We provide a happy and inclusive approach to life’s rites of passage, including weddings, renewals of vows, baby/child namings, funerals and memorials.
HUMANISM in SCOTLAND is a select group of Humanist celebrants and marriage officers based in several locations around the country.
Authorised by the National Records of Scotland, we can legally witness your marriage anywhere in Scotland.
Celebrating our tenth anniversary, we are an independent, non-membership, not-for-profit Humanist organisation. If you would like us to help you with your wedding ceremony, memorial or celebration of life, we do not ask for subscriptions or membership fees. You are not obliged to join us. We simply invite you to choose us to help you with the most significant moments in your life, be it times of celebration and joy or times of sadness and loss. We are here with compassion, care, guidance and support. We wish you well.
QUICK LINKS:
Humanist ceremonies celebrate the lives of people,
so your wedding ceremony celebrates your love, in your words...
photo by Alex Martin https://borders-photographer.co.uk/
Humanist wedding ceremonies create moments you can treasure.
Elopements and castles; hotels and parks, you can get married anywhere in Scotland
and we are honoured to be with you.
An intimate handfasting in Glencoe, Scotland, conducted by Sarah Leanney.
Spiritual, romantic and magical.
Your ceremony will be fabulous and unique, just like you!
photo by apricottreeweddings.net
Some people love their wedding so much, they do it TWICE!
To be fair, the wonderful Siobhan and Lee were married during lockdown and wanted to celebrate with their family when they could.
The Amsterdam Declaration
In 1952, at the first World Humanist Congress, the founders of Humanists International agreed on a statement of the fundamental principles of modern Humanism.
They called it “The Amsterdam Declaration.”
The Amsterdam Declaration was updated in 2002 and most recently in 2022 in order to reflect the modern realities of our times. This is the opening paragraph:
Humanist beliefs and values are as old as civilization and have a history in most societies around the world. Modern humanism is the culmination of these long traditions of reasoning about meaning and ethics, the source of inspiration for many of the world’s great thinkers, artists, and humanitarians, and is interwoven with the rise of modern science. As a global humanist movement, we seek to make all people aware of these essentials of the humanist worldview.
The Golden Rule
A cornerstone of Humanist belief is something upon which people of all faiths and beliefs can agree.
The Golden Rule asks you to
treat others as you wish to be treated.
At the United Nations headquarters in New York City, there is a beautiful mosaic that recognises the unifying power of the golden rule.
We can't control whether we are rewarded for our endeavours, with cash or recognition. It is not up to us how much cash or time we get on Earth, but it is down to us how we spend it.
Julian Baggini
Photo by Gabriela Palai
"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."
Mahatma Gandhi
“Never depend on governments or institutions
to solve any major problems.
All social change comes from the passion of individuals.”
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American anthropologist best known for her studies of the peoples of Oceania.
She also commented on a wide array of societal issues, such as women's rights, nuclear proliferation,
race relations, environmental pollution and world hunger.
“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed,
and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
Malcolm X
IN MEMORY OF REFAAT ALAREER
Writer, poet, professor and activist,
martyred by an Israeli airstrike on 7th December 2023 in Gaza.
"During and after Israel's 2014 assault on Gaza, voices within and outside Gaza bore powerful witness to the Israeli attacks - and to the effects of the crushing siege that continued to strangle Gaza's people long thereafter. REFAAT ALAREER and LAILA EL-HADDAD are distinguished Palestinian writers and analysts from Gaza. In Gaza Unsilenced they present reflections, analysis, and images - their own, and those of many other contributors - that record the pain and resilience of Gaza's Palestinians and the solidarity they have received from Palestinians and others around the world. Other contributors include: Ali Abunimah Ramzi Baroud Diana Buttu Jonathan Cook Belal Dabour Richard Falk Chris Hedges Hatim Kanaaneh Rashid Khalidi Eman Mohammed."
BOOK REVIEW FROM GOODREADS.COM
Refaat was martyred along with his brother, his brother's son, his sister and four of her children.
Refaat is survived by his wife and six children.
DONATE TO MEDICAL AID FOR PALESTINIANS
EQUALITY DIGNITY RESPECT
HUMANISM in SCOTLAND 2024
find support organisations here