Lesson video

Hello everyone, and welcome to our next RE lesson, I'm Miss Harrison, and we're going to be continuing our learning on humanism.

And today we are going to think about how humanists, celebrate different life events.

So let's get started.

So our learning question today is just that.

How to humanists celebrate different life events? And in our lesson today, we are going to recap, what humanist beliefs do we know so far, we're going to look at how humanists celebrate marriage, how they celebrate new life and how they commemorate the lives of those who have died.

So before we begin our lesson today, you are going to need a piece of paper or a notepad in front of you, you're going to need a pen or pencil to write with, and as usual you are going to need your great, great inquisitive brain.

So if you haven't got one of those things, or if you are looking for a nice quiet place to relax without any distractions, if you want to make sure that you're ready, you can pause the video and do that now.

Okay, let's get stuck into our lesson today.

So we're going to begin by recapping what human humanists beliefs do we know so far.

Now we've already learnt loads about humanism.

Let's have a little recap.

So humanist believe that humans were not created by a god, but that we evolved over millions of years.

And remember that is a belief that lots of people hold, whether they're humanists or whether they're religious, but humanists don't believe in a god at all.

So they believe that we just evolved.

Humanists look to science and evidence to find the truth, rather than having faith in a supernatural power like God or gods.

Another key belief is that people should use reason and empathy to decide what is right or wrong.

So there aren't a set of rules written down that humanists follow, but they use reason.

So thinking about things carefully and empathy, considering other people's feelings, to decide what is right or wrong.

And humanists don't believe in life after death.

So they believe that we should make the most of the life that we have, because this is the only one that we're going to get.

So now let's have a look at some different life events and how humanists might celebrate them.

So first of all, we're going to think about how humanist celebrate marriage.

Now, lots of people get married in their lives, and a religious marriage ceremony might be different to a humanist or non-religious marriage ceremony.

And we're going to think about that today.

Now, before we do, I wonder if you have ever been to a wedding.

if you have, I wonder what traditions, you might have seen, or if you haven't been to a wedding, maybe you've learned about some different traditions that happen at weddings.

So you can see some pictures on your screen to help you out, you might recognise some of these items or some of these pictures, and I wonder what traditions have you heard about, that happen at weddings? So have a good look at those pictures, see if there's anything that you recognise, anything that you notice, or anything that you've seen before.

And then I want you to take a moment to write down some traditions that you know that happened at weddings.

So if you've ever been to a wedding, or if you have learned about wedding or marriage traditions in different cultures before, I want you to write down the traditions that you know that happen at weddings.

Pause the video now and write those down.

Okay, fantastic.

So you might have some ideas in your head already, of some different traditions or different things that might happen at weddings, maybe religious weddings, maybe non-religious weddings, and in a variety of different cultures.

We're going to focus on some features, that humanists might include in their marriage ceremonies.

So a humanist marriage ceremony is a way to show love and commitment to another person with the support of friends or family.

So that's the main idea of a humanist couple and deciding to get married.

And a humanist marriage ceremony could take place, wherever the couple choose.

So it doesn't have to be in a religious building like a church or a mosque or synagogue or temple, and it can happen wherever the couple choose to happen.

Now couples during a humanist ceremony can write their own promises to each other, rather than taking those vows or taking those promises from a religious or a traditional text.

So in some religious marriage ceremonies, couples might take vows taken from religious scripture, or make promises to God, that in a human marriage ceremony, a humanist marriage ceremony, humanists couples make promises to each other and they can write those promises themselves.

They don't have to take it from any traditional text.

Now, both parties in a humanist marriage are always equal in the relationship.

And because they don't believe in a god, they don't have to make any promises to God, they can just make promises to love and support each other.

And the couples might choose symbolic objects or symbolic gestures to celebrate their marriage.

But again, there aren't any set rules for a humanist ceremony, the couples can choose that themselves.

But the most important thing in a humanist marriage ceremony is the support and love of their friends and family.

So I've now got a true or false question for you.

My true or false question for you is, humanists take their marriage vows from religious or traditional texts.

I want you to have a think about that and write down whether you think it is true or false.

Off you go.

Okay, let's see what you have written down.

So humanists take their marriage vows from religious or traditional texts.

And the answer to that one was false.

So humanist don't believe in a god because they are either atheist or agnostic and they don't follow a set a religious text.

So that means that couples can write their own promises to each other, rather than basing those promises or vows on religious texts.

If you wrote false as your answer, you can give yourself a big tick.

Well done! So now let's look at another different life event that humanists might celebrate.

And we're going to have a think about how humanist celebrate new life.

So how do they celebrate when a new child is born or when maybe a new child is adopted into a family? Let's have a look.

Now first of all, considering what we already know about humanism, and what we already know about a humanist beliefs about our life, why do you think it would be so important for humanists to celebrate new life? So you can have a think, have a look at the images on the board to help you, why do we think that humanists would celebrate new life? And I now want you to write down your answer.

So considering what we know about humanist beliefs, why do you think it's important for them to celebrate new life? So your sentence could start with the structure on the screen.

It's important for humanists to celebrate new life because, pause the video, and write down your answer.

Okay, fantastic.

So you should have an answer written down.

And let's have a look at why it's so important and how a humanist might celebrate that.

