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As of January 2021, Oxford Humanists group has closed and this webpage is no longer connected to a local partner group of Humanists UK or affiliated to the National Secular Society. This website will continue as a humanist hub: a source of information, news, resources and updates of campaigns, events, and activities, of interest or concern to humanists, atheists, skeptics and freethinkers, with particular focus on the Oxfordshire UK area. Please check the ‘About’ tab for details of the communications I plan to maintain. – Michele WalkerRead More →

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I have been checking and updating some of this website’s links to online resources and thought it might be useful to post some regular reviews of the various links, promoting interesting items. I am starting here, with a look at audiobooks. Audiobooks are a great way to listen to stories, essays, lectures, discussions etc around the house or garden, in the car/train/bus, or on your daily walk or jog, from your phone, tablet, MP3 player, laptop or computer. Or save a selection of downloaded MP3 files to an audio CD for even more flexibility. I have recently been delving into Librivox‘s collection. This contains mostlyRead More →

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This is a follow-up post on local humanist, Mohammed Aly’s, prolonged fight for refugee status (see his post from 2019 here). Congratulations Mohammed. ”Unusual for the Home Office to concede like that.” These were the congratulations words I received from Amnesty UK when the fight was finally at an end It had taken four and a half years, going as far as the Court of Appeal, to finally arrive at this point: withdrawing the Home Office ‘incorrect’ refusal decision, exposing the ignorance of some immigration judges, and finally granting me refugee status. I believe that, in initial proceedings, some immigration judges had failed to protectRead More →

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An interesting article in the Washington Post this week, by Max Boot, comparing the ‘well being’ of religious and secular societies across the world. Attorney General William P. Barr, a conservative Catholic, summed up the view from the right – that religion is under assault from secular liberals, and that the waning of faith is bad for America – last fall during an incendiary speech at Notre Dame. He bemoaned “the steady erosion of our traditional Judeo-Christian moral system” and the “growing ascendancy of secularism and the doctrine of moral relativism. William Barr’s America vs. reality in 2020 By Max Boot Washington Post Feb. 19,Read More →

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South East London Humanists [SELHuG] have an ongoing campaign, asking the BBC to open up the Today Programme’s ‘Thought for the Day’ to non-religious ‘thinkers’. Their next monthly demo is on Tuesday 14th May, as usual outside BBC Broadcasting House Langham Street London. Demo’s are usually in the morning, to coincide with the broadcast; so not very practical for anyone from Oxford to attend. This month however the demo is from 4-6 pm, a good time for anyone wanting to travel in. So if you’re fortunate enough to have that Tuesday free why not have an afternoon out in the capital and give them someRead More →

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We missed it this year but, hopefully, secular humanist groups, local and national, can take note for future years to make 23rd March the day we loudly promote this declaration, endorsed by several international atheist groups : We atheists and atheist allies hereby declare that from now on, March 23rd is Atheist Day. We recognize the struggle of atheists to live authentic lives in many parts of the world. The struggle to openly affirm one’s atheism. The fear of intolerant governments, mobs, and religious zealots. … (see full declaration at the Atheist Republic )Read More →

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Latest news and interesting articles from the ACCORD newsletter. Note particularly: CAN YOU HELP ACCORD? We have much that is positive to report to you, and I would like to extend my grateful thanks to Steering Group members for their work and of course to you, our supporters. We have some challenges ahead which will require some thought and action, however. One of our main funding streams has now come to an end, and this means that we need to seek alternative sources of finance as a matter of some urgency. Could you help the campaign by making a one-off or smaller regular donations? Accord’sRead More →