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English logo of the association.
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| Abbreviation | (in English) FAS (in German) FVS (in French and Italian) ASLP |
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| Formation | 1908 |
| Purpose | To promote freethought and humanism |
| Headquarters | Bern |
Region | Switzerland |
Official language | German, French and Italian |
President | Andreas Kyriacou |
| Website | www |
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.
With the introduction of cantonal church taxes in the 1870s, anti-clericals began to organise themselves. Around 1870, a "freethinkers club" was founded in 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.[1]
The Deutschschweizer Freidenker-Vereinigung ("German Swiss Freethinkers Association") was founded in 1908, merged with freethought groups in the Francophone region of Romandy and the Italian-speaking Canton of Ticino, and forged close ties to the freethought movement in Germany (see German Freethinkers League). In the beginning, the association grew rapidly; the First World War caused the growth to stagnate, however. During the Interwar Period, a new upswing followed until the Great Depression and Second World War 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, and would thereby threaten religious peace. The attack, in the form of a motion, was adopted as a bill 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.
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, Raif Badawi and Waleed Abulkhair for their brave efforts for humanist and secular values in Saudi Arabia. The Freethinker Prize is financed via a bequest, and will be awarded every other year in the future.[2]
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Philosophy
Religion
