January 2016

Relax: #Humanism Is Not Mack the Knife

Small Humanist groups are popping up and organizing around the US, some as independent groups, some as interest groups within larger Unitarian Universalist congregations. This movement has drawn some interesting reactions . . .

I know these reactions well, because one of the oddities about my position as a minister at First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis is that many people I meet know up front that I’m a Humanist. Often I get asked to speak various places because I’m a Humanist, but sometimes I meet up with a hostility that surprises me. I’ve even had people say out of the blue, “I KNOW there’s a God!” To which I don’t have much of a response . . . “That’s nice for you”? Or should I take the time to explain that Humanism isn’t really much about that question?

There seems to be a fear that Humanism is a corrosive force that must be contained, a genie in a lamp that must be kept bottled up at all costs. Now, sure, I know that there are those in the freethought community, especially among newly-converted atheists, who do wield reason like a sharp razor. But I’m not one of those, and most Humanists aren’t.

The power of humanist ideas is that we know that we don’t know a whole lot of things, and we’re good with that.

Admittedly I do grow weary of hearing how the Enlightenment screwed everything up. The fact that we all have the right to say what we think . . . or feel . . . is a product of the Enlightenment. So is medicine that actually works.

Oh, and then there’s that head/heart thing. Sometimes I do get snippy about that. Yes, most people know that the whole body contributes to thought. Once upon a time that fact was explained by the head and heart thing; then there was much talk contrasting thoughts occurring in the amygdala and the frontal cortex. Now it appears that different thoughts have different circuits but that all of the brain is involved, all the time. And the rest of the body.

OK, I understand that the head/heart thing is about trusting subjectivity. Sure—I may say “to-may-to” and you say “to-ma-toe.” But, as Radiohead reminds us, “Just because you feel it doesn’t mean it’s there.” Subjectivity makes for an interesting subject of discussion, but it doesn’t guarantee truth claims that are true for everyone.

Such a conviction doesn’t make me—or Humanism—a corrosive force to be contained, or a straight razor to be feared. We aren’t Mack the Knife out to ambush anybody’s Sunday morning. We’re merely part of that diversity thing . . . a good Enlightenment ideal.

http://huumanists.org/local-groups Read more about Relax: #Humanism Is Not Mack the Knife »

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opinion

Happy New Year!

Another year's over and a new one's just begun!

Happy New Year, everyone! 2015 was filled with accomplishments for the UU Humanist Association and 2016 is shaping up to be equally exciting. Last year we:

  • Had booths or tables at GA, many district / regional meetings, and numerous individual congregations
  • Added a dozen new Humanist groups to our directory
  • Held our Humanist of the Year celebration at GA for Kendyl Gibbons
  • Launched the Freethinker Friendly program a new Social Justice program
  • Published new issues of our Journal
  • Contributed to the new book, "Humanist Voices in Unitarian Universalism" from Skinner House, due out soon
  • And much more

If you are not sure of the status of your membership with the UU Humanist Association, please visit the website and join or renew to help keep the association strong. We rely on members for the resources to do the things that we do.

Matching Donations

The matching donations program is on-going: all donations made before the end of February, up to a total of $3200, will be matched by a small group of generous donors. Help us meet this goal by donating today. Thank you.

All the best,

Maria Greene
Executive Director

John Hooper
President Read more about Happy New Year! »

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news

Applications Being Accepted for Freethinker Friendly Congregations

Let people outside your congregation know that UU communities are welcoming to atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other non-theists, and that you value diversity and questioning. A large part of the growing percentage of Americans who have left supernatural beliefs behind still value community and are not anti-religious -- they still seek supportive, loving relationships and a place to belong where they can give back through service.

The Freethinker Friendly program was designed to help congregations communicate that welcome. Many diverse congregations have been working on the requirements since the program was announced last June at General Assembly. Now these congregations may submit their application to be officially recognized as Freethinker Friendly Congregations. We have also set up a Minister-to-Minister advisory service to help answer the questions about how the benefits and goals of the program. See the Freethinker Friendly page for links for both of these. Read more about Applications Being Accepted for Freethinker Friendly Congregations »

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news

SOAP for the Holidays and the New Year

A feature of food pantries in December is the distribution of groceries tied not only to day to day survival, but also to the provision of a festive holiday meal. Client counts rise, lines grow longer, as do the volunteer lists. An added feature this year at the Maple Park/Morgan Park community Food Pantry on Chicago's Southwest side is environmentally friendly dish washing soap. Fully recyclable dispensers of non-toxic, biodegradable Method soap, manufactured in a LEED platinum certified factory just a few miles away are handed out (separately bagged as per health regulations) along with the turkey's, yams, cranberries and other seasonal staples. The first delivery of 100 18 oz bottles was made on December 8, by Roger Brewin (who helped set up the pantry more than 30 years ago) on behalf of UU Humanists.

