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Mel Lipman
President, The American Humanist Association, Washington DC
addressing The Humanist Fellowship of San Diego
February 11, 2007
This month marks the 25th year since the founding of this Fellowship with Jack Sanders as its first elected president. How many of you know what you were doing in 1982? That was the year the Dow Jones average surged to an all-time high of 1,065. And peace was finally achieved in the Mid-East when Israel and Egypt signed a treaty and Israel withdrew from the Sinai. In 1982 Communism was still the greatest threat to our country and that year the Academy Award for best film was not given to the movie, "Reds", but it went to the evangelically themed movie, "Chariots of Fire". The AHA gave its first Humanist Heroine Award in 1982 to Sonia Johnson who wrote about her defection from Mormonism. In that year Barney Clark got the first heart transplant and amazed everyone by living with the artificial heart for 112 days. Time magazine's man of the year was awarded for the first time to a non-human--the computer. The Internet barely existed and SONY launched its first CD player.
Humans have made much progress in the past 25 years. But has Humanism matched that progress---and where will Humanism be in the year 2032? As former Vice-President Dan Quayle put it, "It's very hard to predict, especially about the future."
I'm not a psychic and I can't foretell the future. But I am a historian and I can try to give my opinion of the future based on my observations of the past and the present.
Let me first describe what a Humanist is.
The first sentence in Humanist Manifesto III provides a succinct description of Humanism. That sentence says, “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity".
Two words in that sentence distinguish us from other social-minded philosophies. Those words are “without supernaturalism”. Humanism does not rely on or accept any supernatural interpretations of reality.
So…what does that mean in our culture today? Well, we know we live in a “supernatural” culture. One in which “believing” has become more important than that in which you believe. One in which clergy and parishioners alike claim personal “knowledge” of the unknown. The Humanist view questions and wonders how one can “know” the unknown.
The Humanist view does not include revelations interpreted according to the aims and whims of a chosen few---an authoritarian clergy---that allows religious and political dogmas to trump reason and science…that makes it acceptable for our president to veto effective stem cell research; that makes it acceptable for this country to refuse to distribute condoms to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa; that makes it acceptable for school board members to consider changing teaching standards by labeling as “controversial” such scientific facts as evolution, global warming, and stem cell research. Reason and science are not trumped by the Humanist view.
In the Humanist view, reason would dominate the public square, and science would be respected in public policy and debate.
We are seeing massive scientific, technical and social changes and Humanism is the only lifestance that allows us the flexibility to adapt readily to these overwhelming changes. Humanistic use of these new technologies must prevail so that we don't allow disastrous results from scientific advances--results such as ecological damage or nuclear annihilation.
Humanists owe it to the next generation to guarantee that there is increasing access to the rational alternatives.
As former AHA President Ed Doerr said, "Let passion fill your sails, but let reason be your rudder".
So, how can we get to where we want to be in the next 25 years?
Various polls indicate that there are between 10-30 million people in the U.S. who do not believe in a supernatural God. I assume most of them are also Humanists.
But secret Humanists do not advance the cause of the Humanist movement.
The AHA is the largest membership Humanist organization in the U.S. At the end of 2002 our membership was at a record high. Since then we have more than doubled our membership and we still have only 8,000 members after being in existence over 60 years.
8,000 out of a possible 15 million.
That may sound like there would be a pretty dismal prognosis for Humanism in the next 25 years. On the contrary, we can look ahead for growth as we never before could imagine.
After many years of Humanism being little more than a philosophical concept, it has broken out in the past five years to a recognized expression of a lifestyle. In addition to growth in Humanist membership organizations, we are seeing Humanist publications reaching best seller lists and being publicly discussed. Authors such as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett (who was AHA's Humanist of the Year two years ago) are appearing regularly on mainstream television shows to discuss their philosophy.
Although non-supernaturalists remain the only minority group against whom it is still not politically incorrect to discriminate, we are making progress.
I believe more and more elected officials will acknowledge their Humanist beliefs and Humanism in 25 years will be as accepted as are traditional religions today.
I believe the future of Humanism “ain't what it used to be.”
With the unprecedented growth we are seeing in this age of information, many changes are occurring in the public mind-set. Humanists can no longer have the luxury of talking to ourselves. We can no longer afford to engage in purely intellectual discussions. The Humanist alternative to traditional beliefs must be vigorously promoted. We need an effective publicity campaign. A campaign that will reach out to others not only intellectually, but also emotionally, sentimentally and even physically.
