Conversation With Kristina E. Williamson on Humanistisk Ungdom
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/08/15
Kristina E. Williamson is the President/Leder of Humanistisk Ungdom in Norway. Here we talk about it.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Hi! We are here for a short interview with Kristina from the youth branch of the Norwegian Humanist Youth.
Kristina E. Williamson: We are our own independent organization.
Jacobsen: Are there any formal ties in any way with the national group?
Williamson: Both yes and no, the landscape of organizations in Norway is one of a kind. We don’t have any formal ties to – we call it – our “mother” organization because we work independently. But we do represent them as their youth organization [Laughing].
Jacobsen: It is sort of a formal association, unofficial representation.
Williamson: Yes.
Jacobsen: How large is the organization now?
Williamson: Right now, we have about 500 paying members. We have a bit over 1,000 if I’m not wrong in total numbers, so also non-paying members.
Jacobsen: When it comes to the major uses of the funds that help outreach and maintain the membership, would you say confirmations and ceremonies are really big?
Williamson: Yes, we don’t do the ceremonies. You have the confirmations, which are held by the Norwegian Humanist Association. But we have a summer camp, which get promoted during the time of the courses for the confirmation. So, we, as the youth organization, mostly take in the confirmants. We are the social and the learning space for young humanists in Norway that the mother organization cannot provide us with good services for.
Jacobsen: What are some of the more positive activities, more popular activities, that the organization takes parts or organizes and takes part in?
Williamson: We have one summer camp, which takes on a different humanist value each year. This year it was knowledge. Then we also have two seminars every year. One in the Autumn and one in the late Winter and early Spring, which is a weekend. It is a sleepaway weekend, where we have lectures and workshops on a set topic. This year, we had our spring seminar on love, polyamory, adoption, ethics, and grief – how to manage grief when you lose a loved one. The next one that we are going to have is in October about death and looking at death from a young perspective. It is about giving young people the knowledge to be able to make their own opinions on these huge topics. They weigh a lot of you, especially when you are young and don’t know how to handle, not only emotions but, how to express yourself.
Also, we have two campaigns every year. The one we will have in Autumn is about assisted suicide. Because, again, it is a topic that young people don’t talk about because there is no one that represents these opinions and this knowledge. Those are the large national things we do. We have local activities and local groups, which also run semi-independently. They get the funds from us, but they create and do everything themselves.
Jacobsen: How is the relation with other youth organizations in Europe?
Williamson: We met with the Belgian youth coordinator in Brussels in March. But there isn’t that much of a cooperation. We try to have some internationals in our summer camps. Last year, we had one from Denmark, two from Poland, and two from Romania, so they can learn and experience what it is like in a youth organization and how they can make their own.
[Laughing] I have a dream to help start initiatives for youth Humanism in Europe.
Jacobsen: How is the relation with Young Humanists International and other wider groups that are bound by national borders?
Williamson: I don’t, actually, know that much about it [Laughing].
Jacobsen: [Laughing].
Williamson: Honestly, I started working two months ago [Laughing].
Jacobsen: [Laughing]. Yourself, in terms of your personal story, have you been involved in Humanism your entire life, or was it breaking apart from a different family tradition?
Williamson: No, I had the choice. You can choose Christian or humanist confirmation Norway. I chose myself. My parents had no involvement. I chose humanist confirmation because the topics were more interesting.
Jacobsen: [Laughing].
Williamson: It wasn’t breaking apart from anything. I didn’t grow up in any household with any religion, but no Humanism – just a household. I started getting more politically active after confirmation because you learn about critical thinking. You learn about how to make independent choices as a young person. Those are the topics that they give you. Those are the topics that they try to teach confirmants about.
Jacobsen: What are the major issues for Humanism in Norway? I doubt it is a fear of beheadings.
Williamson: It is always the threat of… I feel so privileged. I don’t know what the biggest threat is. For us, as a youth organization, it is just so much competition. You can have a youth organization about anything and get government funding [Laughing].
Jacobsen: Could it be symbolic like a cross represented on something?
Williamson: No, for us at least, we believe the religious communities in Norway get too much funding because the Church decides by lobbying with the State for the budget and how much money per person; and, it has to be equally represented in all of the religious groups. The humanists get way too much money. We want to stop that.
Jacobsen: The humanists get way too much money or the Church, or everyone?
Williamson: Everyone, we believe that we shouldn’t get as much money as we do. For example, education, specifically primary school: Christianity takes 50% of the religious curriculum.
Jacobsen: Good god.
Williamson: 50% is Christianity and the other half is all of the other groups.
Jacobsen: What is your major point of frustration and your major point of optimism?
Williamson: My major frustration is that I believe in Norway that we are so involved with ourselves. We can’t see the bigger picture. It has been an eye-awakening to be here because I finally got to experience that Humanism doesn’t mean only one thing. I can actually say that my Humanism isn’t your Humanism. Your Humanism isn’t the Humanism of someone else.
Jacobsen: Same values, the concerns are very context-dependent.
Williamson: Yes, of course, my biggest concern is that we get too focused with ourselves.
Jacobsen: You’re speaking more to complacency.
Williamson: Yes. My biggest point of optimism is that we’re so lucky and that we can do something if we want to. I want to be part of helping. It sounds a bit like white saviourism.
Jacobsen: [Laughing].
Williamson: I don’t want be the help, but want to be able to help. I think coming from a position of a privileged humanist and being, honestly, from the most privileged humanist society in the world; we can help and encourage if we just start looking, expanding our views.
Jacobsen: Kristina, thank you very much for your time.
Williamson: You’re welcome.
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