The SOAP (Save Our Ailing Planet) project was designed as part of UU Humanists' participation in Commit2Respond, (www.Commit2Respond.org) a UU initiative designed to grow the Climate Change Movement, increase reliance on renewable power, and reach out in the process to marginalized communities, often disproportionately effected by a warming planet. The Method factory is completely wind and solar powered, and the clients and many of the volunteers for the pantry are from economically disadvantaged areas of Chicago (as is much of the factory workforce). 

Brewin sees the project as an entry-level-to-climate activism opportunity, with individuals able to participate through donating the cost of one or more bottles of soap, helping to promote the project in their own congregations or humanist groups, and assisting with the collection of donations and delivery of the soap to local pantries and shelters. Congregations and groups willing to replicate the collection and distribution process in their own communities can contact Brewin at 773 551 8540 or Rabrewin@aol.com to receive starter kit. The program starts small, and can fit in with existing work in a Green Sanctuary program, a small group ministry or a religious education social justice curriculum.   

Sufficient donations have been received since the project started just before the 2015 GA, that UU Humanists can now offer a matching grant of 25 bottles to each of the first four groups/congregations that raise enough money for 25 bottles for a pantry or shelter in their own community. Read more about SOAP for the Holidays and the New Year »

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news

Call for Papers on Naturalism

Submissions on the subject of "Naturalism" are sought by UU Humanists for the Spring, 2016 issue of the Journal of Religious Humanism, to be mailed to UU Humanist Association members and subscribers in May, and distributed at the 2016 UUA General Assembly in Columbus, OH., in June.  Opinion pieces or short essays should be in the 800-1500 word range; a 3,000 word limit and a request for footnotes apply to longer articles of a more scholarly nature. Those submitting sermons are asked to convert to a suitable form for print publication, including citations, and the removal of protected text, such as complete hymn lyrics. Writers may submit completed pieces for consideration, or receive a preliminary decision on publication by sending an abstract.

The distribution of this issue will coincide with the presentation of the 2016 Religious Humanist of the Year award to Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd, at the UU Humanists' Annual Meeting at the GA in Columbus. The editor seeks a wide range of views on the subjects of Naturalism, Religious Naturalism, and their relationship to Humanism and UUism.  The audience for this publication is primarily members and friends of UUHA, UU ministers and seminarians, lay members of UU congregations, humanist identified prisoners, and users of the library periodical collections at over 100 institutions of higher education. We anticipate additional copies will be made available to other individuals and groups with an interest in Naturalism.

The Journal of Religious Humanism has a print run of between 1,400 and 2,000 copies, with a small but growing electronic audience. We seek one time publication rights in print and by electronic distribution (by email and on our website), including the right to republish certain offerings in later issues as "Heritage Documents."  We do not ask for exclusive rights, and you are free to seek and accept other publication offers for the same material.  Our general policy is to grant requests from others to reproduce for publication and other uses, subject only to appropriate credit to the Journal and the author;  we make every effort to secure the writer's permission in each case.  

The Journal does not offer payment for articles published. We do supply each author with six* free copies of the issue containing their article, and a two year subscription to the Journal.  

We hope you'll consider a submission, and help celebrate the work of Connie, Michael and the UU Humanists, supporting science, nature and humanism.  

Proposed articles should be submitted as an email attachment, preferably in .rtf format to the Editor at Rabrewin@aol.com. no later than March 1, 2016. 

Abstracts (limited to 250 words) should be submitted in the body of an email, to the Editor at rabrewin@aol.com.  Abstracts submitted before January 15, 2016, will receive a response on that date. Subsequent abstracts will be responded to on a rolling basis.

Roger Brewin, Editor
Journal of Religious Humanism
773 551 8540

*Additional copies upon request - a small shipping fee may apply. Read more about Call for Papers on Naturalism »

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publications

The Fall 2015 Issue of the Journal: The Threading the Interfaith/Interpath Needle

The Fall 2015 issue of the Journal of Religious Humanism has now been delivered to active members' mailboxes and/or Inboxes.

Humanism is so often described as being in opposition to, or at best in a creative tension with religion, that the path of interfaith cooperation can seem highly problematic, and perhaps more trouble than it is worth. Yet increasingly, individuals and Humanist groups join with their religious counterparts on specific social justice and service projects, and simply to further the goal of living side by side, even if in an uneasy peace. The fall 2015 issue of the Journal of Religious Humanism explores these efforts from several points of view - from the humanist organizations that have embraced particular events and coalitions, to individuals of many persuasions who have struggled with what it means to work and celebrate with those whose basic perspective on life is very different.

There are eleven articles ranging from short reports on humanist participation in Washington's 9/11 Unity Walk, and the World Parliament of Religions, to a fairly lengthy series of commentaries by UU ministers of many stripes wrestling with the resources that get used when Interim Ministers from many traditions undergo training together. Writing about "God-Centered Atheists,"  "Lessons for Humanists from 'Night Vale'" (a mystical radio drama), and a "Year of Interfaith Service," our authors give personal accounts of the interfaith experience, some as full blown participants and enthusiasts, and some as part-time experimenters. Read more about The Fall 2015 Issue of the Journal: The Threading the Interfaith/Interpath Needle »

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