Unlike 25 years ago, today every Humanist, Atheist, or Freethought group should have a significant portion of its budget devoted to promotion.
AHA's efforts to raise the profile of Humanism are rapidly increasing - We have already had radio advertisements on Air America promoting Humanism as a positive lifestance and we ran a series of print ads promoting Humanist values in various progressive magazines.
The attitude at AHA has changed from private philosophizing to public advocacy.
This year we are embarking on what we call our "Humanist Identity Project" - an aggressive yet positive campaign to mobilize members to identify as Humanists in their private lives.
We are reaching out to the younger generation of Humanists by further developing our Internet outreach through podcasting and social networking websites such as MySpace and YouTube. And we are providing free AHA membership for all new college graduates.
We already have a video clip being broadcast on YouTube so, for those who know what I'm talking about, check it out.
Rather than simply carrying the torch for Humanism, we are trying to re-kindle the torch so it can be carried by future generations.
We need to be aggressive in promoting our lifestance. Are others not going to like us if we assert our Humanism? Are others not going to vote for us because we are Humanists? As Fred Edwords said, "We have nothing to lose but our minority status".
Until about 25 years ago it was sufficient to keep beliefs or non-beliefs to ourselves. It was nobody’s business what we believed. But times have changed and today we are in a position where it is essential that we assert our Humanist values.
Timothy LaHaye, author of the Christian fundamentalist “Left Behind” series, said on Jerry Falwell’s talk show, “We’re in a religious war and we need to aggressively oppose secular humanism; these people are as religiously motivated as we are and they are filled with the devil”.
Karl Rove, Bush’s chief political strategist, at a meeting of the theocratic Family Research Council last year (3/1/06), spoke about the war on secular society saying, “we need to find ways to win the war”.
Another Bush administration advisor, Paul Weyrich, said, “The real enemy is the secular humanist mindset which seeks to destroy everything that is good in this society”.
In 2003, speaking to the Christian Coalition, Alabama governor Bob Riley spoke about a more important war than the one in Iraq. He said the War against secular humanists is “a war for the absolute soul of this country”. He called for a crusade to restore the Christian character of America.
And in 2005, after a close senate vote to approve her nomination to the federal court of appeals, California justice Janice Rogers Brown said that people of faith were in a “War” against secular humanists who threatened to divorce America from its religious roots." Brown complained that America has moved away from the religious traditions on which it is founded.
In a January 1992 speech to the National Religious Broadcasters, Bush (the first) declared, "You cannot be America's president without a belief in God or a belief in prayer".
Ten years later, in June, 2002, when responding to the 9th Circuit’s courageous decision concerning the pledge of allegiance, President Bush II said, “I will only appoint judges who know our rights come from God”
Article VI of the United States Constitution specifically prohibits the use of religious tests for any public office – but I guess the Bush family can legitimately claim complete ignorance of the Constitution as an excuse.
In 25 years the Christian right has gone from their self described “silent majority” to the “moral majority” and today to the “embattled Christians”.
Singer and songwriter Holly Near said it quite well in her song called “I Aint Afraid”.
She sings,
I ain’t afraid of your Yahweh
I ain’t afraid of your Allah
I ain’t afraid of your Jesus
I’m afraid of what you do in the name of your God.
The attempt to completely break down the wall of separation between religion and government has made anti-Humanist discrimination fashionable, with Humanists being depicted as without values and less than patriotic.
A University of Minnesota study, released in 2005, concluded that acceptance of religious diversity doesn’t extend to those who don’t believe in a god. When 2000 households were sampled and asked which minority group shared their vision of American society Atheists and secular Humanists were ranked below every other minority group.
We were associated with all kinds of immorality and criminality! Though today, we are small in numbers and unorganized as a group, we are seen as a major threat to the American way of life
Of the total US population of about 300 million, it is estimated that 10-30 percent not only do not identify with a religion, but also do not believe in any gods. A conservative estimate of godless Americans is about 15 million. That’s more than the Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims in the United States combined.
But if those 15 million remain in their closets, we have no voice. We need to raise the level of awareness and acceptance of non-supernaturalists. We need to make the public aware that we don’t have horns and that we can be nice, kind and ethical people.
