Message from the Executive Director

Tony Hileman

Living on the creative edge of our culture means being at the forward reach of how we think about and act toward the world in which we live. It will come as no surprise that I think Humanism resides at that forward reach, as well as at the growing tip of ethics.

Those are not universal attributes, to be sure. Not everyone can be at the forward reach. Sociologist Paul Ray refers to "cultural creatives," as a group that likely includes everyone in the Humanist movement to one degree or another.

Living on the creative edge of our culture also means change-personal, social, and cultural change. The late Willis Harmon, futurist thinker and author of Global Mind Change, said, "Throughout history, the real fundamental changes in societies have come about not from the dictates of governments or the results of battles but through vast numbers of people changing their minds-sometimes only a little bit!"

Our culture is created and re-created in a continuing process of sometimes barely discernable steps that repeatedly replace the misconceptions and mythologies of one age with the understandings and rationality of another. This in turn changes our view of the world which again causes change which in turn results in the creation of yet another new culture. This rotation, this cycle can be a delightful and dizzying upward spiral, but it doesn't happen by itself-we have to work at it.

There comes a point in this cycle of change, as we push back the frontier of the known, when we realize that what we've held as rational has become rationalization. There comes a point where we once again uncover in our thinking a mythology masquerading as rationality. That point, that instant of realization, exists on the creative edge of our culture.

These pivotal points are difficult to see at the time, and are generally discovered by looking back, but I believe we are in the midst of a considerable shift of mind toward a perspective that embraces this kind of perpetual change-a shift toward a Humanist perspective.

That outlines what I want to explore: the progressive aspects of Humanism that are shared by many others of goodwill, and how cultures change as a result of the way we lead our lives. I speak from a Humanist perspective but include in my intent all who strive for a better world.

The meaning of the word Humanism has been elusive since it was given currency in this country early in the twentieth century by Unitarian ministers like Curtis Reese and John Dietrich, two of a committed band of Humanists responsible for the publication of Humanist Manifesto I in 1933, and the founding of the American Humanist Association shortly thereafter in 1941.

At the AHA we define Humanism most succinctly as: a progressive lifestance that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead meaningful, ethical lives capable of adding to the greater good of humanity.

Now, that is compact and not all-encompassing, but it hits the pertinent high points of Humanism: It is a lifestance, the functional equivalent of a religion if you like to look at it in those terms, that stresses our responsibility for the world in which we live, as well as our capability to change it, guided by natural values.

That, by definition, places Humanism at the leading edge of our culture, and at the growing tip of ethics. But it by no means claims that territory as its exclusive domain.

That takes care of the academic view of Humanism but, lest you think Humanism too intellectually oriented, listen to what social activist Corliss Lamont had to say in his epic, The Philosophy of Humanism. Now in its ninth edition, it first appeared in 1949.

The philosophy of Humanism constitutes a profound and passionate affirmation of the joys and beauties, the braveries and idealisms, of existence upon this earth. It heartily welcomes all life-enhancing and healthy pleasures, from the vigorous enjoyments of youth to the contemplative delights of mellowed age, from the simple gratifications of food and drink, sunshine and sports, to the more complex appreciations of art and literature, friendship and social communion. Humanism believes in the beauty of love and the love of beauty. It exults in the pure magnificence of external nature. There's a certain grandeur to Humanism. John Dietrich, said of it, "Humanism is really the attempt to conserve all the human values that humanity in its age-long struggle has built up, and in addition create such new values as will add to the significance of life on this planet." That's what I see as the creative edge of our culture and I invite you to join us at the AHA as we raise the voice of Humanism. Go to Page 2