From left to right: Bjarni Jonsson, Vice-President of Sidmennt, Hope Knutsson, President of Sidmennt, Ogmundur Jonasson, Minister of the Interior, and Ragnhildur Hjaltadottir, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior.

On Friday May 3, 2013 the Icelandic Minister of the Interior, Ogmundur Jonasson held a formal reception where he presented Hope Knutsson, president of Sidmennt, the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association with a formal statement that Sidmennt has now been registered as the first secular life stance organization in Iceland in accordance with the law about registered religions and life stance organizations which was passed by the Icelandic Parliament (Althing) on January 30th of this year.

A giant step has now been taken towards full equality of life stance organizations and this puts Iceland again in the forefront of human rights victories worldwide. Hope and the rest of the Sidmennt board members expressed deep appreciation for Sidmennt’s new status. Our Humanist life stance is now officially recognized by the government. This turning point demonstrates that in Iceland there are progressive people who respect human rights. Icelandic recognition of GLBT rights in recent decades is an excellent example and now people with a secular Humanist philosophy of life are gaining respect and acceptance. Sidmennt is now listed in the national registry and will receive the so-called church tax for people who join through that institution.

Sidmennt has been organizing secular confirmation ceremonies for 25 years and secular and Humanist baby-namings, weddings, and funerals for the past 5 years. Now that Sidmennt is registered, our marriage ceremonies will be legal and couples will no longer have to go to government authorities to have a non-religious wedding. Almost all of the work within Siðmennt which was founded in 1990, has been done on a volunteer basis which has limited its growth. We look forward now to being able to develop our services and programs more fully and to continue to work for separation of church and state and towards a truly secular society where diversity and respect for all life stances and human rights are celebrated.

Submitted by Hope Knutsson, President of Sidmennt

Today, January 30, 2013, the Icelandic Parliament (Althing) passed a law which gives secular life stance organizations the right to apply for equal legal status with religions. The new law amends the current law about registered religious organizations. Thus, for the first time in Icelandic history, the government recognizes and guarantees equality between secular and religious life stances!

Sidmennt, the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association has been lobbying for such a change for more than 10 years and celebrates this historic turning point. As soon as the law takes effect, Sidmennt will apply to the Ministry of the Interior for registration which will guarantee equal rights and freedom of conscience to its 300 members. Sidmennt is grateful to the Minister of the Interior, Ogmundur Jonasson, who introduced and championed this human rights bill and to all those members of Parliament who voted in favor of it.

An additional improvement provided by this law is that newborn babies will no longer automatically be registered into the religion of the mother, but rather according to the religious or life stance registration of both parents, and only if the registrations match. Sidmennt members and many other people in Iceland including many legislators feel that this does not go far enough and that it is a human rights violation for government to be involved at all in registering people’s religious affiliation and is especially abnormal to register newborn babies in a religion. The sponsors of the new law say they want to work towards abolishing this anachronism but think it can only be done in stages.

Although this law is an important step towards equality, the government is not changing the privileged status of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church, which enjoys both legal and financial privileges over all other life stance organizations.

Civil confirmation began in Iceland in 1989 when 16 teenagers participated in the first program. For the first time in the 23 year history of civil confirmation in Iceland, the number of youths enrolled in the program has exceeded 200. This amounts to an 85% increase in participation in the program over the past 5 years The program consists of a 12 week course in ethics, critical thinking and related subjects followed by a festive graduation ceremony in which many of the teenagers perform and prominent members of Icelandic society make speeches. Over the years, as our publicity campaigns expanded and media coverage increased, this alternative to religious confirmation has grown increasingly popular. In the early years participation was confined to the capital area but after we started offering a concentrated two-weekend version of our educational program for youth living outside of the capital area, the program went nationwide. We now hold courses and the graduation ceremony in various areas of the nation. What started out as a single class and single ceremony in Reykjavik has now grown into 7 classes and 7 ceremonies held in various parts of the country.

On Thursday November 3, 2011 Siðmennt conferred its annual awards at a reception held at Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura. The recipient of this year’s Humanist award was Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson, a living icon and one of Iceland’s most popular and beloved singers. Páll Óskar has for many years promoted human rights for GLBT individuals and paved the way for others by being a superb role model with his positive, creative, and sincere manner.

For the fourth time, Siðmennt also presented its Education and Science Award for important contributions to educating the public in Iceland. The recipient of the Education and Science Award for 2011 was the Amateur Astronomical Society and its related Astronomy Website for their major contributions to educating the Icelandic public about science. They bought and distributed 300 telescopes to 220 primary and secondary schools in Iceland along with a documentary film called “Eyes on the Skies”. Furthermore they visited 150 of those schools and taught the teachers how to use these instruments. Two years ago they held a 5 week long outdoor exhibition for the public with 26 giant photos of the universe.

The awards reception included a musical performance by a Siðmennt member Mamiko Dís Ragnarsdóttir and for the first time a cabinet minister, Ögmundur Jónasson (Minister of Justice and Human Rights) made a speech on this occasion. He praised the work of Siðmennt and mentioned a bill in Parliament put forth by his ministry which would give Siðmennt equal legal status with religious organizations.