"We should start thinking and acting like a mass movement rather than a fringe group," is the wise advice of the secretary of the AHA Board of directors, Carol Wintermute. Her sage observation was made at the semi-annual board meeting in Phoenix May 18 during a discussion of the growing public acceptance and practice of basic Humanist philosophy. The board was preparing a response to the Christian Coalition "Contract with the American Family" that had been released with much fanfare in the nation's capitol the preceding day.

The AHA responded with a document that calls this 'contract' a full-blown assault on the American constitutional principle of separation of church and state. It will divide Americans along religious lines and will intrude government into the business of the family and religious institutions. If adopted by Congress, it will undermine our rights of conscience and weaken our democratic public school systems. The AHA board-approved document recognizes our country's rich pluralism and that students have never lost their right to engage in voluntary personal private prayer, and calls for the continued respect of religious neutrality in our public schools.

In response to other points of the Christian Coalition Contract, the AHA board urges that public funding of education be limited to secular public schools; continued respect for Roe vs. Wade; the support of a family environment that is nurturing and nonabusive; and the continued federal support of the arts, humanities and public broadcasting.

The AHA statement was released to leading media sources. Discussion during preparation of the response statement revealed that many of the goals of Humanist Manifestos 1 & 2 have become public policy during the past 50-years, leading Wintermute to make her observation that we are no longer engaged in a fringe group but rather a mass movement.

Membership meeting participants of the 54th Annual conference learned that AHA membership increased by 215 the past year while circulation of The Humanist increased by 3,884. A study indicates the greatest source of new members is The Humanist read in public libraries so AHA is concentrating on getting our magazine in the reading racks of several more libraries.

Finances continue to be a challenge. The loss of $45,000, resulting from the death of a major donor, will force budget restraints and creative fund raising. The editor of The Humanist reports continuing efforts to modernize the format to make it more attractive and to improve the contents to make it more relevant to the humanist lifestyle.

The membership unanimously approved a resolution establishing a blue-ribbon committee to develop a statement deploring genital mutilation.

--Flo Wineriter