American Humanist Association (AHA)

Comment

Comment by Fred Edwords on September 20, 2010 at 11:08am

Dear Geraldo, At the time the United States entered the war in Iraq, I was editor of the Humanist magazine, and all the articles I published at the time and for three years afterwards not only opposed that war but also opposed the war in Afghanistan--the latter being a controversial position even among humanists. But I have personally opposed both these wars consistently from their beginning and still do. Thus the pro-war article by Jende Huang is taken out of context. It appeared beside an article against the war by Michael I. Niman ("Would You Buy a Used War from This Man?") and was run only because a number of readers felt that the minority humanist viewpoint should also be heard. Therefore my successor as editor ran that, which was an appropriate enough thing to do, since humanists are open to the airing of dissenting views.

Comment by Geraldo Cienmarcos on September 19, 2010 at 10:28am

What say ye liberal Humanists now... ?

When Good People Back Bad Wars
By Michael Moore, MichaelMoore.com
15 September 2010

Never Forget: Bad Wars Aren’t Possible Unless Good People Back Them

... before we get too far away from something we would all just like to forget, will you please allow me to just say something plain and blunt and necessary:

We invaded Iraq because most Americans - including good liberals like Al Franken, Nicholas Kristof & Bill Keller of the New York Times, David Remnick of the New Yorker, the editors of the Atlantic and the New Republic, Harvey Weinstein, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and John Kerry [and Humanist Magazine. see below] - wanted to. ...

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/266-32/24-when-good-people-...

-- -- --
Humanist Magazine. Iraq war and occupation 2008

http://secularhumanism.blogspot.com/2008/01/humanism-and-occupation...

http://www.americanhumanist.org/press/IraqDebate2.php

Fighting for Iraq:
A Case for Liberation

"Fighting for Iraq: a Case for Liberation," is by Jende Huang, who argues, "The justification for [liberating Iraq] can be drawn from Enlightenment values as well as common human decency. The dignity of the individual, the power of the life of the mind, and the creative potential of all of humanity are values that can and should be extended to all peoples. . . . The reluctance to extend such basic considerations as universal human rights to those living on foreign soil is disturbing. The tragedy of the Left is in its new found unwillingness and inability to apply the idea of 'justice for all,' to, well, all."

http://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/Huang.html

Re: Humanists Debate Alternative Views on Iraq War


Fighting for Iraq:
A Case for Liberation
by Jende Huang
Published in the Humanist, January/February 2008

AS WE APPROACH FIVE YEARS since the liberation of Iraq, it still appears too soon to tell if it's been a success or not. From a humanitarian intervention point of view, the tragedy of death and destruction brought on by the faulty decisions of the administration of George W. Bush must be balanced with the unjustifiable idea of allowing Saddam Hussein to remain in power to continue terrorizing the Iraqi people. A difficult moral calculus by liberal hawks led to the decision that, despite whatever reasons the Bush administration put forth for going into Iraq, the opportunity to free the Iraqi people from decades of oppression was worth the risk. ...

Comment by Geraldo Cienmarcos on September 15, 2010 at 2:15pm

Here is a concept for liberal free thinkers.
This is organization is in rural a county in California, USA. I've found that most activists are not divided by God belief. In fact in my experience, the subject almost never comes up. The topic at hand is getting liberals and progressives to vote; electing progressives to office; equal access to universal health care; fair and living wages; equality of justice; economic justice; ending racism, sexism and homophobia; putting a stop to unnecessary US Military intervention, etc. ...
-- Gary


A NEW PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE

Realizing that our shared commitment to human rights, religious freedom, and peace and social justice, significantly outweighs our differences; we the undersigned, comprised of both secular and religious progressives, declare an alliance between progressive, rational-minded people regardless of one’s spiritual, religious, or secular perspective.

While our beliefs about the existence of God may differ, progressive Americans share a common tradition of humanism dating back to at least the Renaissance. Many spiritual and religious thinkers have significantly contributed to the advancement of doubt, free thinking, and the sciences, laying the ground work for the Enlightenment and modernity. There is no "cultural war" dividing us.

MORE on line:

http://www.newprogressivealliance.com/

Comment by Geraldo Cienmarcos on September 5, 2010 at 8:40am

Secular Believers
The film Secular Believers provides an example of how secular beliefs can be included in a religious education syllabus.
It was made for the UK education system and its message is that beliefs, and believers, come in many shapes and sizes, and not all of them can be described as ‘religious’.
"Many religious people think that a secular society is a good thing, because it offers freedom of choice to everybody."

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/secular-believers/

Comment by susan thomason on August 31, 2010 at 12:16pm

got the new Humanist mag last night and sat up for a hour or two just got 2 read about 1/2. But I always read it cover to cover. I am moved by the article Saving Aqsa Parver, honor killing/abuse has to be stopped and Granados has the right of it, to change the laws. we have a long, hard road to go on this issue. but we can as a group. love u guys.

Comment by Fred Edwords on August 29, 2010 at 7:50am

Valuable comment, Geraldo! Your points are well taken. This explains why the Humanist magazine, which I edited for a dozen years and is now most ably edited by Jennifer Bardi, focuses on human rights, social justice, peace, cultural pluralism, and other broader applications of our humanist values.

Comment by Geraldo Cienmarcos on August 28, 2010 at 10:23pm

War and critical thinking... a British perspective

For my Humanist comrades,

I've always thought that Humanism should be concerned (and involved) with social justice and peace issues as well. War is human destruction, and extremely wasteful of economic resources that could be better spent shoring up the social contract -- the economic safety net, health and education.

This article just about fits on one or two pages. Yet it gives in succinct details and raises questions about who is effected by war and why it's allowed to happen in a democracy. Given the necessary priorities of productivity and a secure society, war should be one of the top humanist concerns. However important reason and critical free thought are, I sometimes think, at least here in the USA, where we feel beleaguered with irrational religious faith exploited to fuel right wing agendas, that we spend too much time on the subject of religion and irrationality. This article is from a British perspective. A much more skeptical society. War is very rarely a rational choice. The condition of humanity is paramount.

Why war? from Britain.

http://www.truth-out.org/our-weird-and-wanton-wars62697

Our Weird and Wanton Wars

Saturday 28 August 2010

by: Jim McCluskey, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

Many citizens in Britain are puzzled. Why do we always seem to be at war? How can this come about? What does it mean? At the same time, we seem to think of ourselves as a peaceful nation. In seeking answers, let us list a few notable characteristics of our current wars.

MORE on line:

http://www.truth-out.org/our-weird-and-wanton-wars62697

Comment by Fred Edwords on August 18, 2010 at 2:55pm

The AHA is developing a free online membership. Watch for it!

Comment by Fred Edwords on August 12, 2010 at 9:59am

Welcome Tea Cup! Even if you can't join the AHA, keep following the website. There's new stuff appearing there all the time, as well as essays and articles you can read if you reach into the website to find them.

Comment by Geraldo Cienmarcos on August 4, 2010 at 10:06am

"The belief in a political Utopia is especially dangerous. This is possibly connected with the fact that the search for a better world, like the investigation of our environment, is (if I am correct) one of the oldest and most important of all the instincts." -- Karl Popper in "In Search of a Better World" (1994)
-- Karl Popper on Utopia

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