Humanism - The Larger Picture Revisited
This article updates one submitted eighteen months ago on the same topic.
At that time I described our CAH group as an intersection of the American Humanist Association (AHA) and the Universalist Unitarian Association (UUA), at an interesting time. We have members in both, and are entering a period when we will make important decisions on how we proceed with our presently small group.
Recently CAH became affiliated with both the AHA and the national UU HUUmanists. We are now more are now more solidly at that intersection.
We were represented at the recent AHA national conference, and will have stronger representation at the upcoming UUA General Assembly. If you attend that Assembly, please visit the HUUmanist booth in the Exhibition Hall. Our CAH will be strongly represented at the booth. We will be trying to interest Parishes across the country in seeding groups like ours open to all interested in Humanism, to reach out with our powerful common Humanist message based on the AHA's "Affirmations of Humanism - Humanist Manifesto III," and the UUA "Seven Principles". Both these documents are very accessible on the Internet, together with commentary.
The numbers are still roughly the same as in the original article. AHA has about 12,000 members. The UUA has about 160,000 members, of whom more than half typically identify as Humanists when polled. The national UU Humanist Association (UUHA), although only having about 1000 members at present, is an active constituency within the UUA. .
In the mid 1900s, Unitarians were in the forefront of modern Humanism. This position has diminished over the last several decades. However, the UUA now has a new President, Peter Morales, who is a Humanist.
The Humanist constituency in the UUA is waking up. There are more than 80,000 potentially Humanist UUA members ready to be awakened! This why we can say the CAH is at an interesting intersection with the AHA, which is now the largest Humanist organization in the US.
The AHA and the UUA HUUmanists both have great strengths to bring to a stronger Humanist voice in the US. Together we can have a near-term potential strength exceeding 90,000 voices, to wok up from, if we work at it.
This country needs more rational thinking in guiding our affairs. The AHA and the UUA have different strengths to bring to the table, but are both strong on rational thinking and behavior. I would expect them to remain separate organizations, whatever happens, but their combined Humanist voice could be much more influential than two separate ones.
As a group that includes UUs and AHA members, we can achieve much in helping generate an influential Humanist voice.
Both the AHA and the UUHA are affiliated with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, which has about 5 million affiliated members worldwide. We can all be part of a powerful Humanist voice, nationally and internationally.
This country, and the rest of the world, sorely needs rationally based discussion in running our affairs, without the supernatural. This is our world, and we are responsible for safe guarding it for all beings, in the here and now, and in the future