Humanism: A Philosophy, Not a Religion
by Ron Steelman

When “W”, #43, was elected President (by the Supreme Court), people started signing onto W’s “Born Again” shtick. Maybe people were looking for some sort of spiritual direction like us, but I don’t think they had given it much thought. We were living in L.A. at the time and looking at a number of religions, after already rejecting traditional churches. Remember we were living in L.A., so there were quite a few strange and wacky spiritual “opportunities.” Take Theosophy or Chanting or the Hare Krishna chanting, or the dreaded Church of Scientology. We drove past it once and that was enough.

Sometime after the election we heard three U.S. Senators on TV being interviewed on the steps of the Capitol. They said that if you were not religious, you could not be a moral person. That aggravated the hell out of me and I stomped up to the computer and searched for “secular humanism,” a phrase I had heard my uncle say once. When I read the statement of principles I was amazed. These were my positions exactly, all in one place and with a name. Not a religion, but a philosophy.

We moved to New Jersey in 2003 and I founded the Red Bank Humanists. I’ve led many open Forums with Q&A’s, discussion groups, and hundreds of events where people have the same reaction that I did. They are so happy to leave behind all the religious dogma and the supernatural mumbo-jumbo that comes with religion. No heaven, no hell, no virgin birth, angels, devils, praying, and no original sin! Plus, you don’t have to feel guilty about sleeping in on Sunday! These affirmations/principles have been my moral compass ever since.

The Affirmations of Humanism:
A Statement of Principles

• We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
• We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation.
• We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
• We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
• We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
• We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
• We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
• We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
• We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
• We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
• We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.
• We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.
• We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity.
• We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.
• We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.
• We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
• We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.
• We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
• We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others.
• We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.

We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.

I am a member of both of these organizations:

Council for Secular Humanism 
P.O. Box 664 –
Amherst, NY 14226-0664
716-636-7571 
Humanist Affirmations/Principles

AHA has their own version, slightly different, but pretty much the same thing. I love them both.
American Humanist Association
1821 Jefferson Place NW
Washington, DC 20036
800-837-3792
Humanist Aspirations

Red Bank Humanists
Red Bank, NJ

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