SCS and Humanism

SCS’ goal is to advocate for the rights of all non-believers in Canada, and to work with other allies to advocate for non-believer refugee rights with the Canadian government. These goals are natural part of our being Secular Humanists. We follow the Humanist International Declaration of 2022:

Secular Humanist Principles

The Amsterdam Declaration of Secular Humanist Principles, 2022

1. Humanists strive to be ethical

  • We accept that morality is inherent to the human condition, grounded in the ability of living things to suffer and flourish, motivated by the benefits of helping and not harming, enabled by reason and compassion, and needing no source outside of humanity.
  • We affirm the worth and dignity of the individual and the right of every human to the greatest possible freedom and fullest possible development compatible with the rights of others. To these ends we support peace, democracy, the rule of law, and universal legal human rights.
  • We hold that personal liberty must be combined with a responsibility to society. A free person has duties to others, and we feel a duty of care to all of humanity, including future generations, and beyond this to all sentient beings.
  • We recognize that we are part of nature and accept our responsibility for the impact we have on the rest of the natural world.

2. Humanists strive to be rational

  • We are convinced that the solutions to the world’s problems lie in human reason, and action. We advocate the application of science and free inquiry to these problems, remembering that while science provides the means, human values must define the ends. We seek to use science and technology to enhance human well-being, and never callously or destructively.

3. Humanists strive for fulfillment in their lives

  • We value all sources of individual joy and fulfillment that harm no other, and we believe that personal development through the cultivation of creative and ethical living is a lifelong undertaking.
  • We, therefore, treasure artistic creativity and imagination and recognize the transforming power of literature, music, and the visual and performing arts. We cherish the beauty of the natural world and its potential to bring wonder, awe, and tranquility. We appreciate individual and communal exertion in physical activity, and the scope it offers for comradeship and achievement. We esteem the quest for knowledge, and the humility, wisdom, and insight it bestows.

4. Humanism meets the widespread demand for a source of meaning and purpose to stand as an alternative to dogmatic religion, authoritarian nationalism, tribal sectarianism, and selfish nihilism

  • Though we believe that a commitment to human well-being is ageless, our particular opinions are not based on revelations fixed for all time. Humanists recognize that no one is infallible or omniscient, and that knowledge of the world and of humankind can be won only through a continuing process of observation, learning, and rethinking.
  • For these reasons, we seek neither to avoid scrutiny nor to impose our view on all humanity. On the contrary, we are committed to the unfettered expression and exchange of ideas, and seek to cooperate with people of different beliefs who share our values, all in the cause of building a better world.
  • We are confident that humanity has the potential to solve the problems that confront us, through free inquiry, science, sympathy, and imagination in the furtherance of peace and human flourishing.
  • We call upon all who share these convictions to join us in this inspiring endeavour.

You might want to look at the Ten Humanist Commitments, another way to express Secular Humanist ethics

SCS Policies – updated January 2024

Policies

The basis for these policies is the fundamental right to freedom from religion, particularly in public spaces. SCS recognizes that advocating for equal status rather than eliminating religious privileges may be a more practicable approach in some cases.

SCS has, and will maintain a registered lobbyist federally, and strives to do so in provinces and territories.

SCS advocates for the elimination of legislation that favours religion in any way (e.g. Section 319 3b of the Criminal Code of Canada, and the National Anthem Act of 1980).

Funding/Subsidizing Religion

a) SCS opposes public funding of religious schools or school systems in Canada.

b) SCS opposes subsidizing religion in any way, particularly, but not limited to, the common practice of exempting religious facilities, either owned or rented, from property taxes, and other municipal, provincial, territorial, or federal taxes.

Charitable status regulations currently favour religious organizations by allowing them to have charitable status simply by having the purpose of promoting belief in their deity, while secular organizations must have three purposes to help the community at large, and demonstrate them in an annual report. SCS advocates for giving secular organizations similar access to charitable status, as religious entities.

Religion in Schools

a) SCS opposes any religious practices in publicly funded schools, at any level. This includes any opening prayers, playing of religious music (including O Canada), carols, or other religious music from any religion except in religious knowledge classes for information purposes only (see b, below)

b) Religious knowledge courses, that qualify as a part of a general study of sociology, must include the study of Secular Humanism, and other non-believer philosophies so that students understand that ethics and morality are not limited to religiously based philosophies.

Bill 21 – SCS supports Québec’s Bill 21, and similar legislation in other provinces, territories, and federally. Initial concerns about interfering in the right to personal freedom of religion have been satisfied with the realization that anyone who is paid from the public purse is already prohibited from displaying political messages on their person.

Religious Displays, Prayers, Plaques in Public Places

Based on the Supreme Court of Canada’s comments in Big M Drugs v Crown, 1984, and subsequent decisions that affirm the fundamental right to freedom from religion, SCS opposes the following that interfere with the fundamental right to freedom from religion:

a) Religious displays in municipal, provincial, territorial, or federal buildings,

b) Religious holiday displays that exclude Secular Humanist or other non-believer symbols in public venues,

c) The presence of plaques, and other images that promote religious messages of any kind in publicly funded spaces,

d) Religious music in malls, and other places where non-believers have a reasonable expectation of respect for their right to freedom from religion while they exercise their right to be there.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship

SCS works with other national and international organizations (Atheist Republic, Humanist International, CFIC) to facilitate refugee acceptance by the Government of Canada. For example, SCS got the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship to acknowledge that non-believing refugees were eligible to make non-complex claims to avoid some hearings.

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Goals

Advocate for elimination of discrimination against Secular Humanists and other non-believers in Canada,

Facilitate communication among Canadian Secular Humanists, and with other non-believers,

Speak to the world regarding the human rights of Secular Humanists and others.