A Statement of Principles
We are committed to the application of reason and science to the
understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the
world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation.
We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the
betterment of human life.
We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best
guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive
majorities.
We are committed to the principal of separation of church and state.
We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving
differences and achieving mutual understanding.
We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with
eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they
will be able to help themselves.
We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion,
gender nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and
strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future
generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative
talents to the fullest.
We believe in cultivating moral excellence.
We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfil
their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to exercise
reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed
health-care and to die with dignity.
We believe in common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty,
truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical,
rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together.
Moral principles are tested by their consequences.
We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to
nourish reason and compassion.
We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be
made in the cosmos.
We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel
ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and
ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and
genuine satisfaction in the service of others.
We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair,
learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than
guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred,
compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather
than blind faith or irrationality.
We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are
capable of as human beings.
Reprinted from Free Inquiry.
