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Comment by Brian Magee on November 19, 2012 at 2:37pm

The Humanist Community Project: AHA-HCH Partnership Announcement

The American Humanist Association (AHA) is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Humanist Community at Harvard (HCH) on a nationwide effort to build and promote communities for the nonreligious.

“The nonreligious population has exploded, even without much local organizing. It’s going to grow even faster and become politically influential once more atheists and freethinkers build strong, humanistic communities,” said Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and director of the HCH, a local chapter of the AHA.

In November 2012, the HCH and the AHA agreed to co-sponsor the Humanist Community Project (HCP): a Cambridge-based initiative to help create, establish, and connect a stronger nationwide network of Humanist communities focused on individual, group, and societal betterment, for the benefit of the secular and freethought movement. The project will support and supplement the AHA’s ongoing efforts to develop successful local chapters, of which it already has more than 150 nationwide. Under the agreement, the AHA will endorse the HCP as its official community development project, providing access to staff and existing Humanist community development research. Since the AHA is not providing direct funding for the HCP, the HCH will spend the rest of 2012 raising additional funds to support research and program development through May 2015.

Read the complete announcement here.

Comment by Brian Magee on November 13, 2012 at 12:17pm

Evolution Made Clear for Kids in "Pepper’s Special Wings"

In order to give parents a fun and effective tool when teaching young children evolution and the science behind it, author Mary Anne Farah has written Pepper’s Special Wings, a children’s ebook that uses the Peppered Moth species, a recent example of natural selection, as its inspiration.

“Children have the right to know the truth about how life evolves and species change,” says Farah. “The well-documented story of how the Peppered Moth species eventually changed due to pollution darkening the plants where they congregated was perfect for a children’s book. The new survival advantage for moths with darker wings is an easy example to explain to children with no need to use words that may not have yet been learned, such as species, population, predation and camouflage.”

The story of Pepper the moth covers more than just evolution, however. While Pepper’s Special Wings relates to small children about how Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory of natural selection works, children will also identify with Pepper’s struggles with the recurring childhood themes of self-esteem, self-image, bullying and being teased.

To read the full press release, click here.

Comment by Brian Magee on November 13, 2012 at 10:08am

On Nov. 13, 2012, the American Humanist Association launched a national ad campaign to promote a new website, KidsWithoutGod.com. This new resource has been created to strengthen and support kids and teenagers who don’t happen to believe in a god. Online display ads will be running throughout the Google network, Youtube, as well as on Cheezburger sites, Pandora, Reddit and Facebook. (Disney, Time for Kids and National Geographic Kids turned down our ads based on content.) The campaign also includes interior and exterior bus ads in Washington, DC and a billboard in Moscow, ID.

The press release with more information can be found here.

Comment by Brian Magee on November 9, 2012 at 11:02am

Stanford’s Atheist Chaplain Launches 150+ Student Community

November 9, 2012

Contact: Chaplain John Figdor (914) 954-3276, jfigdor@stanfordhumanist.org

Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics, at Stanford Finally Given a Voice: New Humanist Chaplain Creates Community for the Faithless

PALO ALTO, Ca - Atheists, Agnostics, and other non-believers at Stanford welcome the addition of a Humanist “Religious Professional” at Stanford. On college campuses like Stanford, non-religious students constitute more than 30% of the University population.^[1]However, unlike religious students who benefit from the community aspect of religion, non-religious students often report feeling “isolated” and wish they had a non-religious Chaplain to talk to about personal problems, questions about the meaning and purpose of life, and questions about life as an Atheist, Humanist, or Agnostic. “If Stanford is going to provide resources such as funding for programs and activities to promote religious life at the university and Chaplains for religious students, then Stanford should provide those resources for Atheist, Humanist, and Agnostic students as well. We launched the Humanist Community at Stanford to remedy this problem, and I am excited to announce that Scotty McLennan, the Dean of Religious Life at Stanford University, has graciously welcomed our representative, John Figdor, the former Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard to be the ‘ir-Religious Professional’ at Stanford,” said Norm Schwartz, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Humanist Community at Stanford.

