Action Alert

Dear Humanist Supporter,

As election results came in last night and this morning, I know you were as nervous as I about the future of democracy in our country. I want to assure you that the American Humanist Association is here in DC to make your voice, and the voice of millions of other Humanists, heard. We'll need to work harder now, countering the elected voice of religious and political extremism, and that's exactly what we're poised to do.

That's why we need your support today.

But as concerned as I am about the next four years, I'm even more concerned about the next forty. Upcoming judicial nominations will directly affect Humanist concerns for decades to come. A woman's right to choose, civil rights, and religious liberties are all threatened by increasingly ideological courts.

The AHA has worked with others in DC to defeat measures like Bush's faith-based initiatives and the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have enshrined anti-democratic values in the U.S. Constitution. Lately we've been vigorously fighting the so-called "Pledge Protection Act" and other bills that would strip federal courts of their power to hear cases like the Pledge case brought by Michael Newdow. It is through the judicial system that our rights are protected so we must stop this concerted effort to render even the Supreme Court impotent in the struggle for human dignity.

The election may seem like a victory for fundamentalists, but with the AHA strengthened through your support, there will be a robust voice of dissent against the influence of religious and political extremism---a creeping theocracy---and an active voice for the positive lifestance of Humanism that can make a difference.

You put your efforts and resources into the election. Now is the time to redirect those energies to face these new challenges. The work has become harder so we must work harder too.

Only with your support can we revitalize the hope of the Humanist movement, strengthen the protection of freedom for future generations, and ensure that the voice of Humanism is loud and clear.

Yours In Humanism,
Tony Hileman

PS: At this early hour, election analysis is just beginning to shape up, but one thing is startlingly clear: those who say they voted based on "moral" concerns voted overwhelmingly for Bush. To those of us who equate morality with a reasoned compassion and justice this polling statistic doesn't make sense. But the Religious Right has manipulated "morality" into something synonymous with religious fundamentalism. Which is why we Humanists must take advantage of our unique capability to advance naturally derived ethics as a progressive alternative to divinely inspired morality.

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