Little and Large
Jaap van Praag (1911-1981) was a Dutch Humanist who played a prominent role in establishing the Dutch Humanist League. He also played a major role in the founding of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, now Humanists International, and was its chairman from 1952 until 1975. van Praag drew an important distinction between what he called ‘the little fight’ and ‘the large fight’.
The ‘little fight’ refers to the legitimate but limited campaigning interests of Humanists themselves, issues that they might be greatly concerned about but about which non-Humanists might care little or even hold strongly differing views.
The ‘large fight’ refers to the universal challenges that Humanists, along with everyone else, believe they should grapple with for the benefit of all people.
If a non-Humanist asked a Humanist ‘where do Humanists stand on X?’ our answer might depend on whether we thought X was little or large. If little, such as membership of bishops in the House of Lords or legal recognition of Humanist marriages, we’d probably have an answer, since such issues are the focus of current Humanists UK campaigns. If, on the other hand, X was large we might have a problem. Where do Humanists stand on artificial intelligence, or on the climate emergency, or on the threat to democracy posed by the dissemination of ‘fake’ news and ‘alternative’ facts? You tell me!
Humanists UK has recently reviewed its campaigning priorities and the current list is dominated by what van Praag would call ‘little’ issues. A number of local Humanists, concerned at the limited ambition and scope of these priorities, got together in summer 2022 to stimulate debate throughout the Humanist community in the UK and elsewhere about how people of goodwill can live ‘happier, more confident, and more ethical lives’ — and endeavour to be ‘good ancestors’ to future generations. Earlier this year they published a Manifesto on the Future of Humanism. They suggest that priorities be reviewed, and new partnerships sought with issue specialists, so that a coherent Humanist position can be formulated on a range of pressing issues and concerns including misinformation, artificial intelligence, the climate crisis, intergenerational fairness,and growing inequality.
You can read their Manifesto here.