So humanists really value human life and they believe that all humans are special.

That's why it's so important for them to celebrate when new babies are born, or when you children come into a family.

And humanists recognise how every new human has the potential to contribute good to the good and the progress of humanity as a whole.

Therefore every new life should be acknowledged and should be celebrated.

So let's have a think about how humanists might celebrate that.

So humanist celebrate something called a naming ceremony.

And this is a way to celebrate the birth of a new baby, with the support of family and friends.

Now, unlike some religious ceremonies, like perhaps a baptism in Christianity, a naming ceremony doesn't have to be in a religious building, it can take place wherever the parents and the family want it to take place.

And parents can choose where and when they want the ceremony to be held, and what they want to happen.

So, because human is don't believe that there's a god, they can choose what their promises to the baby might be, rather than making promises in front of God, like you might do at, for example a Christian baptism, at a naming ceremony, those promises are chosen by the parents and they're making promises to their new child.

Maybe promises of love and support for that child.

And the community of their friends and family again, is really important in a humanist naming ceremony.

So let's have a think about what promises or statements might parents make at a naming ceremony.

So if a humanist had a new baby or a new child come into their lives, I wonder what sorts of things might they say.

Have a think.

What sort of promises might they make to their new child? Let's have a look at some examples together.

So they might want to tell their new child how special they are, because remember that humanists think that all human beings are special and all human life is valuable.

They might make a promise to their child saying, "I promise to take care of you." They might encourage their new child to make the most of their lives because remember humanist believe this is the only life we have and we need to make the most of it.

Humanists might want to encourage their child to be good to yourself and to other people.

Remember that humanists believe in empathy, that's really important of thinking about the emotions of other people.

And then I will help you to live a happy life.

Humanists want to live their lives to the full, to find happiness and help others to do so as well.

So there's a little bit about what might be said or some sorts of promises that might be made at a naming ceremony.

Now, the next life event that we're going to look at is, how to humanist commemorate the lives of those who have died? Now, before we go into this, I would like to test your knowledge from our previous lessons, here's true or false question, humanist belief that there is no afterlife.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video now and write down your answer.

Okay, let's have a look.

So humanist believe that there is no afterlife.

The answer to that question was true.

Humanists do not believe that there is an afterlife.

They believe that this is the only life we have.

Therefore we should make the most of it.

And that's one of the reasons why they celebrate new life or a new child coming into a family, but it's also a reason why they might like to commemorate the life of somebody who has died.

So let's think about how humanists commemorate the lives of those who have died.

So we know that funerals within humanism usually focus on celebrating the life the person has lived.

And that's because humanists don't believe that there's an afterlife.

So they don't believe that when you die, you go on to somewhere else.

Therefore, rather than focusing on where that person might go next, now that they've died, humanists believe that, they don't go to an afterlife.

So a funeral, a ceremony when somebody has died, is focused on the life that they lived while they were alive.

Now ceremonies might include music or readings from friends or family.

And this is to commemorate, so to remember the life of that person.

And humanists believe that people can live on in our memories.

So even though they believe that there isn't an afterlife after you die, they believe that people can live on in our memories, and we can celebrate the great things that they did whilst they were alive.

So previously we've thought about remembering people through maybe photographs or objects that we have that remind us of them.

We can remember them through maybe their genes and their descendants, and if they had children or grandchildren or relatives, and we might remember things that they taught us while they were alive as well.

So a humanist funeral is often focusing on celebrating and remembering the great things that, that person did whilst they were alive.

So I would like you now to pause the video, and answer me this question.

So how would a humanist funeral be different to a religious funeral? And you can think of any religions that you might have studied in the past.

Humanist funeral would be different to a religious funeral because, I want you to pause the video now and write your answer.

Okay, fantastic.

Now to finish off, I just have a quotation from Bertrand Russell who was a humanist philosopher.

And we're going to look a little bit more at him and in later lessons, however, I wanted to read this to you because I think this sums up the humanist perspective on different life events.

So I'm going to make it bigger and I'll read out to you.

"An individual human existence should "be like a river - small "at first narrowly contained within its banks, "and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls.

"Gradually the river grows wider.

"The banks recede, "the waters flow more quietly, "and - in the end - without any visible break, "they become merged in the sea, "and painlessly lose their individual being.

"The man or woman who, "in old age, can see his or her life in this way, "will not suffer from the fear of death, "since the things they care for will continue." And I think this sums up really well, that humanist perspective of life.

And it explains why humanist shouldn't be afraid of death, but they should celebrate the great things that, that person did whilst they were alive.

So that's just a little quotation to end us on today.

And that's all we've got time for in our lesson today.

So well done for all of your hard work, I hope you found it interesting to learn about those different ceremonies and those different life events that humanist celebrate.

Now, if you've enjoyed our lesson today, and you're really proud of the work you've done, you might want to share that work with the Oak National team.

If you would like to, you could ask a parent or carer to take a photo of your work, and put it on social media, tagging @OakNational, and with the #LearnwithOak.

That way, some of your Oak teachers might be able to see the wonderful work that you've been doing at home.

So well done for your hard work today, I hope you enjoyed our lesson, and I will be back next lesson to tell you more about humanism.

I'll see you.