Dear Unitarian Universalist Humanists:

Your UU Humanist Association has been working to promote humanist values in the UUA. Working with UUA President Peter Morales and UUA Chief Operating Officer Harlan Limpert, we have been pressuring the Boy Scouts of America to exhibit progressive values. In an abrupt change in direction, the BSA now accepts all those who identify as boys. Unfortunately, the BSA has not budged on their discriminatory policy toward non-theists. We will continuing working to change this policy. We have over 1600 signatures on our BSA petition!

Have you seen the UU World article on Humanism at 100? I think the article underlines the fact that Humanism has continued to spread and change both within and outside its Unitarian Universalist context.

Will you be attending the UUA General Assembly June 21-25 in New Orleans? The theme is “Resist and Renew.” UU Humanist Association Vice President Amanda Poppei and I are really looking forward to modeling our take on a Humanist Assembly, and sharing that with those gathered at GA!

Also at General Assembly join us for our Annual Meeting on Friday evening, June 23rd. We will recognize the incredible contribution to humanism made by William R. Murray—one of the most influential humanists in Unitarian Universalism—with our Lifetime Achievement Award. Our Humanist of the Year Award will go to humanist theologian Dr. Anthony Pinn. Don’t miss this exciting gathering. 

Much is also happening in the larger humanist world. In April there will be a gathering of the Humanist Collaboratory at Washington Ethical Society in Washington, D.C. This will be a gathering of humanists working in congregational contexts, including representatives from Unitarian Universalism, Ethical Culture, and Humanistic Judaism.

In other news, Chris Stedman, currently the Humanist Chaplain at Yale, will be moving to Minneapolis in the autumn to found a Humanist Center in conjunction with First Unitarian Society, the Humanist Institute, and Augsburg, College among other partners. The Humanist Center will pull together congregational humanists, secular humanists, atheists, and “nones” to form a new way for non-theists to join in community.

Your UU Humanist Association will continue to advocate for Humanism in the UUA and the larger world. We will continue to advocate for that wall of separation between church and state and for the freedom of and from religion. If you know of others who might benefit from the UU Humanist Association, please share the good news.

The philosopher of science Karl Popper wrote, “We are social creatures to the inmost center of our being. The notion that one can begin anything at all from scratch, free from the past, or unindebted to others, could not conceivably be more wrong.”

In this spirit we continue to work for reason, compassion, and community.

Rev. Dr. David Breeden