The mission of the American Humanist Association is to
be a clear, democratic voice for Humanism in the United
States, to increase public awareness and acceptance of
Humanism, to establish, protect and promote the position
of Humanists in our society, and to develop and advance
Humanist thought and action. Humanist activism,
activism, humanist, humanism, issues, local, national,
international, non-religious, secular, American humanist
association, aha, the humanist, humanist magazine,
humanism magazine, humanism, humanists, freethinker,
reason, liberal, perspective, philosophy, humanistic,
experience, rational, separation of church and state,
government, religion, euthanasia, vouchers, school
prayer, evolution, moral, ethics, edwords, doerr,
positive outlook, skeptic, skeptical, ethical,
progressive, liberal, values, atheist, atheists,
atheism, agnostic, agnosticism, bright, gay rights,
homosexual rights, glbt, feminism, feminist, godless,
iheu, aeu, social justice, equality, peace.
American Humanist Association (AHA)
1777 T Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
t 202-238-9088
www.americanhumanist.org
About Humanism
Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies
that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based
on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing
to universal human qualities, particularly rationality.
It is a component of a variety of more specific
philosophical systems and is incorporated into several
religious schools of thought. Humanism can be considered
the process by which truth and morality is sought
through human investigation. In focusing on the capacity
for self-determination, humanism rejects the validity of
transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on
belief without reason, the supernatural, or texts of
allegedly divine origin. Humanists endorse universal
morality based on the commonality of the human
condition, suggesting that solutions to human social and
cultural problems cannot be parochial.
Humanism clearly rejects
deference to supernatural beliefs in resolving human
affairs but not necessarily the beliefs themselves;
indeed some strains of Humanism are compatible with some
religions. It is generally compatible with atheism and
agnosticism but doesn't require either of these. The
word "agnostic" (American) or "indifferentist" (British,
including OED) are sometimes applied to Humanism, on the
grounds that Humanism is an ethical process, not a dogma
about the existence or otherwise of gods; Humanists
simply have no need to be concerned with such questions.
Agnosticism or atheism on their own do not necessarily
entail Humanism; many different and sometimes
incompatible philosophies happen to be atheistic in
nature. There is no one ideology or set of behaviors to
which all atheists adhere, and not all are humanistic.
As Humanism encompasses intellectual currents running
through a wide variety of philosophical and religious
thought, several strains of Humanism allow it to
fulfill, supplement or supplant the role of religions,
and in particular, to be embraced as a complete life
stance. For more on this, see Humanism (life stance). In
a number of countries, for the purpose of laws that give
rights to "religions", the secular life stance has
become legally recognized as equivalent to a "religion"
for this purpose.[6] In the United States, the Supreme
Court recognized that Humanism is equivalent to a
religion in the limited sense of authorizing Humanists
to conduct ceremonies commonly carried out by officers
of religious bodies. The relevant passage is in a
footnote to Torcaso v. Watkins (1961). It is often
alleged by fundamentalist critics of Humanism that the
Supreme Court "declared Humanism to be a religion,"
however the Court's statement, a mere footnote at most,
clearly does not in fact do so; it simply asserts an
equivalency of Humanists' right to act in ways usual to
a religion, such as ceremonial recognition of life's
landmarks.Renaissance humanism, and its emphasis on returning to
the sources, contributed to the Protestant reformation
by helping to gain what Protestants believe was a more
accurate translation of Biblical texts.
