Global goals: Introduction

This week we’ll meet humanists living in diverse contexts and circumstances around the world. Many are working to establish a secular state in their country and to guarantee people the rights to freedom of belief and expression. For some, the absence of these freedoms means their beliefs place them in danger. We’ll also encounter humanists working for a wide variety of causes aimed at improving human wellbeing: increasing access to education, countering extremism, and challenging discriminatory caste systems and harmful superstitious practices.

We’ll learn that a common thread shared by humanists around the globe is the emphasis they place on identifying ourselves first and foremost as human beings, rather than by our gender, nationality, race, religion, or sexuality. Humanists believe we should focus on what we share rather than on what divides us.