Tendencies towards freethought in religious and philosophical belief appeared early among the European settlers in colonial New Zealand. In 1842 the Rev Reay of Nelson was complaining about the "blight of awful infidelity" afflicting the surveyors of the district, two of whom were "heathens unbaptised and professors of German philosophy".
In the 1880s the freethought movement was for a time prominent under leaders such as Robert Stout and John Ballance.
At the beginning of this century the movement became concentrated in the New Zealand Rationalist Association (NZRA) which was committed to "replacing belief in the supernatural wherever it exists with rationalism".
At this time humanism was a term used to connote a general belief in the primacy of human values in politics, literature or religion. When Richard John Seddon in 1906 described himself as a humanist he was referring to his promotion of humanitarian legislation.
Gradually the word humanism increasingly came to be used to signify the primacy of human values in fundamental beliefs and the rejection of belief in the supernatural. When the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) was inaugurated in Amsterdam in 1952, the only organisation in New Zealand which broadly represented the humanist point of view was the NZRA. In 1957 the members of the NZRA discussed their relationship with the Humanist movement. The then secretary of the NZRA Commented as follows.
“Now it seems to me that Rationalists are inclined to concentrate too heavily on destroying belief in the supernatural and not heavily enough on establishing a system of philosophy and ethics verifiable by experience... That in my opinion is where the Humanists differ from us.”
She had noticed the essential difference, but, despite the expression of opinions such as this by some members of the Association, a majority of the membership preferred to maintain the policy of giving priority to militancy against belief in the supernatural. A proposal to change the name of the Association to Humanist or Freethought Association was decisively defeated.
This decision did not appeal to younger freethinkers. When in 1965 a society of freethinkers was formed at the University of Auckland it was named the Auckland University Humanist Society. Nevertheless this new society affiliated with the NZRA which was based in Auckland. One of the leaders of the University society, Wayne Facer, became a member and the treasurer of the NZRA.
The foundation of the Humanist Society of NZ In 1967 a number of the councillors and members of the NZRA including Vice President Ray Carr, became deeply dissatisfied with what they considered to be the authoritarian style in which the affairs of the the Association were being run by the President. They challenged the President at a special general meeting which they had request, but were outvoted. Thereupon the dissident members, including Carr and Facer, called a meeting at which on 30 July 1967, it was resolved to form a new society. This was to be called the Humanist Society of NZ (HSNZ). Carr was elected chairman for the time being and a working committee was set up. This committee lost no time in organising regular meetings to determine policy and for social contact among its Auckland members.
Several early meetings of the Society were held at the Unitarian Centre in Ponsonby Road, and in 1968 the new Society's committee considered sharing the sponsorship of the Unitarian journal Motive with the NZ Society of Unitarians. The Unitarian Church, which was founded in Auckland in 1898 does not insist on adherence to any formal creed and is very liberal in its definition of religious belief. This church had had some attraction for freethinkers, but by 1968 its influence was waning. The Humanists decided to work independently but maintained a friendly relationship with the Auckland Unitarians.
The task of drafting a constitution for the HSNZ was aided by Humanists from Holland who had contacts in Amsterdam. The principles enunciated by the IHEU at its initial Congress in 1952 were eventually incorporated in the constitution of the HSNZ, which was adopted by a general meeting in March 1968. These principles did not include any special commitment to strive to replace belief in the supernatural. It can therefore be seen that, although the split in the NZRA was caused primarily by dissatisfaction with the leadership, their was also a conflict of emphasis that lay behind the secession of the Humanists. The general objects of the HSNZ were stated to be the promotion of a humanist approach to living and of humanist fellowship, communication and action.
Another feature of the constitution of the HSNZ was its federal nature whereas the council of the NZRA controlled both national and local affairs and was firmly fixed in Auckland, the council of the HSNZ was to deal with national affairs only and could be located in any centre. The Auckland Branch of the HSNZ, which was to be constituted, was to have the same status as other branches and was to confine itself to local activities. The provisions of the HSNZ constitution proved to be important because a wel1-organised Humanist group in Christchurch, led by Dr Bryon Mann, was ready to form a national organisation. Negotiations with this group were entered upon. Early in 1969 an Auckland branch organisation distinct from the Council of the HSNZ was established and then two members of the Christchurch group were elected to the Society's Council. The Christchurch group, generously surrendering part of its autonomy, became a branch of the HSNZ. Despite the location of the Council for time being in Auckland, not all of the Society's activities of a national nature were conducted in Auckland. The production of the Society's bi-month1y magazine New Zealand Humanist, when it was inaugurated in 1970, was carried out in Christchurch.