The organization was founded in July of 2012 to “build, educate, and nurture a diverse community of Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics at Stanford and in Silicon Valley.” The group has already hosted controversial Atheist celebrity Richard Dawkins for a conversation about popularizing science and co-sponsored a candlelight vigil for the Pakistani women's rights advocate, Malala Yusafzai, in addition to numerous dinners, pub nights, conversation meetings, and film screenings. Humanist Chaplain John Figdor concurred, commenting, “I am very thankful to Dean Scotty McLennan and the Religious Life team at Stanford for being welcoming me to Stanford to represent the non-religious perspective among Stanford’s Religious Professionals.”

For more information, please visit our website at www.stanfordhumanist.org and our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/stanfordhumanist.

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^[1] http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com/origin/gallupinc/GallupSpaces/P...

Comment by Brian Magee on November 7, 2012 at 2:52pm

The American Humanist Association has been proud to work with 2008 Humanist of the Year Rep. Pete Stark on issues such as the Darwin Day Resolution in 2011 and the National Day of Reason Proclamation in 2012. Thank you, Rep. Stark!

Comment by Brian Magee on November 7, 2012 at 8:51am

Newly Elected Congress Told: Don't Join Prayer Caucus

(Washington, DC – Nov. 7, 2012) – The winners in yesterday’s U.S. House races are being asked by non-religious Americans to keep their distance from the Congressional Prayer Caucus.

In a letter sent today by the American Humanist Association (AHA) to all members-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives, the AHA is asking them “not to join the Congressional Prayer Caucus and to actively work to ensure that the wall of separation between church and state is strengthened and maintained.”

“Members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus have repeatedly introduced and supported legislation that many secular Americans feel is unconstitutional and often favors Christianity above all other religions,” said American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt.

The Congressional Prayer Caucus was founded in 2005 by Representative J. Randy Forbes (VA) to “preserve the presence of religion, faith, and morality in the marketplace of ideas.” According to the Congressional Prayer Caucus website, current issues for the Caucus include “supporting the freedom of school boards to open meetings with prayer,” “urging the President to preserve religious hiring rights,” and “affirming America’s rich spiritual heritage.”

Members of the Prayer Caucus have supported legislation such as H.Con.Res.121, which called on the President to designate 2010 as “The National Year of the Bible” and “acknowledge the importance of the Bible in American society.” Prayer Caucus members have also signed on to amicus curiae briefs in court cases in support of Christian crosses on public land.  

“Incoming House members should know that approximately one in five of their constituents are not religiously affiliated, and even more insist on maintaining the wall of separation between church and state,” Speckhardt continued. “Secular Americans are ready to work with all members of the 113^th Congress, regardless of their personal beliefs, if they agree on this basic constitutional principle.”

The letter can be found online here: http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/63/a7/3/3494/CPC_Let...

Comment by Brian Magee on October 26, 2012 at 12:43pm

“Under God” Pledge Case to be Reviewed by Massachusetts Supreme Jud...

(Washington, DC, Oct. 26, 2012) —The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has agreed to hear the appeal from a humanist family challenging a state law that requires daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in public schools. The plaintiffs claim daily classroom affirmation that the nation is “under God” violates state constitutional prohibitions against religious discrimination.

The plaintiffs brought the case through the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center. The SJC on Thursday approved the petition for direct appellate review of the case, which means a lower court will not have to first consider the appeal.

“Public schools are defining patriotism and loyalty on a daily basis by exalting one religious group and stigmatizing humanists and other non-theists. Of course that’s discrimination,” said American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt. “We feel confident that a fair hearing will result in a finding that the state law requiring this discriminatory practice violates the state’s equal rights amendment.”

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of three public school students and their parents, was filed in November 2010 and is the first of its kind seeking equal rights for atheists and humanists based on equal protection guarantees in the state constitution instead of traditional First Amendment Establishment Clause arguments.

Massachusetts law requires public school teachers to begin each day with a classroom recitation of the Pledge. The suit claims that daily affirmation that the nation is “under God” in the context of an exercise designed to promote national loyalty “directly contradicts the religious beliefs and principles of the plaintiffs” and effectively defines patriotism in terms of God-belief, thereby marginalizing plaintiffs and contributing to existing prejudices against nonbelievers.

