A few years ago the so-called “new atheists” made headlines attacking belief in God and questioning the value of religion. Some of the books by Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and the late Christopher Hitchens even made best seller lists. There is much to commend these works. They have managed quite well to tear down the edifice of traditional supernatural religious belief, but they have failed to offer anything to take its place. They have lumped all religious perspectives together and denounced them all as intellectually invalid and morally reprehensible.   Read more about The Third Way »

[Editor's note: Mike Werner, author of Regaining Balance: The Evolution of the UUA, recently taught a class for SecularActivism.org called "Humanism and Unitarianism". Here are his "final words" to the class as it wrapped up. What are your thoughts?] Read more about Humanism and Unitarianism: Final Class Words »

[Editor's note: This post is by Ellery Schempp, plaintiff on the 1963 Abington v. Schempp Supreme Court case against school prayer and soon-to-be recipient of the UU Humansts' 2014 Religious Humanist of the Year award. The graphic is by member Brian Lofgren.]

I am extremely disappointed in today's Supreme Court decision (Greece v. Galloway) affirming that sectarian prayers at city council meetings do not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.  The 5-4 decision severely diminishes the non-establishment principle and effectively endorses majoritarian displays of public piety. Read more about The Business of Government -- Prayer and Pledge Go Hand-in-Hand »

[Editor's note: this is a response to David Breeden's Sneaking One Over on the Humanists post and the religious language poll.]

That's right I'm one of the ten percent of respondents in the poll who expressed a preference for religious language - not because I use it a lot, but because it is useful to me in a much wider universe, than is "non-theistic" language alone.  I do use a lot of non-religious language too - in the meetings and on the advisory board of the large Midwestern Secular community (CFI Michigan) to which I belong. And much of the time, in the UU congregation (Berrien UU Fellowship - about half humanist in membership) in which I am active. And in the overwhelming majority of my dealings with HUUmanists.   Read more about I prefer religious language - no snark! Well, almost none. »

By David Breeden

[Editor's note: This is the second article published recently that makes a case against the use of traditional religious language in Unitarian Universalism. As the poll of our members and friends indicates (at least with the current sample) about a third of you have no problem with such language though, unsurprisingly, few UU Humanists prefer it. I would like to publish an article that makes the case that using traditional religious language is not an issue. Please consider submitting one.] Read more about Sneaking One Over on the Humanists (warning: snark) »

The British Humanist Association has put together four fantastic "sketch-art" videos in a series called That's Humanism!, narrated by the great Stephen Fry, which clearly and elloquently answer four important questions from the Humanist perspective.

How can I be happy?

This article was originally published in the Humanist Network News. HNN is a weekly news e-zine of the American Humanist Association with a circulation of around 44,000. 

When the topic of Humanist community comes up someone is bound to mention Unitarian Universalism. That is because UUs have what Humanists who want community are looking for. Unitarian Universalism also comes up because a significant number of UUs are Humanists and because organized Humanism was in large part an outgrowth of Unitarianism in its early days. Humanism and Unitarian Universalism go together, and I assert that theover 1,000 UU congregations are natural and practical homes for local Humanist communities. Read more about The UU Congregation: Habitat for Humanism »

Here's to the goal of not taking ourselves too seriously!

Sung by J.T. Bakes & Max Gibson Read more about "You Are Theist, I Am Humanist" »

[Editor's note: This text was first presented as a sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, MA, 10/21/12. An shortened version of it appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of the journal, Religious Humanism.]

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (I Corinthians 13:11)

I’ve come to realize that this simple description of the necessary transition from childhood to adulthood applies not just to individuals but also to cultures and societies, and ultimately to the human species itself. Read more about Religious Humanism Comes of Age »

Editor's note: this is an entry in a series of essays on this topic. Please, share your story.

FREEDOM DEPENDS ON FREETHINKERS! Read more about "Why I Am a UU Humanist", by Mehl Renner »