By 1969 the HSNZ was truly launched. It had been registered as an incorporated society and had been accepted as an associated member of the IHEU. The Society was encouraged by the news that Bertrand Russell, Julian Huxley and Peter Ustinov had accepted honorary 1ife membership. The Auckland University Humanist Society transferred its allegiance from the NZRA to the HSNZ and maintained its connection with the HSNZ until it went into recess in 1974. Much effort was devoted to the recruitment of new members throughout New Zealand. A brochure describing the Society's policies and organisation was prepared by the Christchurch branch and issued in the Society's name in 1970. The membership was consulted concerning the Society's policies by referendum conducted through the medium of the newly launched magazine. By 1972 the membership in the Wellington area had been built up to a level exceeding fifteen which justified the formation of a branch there. Although the Wellington Branch membership did not increase quickly stalwarts such as Peggy Slater and Frank Dungey ensured that meetings were held regu1arly. In Dunedin, membership having reached the modest total of five, a smaller unit termed a fellowship was formed there in 1973. At that time the total membership of the Society was 102.
The Society at this juncture began to affiliate with other national organisations which had specific aims that were consistent with the general aims of the HSNZ. Among these were the National Council of Women, the Campaign for Nuclear disarmament and the Abortion Law Reform Association. The Council of the Society appreciated that the scope of Humanism was so broad that some of the Society's aims were best achieved through support of other more specialised national organisations. In Pursuit of other aims the Society took its own independent action. In 1973 it initiated its practice of making submissions to Ministers of the Crown, royal commissions parliamentary select commissions and other bodies set up by Government to report on matters of public concern, and especially on matters on which it was proposed to legislate. The Society's submissions were usually prepared by study groups formed in one or more of its branches. In 1972 the Society made a submission to a conference on state aid to private schools convened by the Minister of Education. The submission, which opposed state aid, was favourably commented upon by the teachers' organisations, but was not successful in its objective.
In l974 the Society made representations to the Minister of Justice urging that the Marriage Act of 1955 be amended so as to allow approved organisations other than religious bodies to nominate suitable persons to solemnise secular marriages. The Act was so amended in 1976 and the HSNZ was the first organisation to have its nominee appointed under the Marriage Amendment Act of that year. This appointment in Auckland was a great success and soon the Society sponsored the appointment of celebrants in other centres. About the same time submissions were made to Government on moral and religious education, homosexuality, population and the Children and Young Persons Bill. In 1975 both the Council of the HSNZ and its Christchurch Branch made submissions to the Royal Commission on Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion. The Councils submission ably presented by Dr Peter Taylor, attracted considerable publicity for the Society.
In the meantime purely local activities were multiplying, especially in Auckland and Christchurch. Auckland was holding regular meetings which were addressed by speakers on subjects as varied as voluntary euthanasia and the Polynesian Panther movement. Prison and hospital visiting was undertaken. Social activities in the form of picnics and other outings were organised. In Christchurch similar branch activities were taking place and the branch supported fellowships in Ashburton and Timaru.
In 1973 Trevor M Cobeldick, a member of the Christchurch Branch then a resident of Ashburton, founded an important independent enterprise which, until it closed down in 1986, was closely associated with the HSNZ. This was the Humanist Information Service (HIS) which diligently distributed or sold a great variety of Humanist literature and various objects inscribed with the Humanist Happy Human symbol to interested people throughout New Zealand. This highly individual service was to some extent inspired by the example of the Agnostic Information Service which had been run by H V C Acheson from his home in Whangarei up to the time of his death in 1972.
