Defence Humanists and Humanists UK campaign for inclusive Remembrance ceremonies across the UK.
We are pleased to announce that in 2018, the centenary of the end of the First World War, Humanists UK have been invited to participate in the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Westminster.
This follows years of campaigning effort towards this significant and symbolic change, which brings into sharp relief the need for all Remembrance ceremonies across the UK to be equal and inclusive events for all. While this is a step in the right direction, we will continue pushing for this and all other ceremonies to be secular in nature to become truly inclusive occasions.
At the last count over 38,840 serving members of the Armed Forces (26.6%) described themselves as having ‘no religion’ – the largest group after Christianity, which has seen continuous decline since records began. The non-religious number is over nine times all the non-Christian religions combined, which, including Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Sikhs, number just under 4,000.
Defence Humanists and Humanists UK are asking our supporters to continue the campaign to make all Remembrance events recognise the critical contribution of the non-religious to the Armed Forces.
Get in touch with Humanists UK to report events which exclude humanist representatives. Please spread word of the campaign to your friends, colleagues and family, and anyone else whom you think might be interested in speaking out for a fully inclusive Remembrance ceremonies this November and in the future.