If you are one of the 14% of Americans (about 40 million) who consider them selves to be non-religious or one of the millions more who consider themselves religious but do not attend church because they do not accept the rigid absolutist dogma of most religions, best described as believers in exile, Humanism may be for you.

Humanism offers the best way to lead a good life without religion. What is Humanism? Humanism is a philosophical world view based on naturalism as opposed to super naturalism. It is based on the belief that this world, including us humans, operates in accordance with the immutable laws of nature. Like most liberal and moderate religions, it is based on love and compassion for all human beings no matter their race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. We believe that, ultimately, we humans are responsible for the kind of world that we live in. We believe that it is immoral to wait for an invisible friend in the sky to act for us. It is up to us to bring an end to violence and poverty in this world. We are the only species capable of abstract thought, that is to say that we have the ability to think and therefore to reason which gives us a high degree of freedom in choosing what we do. Only we have the power to bring about change in this world for the better.

We are dedicated to preserving the constitutionally protected wall separating church and state. We disagree with fundamentalists who believe they have the moral high road, that their efforts are above reproach and do not need government oversight. We are not anti religious. To the contrary, we encourage all to pursue the religion of their choice. All we ask is that you don’t force your religious views on the rest of us through the legislative process. We should be allowed to participate in that legislative process without being branded as unethical atheists who are enemies of civilization.

Humanism is a realistic philosophy for people who think for themselves, a philosophy of reason and science in the pursuit of knowledge. So the choice is yours. Are you a humanist? It doesn’t matter how you answer. Humanism is yours to accept or reject or simply draw from as you see fit. It’s up to you. That’s what humanism is all about.

Gene Rigelon, Coordinator

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