Discussion Group Report

This month's Humanist Discussion Group meeting featured as a speaker Vern Bullough, senior editor of Free Inquiry. Mr. Bullough has written numerous articles and is an internationally known leader in the humanist movement. He has helped bring about the inception of international humanist organizations.

He introduced us to the history of humanist organizations in the U.S. A key player in the humanist movement was Ed Wilson, who was the minister of the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City. I want to mention that Ed also played an important role in the organization of the Utah Humanist Association in Utah early in the 1990's, when he returned to Utah at the age of 90. He served on the Board of Directors of Utah Humanists until his death at 93. I remember he was the featured speaker at our organizational meeting. I had received a letter from the organizing group, signed by a gentleman named Anne Zeilstra, which opened up by saying, "Surprise! You are not the only humanist in Utah!" At that time I lived near Ogden and thought I probably was the only humanist in Utah. Apparently the group had obtained my name from the list of subscribers to the Humanist. It was a real thrill to me to find out that the humanists were going to have an organization in Utah and to have the opportunity to participate in that endeavor.

Wilson organized a group of eminent scholars and leaders in the U.S. to sign the first Humanist Manifesto in 1933. His group chartered themselves as the American Humanist Association. Mr. Bullough said the humanist movement owes more to Ed for its development than to anyone else. Corliss LaMont also gave much to humanism and was very influential in keeping it alive.

In his speech Bullough, then went on to point out the problems humanism faces today. First, not all Unitarians are humanists. Some Unitarian congregations are empathetic to humanism, but most are not. Second, humanists disagree among themselves. They are highly individualistic and have divided up into several organizations.

Paul Kurtz became the editor of the Humanist. Then he started Free Inquiry and resigned from the Humanist. Bullough feels that the latter magazine is more political than the former. Free Inquiry has expanded tremendously. One thing that has helped is that Paul takes an idea and runs with it.

In spite of their differences, both of the largest humanist organizations, the American Humanist Association and the Council for Secular Humanism, have worked together effectively in several endeavors, especially in training humanist leaders. Humanist organizations have been created in several countries overseas. There is an International Humanist and Ethical Union. The largest humanist group in Europe is in Norway, and there is another large group in the Netherlands. Humanists are pretty friendly to each other everywhere.

How can humanists get more membership in their organizations? Bullough had several suggestions: One way is through study groups. In Los Angeles there is a theater, and humanist events are held there regularly. The internet is probably the best way to inform people about humanism, and its use for that purpose is the coming thing. Special groups centered on particular interests can be formed, for instance, single groups, gay groups, and retired people. Chapters can hold special conferences in their areas on a particular topic once a year. They should be given advance publicity in the media. Several years ago the Council on Secular Humanism held such a conference in Salt Lake City, which was highly successful. There are now 40 college chapters around the country. One difficulty with this approach is that students leave college. Youth conferences are another way to go.

We need paid organizers in humanism. There could be a conference of Rocky Mountain humanists. In Utah we could form new chapters in other nearby areas and then get together to talk about how we could work together. Humanists have much common ground with each other, but big egos are a problem for cooperation among humanist groups. T-shirts are a possibility. Sometimes humanists have issued sound bites to the media. We have at times gotten a good deal of publicity in the New York Times. We might be able to get some coverage in the University of Utah Daily Chronicle. We can write to our national organizations for press materials. Unfortunately, public service radio and TV stations won't run humanist materials. Our president, Robert Lane, pointed out that we have sometimes had success in getting letters-to-the editor published. Bullough suggested writing manuals on subjects that are especially interesting to people, for example, divorce. Many books are published that advocate humanist ideas, but not many of the readers join our organizations. Nevertheless, humanist ideas are widely respected in our society. They played a role in the development of the U.S Constitution and in the promotion of human rights. He cautioned against taking the Madeline Murray O'Hare approach. She was unwilling to cooperate with groups other than her own.

We should, he said, promote strongly the idea that man is responsible for his own destiny. This would resonate well with many people.