We Humanists tend to live our lives separate from our Humanist identity while others literally wear their identification on their sleeve—or around their neck – or on the bumpers of their cars. How many family, friends, associates, acquaintances, or co-workers know of your Humanism? That could be the reason we think we’re so few; we simply don’t know each other. If we are to be known and to have a positive influence on our culture—and I shouldn’t have to explain the need for that---we must identify ourselves.
For too long we’ve allowed our nation’s leaders to ignore, even actively oppose, the interests of Humanists. We are a growing constituency with a right to the same respectful attention legislators give to other citizens, and now—with one voice—we will insist that it be delivered.
If Humanists are open about their beliefs, we can be a strong and powerful minority. But if we choose to remain in our closets we will soon find that closet door sealed shut so that we cannot get out.
So we’ve 'come out.” What now? How can we be most effective? Well first, by supporting our national non-theist organizations so that we can speak as an organized block. There are enough national organizations to suit everyone’s tastes. I proudly belong to every one of the major national organizations.
And next, by getting our national organizations to cooperate with each other. The Christian Coalition did it while each member organization maintained its identity. Why can’t our organizations do it?
Two years ago five national organizations combined their efforts and formed the Secular Coalition for America. Three other organizations have since joined the Coalition. By combining our efforts, the Coalition now has the first lobbyist in Washington, DC whose lobbying efforts are devoted exclusively to protecting the rights of non-supernaturalists.
The AHA has provided office space for the lobbyist and her staff of one. Our lobbyist has already had receptive audiences from many members of congress, including Senate majority leader Reid and House speaker Pelosi. In addition to her contacts with Congress, she has received national coverage by a feature story in USA Today plus feature stories in newspapers throughout the U.S. She has appeared on Tucker Carlson’s MSNBC show, made three appearances on the O’Reilly show and numerous other interviews on radio and TV. Each appearance has resulted in individual Humanists coming out and joining our fight to prevent our country from becoming a theocracy; to start paying attention to the dangers to our planet and its people in this life and not in some imaginary afterlife.
The Secular Coalition for America has also published a congressional scorecard showing how legislators voted in 2006 on various issues of concern to secularists.
But changing a mindset ingrained in people for centuries is a difficult task. A recent University of Minnesota study asked people if they would vote for an atheist and the majority response was a proud no. And the responder doesn’t even think that is bigoted. But everyone would think it’s bigoted to not vote for someone because she is a Jew, or Muslim or Hindu or Black or gay.
I don’t think that in the near future we will completely remove religion from our government or be able to elect an atheist president or even to Congress. Although there may be some elected officials who have not yet come out of the closet, I am unaware of any known atheist who has been a successful candidate for any national public office in this country.
We need more public exposure. We need to run for public office and, while not pushing our beliefs, we must not hide them if the question arises. We need an articulate and reasonable national candidate to bring the issue of religious tolerance into the discussion.
We need to stop debating among ourselves as to who is a real Humanist-or atheist-or freethinker—or whatever. We need to spend less time attacking religion generally, and devote our attention to those aspects of organized religion that impact negatively on us. I am really not interested in convincing my neighbor he is stupid for praying to an imaginary man in the sky—as long as my neighbor does not interfere with my right to my beliefs—as long as my neighbor does not insist on making me or my children listen to his or her praying in schools or at public meetings.
That is where our concerns should be directed. We must devote our energies to eliminating the perception in this country that morality is related to supernatural beliefs and that you can’t have one without the other.
Let’s encourage young people to be as proud of their beliefs as are the supernaturalists.
This encouragement will not come from attacking religion but from talking about our own philosophy of life.
Let’s talk more about the joy we have in living a life free of superstition; a life where we can think for ourselves; where we know that bad things do not happen to us because we are bad or because we are being punished—a life where we can understand and accept the concept, “Things Happen”—and we can go on living optimistically about the future.
As Humanists, we are not immoral and we are not intellectual snobs. We are happy people living complete lives and doing what we can to ensure the survival of our species. We are mature enough to accept the reality of our existence without perpetuating imaginary childhood fantasies. We are grown-ups who no longer believe in tooth fairies, or Santa Claus or imaginary friends or imaginary gods.
But we will never get religion to disappear. Religions will always exist because it is the only way some people will choose to cope with life. But the degree of radical fundamentalism we are seeing today will diminish as our society changes.
