The Freethinkers Association of Switzerland (FAS) is a
Swiss nonprofit organisation for
freethought. It is the result of the merger of several late 19th century and early 20th century local freethinkers associations throughout Switzerland into a national society, currently headquartered in
Bern.
History
With the introduction of cantonal
church tax
A church tax is a tax collected by the state from members of some religious denominations to provide financial support of churches, such as the salaries of its clergy and to pay the operating cost of the church.
The constitution of a number o ...
es in the 1870s,
anti-clericals began to organise themselves. Around 1870, a "freethinkers club" was founded in
Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
. During the debate on the Zürich church law in 1883, professor Friedrich Salomon Vögelin and city council member Kunz proposed to
separate church and state.
The Deutschschweizer Freidenker-Vereinigung ("
German Swiss Freethinkers Association") was founded in 1908, merged with freethought groups in the Francophone region of
Romandy
Romandy (french: Romandie or )Before World War I, the term French Switzerland (french: Suisse française) waalso used german: Romandie or , it, Romandia, rm, Romanda) is the French-speaking part of western Switzerland. In 2020, about 2 milli ...
and the Italian-speaking
Canton of Ticino, and forged close ties to the freethought movement in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(see
German Freethinkers League
The German Freethinkers League ('Deutscher Freidenkerbund') was an organization founded in the late 19th century by German freethinkers and atheists with the main goal to oppose the power of the state churches in Germany. Its aim was to provide a ...
). In the beginning, the association grew rapidly; the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
caused the growth to stagnate, however. During the
Interwar Period, a new upswing followed until the
Great Depression and
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
brought new setbacks.
In 1933,
National Councillor Hans Müller launched an attack on the freethinkers as a movement that actively fought against the
Christian faith
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popul ...
, and would thereby threaten religious peace. The attack, in the form of a
motion
In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...
, was adopted as a
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
by the National Council on 22 June 1933 with 70 against 47 votes, but subsequently defeated in the
Federal Council. Important Swiss freethinkers were pedagogue Ernst Brauchlin, businessman Otto Kunz and writer Jakob Stebler; socialist intellectual Konrad Farner was connected to the association. In 2011, the Freethinkers Association of Switzerland had about 1800 members.
Freethinker Prize
On 9 October 2015, the Swiss Freethinkers awarded the Freethinker Prize of 10,000
Swiss francs for the first time. It was bestowed upon
Ensaf Haidar
Ensaf Haidar ( ar, إنصاف حيدر; born 1975) is a Saudi-Canadian human rights activist. Born in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, Haidar is the wife of Raif Badawi, a Saudi writer, dissident and activist who was sentenced to ten years in prison and ...
,
Raif Badawi
Raif bin Muhammad Badawi ( ar, رائف بن محمد بدوي, also transcribed Raef bin Mohammed Badawi; born 13 January 1984) is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, as well as the creator of the website ''Free Saudi Liberals''.
Badawi wa ...
and
Waleed Abulkhair for their brave efforts for humanist and secular values in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. The Freethinker Prize is financed via a
bequest
A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably.
The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...
, and will be awarded every other year in the future.
Publications
Magazines
* ''frei denken.'' (German, "free thinking."). Quarterly magazine since 2010, successor of
**''Der Schweizer Freidenker. Organ der Freidenker der deutschen Schweiz'' ("The Swiss Freethinker. Organ of German Switzerland's Freethinkers", 1918–21);
**''Geistesfreiheit: Organ der Freigeistigen Vereinigung der Schweiz'' ("Freedom of Thought: Organ of the Freethought Association of Switzerland", 1922–26);
**''Freidenker. Organ der Freigeistigen Vereinigung der Schweiz'' ("Freethinker. Organ of the Freethought Association of Switzerland", 1927–52);
**''Befreiung: Zeitschrift für kritisches Denken. Monatsschrift, hrsg. von der Freigeistigen Vereinigung der Schweiz und dem Deutschen Monistenbund'' ("Liberation: Magazine for Critical Thinking. Monthly magazine, published by the Freethought Association of Switzerland and the German Monist League", 1953–55); and
**''Freidenker. Monatsschrift der Freidenker-Vereinigung der Schweiz'' ("Freethinker. Monthly magazine of the Freethinkers Association of Switzerland", 1956–2010).
* ''Le libre penseur.'' (French, "The Free Thinker"). Quarterly magazine 1974–present (ISSN 0256-8985).
* ''Libero pensiero.'' (Italian, "Freethought"). Quarterly magazine 1982–1995, 2009–present.
Books
* Leo Heinrich Skrbensky. ''Die Kirche segnet den Eidbrüch: Das Vorspiel zur geistigen Verknechtung Oesterreichs.'' Freigeistige Vereinigung der Schweiz, 1935.
* Ernst Brauchlin. ''13 Gespräche mit einem Freidenker.'' Freigeistige Vereinigung der Schweiz, 1953.
* Ernst Brauchlin. ''Gott sprach zu sich selber.'' Freigeistige Vereinigung der Schweiz, 1959.
Articles
* ''Erklärung der freigeistigen Vereinigung der Schweiz.'' In: Zofinger Tagblatt, 17. Oktober 1963.
Literature
* W. Baumgartner: ''Freidenkertum gestern und heute.'' 1983
* Robert Barth: ''Freidenker – Monisten – Gottlose.'' In: ''Theologische Zeitschrift.'' 41, 1985, S. 412–433.
* Georg Schmid, Oswald Eggenberger: ''Kirchen, Sekten, Religionen. Religiöse Gemeinschaften, weltanschauliche Gruppierungen und Psycho-Organisationen im deutschen Sprachraum: ein Handbuch.'' Theologischer Verlag Zürich (TVZ), Zürich 2003, S. 466.
References
External links
*
*
Catalogue of the Freethinkers Association of Switzerland, Lucerne groupin the
Swiss Social Archives
Complete historical publication of the member magazine digitalised by the
Swiss National Library
The Swiss National Library (german: Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek, french: Bibliothèque nationale suisse, it, Biblioteca nazionale svizzera, rm, Biblioteca naziunala svizra) is the national library of Switzerland. Part of the Federal Office ...
{{Portal bar, Switzerland, Philosophy, Religion
Freethought organizations
Human rights organisations based in Switzerland
Organisations based in Bern
1908 establishments in Switzerland