding of religious groups etc.); national governments and authorities which violate freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression as well as outright persecution by state authorities against the non-religious (e.g., hate speech, vilification, malicious prosecutions); acts of violence, intimidation etc. by non-state actors (e.g., attacks by extremist groups, mob violence, individuals threatened with violence or death); and wherever possible, it reflects the situation regarding social discrimination (e.g., where it is difficult to ‘come out’ as a humanist or atheist or “apostate” or where people face marginalisation or reprisal for speaking out.
The report also identifies systemic, legal discrimination which can include such things as: established state churches (resulting in religious privilege), religious instruction provided without alternative secular ethical classes in schools, and severe punishments such as prison for crimes of “insulting” religion, or death merely for expressing atheism. It highlights cases of individuals who have faced persecution, usually for expressing their non-religious views, or for promoting secularism (church-state separation, religious neutrality) or for criticising particular religious institutions or ideas. And finally, the report also includes examples of broader human rights violations.
Freedom of Thought Report Global Launch Event