We loved this exchange in our Facebook comments recently 😂 There are already some 2026 dates in the calendar if you'd like to meet up with other members of the "cabal". On 5 Jan, everyone is invited to join Humanists Online for our first talk of the year: www.meetup.com/edinburghhum...

And just like that, a new year begins!🌞 We believe the future is something we shape together. By choosing kindness. By standing up for human rights. And by caring for one another and the country we share. Happy New Year from all of us at Humanist Society Scotland. 💗

A decade on, and Humanists UK patron Stephen Fry’s “what would you say to God?” answer still hits hard, and makes us smile. “Totally selfish. We have to spend our life on our knees thanking him?! What kind of god would do that?”🎩 You can watch the full clip here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suv...

"Administration officials responded to criticism and requests for comment with 'Merry Christmas'" 🙄 US government departments using official channels to declare Jesus “the nation’s saviour” isn’t festive goodwill, it’s a deliberate erosion of the separation between church and state.

Disappointing vote, but still time to make changes - do write to your local MSP to ask them to support a child’s right to choose…

"If you plant two crops side by side, you should be stoned to death by your entire village." This resurfaced clip of a Cambridge student demolishing the late, notoriously anti‑LGBTQ+ right‑wing figurehead Charlie Kirk has gone viral again on TikTok — and for good reason. (1/2)

Behold: the Octopus of Secular Humanism. 🐙😂 According to extreme Christian nationalists in the 80s, this many-armed menace was secretly strangling everything they disliked: schools, government, families, possibly your gran.

Twitter (no, we’re still not calling it X) under Musk has built a business model on outrage, half-truths and lies, but Community Notes remain a rare bright spot that showcase the power of informed people pushing back against fake news. We've rounded up some of our favourites to brighten your day. 😂

A new HuffPost article explores the idea of “vertical morality”: a belief system where obedience to authority matters more than empathy for others — and why it helps explain the gap between Christian ethics and MAGA politics. This clip from activist Rachel Klinger Cain breaks it down brilliantly:

Recently, the Herald's Kevin McKenna claimed there was an 'influential humanist cartel' secretly pulling the strings at Holyrood. Now, he's amplifying bishops' claims that the religious observance bill is some kind of sinister attempt to eradicate Catholic schools altogether.

In these times, love these final words from Jane Goodall that are centered so much in our humanity and our place in this world.

I find this bizarre. Compulsory religious observance (i.e. active practice of religious rituals/traditions/services) should be incompatible with formal education. By all means, religious education (including non-belief) has value but this should be done from a secular stance.

Christians are protesting an LGBTQ+ nativity play, even though a Jesus crowned “King of the Gays” is, in many ways, no less realistic than angels, virgin births, or a star that works as divine Sat Nav. 😂

Matthew 18:27: "The servant’s master took pity on him & cancelled the debt" "Christian" Republican John Kennedy: “Biden’s attempt to cancel student debt was a woke injustice." Another reminder that there's nothing Christian about right-wing Christian nationalism www.atheists.org/2021/07/sena...

"Humans are just meat robots" 😂 We love this clip of musician and comedian Tim Minchin explaining his humanist beliefs in a chat with Krishnan Guru-Murphy, and we hope it brightens your Sunday as well. 💗

Caring about human rights isn’t “woke.” Yet the right-wing seems to think it is. It raises the question: what would they do if all their 'woke' hard-won rights were stripped away? Would they celebrate losing the right to a fair trial, freedom of movement, or their right to work?

We enjoyed this post by @fridafridayyyy, which went viral on TikTok recently due to her comments about the fruitlessness of trying to debate topics with people whose only counter-argument is "well, God says that..."

Appalling scenes unfolded at Falkirk’s Cladhan Hotel, home to asylum seekers, earlier this month. Stand Up To Racism Scotland documented far-right groups using bottles, flares, and laser pointers to intimidate and attack activists protecting the hotel.

Yesterday, MSPs voted down Amendment 18 to the Religious Observance Bill. That means young people still don’t have the independent right to opt out of religious observance at school, even though our recent poll revealed support for an independent pupil opt-out from RO stands at 66%.

We join the American Humanist Association and Humanists UK in mourning the tragic loss of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, whose extraordinary contributions to film, activism and public life touched people across the world.

Finland is showing how powerful and effective a whole-school approach to media literacy can be. It raises the question: should Scotland follow Finland’s lead? Let us know what you think. Read all about it in the New Humanist: newhumanist.org.uk/articles/648...

In November, MSPs debated Stage 1 of the Religious Observance Bill, and while it passed to the next stage, the government has been urged to go further and give young people an independent right to opt in or out of religious worship in schools.

It’s that time of year again, when we’re told humanists are Grinches trying to “abolish Christmas”. In reality, many of us have no issues celebrating at this time of year, partly because it pre-dates Christianity altogether. (Image credit: Portland University psuvanguard.com/merry-sol-in...)

Scottish national treasure Limmy hitting the nail on the head here about why Trump-loving MAGA-types who love to quote the Bible are more than happy to ignore the ‘love thy neighbour’ part. 😂 Have a good weekend, everyone. Video credit: @LimmyTwitchClipsPlus on TikTok

Humanists International has just issued a powerful new position statement — a global wake-up call reminding us that defending democracy and universal human rights is a moral imperative.

Apparently, we’re now part of an “influential humanist cartel” secretly pulling the strings at Holyrood. 😂 If only office Wi-Fi worked as efficiently and seamlessly as Herald columnist Kevin McKenna thinks we do.

