Bill Cooke
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Is Julian Assange a hero of humanism?
It’s unlikely we have heard the end of Julian Assange, to some a hero and martyr for a free press, and to others an unprincipled narcissist. Following a lengthy campaign to prevent him being extradited to the United States, Assange agreed in June 2024 to a deal whereby he pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining and […]
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New Zealand’s First Christian
Christians are wont to sentimentalise over Samuel Marsden as New Zealand’s first Christian. Nineteenth-century accounts loved to portray him as the Augustine of South Britain. As Augustine was hailed as the man who brought Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons in 597 CE, so Marsden was mythologised in the same way. This is problematic for two reasons. […]
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Why constitutional monarchy is a good system of government
This article is offered as a reply to the criticisms of monarchy which appeared in the previous issue of The Open Society, one of them by my friend Max Wallace. It will, I hope, be understood as my contribution to the debate among friends and colleagues – one of the key indicators of an open […]
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Book Review: The Little Book of Humanism
Edited by Andrew Copson and Alice Roberts London: Piatkus, 2020 The Little Book of Humanism is a small volume of easy summaries and accessible quotations designed as a genial introduction to humanism. It’s been published under the names of Andrew Copson, the Caesar of English humanism, and Alice Roberts, Professor of Public Engagement in Science […]
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The Story of Rationalist House
Without question, the move from Rationalist House will mark the end of an era. For more than sixty years the Association has been based in this grand Edwardian property on Symonds Street. Prior to that, for more than thirty years, the Rationalist Association was based in offices in downtown Auckland. In its early years it […]
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Ngaire McCarthy: An Appreciation
When Ngaire McCarthy became president of the NZARH in 1998 she was only the third women to hold the post. Mabel Wilson served for a year in 1960-61 and Blanche Winn served two years between 1981 and 1983. But in one other respect Ngaire broke entirely new ground because she was the first Māori to […]
