It seems to me to be one of the most important, even urgent, tasks of every freethinking organisation wherever it may be to document and preseve its history throughout its life.
The histories of the world of countries and of cultures within countries have traditionally been written largely by the ruling classes in those countries and as the centuries pass, our perceptions of the life and thoughts of the humanity of the past are coloured (sometimes completely dominated) by the special interests of those who controlled records, writing and above all, education. This is why the literature of the past is full of the concerns of landowners, Church dignitaries and significant characters whose world revolved around matters which excluded quite important features of the times in which they lived. History preserves the houses of important people, large cathedrals, battle grounds, the play grounds of the rich the, the voice of the church and authority, but rarely do we hear the voice of those engaged in angry dissent, of people who laboured to build for the rich, of Private Jones at Waterloo, of people quietly disposed of because they could not record their own concerns at the time.
The world of the past is probably incorrectly represented to us, yet our view of future possibilities is governed by it. Fortunately, that is changing because we now have the facilities to record our own version of the world, and to ensure that, even if it does not become dominant it exists. Every effort to keep records of people and the events in which they figure on behalf of humanism, freethinking rationalism and secular values should be made as an ongoing process. The production of regular histories of people and events is invaluable. We can pick up books and articles about prominent and historic figures, whose activities prfoundly affected the societies in which they lived through scientific and humanist work, yet gain no inkling of their scepticism. humanist.org.nzNewspapers and religious writers often make a point of not mentioning those unpleasant facts. Only by placing on record as much of our activity as we can will we ensure that researchers of the future will find that we did exist and that we did influence in however small a way, the times in which we lived.
Best wishes for the success of your project.
V.H. Lloyd
President
Humanist Society of Queensland
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