NDR Event

Remarks by
Tony Hileman
American Humanist Association

Good morning. Thank you for being here and thank you for your interest in the National Day of Reason.

I’m Tony Hileman, executive director of the American Humanist Association. The people I introduce will provide more details on this important day, a local perspective on the events surrounding it, and considerable expertise on the subject of church-state separation. Their remarks will be followed by an open question and answer period. And after that we’ll all be available for individual follow up. But first I want to give you some brief background on Humanism and the American Humanist Association, and what has brought us to this critical juncture.

As it says in our recently released Humanism and Its Aspirations, or Humanist Manifesto III, "Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity."

Those of us who adhere to the Humanist lifestance place reliance in our ability to progress toward our highest ideals without supernatural assistance from a god, gods or goddesses, or an impersonal mystical force. Further, we pursue those highest ideals in the realization that the personal fulfillment that such a pursuit can bring must be consonant with social responsibility. Or, as our honorary president, Kurt Vonnegut, succinctly puts it, "Being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectations of rewards or punishment after you’re dead."

Humanism’s heritage dates to well before the classic Greek philosophers with tendrils reaching back to ancient Eastern thinkers. However, the solidifying point of view of Humanism was first expressed in Humanist Manifesto I, in 1933. The men responsible for its articulation—and yes, they were all men—came together in 1927 as the Humanist Fellowship. That segued via the Humanist Press Association into the American Humanist Association in 1941. Today, at the ripe old age of 62, the AHA is the oldest and the largest Humanist organization in the United States. Democratically structured with a board directly elected by its 6,000-plus membership, the AHA is headquartered in Washington, DC, where it has had a presence since 1999.

Our mission is to be a clear, democratic voice for Humanism in the United States, to increase public awareness and acceptance of Humanism, to establish, protect and promote the position of Humanists in our society, and to develop and advance Humanist thought and action. The National Day of Reason significantly furthers all these ends.

We are hosting our 62nd annual national conference here in Washington next week, May 9–11, when we will be honoring Helen Thomas, Kate Michelman, Rabbi Sherwin Wine, and Gloria Feldt for their contributions to Humanism and Humanist causes. Also speaking at the conference are Lester R. Brown, Ralph Nader, ex-eagle scout Darrell Lambert, and many national and international Humanist leaders.

Further information on the conference and the American Humanist Association can be found on our website at www.AmericanHumanist.org.

The National Day of Reason sprang from a deep concern over the increasing rhetoric of exclusion issuing from our national leaders. In local events across our land today, we band together with others in the community of reason, and invite those in the community of faith to join with us, in a plea for a return to the American ideals of democracy, diversity, and inclusion.

When our chief executive speaks out—not as a private citizen but from his public office—on how we are a nation of prayer beholden to one almighty God for all our achievements and potential progress, when he speaks more as a preacher than a political leader, when he endorses the National Day of Prayer with his office and his participation those who do not share his particular sectarian beliefs are excluded and feel the sharp sting of discrimination. As president, it is not his responsibility to minister to those who share his personal religious convictions but rather his duty to administer on behalf of all Americans.

Throughout history theocracies have demonstrated that God and government do not mix. It is a mistake foreseen by our nation’s founders. James Madison warned against using "religion as an engine of policy…" Yet today the trend of governmental religiosity has more than breached the Jeffersonian wall of separation between church and state; it has gone past involving religion in government to religious preference by government. There’s no better example of that than the National Day of Prayer, and so we call for this National Day of Reason.

The message and decisions of our national leaders affect millions of lives, often in grave ways. Let us not place those lives in unnecessary jeopardy by turning a blind eye to reason while awaiting inspiration or intervention. Official prayers of petition and intercession do not belong in the halls of reason, or justice, or congress. They are private matters not to be imposed on others through governmental sanction or permission.

American patriotism is founded in the confidence that humanity itself has the ability to progress toward its highest ideals. Let us strive together through effort and example to make it a world of peace and cooperation.

We invite all Americans to join us in observing this National Day of Reason. That invitation comes not just the American Humanist Association and the Washington Area Secular Humanists, but from the 45 other national and local group across the land who have endorsed it, and the hundreds of Americans from nearly every state in the union and the District of Columbia who have added their support.

• This morning two separate events are taking place in Houston, Texas one of which will be covered live on local radio.

• In Charleston, South Carolina, where the Mayor has proclaimed May 1st a "Day of Reason", There will be a celebration of "reason, tolerance, democracy, and human rights."

• There will be a National Day of Reason rally on the steps of the State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

• In Denver, Colorado three prominent PhD’s from the disciplines of anthropology, philosophy and physics will give talks on reason.

• There will be a formal protest of the National Day of Prayer in San Jose, California.

• And in Kirkwood, Iowa, the inaugural meeting of the Kirkwood (Darwin Society will be held focusing on celebrating learning and discussing the impact of evolutionary thought on our lives.

On behalf of all these groups and individuals, we ask people to stand together with us to support reason, to support religious freedom, and to safeguard the constitutional protection that keeps government out of our private religious or philosophical beliefs.