The HIS produced much material itself including information sheets, occasional papers, reprints of important articles published elsewhere and briefs on specific topics of interest to Humanists. Much of the original material was prepared and written by Cobeldick himself who was described as supervisor of the HIS. In 1978 he established Paerangi books as a subsidiary of HIS. This served as an agency for overseas publishers of books of Humanist interest. A Humanist Education Service and a Humanist Peace Fellowship dating from 1977 and 1979 respectively grew out of the fertile ground of the HIS, but in spite of Cobledick's efforts did not flourish.
In 1979 the HIS, in conjunction with the HSNZ, set up a kind of Humanist library called the Humanist Archives. By l986 this had been built up into a substantial collection of some 40O books and several runs of Humanist journals from various countries. In 1981 Cobeldick, the HIS and its subsidiaries including the library moved from Christchurch to Wellington.
Throughout the period l973-1986 Cobeldick and his wife Mary not only managed the HIS and its appendages but answered numerous inquiries about humanism and the HSNZ. Undoubtedly, the HIS helped to spread the Humanist message and provided helpful support for the HSNZ. It was a considerable achievement. The HIS was disbanded in 1986.
Apart from his work for the HIS. Cobeldick produced the magazine New Zealand Humanist from the early 1970s until 1985 when responsibility for it was taken over by the Christchurch Branch. Six issues a year were published as a rule until 1984 when the magazine became a quarterly. It usually had from l2 to 16 pages and has been distributed to libraries and other institutions as well as to members of the Society and to others who expressed an interest.
The magazine has been an essential vehicle of information and comment as well as a medium of communication between the Council of the Society and its members, especially those members who live outside the main centres of population and who can therefore rarely, if ever, attend a branch or fellowship meeting. Typical numbers of the magazine contain such features as the Society's submissions to Government on some social issues, e.g. penal reform, an article by a member on some aspect of Humanism or of some Humanist activity in New Zealand, a report of an address delivered to a branch of the Society, a reprint of an article published elsewhere, book reviews and letters to the editor. In addition to the magazine, branches circulate newsletters usually monthly, to local members.
In 198l the Christchurch Branch prepared six scripts for radio programmes on various aspects of Humanism, but Radio NZ ruled - unreasonably, we thought, - that the programmes were unsuitable for its daily feature Faith for Today. When in 1983 Des Vize, an enterprising member of the Wellington Branch, developed a regular series of programmes under Radio NZ's Access Radio scheme, the Christchurch scripts proved very useful as a contribution to Humanist Outlook, as the Wellington Access Radio series was called. Thanks to the work of volunteer producers and script writers from the Wellington Branch and its circle of friend, this Access Radio series has been kept going to the present day.
Since 1983 the Wellington Branch has organised annual public seminars on such themes of Humanist interest as The Changing Beliefs of New Zealanders, Evolution Updated and Moral Education.
By the 1980s the Auckland Branch, in addition to providing marriage celebrants, was offering the services of officiants to preside over funeral ceremonies and in 1982 it published a useful booklet entitled It's Your Funeral which is both a guide for those preparing for the end of their lives and a source of information for those who may be bereaved.
The HSNZ has continued its policy of cooperating with other organisations having similar aims. It therefore welcomed and supported the formation of the Committee for the Defence of Secular Education which later became the Society for the Protection of Public Education (SPPE). A study group on education formed by the Wellington Branch drew considerably on material made available by SPPE when it was authorised by the Council to make submissions to the Minister of Education on the Council's behalf. The submission opposed the inc1usion of religious instruction in state schools programmes but generally favoured the objective study of religions in schools. The submissions also criticised some aspects of the policy of integration of private schools into the state school system.
Various groups within the HSNZ had been discussing the implications of voluntary euthanasia for some years when in 1978 Derek Humphry came from Britain to promote his book Jean's Way which recounted his close personal involvement with voluntary euthanasia. The Society's branches at Auckland and Wellington organised public meetings which were addressed by Humphrey and then promoted the formation of voluntary euthanasia societies in both those centres. The societies thus formed have steadily built up their membership until now when they each have a membership that far exceeds that of HSNZ. This development suggests that the strategic role of the HSNZ may be the launching of new societies in special fields of Humanist endeavour, while it continues as a relatively small but vital entity, dedicated to taking overall cognisance of the whole field of humanism rather than trying to operate on all fronts.
