Robert Lane

Robert Lane joined the Humanists of Utah four years ago. His evolution as a humanist arose from his own sense of morality and honesty. After listening to a talk radio guest rail against secular humanists as the "scourge of the world," Bob looked up the definition of humanist and discovered that it fit him.

Born June 10,1948, from an old pioneer stock family, Bob was raised in the Salt Lake area. Raised Mormon, Bob was quite religious as a child. But his elders felt threatened by his questioning nature. At 16, Bob broke out of his religious mind set. By 1964, Bob's family felt that he had become too rebellious. They signed him up at the Army-Navy Academy in Carlsbad, CA for his high school junior year. In this Academy's excellent academic program, Bob was taught by professionals who introduced him to science. He was enthralled by his biology class, a daily 2-hour adventure into the study of life, through elaborate dissections and examination of evolutionary processes.

Bob returned to Salt Lake, graduated from Skyline High School and moved away from home. Soon afterwards, he received his draft notice. He signed on with the Air Force in 1967. For two years he was a Munitions Maintenance Specialist, stationed in Thailand, where he prepared bombs for B-52's.

Returning home, Bob studied full time at the University of Utah. Due to family pressures, he was forced to leave after one semester. Bob started working in construction. Eventually, he made it back to the U and was within 20 hours of completing his degree when again family pressures forced him to leave. After two marriages and two children, Bob turned his life around, graduating from the University of Utah in 1991 with a BS in geography with an emphasis in geomorphology.

Many influential thinkers guided Bob on his journey from rebellious adolescence through struggling adulthood to self-accepting humanist. Among them was Professor Don Curray, a Pleistocene expert at the U. Bob admires Carl Sagans ideas, particularly Sagan's theory that we are a way for the cosmos to know itself. Bob was also taken by Bronowski's book: Ascent of Man. According to Bronowski, evolution is not just a biological process, but occurs throughout matter following the laws of physics. For Bob, observing the proof of glaciation in the Uinta landscape is self-validating. He is an avowed environmentalist.

Although Bob comes to humanism through the sciences, he also appreciates other aspects of human culture. His favorite poem is Thanatopsis. In this poem, William Cullen Bryant comforts us with soothing images of nature and eloquently reminds us that we are all connected with each other and the earth through our mortality.

Bob feels that the existence of an afterlife can neither be proved nor disproved, that morality stems from people's innate intelligence and that religions' myths are only human constructs. He believes that the different humanist groups, religious, secular, ethical, or scientific, must explicate common goals and ideals.

Bob has counted the number of hours remaining until he reaches his seventies. He figures it is time to evolve from armchair theorist to humanist activist.

Robert Lane lives in Salt Lake City with "my Sweetheart" (aka: Amy), his supportive significant other.

--Mary Sanderson