The recent American Humanist Association series of brochures vividly illustrates that numerous religious traditions share many principles and values that are the basis of and common to humanism. Indeed, many people find humanism from a wide variety of paths.
The American Humanist Association seeks to build bridges between secular humanists and religious humanists of all faiths. Our goal is to find common cause with humanists on issues affecting the quality of our civilization regardless of what words they use to identify. Productive dialogue begins when philosophical humanists from a variety of faith backgrounds seek to understand and communicate with each other.
Humanists are committed to democracy as a way to ensure social justice. We are also is committed to the application of science to understand human nature and to ethics in personal and community living. We view religious humanists as people who identify with any faith, but who share our commitment to science and reason over doctrine and dogma when they conflict about the natural world and the role of humanity within it.
For those of you who wish to learn more about the essence of humanism, we have many resources to share with you in “Exploring the Idea of Humanism.”
As we indicate, whether you’re doing research, exploring a personal philosophy, or are simply curious about humanism, the resources here are a great place to start. Here you will find articles and essays of various length explaining the worldview and lifestance of humanism on these topics: Living the Humanist Life, Humanism and Traditional Religion, The History of Humanism, Philosophical Questions, and Ideas for Advancing Humanism as well as links to video presentations and online media. If you have any questions and would like to learn more about the humanist way of life, please join us!
