2007 in Review

HumanistNetworkNews.org
Dec. 28, 2007


2007 was a high profile year for humanism. It was also a year for humanists and other freethinkers to further define their worldview.

In March, U.S. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., became the highest elected official in the United States to publicly acknowledge that he does not believe in a supreme being. The news reached the public after the Secular Coalition for America (SCA) worked with the Congressman on the announcement. According to SCA Advisory Chair Woody Kaplan, there are at least 21 other members of Congress who are "nontheists," but are not willing to go public with their worldview.

Harvard's Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein also burst onto the scene in 2007. Though Epstein took his position in 2005, an article by the Associated Press this year introduced the humanist chaplain to the world. A somewhat controversial figure, Epstein introduced his concept of "New Humanism" to counter what the media has dubbed "New Atheism." Epstein's "New Humanism Conference" had record attendance and featured Salman Rushdie, E.O. Wilson, Steven Pinker and many more famous humanists.

The Atheist Alliance International also made history with its sold-out conference, which featured the all-star cast of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Daniel Dennett and others. In a controversial speech, Sam Harris told the conference that they should not identify themselves as atheists or humanists.

Humanist Network News covered these developments and others throughout the year in our weekly e-zine. We also had the opportunity to record face-to-face podcast interviews with many of key thinkers mentioned above.

On the surface, the disagreement over style between the "New Humanist" camp and the "New Atheist" camp struck some HNN readers as petty. But such airing of differences may be inevitable as the freethought movement continues to build momentum.

This December the Secular Coalition for America announced that it has become the newest member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a much respected civil rights organization in the United States. But many prominent "nontheists", such as Christopher Hitchens, object to treating atheism as a civil rights issue. HNN will be sure to watch this issue as it develops in 2008.

Welcome to the Future
Jan. 3, 2007

A former editor put aside the "yucch" factor to think about animal cloning and other scientific developments rationally. MORE...

Conversations with Christian and Atheist Activists: Michael Zimmerman
Jan.3, 2007

Activist Jeff Nall interviewed Michael Zimmerman, an atheist biologist who created The Clergy Letter Project, a statement of support of science signed by more than 10,000 clergy people. MORE...

Conversations with Christian and Atheist Activists: Rev. Robert Chase
Jan. 10, 2007

Activist Jeff Nall spoke with the Rev. Robert Chase, communications director of the United Church of Christ (UCC) and progressive Christian, who talked about moderate Christianity and what it has in common with atheism. MORE...

Religious Decline in U.S. follows Europe
Jan. 24, 2007

Young people are growing up less religious and the most religious generations are dying out. At the same time, support for secular government and greater tolerance is rising with each new generation. Or to put it another way: the future looks bright for humanism. The Institute for Humanist Studies examines two surveys. MORE...

Sexual Intelligence: National Condom Week Is, Er, Coming
Feb. 7, 2007

Do we truly live in a pluralistic society if pharmacists can refuse to sell condoms based on their religious beliefs and Muslim cab drivers in Minnesota can refuse to transport passengers carrying alcohol for the same reason? MORE...

Secularism Under Siege
Feb. 14, 2007

European secularists fight back against German Chancellor Angela Merkel's attempts to add a "God Clause" to the European Union's constitution. MORE...

Humanist Youth No Longer Homeless
Feb. 21, 2007

The Secular Student Alliance and Camp Quest, Inc. find permanent shelter at the Institute for Humanist Studies' building in downtown Albany, N.Y. MORE...

Harvard's Humanist Chaplaincy Turns 30
March 7, 2007

For three decades, the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard quietly committed itself to interfaith dialogue. But, with a new chaplain at the helm, this organization made a big splash in 2007. MORE...

First Openly Nontheistic Member of Congress Identified
March 14, 2007

Congressman Pete Stark, D-Calif., became the highest-ranking elected official in the U.S. to acknowledge that he does not believe in a supreme being. MORE...

Humanists Use the F- Word, Atheists, Protest
April 4, 2007

Harvard Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein uses the word "fundamentalist" regarding some atheists' language, and sparks fly. MORE...

Hate Crime Against Atheist?
April 11, 2007

The first hate crime against a humanist in Canada occurred against Justin Trottier, director of the Center for Inquiry Ontario and president of the Freethought Association of Canada. He was attacked on March 27 on the campus of Ryerson University in Toronto when he and a colleague were putting up posters for events, which included lectures by the physicist Victor Stenger, author of God: The Failed Hypothesis. MORE...