A lower court ruled against the plaintiffs in June, and the plaintiffs appealed. With the SJC granting direct appellate review, the case will now be decided by the state’s highest court.

Religious interest groups have intervened in the case to defend the daily “under God” recitation. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represents the Knights of Columbus and a family that supports the “under God” wording.

The phrase “under God” was inserted into the Pledge in 1954 during the post-WWII Red Scare, a moment in time when partisan forces exploited the fear many Americans had of communism, using that fear to promote religion in public life and to vilify atheists and other nonbelievers. The original Pledge was written in 1892, with a later version—still without “under God”—not adopted by the U.S. Congress until 1942.

The case is Doe v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District.

Comment by Brian Magee on October 25, 2012 at 4:42pm

Long before Ted Turner said that he no longer considers himself atheist or agnostic (2008), he won the AHA's Humanist of the Year award, where he told the audience "the more I lost [faith], the better I felt" and that arguing with fundamentalists is like "arguing with a wall."

Turner was introduced by former AHA board member Lloyd Morain. Turner's speech begins at about 6:37.

Listen here: http://www.americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2012-10-from-the-aha-ar...

Comment by Brian Magee on October 21, 2012 at 9:38pm

Humanists Mourn Death of Paul Kurtz, Humanist Philosopher and Advocate

(Washington, DC – Oct. 21, 2012) – Humanists and atheists are mourning the death of humanist Dr. Paul Kurtz, former editor of the American Humanist Association’s Humanist magazine and founder of the Council for Secular Humanism, who died on Oct. 21, 2012 at the age of 86. His death means the loss of one of secular humanism’s most prominent advocates.

“Paul Kurtz worked tirelessly for decades to see secular humanism become accepted as an alternative philosophy to traditional religion,” said Roy Speckhardt, the executive director of the American Humanist Association. “The attention and guidance he gave to the humanist movement had an unmistakable global impact.”

Paul Kurtz served on the American Humanist Association Board of Directors from 1968-1981 and as editor of Humanist magazine from 1967-1978 before establishing the Council for Secular Humanism.

In 1973 he worked with Edwin H. Wilson and the American Humanist Association to create the draft of what would become the Humanist Manifesto II (an updated Humanist Manifesto III was adopted in 2003).

“Humanism has been shaped by many people since the beginning of the 20th century, and Paul Kurtz was one of the greatest contributors to the development of our nontheistic philosophy,” Speckhardt said.

Kurtz published over 800 articles and authored more than 40 books, many of which have been translated into scores of languages.

In his most recent major statement, Kurtz declared that “our planetary community is facing serious problems that can only be solved by cooperative global action.” In Neo-Humanism Statement of Secular Principles and Values: Personal, Progressive, and Planetary, published in 2010, Kurtz offered 16 detailed recommendations for a humanistic world.

“These are the vital principles and values that a secular, personal, progressive, and planetary humanism proposes for humanity,” Kurtz wrote about his statement. “Today the campaign for equal rights and for a better life for everyone knows no boundaries. This is a common goal for the people of the world, worthy of our highest aspirations.”

In 2007 the American Humanist Association presented Kurtz with the Humanist Lifetime Achievement Award. During his acceptance speech, he stated, “I am a secular humanist because I am not religious. I draw my inspiration not from religion or spirituality, but from science, ethics, philosophy, and the arts.”

After leaving the Center for Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism, Kurtz established the Institute for Science and Human Values in 2010, a humanist think tank based in Tampa, Fl.

Kurtz was born on Dec. 21, 1925 in Newark, New Jersey. He received his BA from New York University in 1948. Columbia University was next, where in 1949 he earned his MA and his Ph.D. in philosophy was awarded in 1952.

Kurtz later became Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo. That post followed time teaching at Vassar, Trinity, and Union colleges, as well as the New School for Social Research.

Comment by Brian Magee on October 19, 2012 at 11:34am

Writer, activist, and feminist Gloria Steinem is the subject of the cover story of the latest Humanist magazine from the AHA.

Steinem was named the 2012 Humanist of the Year by the AHA and was presented with the award at the AHA’s 71st annual conference in New Orleans, LA, on June 8, 2012. The article is adapted from her acceptance speech.

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