Interview With Magnus Timmerby on Humanism and Humanisterna
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/09/06
Magnus Timmerby is a Swedish activist and member of the Humanisterna community in Sweden. Here we talk about meeting, ex-Muslims, Secular Humanism in Sweden.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: As a humanist, what sorts of assumptions are given about you in society?
Magnus Timmerby: In Sweden, atheism is easy, as polls show up to 80% are atheists/agnostics. As for humanism, I’d say our organisation (Humanisterna) is fairly well known, at least among intellectuals, due to our long-standing defence of the secular state and rationalist values. However, there is less awareness of humanism as a life stance and being a humanist. One thing we’re doing to make it more known is building our societal services such as humanist ceremonies, humanist confirmations, and a support phone line we started a couple of years ago. I believe this strategy has proven successful in neighbouring countries such as Norway and Denmark.
Jacobsen: We met while you worked with Victoria Gugenheim on some art presentations. I helped for a few hours with the setting of the photos to improper A3 frame because A3 images… they were not. What was the response to the presentation?
Timmerby: Yes, thanks a lot for the help! The photo exhibition was one part of a bigger, quite ambitious art programme, with “artivism”, a documentary film, live participatory art, and an incredible body painting that Victoria did live and took ten hours to complete. Victoria received thunderous applause for the things we showed on stage, while the exhibition required more introspective reflection as it illustrated a journey that a person leaving oppressive religion might go through. All in all, I am very happy with the art programme. Without art and a participatory creative element, there’s always a risk that a conference might become mostly “talking heads”. Last but not least, we connected art to fundraising: Victoria gave half of all art sales to the Protect Humanists at Risk campaign run by Humanists International. There are many humanists around the world in dire need of help.
Jacobsen: Many of the images had to do with the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB). How is the growth and culture of the CEMB now?
Timmerby: I’m not directly involved with CEMB but have participated in a few of their conferences. They are fighting hard and I love the spirit!
Jacobsen: How is Sweden regarding progress on Secular Humanism?
Timmerby: Sweden is one of the most secular states in the world, including schools and institutions. However, after recent Quran burnings, which is legal to do in public places, we are shocked that the current government suddenly intends to introduce a law prohibiting provocative blasphemy. The government of our neighbour Denmark is also now introducing such a law. So I see this as a moment of truth: having lived secularism for so long, do people in general realise why we have it? The humanist organisations in the Nordic countries just launched a joint campaign, objecting to blasphemy laws.
Jacobsen: What are the areas in which Sweden lacks on the humanist front?
Timmerby: In my view, we need to keep secularism strong, but the larger mission is to increase awareness of humanism as a life stance, and how it can support individuals as well as the open society. Many Swedes are probably humanists but just don’t know what it means.
Jacobsen: What would be the organizations properly befitting of the title “humanist” in Sweden now?
Timmerby: We have one organisation, Humanisterna.
Jacobsen: How is art a powerful motivator of humanist activism, especially in the midst of the discussions around freedom of expression?
Timmerby: First, art illustrates the point that freedom of expression allows and encourages any kind of (non-violent) expression, not just speech and text. Without art and culture, civilizations cannot evolve. But art is not just a tool. On a deeper level, art has everything to do with humanism. Art as human expression has been part of us since even before homo sapiens. As humanists, we don’t just defend the right to expression; we are curious and we celebrate humanity’s achievements in art, expression and culture.
Jacobsen: Victoria paints, often, on women’s bodies. I joked, “These images would, probably, still be offensive without the art on them, to the same people”. That got a laugh out of her. Why do women’s bodies seem to be the focus of demagogues and theocrats?
Timmerby: Patriarchy hates seeing women claim equal rights. As Victoria puts it, bodypainting is a perfect response to the highly corporeal claim by religion to control women’s bodies and sexuality.
Jacobsen: How is the integration with the larger European humanist community in Sweden?
Timmerby: We do meet-ups and conferences. One point of joint learning is the European Humanist Professionals, where celebrants, pastoral supporters and teachers meet and learn from each other. There is actually a Humanist university in Utrecht!
Jacobsen: How did Sweden get pulled into British activism? By which I mean, how did you meet Victoria in the first place, and then begin collaborating? Maryam and Victoria have been busy with the documentary, the art, the community, and such.
Timmerby: I saw Victoria’s work at the Celebrating Dissent conferences, so I invited her and proposed an art programme for the World Humanist Congress 2023. The plan was approved and we did it.
Jacobsen: As a transhumanist, how does this integrate with a humanist lifestance?
Timmerby: For me, transhumanism is an important extension of humanist values. I believe technology can solve most of humanity’s material challenges, so we should accelerate technology while keeping it morally tethered. The transhumanism view of the future also tells us we have to expand humanist ethics from the current anthropocentric point of gravity, because soon we will have intelligent machines as well as upgraded humans, not to mention the work we already should do to protect the rights of non-human species. (Notably, the new Humanist declaration affirms the rights of non-human animals.)
Jacobsen: What projects are you hoping to advance in the near future?
Timmerby: We need to urgently defend secularism and freedom of expression and oppose blasphemy laws. Aside from that it would be great to arrange more art programmes.
Jacobsen: How can people become involved or support you?
Timmerby: Become a member of your local humanist organisation, and see what you can do to get active.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Magnus.
Timmerby: Thank you for all your great interviews.
License
In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.
Copyright
© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-Present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.
In-Sight Publishing 