Islamists Turn Human Rights Body into a Laughingstock
April 11, 2007

The UN's Human Rights Council caves into pressure from Muslims, condemning "defamation of religion." MORE...

Condolence and Caution – A Secular Response to the Tragedy at Virginia Tech.
April 18, 2007

On April 16, 2007, a troubled student killed 32 people and wounded many others on the Virginia Tech college campus. HNN published a humanist response to this tragedy. MORE...

Kurt Vonnegut, Humanist, 1922-2007
April 18, 2007

Kurt Vonnegut died at age 84 on April 11. The author of Slaughterhouse Five was the 1992 Humanist of the Year and honorary president of the American Humanist Association. MORE...

Humanist Conference Brings 1001+ New Humanists Together
April 25, 2007

An enormously successful event by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard brought together a record crowd of freethinkers. Author Salman Rushdie spoke and received a lifetime achievement award for cultural humanism. MORE...

Salman Rushdie: A Little Nuance Wouldn't Hurt New Atheists
April 25, 2007

Rushdie shares his take on Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. MORE...

IHS Podcast: Salman Rushdie and Cultural Humanism
May 2, 2007

HNN landed a face to face interview with humanist and author Salman Rushdie spoke about the organized humanist movement and the relationship between the novel and humanist thought. This show also contains live recordings of the April 20 ceremony hosted by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard honoring Rushdie with the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism. MORE...


Atheists Face Off Against Fundamentalists in Televised Debate
May 9, 2007

Nightline features a debate between Christians and atheists about the existence of God. The Way of the Master co-hosts Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort face off against the Blasphemy Challenge creators known as Brian Sapient and Kelly M. of the Rational Response Squad. MORE...

Atheist Discrimination in the Army: A Firsthand Account
May 16, 2007

Atheist 1st Lt. Wayne Adkins files a complaint against the Ohio National Guard Office. It's OK to discriminate against atheists, he is told. MORE...

Positive Psychology: A New Force in Humanistic Psychology
May 23, 2007

A new movement veers away from the same old pathology and focuses on cultivating hope, optimism and belief in oneself. MORE...

Book Review: Infidel
May 23, 2007

Ayaan Hirsi Ali told her life story, which produced a difficult, but necessary book detailing how a Muslim-born and educated Somali woman grew up to be one of Islam's severest critics and a member of the Dutch Parliment. MORE...

Teachers Refuse to Distribute Camp Quest Flyers
June 6, 2007

Some Virginia educators balked at distributing flyers for a humanist summer camp, even though they were approved by their own school district. MORE...

Forgiveness: Not Just Another Pretty Christian Word
June 6, 2007

Forgiveness is a human virtue, not a heavenly one. MORE...

N.Y. Gov. Wants Special Rights for Religion
June 13, 2007

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) will give special privileges to religion in New York state. Given that freedom of religious expression and conduct has been consistently upheld in New York state on a case-by-case basis, further legislation seems unnecessary. MORE...

IHS Supports LBGT Pride Month
June 13, 2007

This year, staff members of the Institute for Humanist Studies marched in the Capital Pride Parade in Albany, N.Y. to support equal rights for GLBT people. MORE...

US Supreme Court Moves Sharply to the Right
July 3, 2007

While the Bush administration scrambled to resurrect its reputation for posterity amid falling public confidence, it seems to have achieved one of its goals for its legacy – a stacked Supreme Court. MORE...

Amnesty International is the New Victim of "Reckless" Vatican Blackmail
July 3, 2007

The human rights group takes a new more liberal stand on abortion; the Vatican's "justice minister" rushed to condemn them, threatened to withdraw the Vatican's financial support. MORE...

In Memory of an Atheist Rabbi
July 25, 2007

Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, founder of Humanistic Judaism, was killed in a car crash on July 21st, while vacationing in Morocco with his long-time partner, Richard McMains. MORE...

Americans Gave $96 Billion To Religion in 2006
Aug. 1, 2007

While donations to religious organizations dropped off slightly, humanist groups needed more funds to fight for freethought and separation of church and state. MORE...

Humanists and the Trap of Atheism
Aug. 15, 2007

Perhaps what we need is a return to a large and tolerant vision of the founders of the humanist movement, not "aggressive atheism," said the chairman of the Indian Humanist Union and editor of The Humanist Outlook.. MORE...

Ex-Muslim Activists Attacked
Aug. 15, 2007

Taslima Nasreen, author and outspoken champion of equal rights for women and freedom from religious fanaticism, had her book launch stormed in Hyderabad, India, by a radical Muslim political group. Nasreen feared for her life as she took shelter in a backroom while the press and organizers tried to fend off the fanatics.

