Seminars & Lectures

The Dutch Humanist Experience

Tuesday, Apr 12, 2016
5:00pm -> 7:00pm
American University of Beirut (AUB)

The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs cordially invites you to a Lecture and Open Discussion ‘
The Dutch Humanist Experience’

Location: Issam Fares Institute – Auditorium

Freedom is not self-evident. Not even in the Netherlands. Although the Netherlands has a long tradition in freedom and secularism, there was a need to found a secular Humanist organization. Seventy years ago the Dutch Humanists started as a non-religious life-stance organization in a very religious society. It was a plea for equality, free choice, and humanist moral standards. Seventy years later the Netherlands is one of the most secularized countries in the world. What does this do to society? Can humanism be the moral standard for a secular society worldwide? In this lecture I want to share our experiences, dilemmas and possible solutions.

Mr. Boris van der Ham is a humanist, writer and a politician. He is the president of the Dutch Humanist Association, and has served as a member of the Dutch parliament for ten years, from 2002 to 2012. In parliament, he initiated several bills, including one that abolished the ban on blasphemy, and another concerning the referendum in 2005 about the European Constitution. In 2012 he decided to take a political ‘time-out’. Currently Mr. Van der Ham has several presidencies in the field of media, culture, human rights, education and in the private sector. A documentary about Islam and atheism ‘ Among Nonbelievers’ premiered in 2015. More info: http://borisvanderham.nl/biography.