It was deeply worrying for all supporters of a tolerant society to see the London rally this weekend. As a charity established for the advancement of human rights and equality as well as of humanism, we unequivocally stand in support of all those against whom hatred has been directed and for a free, diverse, just, and open society.
Besides the many violent incidents recorded, there were many blatantly racist signs and Christian nationalist slogans in the crowds. One of the biggest themes in the Christian nationalist playbook in the UK is to attack the idea of universal human rights regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or belief.
On display amidst crowds of 100,000 or more people were signs singling out minorities and chants claiming ‘ownership’ of our streets. Speeches invoked dangerous conspiracy theories about a so-called ‘great replacement’. Elon Musk even dialled in by video to warn of the ‘erosion of Britain’, while the French far-right politician Éric Zemmour told the crowd that Britain was being ‘colonised by former colonies’. These were words deliberately chosen to divide, to inflame, to pit neighbour against neighbour.
It was particularly jarring and surprising to see some of these extreme nationalists ripping up a flag that said ‘Secular Humanism’. In ultra-right-wing discourse going back decades, ‘secular humanism’ (the American term for ‘humanism’) is invoked as a bogeyman responsible for all the supposed ills of society, by which they meant liberal social attitudes, LGBT rights, abortion rights, ‘intellectualism’, and multiculturalism.
It is a worrying omen to see this imported into the British debate as part of the same attack on the same freedoms.
For many of us, the images from this rally bring not just anger but despair. It can feel as though hatred is drowning out compassion, that the loudest voices in our society are those calling for exclusion and division. It is natural to feel powerless when faced with such relentless negativity. But despair is exactly what those voices want us to feel. If they can make us silent, then they have already won.
At times like this, we must remember that humanism is not a fringe or ‘woke’ idea. It is rooted in the very best of British traditions. It is about fairness. It is about reason. It is about believing in the good that people are capable of when they are free to live their lives without fear or prejudice. While a radical fringe may seek to drag us backwards, we are committed to building a better future. But we cannot do it without you.
The rally in London was a show of force for some of those who wish to undo progress, to divide communities, and to undermine the freedoms we cherish. To that our answer cannot be silence. It must be solidarity.
Notes
Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.
History lesson: Humanism as ‘bogeyman’ of the radical right
This grotesque cartoon, taken from Tim LaHaye’s Battle for the Family (1981), shows how extreme Christian nationalists cast ‘secular humanism’ as a conspiratorial octopus strangling every pillar of society. The imagery is borrowed from older antisemitic propaganda in which Jews were depicted as a monstrous, many-armed threat.
LaHaye and others repurposed it to argue that humanism was the root of every social ill detested by the Christian right—schools, media, government, even family life. Their solution was not tolerance or pluralism, but the forced dismantling of secular institutions and the imposition of Christian dogma through politics, education, and culture. This is part of the longer tradition in American Christian nationalism, formerly a fringe movement, in which attacks on ‘humanism’ serve as a proxy for assaults on human rights, democratic freedoms, and the very idea of a tolerant society.