The following is a statement authored by Fred Edwords, Editorial Director of the American Humanist Association that was adopted by the membership present at the ATA Conference held in May 2004.

We, the members of the American Humanist Association assembled at the organization's 63rd annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, wish to declare to a candid public that there is no sin. We say this because sin is a theological concept, not a moral one. And as Humanists we have no theology.

Therefore, while recognizing the existence of ethical wrongs, unwise personal behaviors, and socially harmful practices--all of which should be discouraged--we see nothing as legitimately warranting the epithet, "sinful." Nor do we judge a whole person as a "sinner" for wrong acts.