Other projects that have involved cooperative action have been those of humanitarian nature. Humanists have always shown active sympathy for the victims of oppression. From 1979 a group from the Christchurch Branch cooperated in the programme of Amnesty International. In 1982 the Wellington Branch began to take direct responsibility for the settlement in this country of a succession of refugee families under the aegis of what is now the Refugee and Migrant Service but was formerly an Inter-Church organisation. Since then the Branch has been responsible for settling seven families - six from Cambodia and one from Vietnam. This work has entailed the finding of accommodation, help in the difficult search for employment, help in meeting the demands of bureaucracy, help in placing children in schools and general assistance including the supply of some furniture and equipment. Even in 1992 assistance is required from time to time from some of the families. The Society has received grants from the Todd Foundation and the Izard Trust to help it meet these obligations.
In 1982 the national organisation of the Society was transfered to Christchurch. Members of the Christchurch Branch were elected to the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. Nominees of the Auckland and Wellington branches continued to be members of the Council which meets at least four times a year. This, change of location emphasised the Society's determination to ensure that its administration was truly national and not dominated by the members of any one centre.
At this time the Christchurch Branch was a flourishing unit of the Society. The new Council concentrated much of its effort on publicity and the development of the Society's magazine. In these matters it achieved substantial results. It also initiated the policy of making awards to people who, by their public actions, had upheld or exemplified principles that the society values highly. One of the earliest of these awards was conferred upon Fran Wilde, MP, for her promotion of the Homosexual Law reform Bill. After a time the pressure on the Christchurch membership created by the responsibility for sustaining both national and branch organisation began to weigh heavily upon the active local members. Hence in 1987 it was decided that the time had come for the Wellington membership to take over the responsibility of the national organisation. Nevertheless the Christchurch members continued to be responsible for editing and producing the magazine until the end of 1990. Since 1987 the Christchurch Branch has been in recess, but most of the former branch members have maintained their membership of the Society and have continued to meet informally from time to time.
Since 1987 the Wellington membership has provided the personnel for running the local branch and the national organisation. In addition to its regular meetings and social activities, the branch continues to produce the Access Radio programme Humanist Outlook and to provide assistance to the seven refugee families which it has sponsored. It also cooperates with the national organisation in the running of the national seminar which has become an annual feature of the Society's programme. One branch member, Jeanne van Gorkom, is active as a marriage celebrant. Meantime the marriage celebrants of the Auckland branch have conducted an impressive number of ceremonies. One celebrant, Barbara Shaw, has a record of more than 400 ceremonies. Other Auckland members have been acting as officiants at funerals and have conducted naming ceremonies.
Working from Wellington, through the Council, the national organisation has been responsible for the general public relations of the Society and has maintained a regular exchange of information with the IHEU and various national Humanist organisations overseas. It continues to develop the magazine which since 1986 has been made available to subscribers who are not members. Since 1988 a Council Newsletter covering matter of internal interest has been circulated to members in addition to the magazine. Under the aegis of the Council a library and bookshop have been established in Wellington. The bookshop has proved to be an effective means of distributing Humanist literature to members and non-members alike.
During the last decade the Council has encouraged branches to organise informal summer gatherings of Humanists and their friends at a congenial residential centre. The most recent of these, held at Quaker Acres, Wanganui, was attended by some thirty Humanists and their friends.
Three years ago the council began exploring the possibilities of a project more ambitious that any other project previously contemplated - a scheme for engagement of a well qualified Humanist counsellor who would cater for the needs of both members and others who are inclined towards Humanism. Reports on both overseas and local relevant experience are being sought.
In 1990 the Humanist movement in New Zealand suffered a great loss with the death of Ray Carr who had been the prime mover in the formation of the Society. He was consistent leader in its affairs over the years and the mentor of many of its office-bearers. In recognition of his services to the Society the Council decide to establish the Ray Carr Award which could be conferred upon a member who had rendered outstanding service to the Society.
In early 1992 the Society issued a new brochure which recapitulated the principles the policies which have guided it over the twenty-five years of its existence. This document emphasises that the Humanist Society of NZ is a fellowship of those who, without belief in supernatural, hold that humankind, despite its limitations, must take responsibility for its own destiny and for the health of the planet which is its home.
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