This was the first conference of its kind I had attended and I wasn't sure what to expect, I have only been a member of the AHA for a year. It was a group of 300 people from all over the country who were serious and somber, taking notes and getting information. As soon as Flo and I got settled into our hotel room, we registered and began a series of meetings which went from Friday afternoon through Saturday and ending just before 12 noon on Sunday. It was a group of rational people doing rational things, and that is, after all, what humanists are: rational. Yes, at the end of it I would have welcomed one foolish irrational act, such as happens in the real world.

My reason for going was to get some information which would be helpful for what I do, and I did. I also wanted to find out what kind of organization I was now a member of, and of that I am still not sure.

There were four presentations which to me were of most importance and which I describe below.

THE CHAPTER ASSEMBLY

This is an organization of the 70 or so chapters, about 20 of which had paid dues to have a vote in the Assembly. (The Utah Chapter paid its dues.) It is currently in transition to a more representative and useful entity. The organizational structure was confusing to me, but resolutions were passed to form a committee to revise the by-laws. It does publish a monthly newsletter, the Grassroots News, to report to the chapters on news of interest and serves to interconnect and inform each chapter of the activities of the other chapters. Of most significance is the fact that the Assembly does have money to give grants to chapters for growth activities. This fund was acquired by Harvey LeBrun, now deceased, who spent much effort to establish the chapter movement. These activities were discussed but none seemed applicable to our chapter. It is something that the chapter should consider for the future.

A DIET FOR ALL REASONS

This was a plenary discussion given by Michael Klaper, M.D., who presented the rational for animal-free nutrition. He was an excellent speaker and made a case for vegetarianism that almost frightened me into becoming one. He did make the point that a meat-based diet is very wasteful of the planet's resources and continued life on this planet may very well depend on changing to plant-based nutrition. The menu for the two banquets at the conference gave a choice for either a vegetarian or a meat entree. I "chickened out" and chose the meat. I have to admit that the "nut cutlet" and the "garden steak" looked very appetizing, and I ended up leaving most of my fish entree on the plate.

BUILDING A HUMANIST COMMUNITY

The Humanist Community of San Jose (HCSJ) presented their program of what they were doing as a local chapter. The April Utah Humanist printed their program and both Flo and I attended that presentation with some interest. By the way, that issue of our Journal was duplicated by them and made available at the conference. I saw our banner here and there with some surprise and pleasure.

Theirs was the largest delegation and the most enthusiastic--lots of smiles and energy, and they were younger than most of us. It was reported that they have 215 members with a newsletter mailing list of 800 to 1000. They have a full-time executive director who is a former Unitarian minister. This position was made possible by a $100,000 gift over 5 years from an anonymous donor identified as "not a millionaire and not previously known." The gift was given only after the chapter developed a "business plan that would demonstrate an ability effectively to use such a contribution."

Their presentation was scripted: good natured banter between five people and very well done. They discussed how they were building a "community of Humanists," of people who are interested both in "responsible activities to make this world a better world, and in the journey of personal discovery." "This combination," they explained, "is attractive because when people are as much concerned for furthering the public good as they are for gaining private goals, they attract friends with humane social and personal values--friends who bring out the best in them." With this combined goal the Chapter has a very active program: Sunday morning programs at Stanford University, a weekly series of discussions led by the executive director or other qualified speakers, various groups, forums, and "polylogues" on various humanist themes, social activities of all kinds, plus a professional looking newsletter with a schedule of activities and information of interest about Humanism. Many of the activities were member initiated, in fact, one member regularly sends birthday cards to members.

Both Flo and I expressed the opinion that what in fact they were doing was building a "church" in everything but the name, but they call it a "community" instead. They were not affiliated with the local Unitarian church or any other local group. This group of people(men and women) built this "community" out of an existing AHA chapter which had been active but had not grown much in some years. It is an impressive feat and what they are doing has given me a great deal to think about.

ADVANCING HUMANISM

Fred Edwords, the Executive Director of the AHA, made this presentation. he began with the question: "Why doesn't the Humanist Movement grow faster?" An interesting discussion followed. In summary, Mr. Edwords suggested that AHA chapters use a multi faceted approach; that Humanists are more than "intellects on legs" but also social, physical and emotional beings who are interested in may different activities. He said "our culture is a guilt culture, (but) we are an anti-guilt society." and that people wanted people want a philosophy that is "FUN" and affirmative. Finally, he asked us to ask ourselves the question: "What do Humanists do?" he then suggested that we find our own answers. He pointed to the San Jose chapter and the Dutch Humanists as examples to follow.

CONCLUSIONS AND A METAPHOR FOR THE CONFERENCE

I have noticed for some time that there is a great deal of questioning over definitions of Humanism. A number of members seem to be critical of the lack of good ones they could use. One member wanted to establish a prize for the best short "Humanism is..." statement, but he failed. No ones seemed to have a satisfactory answer to the questions "What is a humanist?' and/or "What is Humanism?" There were suggestions given and examples handed out and perhaps something will happen. I don't think the questions will go away.

I left the conference with a lot of new information, but with a very indefinite idea of what I should do when I got home. I thought it significant that not all AHA members belong to a chapter and many chapter members do not join the AHA and the relationship of one to the other is somewhat mysterious. There is no pattern and no direction on how to put a chapter together, and from what I saw and have read, each chapter is different, ranging from the "intense" activity of San Jose to chapters that are iconoclastic, spending much time and energy attacking organized religion. To me, neither of these were appropriate models for the Utah chapter, and I felt very much on my own.

It occurred to me then that an old folk-tale seemed to fit the situation. Remember the one of the "Blind Men And The Elephant?' It is a good metaphor for this situation. The poetry version of the old story goes like this:

--Bob Green