Joe Armstrong on Shannonside Radio

What is Humanism?

What is Humanism?

Shannonside Radio interviews Joe Armstrong

What is Humanism? Joe Finnegan asked Joe Armstrong on Shannonside Northsound Radio yesterday 20 November 2018.

What is Humanism?

Being ethical without God. Not feeling the need to believe in an afterlife. Celebrating the wonder of life. Realizing the shortness of life and the need to live life to the full. Living your life well today rather than hoping for a life after death. Outgrowing religious beliefs and stories. Becoming a responsible, rational, compassionate, inclusive adult.

Humanist ceremonies

In Humanist ceremonies, couples and families choose rituals that are personally meaningful to them. They choose readings about love, marriage, friendship, commitment, fatherhood, motherhood, life and death. They choose music that resonates with them. It is all about them: personal, relaxed, meaningful and inclusive of everyone in the room, regardless of their philosophy, religion or worldview. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, whatever you believe, whoever you love.

Humanist voices

Humanist celebrants create and conduct Humanist weddings, Humanist funerals, Humanist baby naming ceremonies. We speak at commemoration ceremonies, inauguration ceremonies, small intimate family occasions and grand televised State occasions.

Humanist communities

Humanists gather at local and at national levels, often on a monthly basis. For more details see the website of the Humanist Association of Ireland

The interview followed on from the 25th anniversary of the Humanist Association of Ireland. Leading members of the HAI which were received by the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain to mark the occasion. Also, chairperson of the HAI Steve Rawson spoke at the inauguration of President Higgins on 11 November.

Here is a link to my interview: https://www.shannonside.ie/podcast/the-joe-finnegan-show/listen-humanist-association-ireland-celebrates-25-years/

Surprise wedding at Humanist naming ceremony

Surprise wedding at Humanist naming ceremony

A surprise wedding at a Humanist naming ceremony was described by a guest as “the best wedding I was ever at”. He said it was “so different from start to finish”. It was “really intimate and emotional” and, he concluded, “It was the first wedding I was at where there was a bouncing castle, a sing song around a campfire and four or five baby monitors on the table while we all had a few drinks”.

Kate and Shane’s newborn daughter Riley, named at the Humanist wedding and naming ceremony

Kate and Shane getting married at their surprise wedding. The Humanist wedding and naming ceremony was conducted by Joe Armstrong

The baby naming and surprise wedding was conducted by Humanist celebrant and legal solemniser Joe Armstrong at The Silver Tankard restaurant near Kells in County Meath, Ireland, on 22 July 2018, when bride Kate married groom Shane, and the couple named and welcomed their daughter Riley into their family and circle of friends.

A very chilled out affair

“One of my favourite photos from the day is our kiss and Jack milling around with balloons,” said bride Kate

Kate said, “We had an absolute ball. The whole day & night that was excellent. A very chilled out affair. The ceremony was excellent and everyone really enjoyed it. One of my favourite photos from the day is our kiss and Jack milling around with balloons.”

Jack is their first born child, who had been named and welcomed into the family at a Humanist naming ceremony at their home previously, also conducted by Joe Armstrong.

“We held a naming ceremony last year in our house for our son Jack and we loved it,” Kate recalled when she approached Joe about the second naming ceremony. Because of the earlier naming ceremony, none of their guests suspected that they would also be getting married when Kate and Shane invited them to Riley’s naming.

Why the surprise wedding?

Kate and Shane, with their marriage Witnesses Fiona and Gearoid and Humanist celebrant Joe Armstrong

“So the surprise wedding,” says Kate. “I never wanted a big day. And Shane doesn’t like attention on him either so we were never going to have a day where we had 150+ guests.”

So Kate and Shane decided upon the surprise wedding and have it part of Rileys naming day. “Who would you have at your child’s naming day that you wouldn’t have at your wedding?'” asked Kate. No one. So it was the perfect opportunity to do it.

“I hate all the politics of a traditional wedding,” she added. “Oh you have to invite this one, if you’re inviting them, and then you have to invite these others. I always said if I ever got married I didn’t want anyone there that I didn’t want there.”

Avoiding the ‘drama’ of a traditional wedding

“Secondly,” mused Kate, “where were we going to have the wedding if it was a traditional one? If it was in Meath, all Shane’s family and friends had to travel and pay for accommodation. If it was in Kerry, all my family and friends would have to pay for accommodation and then if we were to get married in the middle of the country then both sides had the expense. That was a huge part in our decision of the surprise. We didn’t want to put people out or have any extra expense on them. We weren’t fussy about it and really didn’t want other people to get caught up in the ‘drama’ of a wedding.”

