This is another presentation from last month's meeting.

When I signed the application to the American Humanist Association to organize a Humanists of Utah chapter several years ago I did not realize how dramatically it was going to change my life. Within a few months I found myself consumed with an interest in history, philosophy, religion and ethics! I enrolled in the Humanist Institute in New York, became a Humanist Celebrant performing weddings, celebrating welcoming ceremonies for children, and conducting memorial services for those who died.

I have shared my new found knowledge of and interest in humanist history with several college and high school classes, defended the individuals' right to doubt religious beliefs, and urged hundreds of people to question authority.

I have discovered that one of the weaknesses of humanism is its reluctance to recognize the importance of human emotional needs. We spend so much time intellectualizing that we tend to neglect the human need to be inspired. We really need to find ways to appeal to human feelings: to be awed by the beauty of life, the wonder of a starry sky, the arch and colors of a rainbow, the power of the wind, the constant changing shapes of clouds, the inspiration of music, poetry and prose. We need to recognize the satisfaction of good food, good drink and good sex.

Humanism needs to learn that man does not live by the intellect alone.

--Flo Wineriter