1. FRIENDSHIP HUMANISM - KS3 The aims of this presentation are:
to explore the concept of friendship and its relation to tolerance, and
to examine some of the reasons why many humanists amongst others believe that friendship should extend beyond the barriers of religious, political and other affiliations.

2. What are the limits of friendship?
The Big Question
What are the limits of friendship?
Image:
Show the students this slide and ask them if they know when International Friendship Day is. [The first Sunday of August each year.]
Ask them to complete this sentence: ‘Friendship is…’
Give them a few minutes and then gather a few suggestions.

3. Everyone is sure that they are right
Show this slide of stereotypical religious people and ask the students for their reflections: is this a fair depiction of Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus? What about non-religious people?
What happens when everyone feels they have the ‘Truth’ and everyone else is at least a bit wrong?
Can they think of examples in everyday life where two or more people think they are right and everyone else is wrong?
Ask the students to talk in pairs or threes about friendship: Can people still be friends, even if they disagree? How might this be possible?
Get some suggestions from the groups and point out the principle of respectful disagreement: what might this mean? And what might the limits of such tolerance be?
Explain, e.g., that it might be important to be tolerant of people’s special wishes for religious reasons, for example special food needs and special forms of dress. But what if religious or other practices cause harm to other people? Can they think of any examples? It can be difficult to know where to draw the line.
Point out that, for humanists in particular, JS Mill’s ‘harm’ principle is important to remember: “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”

4. Religious & Political Differences
Point out that the world has many religions and political philosophies and that these are at the heart of many of the world’s conflicts. At the same time, many people with such convictions are working to resolve those conflicts, to help those who suffer as a result of them, and to build more peaceful and harmonious communities.
Click the picture and play the film: ‘The Future of World Religion’:
Point out that there are reservations about the statistics near the end of the film: there are many unknown variables that could change what happens to religions. As the world becomes much more of a ‘global village’, for example, will Islam continue to grow as predicted?
Ask students for their reactions to the film: does it make them more or less hopeful about the future of the world?
What are the main obstacles, do they think, to making the world a friendlier place?

5. Turning the World Upside Down
Show this slide to the students and ask them to say whether they think this ‘upside-down’ world map makes them think of things differently in any way?
In the map we are used to, Britain is in the middle – do they know why this is? [Point out our imperial past if necessary!]
Where is Britain in this map? What might this map say about Britain’s place in the world?
Ask for the students thoughts on such questions as:
Does Britain need friends?
Where might our best friends come from?
Do our ‘friends’ need to come from certain countries, or from anywhere? Why / why not?
In what ways do ‘friends’ need to be ‘like us’?

6. Back to basics
Aristotle: There are three reasons for having friends: utility, pleasure, and the virtuous friendship (which is one without need of the other benefits).
Show this slide and ask the students to say what they think the benefits of friendship are?
Point out that psychologists list lots of benefits. According to one website:
‘Having close friends can sharpen your mind, help develop your social skills, encourage you to get to know and understand yourself better, inspire you to reach your goals, further your career, lead to potential new friends or romantic interests and even help you live a longer life.
Furthermore, you will also be less likely to experience mental illnesses such as chronic stress or depression, due to the fact the support of a friend can help you deal with a wide range of negative or difficult situations.’ [
Click on to Aristotle’s reasons for having friends and note that the ‘virtuous friendship’ is one that you might have without hoping for any personal ‘benefits’. Ask the students for their views on this: Are friends only there for our own benefit?
And what happens when friendships end?
The results can be devastating. Sometimes friends die…
But sometimes, a person’s behaviour leads to the end of a friendship. Ask for students’ reflections on the limits of friendship: are there some things that cannot / should not be tolerated? How do they cope when friendships end?

7. Beyond belief…
Ask the students to look carefully at this picture and suggest what may be happening.
According to the website from which this image was taken [ ‘See that Star of David?  That’s an Israeli medic who is clearly Jewish because of his yarmulke.  Those people in the army uniforms?  Israeli soldiers.  See those crescents?  Those are Palestinian-Muslim medics.  Both are working together to save the life of a young Palestinian boy who was hit by a car.’ According to the Israeli army, cooperation like this happens every day.
Humanists might say that this is the sort of positive co-operation that can take place when people’s different religions, political views, ethnicities and other differences are put to one side in the interests of humanity. Or is this ‘true religion’?
What do students think?

8. What are the limits of friendship?
Explain that the Member States of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, meeting in Paris at the twenty-eighth session of the General Conference, from 25 October to 16 November 1995, made a declaration on tolerance.
Provide the students with copies of the following UNESCO statement:
‘Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication, and freedom of thought, conscience and belief. Tolerance is harmony in difference. It is not only a moral duty, it is also a political and legal requirement. Tolerance, the virtue that makes peace possible, contributes to the replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace.  Consistent with respect for human rights, the practice of tolerance does not mean toleration of social injustice or the abandonment or weakening of one's convictions. It means that one is free to adhere to one's own convictions and accepts that others adhere to theirs. It means accepting the fact that human beings, naturally diverse in their appearance, situation, speech, behaviour and values, have the right to live in peace and to be as they are. It also means that one’s views are not to be imposed on others.’
Humanists and religious people alike have signed up to this declaration, though humanists might point out that it is essentially a secular statement that goes beyond traditional religious and cultural boundaries.
Return to the Big Question, What are the limits of friendship?, and ask the students how far the UNESCO statement about tolerance sums up what is important in friendships, both on the personal and on the global, level? What aspects of the statement apply best to individual friendships? What are the things that good friendships need, beyond tolerance?
Learning Outcomes: Students:
ask important questions about social issues and suggest what might happen depending on different moral choices;
explain why some people are inspired to follow a particular religious or philosophical path.