NZARH Office Admin
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Recovering from Religion – in person peer support group
We’ve recently made a great connection with the New Zealand branch of Recovering from Religion. Jae, the NZ representative, spoke at our October Auckland branch meeting, introducing us to the organisation and the excellent work that they do. We’re starting a regular in-person peer support group meeting for Recovering from Religion at Rationalist House. To […]
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HELP, Ammaye and Blasphemy Killing in Niger State
By Leo Igwe (Republished from Modern Ghana, Sunday 26th October 2025) The Humanist Enabling Life Project (HELP) has worked with the office of the National Human Rights Commission to support the son of a woman, Ammaye. Ammaye was accused and subsequently killed for blasphemy in Niger state in August. In his report, the state coordinator, […]
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Your own Personal (AI) Jesus: The Pot Calling the Kettle Black
Mark Honeychurch A recent article, written by Anné Verhoef and published on The Conversation, attempted to analyse five popular Large Language Models that have been trained to emulate Jesus. These LLMs are marketed to Christians as a tool to help them in their daily lives, and although some of them require accounts to be able […]
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Our call for action to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza
25 August 2025 Tēnā koutou Minister Peters, Call for action to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza We are writing to add our voice to calls for the New Zealand government to take action to help bring about an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists (NZARH) […]
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Distinguished Services to Humanism
We’re delighted to share that at the 2025 General Assembly on Sunday July 6th, Gaylene Middleton was awarded the Distinguished Services to Humanism 2024 Award, an honor presented to three exceptional individuals for their outstanding contributions to Humanism globally: Gaylene Middleton (New Zealand): For her pivotal role in connecting New Zealand’s humanist networks to global […]
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The Tragedy of Blasphemy Law
In Nigeria and Pakistan, the excesses of rigid application of blasphemy law are destroying the lives of ordinary citizens. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has released a report this month, July 2025, providing an update on freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria. Twelve state governments and the federal government of Nigeria […]
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Cult Leavers’ Support Group Auckland
We’ve started our new peer support group for leavers of cults or high control groups! With a maximum of 10 participants in each series, we’ll be running a new series several times each year. Please share this information with anyone you think might be interested in joining our next series. Our contact for more information […]
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The World Through My Eyes: An Anthology About End of Life, by Joan McCarthy
Book Review by Sara Passmore Joan died on 12th August 2024 at the Pegasos Swiss Association, a Voluntary Assisted Dying organisation based in Basel, Switzerland. Before she died she was a regular attendee of a local Death Cafe (a meetup group to discuss death and eat cake). It was at the suggestion of the group […]
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Humanism in New Zealand
Sara Passmore – President of the NZARH and Humanist Society of New Zealand In October 2024, at a Special General Meeting of the Humanist Society of New Zealand, members of the Society decided to formally wind up and instead operate as the Wellington branch of the NZARH. The decision for the HSNZ to wind up […]
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New to our Library
The Truth about Demons by C. A. Gilchrist Book Review This book is an autobiography from a boy who spent part of his childhood growing up in the apocalyptic cult of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) in the 1970s. He starts life in a seemingly normal suburban family, but with a mother who is obsessed with […]
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Non-religious Pastoral Care Project
We’ve been developing a project to provide pastoral care in hospitals and prisons in New Zealand, for people who are not religious. Our current working group is: Sara Passmore, John Warren, and Peter Edmead. Currently, all chaplaincy in hospitals funded by Te Whatu Ora is delivered by Christian organisations, and fails to meet the […]
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Sign up on our new membership system
We’re sure you’ll love our new online membership system – if/when your membership has lapsed, please sign up via our website at: /membership/ Once you’ve completed the process, you’ll receive automated emails to update your membership as it becomes due, with an option for your membership to renew automatically. Thank you – we really appreciate […]
