Thread by @HumanistsInt

Day 2 of #HumanistsIceland weekend kicking off now as the President of Iceland Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson opens the Sidmennt conference.

The president outlines the history and diversity of belief in Iceland and concludes: "The religion of one, or many, cannot be the basis of laws of the land."

Our own president @andrewcopson speaking now, on the growth of humanism in the 20th century and the challenges we have overcome, and those we still face. #HumanistsIceland

We begin a session now on the environment and the climate crisis.

Auður Önnu Magnúsdóttir (General director of Landvernd, the Icelandic environmental association) stresses that we need "to cut the ties between finance and politics", stop thinking in terms of quarterly reports and more in terms of future generations, and "reconnect with nature".

Sian Berry, co-leader of the UK Green Party, outlines her ethical questions, including how we involve people - everyone - in the necessary transformation of society. "Never before has the need to bring capitalism to heel been so great," she says. #HumanistsIceland

"We are in an overwhelming situation", says academic Guðbjörg R. Jóhannesdóttir. And maybe in this anthropocene era, we need "a new understanding of what it is to be a human being".

Panel discussion now, humanists in the audience asking if and how we can "reconnect with nature". Berry explains how young people in cities simply may never be "put in nature", a major challenge to understanding nature and connecting with ecology.

The #HumanistsIceland conference is being illustrated in real time by elinelisabet.com

Session 2 has begun, on refugees and migration. Þórunn Ólafsdóttir has worked to aid refugees in extreme situations. She recalls having to deliver aid in circumstances where there wasn't enough food, humanitarians forced to choose who would get to eat or not.

Wilfried Buchhorn speaks on the refugee crisis and compares the sitiation to climate change. "We all know the facts, we all know what needs to be done, but we don't do it." We need "dignity, rights and shared humanity".

Iris Björg Kristjánsdóttir, Gender and Humanitarian Specialist for @UN_Women describes a terrible lack of solidarity in decision-making by states on refugees. "They're just pushing people back to another country". And the numbers will grow: "We ain't seen nothing yet," she says.

Women in patricular suffer in conflict and refugee situations, for example being much more likely to suffer sexual violence and trafficking.

Our Chief Exec @Gary_McLelland opens the panel discussion on refugees asking: how many of the organizations present today have been contacted by humanists facing persecution and tried to help them? Almost every hand goes up. #HumanistsIceland

And the follow-up question: who was disappointed by the response of governments and institutions when trying to seek help for humanists fleeing persecution. Again, almost every hand raised.

Guðmundur "Gummi" Ævar Oddsson kicks off the afternoon session on economic injustice. Notes that social class is often thought of as "unmarked" in Iceland, but that doesn't mean it does not exist. #HumanistsIceland

Gummi notes that inequality can be measured, but injustice is a philosophic question. For him, inequality is morally problematic when it means rights can't be upheld and human beings cannot develop their potential due to poverty.

Now Eyja Margrét Brynjarsdóttir disputes the idea of meritocracy, calling it a "dangerous myth". "It should be blatantly obvious that the world isn't fair," she says, and it's "deluded" to think we're all awarded according to our merits. #HumanistsIceland

Polly Toynbee from the UK's Guardian newspaper is discussing the new social divisions in the UK and across Europe. Among other things there is a concerted effort by some, including right wing pressure groups, to sow hate and division, she says. #HumanistsIceland

Toynbee analyzes the impact of "austerity" in UK. Soon 40% of children will be growing up in poverty. It has been a "brutal era" she says. Use of food banks has grown massively: something the more "civilized countries" in the room today may not even know about. #HumanistsIceland

The panel prepares to answer questions from the floor. First a challenge on what the alternative to "capitalism" would be. Toynbee identifies as "social democrat", defends an idea of a "good society" to which we can aim.

Where is the hope? Eyja replies we must keep pushing for action. Toynbee says those fighting against Brexit for example can only do so because they do have hope. Gummi is a "hopeless optimist": outlines decades of social progress, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't criticize.

Uttam Niraula (a board member of Humanists International) feeds in how caste discrimination limits life chances in his own country, Nepal.

Asked what we can do, Gummi says we shouldn't let criticism of governments absolve ourselves of responsibility. If we want to save the environment for example then we must all take decisions to consume less. #HumanistsIceland

Jón Ólafsson from the University of Iceland discusses populism, seen as a "degraded form of democracy", and tending toward authoritarianism. But we must recognize that populist narratives may, he says, pose some real moral challenges to existing structures.

To resist the "grievance structure" of populism we should think less of "defending democracy" and more of "social engagement" with the criticisms of populism which are not altogether spurious or false, says Ólafsson. How do we empower people who feel politically at sea?

Torbjörn Tännsjö, Professor of Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University, will advance his thesis: that "global democracy is both feasible and desirable in its own right".

There is a basic but too optimistic argument for global democracy, he says, that if we believe in democracy, and recognize globalization, then a global democracy is a moral demand or even inevitable. But a better argument is that we need it to obviate certain existential threats.

Brian Klaas concluding the session on democracy and today's #HumanistsIceland conference. Democracy is like a palace of sand, he says, hard to build - and it could be washed away.

One of the biggest threats to democracy used to be uniformed voters, says Klaas. Today it is worse: many are *misinformed*.

"The scariest graph you've probably never seen", says Klaas. It shows the percentages of people who say it is essential to live in a democracy, by the year of their birth. People are becoming more and more open to the idea that democracy itself is unnecessary. #HumanistsIceland

But to finish on a positive note, Winston Churchill was right to say democracy was the worst system of government except all the others, says Klaas.

The final panel takes questions on democracy, with the Auckland Declaration against the Politics of Division as a backdrop. You can read that here: humanists.international/policy/aucklan… #HumanistsIceland

Concluding today's conference, the Icelandic humanists present an award for Science and Education to Saevar Helgi Bragason, especially for raising awareness of environmental issues among young people in Iceland. Congratulations! #HumanistsIceland

And finally Sidmennt's Humanist of the Year Award goes to local school children who rose up to protest against the planned deportation of a classmate. The whole #HumanistsIceland conference rises for a standing ovation. Emotional moment!