World Humanist Day is a Humanist holiday celebrated annually worldwide on the June solstice, which usually falls on June 21. It is a day to celebrate Humanism and spread awareness of its philosophical life stance and means to effect change. Celebrating World Humanist Day is seen as an opportunity for Humanists to gather socially and promote the positive values of Humanism.

The first celebrations of World Humanist Day were convened by the American Humanist Association (AHA). Humanist International adopted it, and both organizations declared the formal celebration with twin resolutions on the same day.  

Please help us celebrate this important date in the Humanist calendar by becoming a member of Humanist Canada. Thank you for helping us share our vision for a compassionate society if you are a member. Each membership created is another voice for Humanism Canada, and our growing voices are getting noticed!  

Enjoy this edition of the Monthly News!  

With June being Pride Month, it’s an important time for 2SLGBTQ+ people and their families — and it’s an ideal time for Humanists to reflect on the hard-won rights and continued challenges faced by the 2SLGBTQ+ community. One way in which many people celebrate Pride, and one of the most well-known events in any city’s Pride calendar, is the parade — and rightly so. Pride parades are an energetic and colourful celebration of what makes the 2SLGBTQ+ community so wonderful. But among the floats and fanfare, it’s important to remember where the parades began: as protests in the face of persecution.

The main precursor to today’s Pride parades were the “Gay liberation” marches, the first of which took place in the United States in June of 1970. The events in Chicago, LA, San Francisco, and New York City were organized to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a violent police raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York City that took place the year prior. Stonewall became an important symbol for the community — evidence that LGBTQ+ people were no longer going to tolerate oppression by police or anyone else. The goal of the anniversary parades was, and remains, to bring queer culture into traditionally heteronormative spaces.

Pride parades are now celebrated around the world, and while many, like those in Canada, are jubilant — in many countries they remain acts of resistance. It’s easy to forget, in a country where our major political leaders now march in Pride, that they are acts of defiance and solidarity. They are also only one highlight of an entire month of events. As Humanists, we should feel encouraged to demonstrate our solidarity through the many shows, concerts, vigils, talks, and opportunities to learn during Pride — while also being sure to enjoy a good parade.

Why Men Made God:

Why do we have only one god when there used to be so many? Where did the idea of marriage come from? How did the disparity between rich and poor begin?

Why Men Made God is a historical narrative that explores the evolution of modern Western culture, from Palaeolithic times to the present day. Using research from archaeology, anthropology, mythology, biology, sociology and history, it tells the story of what happened, why it happened and where we can go from here. Gradual changes in our attitudes toward gender and power, property, and earth become clear. The authors’ conclusions show that the primary impetus for developing Western culture was greed and exploitation on a grand scale. They show that our future as a species is uncertain without radical change.

It is a thought-provoking book, and the authors hope it will lead to changes in how we relate to the planet and one another. Since her early teens, concepts of mythology, culture, and social evolution have fascinated Karis Burkowski. Fifty years later, she is still enjoying that research.

Karis Burkowski has been a member of Interfaith Grand River since its inception in 2001 (just days after 9/11) and is a Past-President of the Society of Freethinkers (SOFREE). After walking the El Camino de Santiago de Compostela in 2007, she presented talks about The Power of Pilgrimage, which she says extends far beyond any religious connection. In 2015, she co-authored a book about the evolution of modern Western culture.

Karis became a Humanist Officiant in 2019 and conducts her officiant practice as “Imagine Ceremonies.” She enjoys providing non-religious options to people wishing to celebrate Life’s important passages.