aha's consider humanism campaign

8/6/2019 AHA's Consider Humanism Campaign

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American Humanist Associations

Consider Humanism

Advertising Campaign

On November 9, 2010, the American Humanist Association launched its Consider Humanism

campaign. In a press release, AHA president, Richard Speckhardt, said that the premise of thecampaign is proclaim, among other things, that, Humanist values are mainstream Americanvalues, and this campaign will help many people realize that they are already humanists and

just did not know the term. But upon inspection of the advertising materials, the messageseems to be that Humanist values (whatever those are) are exclusive of, if not superior to,religious values (whatever those are.) For example:

Mr. Speckhardt goes on to say that, a literal reading of religious texts is completely out of touch

with mainstream America. However, from what Ive seen, I would argue that it is the Humanists

who are out of touch with mainstream America. The referenced bible quotes in the ads, like the

one below, are almost completely irrelevant today.

The Bible:If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct

result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or

two, since the slave is his property. Exodus 21:20-21 (New International Version)

Mainstream religion (meaning the Judeo-Christian faiths) condemn those passages as much as

we non-believers. Its as if the Humanists are trying to represent the Christians and Jews as

they were two or three millennia ago. This is as absurd as saying that all Indians are alcoholics,

that all blacks are lazy, and that all Asians operate laundries.

Having reviewed the Consider Humanism advertising materials, press releases, and related

news coverage (The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politics Daily), I have come to

realize that this campaign is likely to backfire, if not create embarrassment for many in the

Humanist movement. My objections are as follows:


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1. Whoever came up with this advertising concept is somewhat naive. The purpose of

institutional advertising, which is what the campaign is all about, is to promote the image of

the institution in a positive way. But what the AHA and other freethinker groups have

wrought in this little crusade is the equivalent of the divisive, trashy, and negative political

ads we are exposed right before elections. At least, thats how they come across to me.

2. In these ads, the Humanists have committed the very unpardonable sin that they accuse

the religious community of cherry-picking quotes from the bible to support their position.

Indeed, the religionists, especially the Christians, could easily provide scripture to support

their own humanist position such as the golden rule, dont judge others, love your

enemies, etc. There is really no excuse for this obvious hypocrisy.

3. The campaign is also based on a strawman argument it has stereotyped and

characterized all adherents of religion as ignorant, intolerant, irrational fundamentalists. In

fact, members of most mainstream religions are no doubt just as offended by the bible

quotes used by the Humanists as the non-believers are. If Humanists are going to present

themselves as defenders of reason, then they should at least learn the rules of logic first.

4. By making comparisons of (cherry-picked) ancient scripture to the (cherry-picked)

Humanist dicta used in the ads, the effect may be to actually reinforce the animus of the

believers toward us non-believers. This would have the consequence, unintended Im

sure, of turning the campaign on its head; it would be the Humanists who could be seen as

self-righteous, judgmental, intolerant, and, dare I say it, holier-than thou.

5. Whoever came up with this campaign idea must have been absent that day in Public

Relations 101, where they were taught that more flies are attracted to honey than to

vinegar. I am very disappointed that the Humanists have taken the low road here. We will

now be on the defensive and have to stave off what are likely to be justifiable criticisms of

these ads by the religious community and, indeed, the rest of society.

6. The planners of this campaign also apparently overlooked the possibility of getting

themselves in the position of the pot calling the kettle black For example, the American

Atheists put a this sign on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel:


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How about putting up a sign with a picture of Santa Claus that says, You know its a Myth.

This Season Tell The Children. After all, a myth is a myth and reason is reason,

7. Another contradiction I see is that the Humanists have ignored some of the rhetoric in their

various Manifestos and Declarations regarding democracy. We have in this country the

constitutional right of religious freedom. But, by implying that theistic religion is somehow

illegitimate, if not just flat wrong, Humanists have presented themselves as undemocratic

and in the doing they implicitly deny the freedom of and the right to religious belief.

8. Humanists have also failed to demonstrate tolerance, compassion and empathy in this

campaign. One supposes, for example, that they would likely support the Neo-Nazis

request to have a parade in the predominately Jewish community of Skokie, Illinois. (See

National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, 432 U.S. 43, 1977.) In this

campaign, Humanists do not acknowledge the emotional investment of religious

adherents. In fact, they are even seen by many in the religious community as being critical

of and condescending toward those who find comfort and joy and even peace in their faith.

9. The Humanists also come across as somewhat confused about the humanitarianism

implicit in their own philosophy. Are they really so anti-religion that they would rail against

the civil rights movement because it was lead by a Baptist minister who was also a founder

of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference? Would they still support the gays right

to marriage if the ceremony was to be performed by a Catholic priest? Would they deny

the Nobel Peace Prize to Indias Muhammad Yunus because he is Muslim, or to Elie

Wiesel because he is Jewish, or to Nelson Mandela because he is a Methodist?

10. It seems to me that Humanists have become obsessed with religion, sometimes to the

point of irrationality. Indeed, this campaign seems intended as a soapbox for bashing

religion. Is that really the message Humanists want to send? In case they havent noticed,

nobody in this country is teaching Creationism in the public schools, the rack and the whip

are gathering dust in the 15 century, slavery is now illegal, and there hasnt been a witchth


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trial here in 300 years. (Although, admittedly, pedophilia is still a problem, especially for

the Catholics. On the other hand, I dont believe pedophilia is a consequence of religious

belief. )

In short, the Consider Humanism campaign seems to me to be an ill-conceived and

intellectually dishonest effort that may actually drive away more potential members than it

attracts. It could also damage, in my opinion, the image many Humanists such as myself would

like to have as constructive members of a pluralistic society who are willing to cooperate and

participate in humanitarian efforts for the common good of all people, including those who

happen to be religious.

In that regard, Humanists would be well advised to take a page from the Brights, (see

http://www.the-brights.net/vision/principles.html,item 8,) with my underscores added:

There is a human penchant for creating us/them classes in which the "them" is viewed as

negative or repellant. Although some individual Brights may have negative views of

persons who hold supernatural beliefs, the Brights movement does not proclaim superiority

or a disdain for others. What is sought is social acceptance and civic equality. This

movement unequivocally rebuffs not only verbal comparisons that cast Brights as lesser

citizens than the religious, but also those that cast the religious as lesser citizens than the

Brights.

With that principle in mind, I think many would consider the Brights before they would Consider

Humanism.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how successful the campaign was. And just as

interesting to see if the American Humanist Association will even provide such information.
http://www.the-brights.net/vision/principles.html,http://www.the-brights.net/vision/principles.html,

aha's consider humanism campaign

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