It's a Humanist Heatwave!

Why I'm a Humanist

First, my apologies for a later than usual newsletter. It'll be back on its regular schedule starting next month. I'm starting a new segment, which as you saw above, is called "Why I'm a Humanist." I thought it would be a fun idea if you all got to know your board a little more and how we ended up as fellow humanists. If any of you want to submit your reasons/stories though feel free to as well by sending them to cnyhumanists@gmail.com. So, I'm dipping the first toe in the water to check for sharks. That's a messy metaphor and probably an ineffective method of testing for sharks.

Anyway, I've been an atheist as long as I can remember. Sure, my parents took me to church, but I would just play on my Gameboy during the sermons. It didn't last long though as we all decided we preferred sleeping in on the weekend. At a young age around 11 or so I discovered George Carlin and well if you know his comedy then religion didn't stand a chance worming its way into my brain after that. However, as we also know being an atheist doesn't necessarily mean you're a humanist too. I honestly never even heard of humanism until I joined the Secular Student Alliance in college.

I'm not sure exactly when but gradually I realized that for myself, solely criticizing religion, wasn't enough. Atheism answered the god question, but it doesn't really cover morality. Which a common topic when debating theists is where does your morality come from? I think it's important to have not only criticism and skepticism when it comes to religion but alternatives and answers to it as well. Enter secular humanism. As I began watching more call in shows where atheists talk with theists (i.e. The Atheist Experience, etc) and more modern secular speakers I learned more about humanism. I came to see that the ten commitments of humanism reflected my core values of what I consider to be the path to being a decent person. Thus, I fully began to acknowledge myself as a secular humanist.

I'm a humanist because it reflects my views on personal morality. I'm a humanist because I want to focus on how I can make things better for my fellow human beings. I'm a humanist because I think it's important we build a community to support each other as non-believers, since many have deconverted out of their built in religious communities, and I feel humanist organizations greatly help that cause. Finally, I'm a humanist because I believe you can do good without a god.

Unfortunately my path to humanism isn't that exciting. I just kind of slowly figured things out through skepticism and curiosity. Thankfully despite a brief moment in my childhood my parents weren't very outwardly religious. They're believers but it's not a subject they cared about enough to push on me which granted me that freedom. It's a privileged path and not many are so lucky. To wrap this up though I really want to encourage any of you to email in your stories of coming to humanism, atheism, etc. to be submitted for the newsletter.

News

Oh boy, it's only been a little over a month and so much has happened. I will be sticking to the religious/science stuff though.

The end of June brought us Louisiana approving a bill requiring public school classrooms to display the 10 commandments. Because if there's one thing students in Louisiana aren't familiar with it's the religion roughly 84% of their parents partake in. A clear challenge to the separation of church and state; we'll have to see where this goes in the courts: https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-ten-commandments-displayed-classrooms-571a2447906f7bbd5a166d53db005a62

A week later Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters directed all public schools to teach the bible. He's also one of the main people behind trying to use state taxpayer dollars to fund a public religious school which is currently being contested in the state courts: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/us/oklahoma-public-schools-bible.html

Next a little closer to home in the exciting world of historic preservation grants, the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed an amicus brief in support of the New Jersey attorney general to try and prevent a prior ruling that churches couldn't receive these public grants from being overturned: https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-amicus-brief-seeks-to-maintain-state-church-victory-for-n-j-taxpayers/

Lastly, NASA funded studies have come out talking about climate change's impact on the Earth's rotation. I thought it was interesting that climate could affect something like the spin of a planet: https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/nasa-funded-studies-explain-how-climate-is-changing-earths-rotation/

Events

Last time I promised more details on a big event and I have more details on a big event. For our group's 10th anniversary we've decided to throw a big anniversary party! Right now it's looking like it'll be the last weekend of October; confirmation of exact day/time for that weekend is to come. Venues are being narrowed down as well and we're very close to a selection we just have to double check the place we have in mind will have what we need technology wise. I'm planning on making a slideshow encompassing as much of our 10 year history as I can so please send any photos you have to the group email. There'll also be food, games, we're looking at possible speakers, etc., it's going to be a fantastic time!

Next the updates for our regular event schedule:

Starting with a virtual event this Friday July 26th at 9pm hosted by me. It is the first iteration of God Awful Movie Club. A club where once a month we'll meet over zoom to watch a quite bad religious film (possibly secular ones down the road) and have fun talking about it. I will be posting the zoom link through the group social media later today.

Then on Saturday August 3rd, we're visiting the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (Museum & Dialogue Center) at 210 E Genesee St. Fayetteville, NY.

Our next book discussion is coming up too on August 18th at 1pm at Meier's Creek Inner Harbor. The book being discussed is We of Little Faith by Kate Cohen.

See Our Events Page for information about upcoming events.

To close out here's some more humanist poetry. This time found on www.humanists.uk:

'The Dash'

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend

He referred to the dates on the tombstone

From the beginning…to the end

He noted that first came the date of birth

And spoke the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time

That they spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved them

Know what that little line is worth

For it matters not, how much we own,

The cars…the house…the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard.

Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect

And more often wear a smile,

Remembering this special dash

Might only last a little while

So, when your eulogy is being read

With your life’s actions to rehash…

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent YOUR dash?

-Linda Ellis

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