Kate and Shane, with son and daughter Jack and Riley after the Humanist wedding and naming ceremony

Engaged

“So we just got ‘engaged’ that morning,” – the morning of the wedding – explains Kate. “I think that’s why it was such a shock too. No one expected it at all because we weren’t even engaged. We told everyone we had gotten engaged and to meet us at the bar at 12.30 for a celebratory drink. So I wore a dress up to the Tankard and then changed into my jumpsuit when everyone went into the function room. The photos are from that morning in the Front Bar just before the ceremony.”

Kate and Shane at the Silver Tankard where they announced their engagement immediately before their wedding and naming ceremony for their baby daughter Riley. Firstborn Jack with back to camera!

Humanist wedding and naming ceremony

“I loved the ceremony from start to finish,” says Kate. “Everyone was so emotional. It was perfect. The whole day everyone was just in shock and awe. People really listened and took heed of what was taking place and going on, not like a traditional wedding where it’s the same thing over and over.”

 

That’s what it’s all about – family and kids

“I loved how the naming aspect was incorporated into the overall ceremony too,” recalls Kate. “The lighting of the candles was just perfect. The way our parents lit our candles and then we lit our unity candle and then just at that moment Jack was up to relight his with us and then we lit Riley’s candle. That’s what it’s all about for us. Family and kids.”

She continued: “I loved how Jack was up and down to us, playing with the balloons and going from us to his grandad. The ceremony was so relaxed with plenty of jokes throughout and we have so many photos of us smiling and joking. I think if it was a big wedding or a church wedding it would have lost that intimate feeling where everyone already knew each other and were comfortable. There wasn’t anyone there that hadn’t already met before. Thanks again!”

To contact Joe about creating and conducting your Humanist ceremony, click here

To read hundreds more excellent reviews from Joe Armstrong’s ceremonies, click here for feedback from weddings and some more here: https://humanistweddings.ie/?s=reviews. For more on naming ceremonies, click here for feedback from other naming ceremonies

 

 

Still loving conducting Humanist ceremonies

I’m still loving conducting Humanist ceremonies. I love it to my core. Every couple at every Humanist wedding is different. Every family at each naming ceremony or civil confirmation ceremony or Humanist funeral is different. Being with people at such significant times in life is a privilege and honour. It’s wonderful when a ceremony touches the emotions, when there’s laughter and tears.

I do believe the only meaning in life is love. And so when a couple find love it’s appropriate for them to make their vows to one another in a personal ceremony which focuses on the human significance of this moment in the life of this couple. No two couples are alike. No two gatherings of guests are the same. Each ceremony is itself a singular moment.

Ritual is important in human life. Ceremonies mark rites of passage; turning points in people’s lives. They are never only about the people directly involved. In a naming ceremony, it takes a village to raise a child; so it’s good to recognize that reality by relatives and friends gathering together to celebrate the wonder of a new human life; and to name that new personality; to celebrate and pause and reflect and be thankful and to share meaning together.

When it comes to weddings, remember that two people are getting married and they alone should decide for themselves the type of ceremony they want. Choosing to do that can be a moment of maturity for the couple: they alone choose. It can sometimes be hard for the parents of a couple to let go. To trust their children. To respect their choice.

 

Humanist Naming Ceremonies

Naming ceremonies are becoming more popular for people who choose not to have their children baptized. Such parents tend to be commendable adults of integrity, conscious as they are that it is more important to teach their children to be authentic and true to themselves than to jump a queue for a school place merely because their child is baptized. And until the Irish people  and an Irish Government changes the discrimination that exists against unbaptized children, these parents should be applauded for their courage, integrity and leadership.

Demand for naming ceremonies is increasing as parents realize that they can formally welcome their child into their families, circles of friends and the wider human community without having to initiate their baby into ill-founded beliefs about deities and gods.

You can read some feedback from a recent baby naming ceremony that I conducted here.

And I’ve started a new Pinterest board on Humanist Naming Ceremonies here.

That’s Humanism: Four animated videos about Humanism narrated by Stephen Fry

The British Humanist Association has broadcast four excellent and very short videos narrated by Stephen Fry which answer commonly asked questions. You can watch all four here

How do we know what is true?

What should we think about death?

What makes something right or wrong?

How can I be happy?

For more details about Humanism and lots of links to find out more, click here.