Meanwhile, Ehsan Jami, 22, the chairman of the Netherlands-based Central Committee for Ex-Muslims, was put under special police protection after a recent attack. MORE...

IHS Opposes RFRA in New York
Aug. 22, 2007

The Institute for Humanist Studies took a strong stand against granting special privileges to religion. Jennifer Lange, IHS's legislative liason, called the legislation "unnecessary and potentially very harmful." MORE...

Cherry Represents Humanists in High-Level UN Dialogue
Sept. 12, 2007

In June, the president of the UN General Assembly appointed Matt Cherry as a special advisor for the "High-level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace." Cherry, executive director of the Institute for Humanist Studies, also represents the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) at the UN and serves as president of the UN NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief. MORE...

Sam Harris: We Should Not Call Ourselves Atheists
Oct. 3, 2007

Famed atheist-author's speech roils the Atheist Alliance International conference in Washington,D.C. Harris advocated eschewing the atheist label, urging non-believers to "go under the radar – for the rest of our lives. And while there, we should be decent, responsible people who destroy bad ideas wherever we find them." MORE...

Ellen Johnson Responds to "The End of Atheism."
Oct. 3, 2007

The president of American Atheists strongly disagreed with Harris and said that fundamentalists will still hate non-believers, no matter what the name. MORE...

Struggling to Teach Atheism
Oct. 3, 2007

HNN looked at the noble experiment of Viveka Vidyalayam ("school of reason"), a humanist school for poor children that closed for financial reasons, and hopes to revive. While in the U.S., the Carl Sagan Academy in Florida struggles to expand and the Ethical Community Charter School in New York City waits to receive a charter. MORE...

IHS in the News: Humanist Baby-naming Ceremony
Oct. 10, 2007

Author Richard Dawkins officiates at the baby-naming ceremony for Sophia and Lyra, twin daughters of IHS executive director Matt Cherry and Shannon Cherry. MORE...

"Letters to the Editor"
Oct. 10, 2007

A plethora of passionate letters pro and con in reaction to Sam Harris' speech. MORE...

If Snoop Dogg Wuz a Humanist...
Oct. 17, 2007

Translating humanism into rapper Snoop Dogg's jargon, as demonstrated by our IT administrator, Jes Constantizzle. MORE...

Parenting Beyond Belief: Reason vs. the Rod
Oct. 17, 2007

HNN debuted Dale McGowan's humanist parenting column. Why corporal punishment never works and reason does.MORE...

Organ Trafficking in Eastern Europe
Oct. 17, 2007

The gruesome international trade in organ trafficking. MORE...

HNN Podcast: The New Atheists on Organized Freethought
Oct. 24, 2007

In this month's audio podcast, we celebrated our program's two-year anniversary by interviewing Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens, who have been dubbed "The New Atheists" by the media. MORE...

Humanists Help Those Affected by Disasters
Oct. 31, 2007

Secularists give to those affected by the devastating California wildfires. We detailed a history of humanist relief. MORE...

UN Advocate of Rights for Non-Believers Arrested in Pakistan
Nov. 7, 2007

Pakistan arrested the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir. Jahangir was placed under house arrest on Nov. 3, following President Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule and the suspension of the constitution. Jahangir is one of Pakistan's leading human rights lawyers. Matt Cherry, a colleague of Jahangir's, asks HNN readers to join him in protest. MORE...

IHS Grant Fund Passes Million-Dollar Mark
Nov. 7, 2007

A milestone in giving is reached as the IHS Grant Fund donated to humanist causes all over the globe. MORE...

No Arks Needed After Governor's Prayer
Nov. 14, 2007

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue prays for rain on the state capitol steps while the Atlanta Freethought Society protested, gained national media attention. MORE...

Atheist Iraq Vet Still in Foxhole
Nov. 14, 2007

A Marine veteran talks about the double standard he lived under in the military, even while risking his life for his country. MORE...

Darwin Day Celebration Set To Take-Off
Dec. 5, 2007

The Institute for Humanist Studies took over the running of the web site for Darwin Day Celebration (DDC) in anticipation of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth in 2009 and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species." MORE...

The Golden Compass Author Avoids Atheist Labels
Dec. 5, 2007

Author Phillip Pullman is in the spotlight as the film version of his book, The Golden Compass opens. As religious groups geared up to protest perceived atheist content, Pullman argued for artistic freedom, saying that a writer must not be enslaved to any belief system. MORE...