MSP Maggie Chapman spoke out on behalf of Scotland's young people at the recent Holyrood debate about the Religious Observance Bill. While it passed to the next stage, it does not yet give young people an independent right to opt in or out of religious worship at school.

Since so many people enjoyed our recent video featuring Jeff Goldblum, which went viral on Instagram, we thought we'd share another of his humanist quotes. It's from this 2016 interview: we love that he's been continuing to make every day an adventure since then www.theguardian.com/global/2016/...

Kathy Burke definitely doesn't mince her words 😅 But if having empathy, kindness, and basic respect for other people counts as a “woke mind virus”, then honestly? Infect us immediately. 🦠💖 We’ll take being “woke” over being cruel and dismissive of people’s lives and struggles any day of the week.

The Religious Observance Bill has passed a first-stage vote in the Scottish Parliament, but there’s still crucial work to do to persuade Holyrood that school pupils deserve an independent right to opt out of religious worship.

Breaking news: Christmas still exists. Unfortunately, culture-war nonsense does too. Claims Tesco has “banned Christmas” are just another racist dogwhistle, not a defence of anyone’s actual faith. They feed a false idea that "white British" cultural traditions are being “taken away” by minorities.

Happy Monday, everyone! Here's a reminder from George Clooney to carry into the week: life isn’t something to wait out or wander through. It’s the one real, tangible experience we know we get. So let this week be one where you choose connection and joy in the small things as much as the big ones.

December can be a challenging time of year for those who have lost loved ones, so please join us for a morning of gentle reflection. 💛 Celebrants Maggie Kinloch, Lesley Adam and Libby Smillie will lead a special ceremony of songs, stories and memories at Clyde Coast and Garnock Valley Crematorium.

We were honoured to welcome reproductive rights campaigner Lucy Grieve to our Festival of Humanism in Glasgow. Lucy spoke about young women in Scotland who find themselves in unthinkably difficult situations simply because our NHS stops providing most abortion care after 20 weeks.

A teacher allegedly telling pupils “Santa isn’t real” sparked headlines recently, highlighting a bigger question about what children are told in Scottish schools, and who gets to decide. Right now, pupils across Scotland can still be led in prayer and worship with no independent right to opt out.

For everyone still insisting that flag-waving, anti-immigrant protests are “an English problem”, tell that to the people of Aberdeen. A councillor is asking that Saltires be removed from public spaces because anti-asylum protesters have twisted it into a symbol of "hostility and division".

This @humanistsociety.bsky.social poll, following on from the landmark Supreme Court ruling in NI, should be a wake-up call to the Scottish Government and indeed governments across the UK that collective worship laws are out of step with the needs of young people. humanists.uk/2025/11/25/u...

Our new blog post explores why Scotland’s current law on religious observance is failing children, and why the Government’s new Bill, set to be debated today, still doesn’t give young people the basic freedom the UNCRC says they’re entitled to: the right to decide for themselves.

🌈 "The approach we have in Scotland is world-leading. We are the only country to currently have a national policy (of LGBT-inclusive education)." We loved hearing from Time For Inclusive Education Scotland co-founder Jordan Daly at our recent Festival of Humanism.

📣Two-thirds of Scots support independent pupil opt-out for religious observance, new poll by our member @humanistsociety.bsky.social shows Read more here ➡️ www.humanism.scot/2025/11/25/t...

NEW POLL: TWO-THIRDS OF SCOTS BACK AN INDEPENDENT PUPIL OPT-OUT FOR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE

Legal academic Andrew Tickell has given his verdict on the Scottish Government’s ‘Religious Observance Bill’ following the Supreme Court decision in Northern Ireland.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk call it the 'woke mind virus'. We call it basic human empathy. If you also give a f**k about the people around you, get involved with Humanist Society Scotland: www.humanism.scot/get-involved/ Together we can make Scotland fairer, more ethical... and, yes, more woke 😉

Ahead of next week's debate on the 'Religious Observance Bill', we hand-delivered a copy of our report, Preaching is not Teaching, to every MSP.

The Government’s proposed Religious Observance Bill still stops short of giving children a genuine right to opt out of worship in schools.📢 Email your MSP and urge them to support allowing Scottish children to opt out, in line with their UNCRC rights: humanist.eaction.org.uk/religious-ob...

Christian nationalism is rising in the UK, and this Sky News investigation shows just how quickly it’s spreading. From mass baptisms on Cornish beaches to Saltire-waving protests outside asylum hotels in Falkirk, a new, militant, politicised form of Christianity is aligning itself with the far right

"To give them that right (to opt in), but not the right to unilaterally withdraw? There’s just no clear, principled explanation for that." At our Festival of Humanism, MSP Patrick Harvie didn’t mince his words about the proposed Religious Observance Bill, and he’s right:

This incredible quote by playwright and #humanist George Bernard Shaw (recited here by Jeff Goldblum) feels like the perfect way to start a new week: Shaw’s words remind us that life isn’t something to be cautiously preserved or merely endured: it’s something to be lived with purpose✨

Never miss another event, keep up to date with our latest campaigns and how you can help, and find out how you can connect with like-minded people across Scotland. Together, we can make a difference. Sign up to the Humanist Society Scotland newsletter today: portal.humanism.scot/crm/profile/...

Drag Race judge Michelle Visage said this years ago — calling out the hypocrisy of using religion to justify hate — and honestly, it still hits. We're proud to stand with the trans community, now and always #TransRightsAreHumanRights