List of irreligious organizations

Conway Hall, home of the Conway Hall Ethical Society, is the oldest freethought community in the world (established 1793).

Irreligious organizations promote the view that moral standards should be based solely on naturalistic considerations, without reference to supernatural concepts (such as God or an afterlife), any desire to do good for a reward after death, or any fear of punishment for not believing in life after death.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Background

Individuals and organizations sharing these views, identify themselves by a variety of terms, including, bright, freethinker, naturalist, rationalist, or skeptic. Despite the use of these various terms, the organizations listed here have goals in common. Note that, while most of these organizations and their members consider themselves irreligious, there are certain exceptions (Ethical Culture, for example).

In some jurisdictions, a provincial or national humanist society may confer upon Humanist officiants the ability to conduct memorial services, child naming ceremonies or officiate marriages — tasks which would be carried out by clergy in most organized religions.

List

  • Atheist Republic is the world's largest atheist organization with local chapters called consulates all over the world. Their facebook page has over 2.4 million followers.
  • The Brights' Net is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to "building a constituency" and "constructively address[ing] the marginalized situation of persons who have a naturalistic worldview."
  • The Clergy Project provides support, community, and hope to religious professionals who no longer hold supernatural beliefs.
  • European Humanist Federation is a union of "numerous humanist organisations from most European countries" whose purpose is to promote humanism and secularism in Europe.
  • Humanists International is "the sole world umbrella organisation embracing Humanist, atheist, rationalist, secularist, skeptic, laique, [sic] ethical cultural, freethought and similar organisations world-wide." Humanists International is a union of over 100 Humanist or secularist organizations in more than 40 countries. It is an international NGO (non-governmental organization) with special consultative status with the United Nations.
  • International League of Humanists
  • Rationalist International
  • Sunday Assembly

Australia

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

  • Atheist Union of Greece

Iceland

  • Sidmennt – Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Italy

Kenya

Luxembourg

Netherlands

New Zealand

Northern Ireland

Norway

Philippines

Romania

Scotland

Singapore

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

United Kingdom

National organisations

Local groups

There are many local humanist groups around the United Kingdom, most being affiliates of Humanists UK and the National Secular Society. Of these, Leicester Secular Society has particular claim to fame in being the world's oldest secular society, founded in 1851. Others include North East Humanists.

United States

Freedom From Religion Foundation billboard
American Atheist bench and "Ten Commandments" display (Bradford County, Florida)

See also