And radical attacks on “religion” generally, will only polarize religionists and create more fundamentalism. I can co-exist with liberal and even moderate religionists—It is the fundamentalists that concern me.
But recognizing the existence of religion does not mean accepting irrational beliefs and it does not mean we must refrain from ever being critical of irrationalism. It’s OK to attack political beliefs, economic beliefs, artistic beliefs—But it is still considered socially incorrect to criticize religious beliefs. It is ironic that we live in a democratic society where ideas are constantly and vigorously discussed openly, yet we are terrified of offending others by publicly discussing religion.
According to a 2006 study by the Pew Research Center, more than twice as many Americans (79%) believe in the Second Coming of Christ than in evolution via natural selection without divine assistance; and 42% believe that modern species have existed only in their present form.
Voltaire warned us that people who believe absurdities also commit atrocities and we need to protect ourselves and others from fanaticism. Religion should not be spared from our critical review. Toleration and respect for other beliefs should not mean giving up our critical edge.
But being critical of other beliefs should not be the defining characteristic of Humanism. Rather than being overly involved with attacking other beliefs, we should be more evangelical in spreading the word about the overwhelming joy and comfort we can derive from our naturalistic life stance.
Several years ago Fred Edwords wrote an article called "The Promise of Humanism".
Every religion has its own promises; its own assurances of rewards, either in this life or in some imaginary future life. Christianity promises eternal life in heaven; Buddhism offers the blissful state of Nirvana; New Age religions promise inner peace and union with God as well as powers over external events; Islam offers 72 virgins in the afterlife--- Every religion has a big promise.
Humanists need to offer our own promises rather than devoting most of our energies attacking the promises of other groups. Let’s take the spotlight off the supernatural religions and focus it on what Humanism has to offer. Humanism is much more than the default condition that prevails when no brainwashing has occurred.
The big promise of Humanism is the good life here and now.
Edwin H. Wilson summed it up when he wrote, “The Humanist lives as if this world were all and enough. He holds that the time spent on the contemplation of a possible afterlife is time wasted. He fears no hell and seeks no heaven, save that which he and others created on earth. He is content to live one world at a time and let the next life—if such there may be—take care of itself. He need not deny immortality; he simply is not interested. His interests are here.”
While the religionists make claims no one has ever proved, our claims are real. Our claims and promises have been proven over and over.
For Humanism to grow it must market itself. We must identify our core beliefs and market them so that Humanism is branded as a good, caring way of life.
And now—What about our children??
For most, the choice of a religion is nothing more than an accident of birth. There is the quote attributable to the Jesuits that says, “Give me a child at an impressionable age and it is mine for life.”
What about children of Humanists? How do we nurture their beliefs the way the churches do?
Humanist parents often feel defensive when asked, “What religion do you raise your children in?” “What do you teach your kids?” The questions themselves are offensive. Do we ask every Jew or Christian or Muslim—“What do you teach your kids?” Are we expected to raise our kids to follow some religion we ourselves reject? Of course not.
We must respond to religionists who ask-“What do you teach your kids?” by making it clear that we are not believers in nothing. And that we have lots of Humanist values and ethics to teach our children.
It is important for Humanist parents to give attention to the issues that religion concerns itself with. Things like morality and ethics and inter-relating with others. If we don’t talk to our children about these things—if we don’t answer our children’s questions about the world and the way it works—the mystery, the injustice—If we don’t have these conversations, nothing else will do the job except maybe the supernatural religions.
If we care about future generations, we must be concerned with the future of Humanism, because the future of humanity depends on the future of Humanism
In the most recent issue of the Humanist magazine, Fred Edwords, AHA's director of Communications writes, "…how different the world is today from the one I faced when first becoming a freethought activist. Back then the cause seemed destined to prosper, if at all, only via gradual social evolution. But now we find ourselves riding a dramatic wave of change. Have the efforts of the past finally begun to pay off? Only if we seize the moment." Carpe Diem---Seize the moment.
Let me close with a quote from Howard Zinn:
“Throughout history people have felt powerless before authority, but at certain times these powerless people, by organizing, acting, risking, persisting, have created enough power to change the world around them, even if a little. That is the history of the labor movement, of the women’s movement, of the anti Vietnam war movement, the disabled persons movement, the gay and lesbian movement and the movement of black people in the south”
And I’m hopeful that will also be the history of the Humanist movement.
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