For Immediate Release
Contact: Amy Couch, 202-238-9088 ext. 105, acouch@americanhumanist.org
Matthew Bulger, 202-238-9088 ext. 104, mbulger@americanhumanist.org
(Washington, DC, May 3, 2018)—Today the American Humanist Association and secular advocates across the country come together to celebrate the National Day of Reason, an inclusive alternative to the divisive National Day of Prayer.
The National Day of Prayer excludes a quarter of Americans who are nonreligious and don’t pray, but who wish to celebrate the important values which are lauded during the observance. The National Day of Reason is a viable inclusive companion to the Day of Prayer that is equally worthy of government recognition. The goal of this effort is to celebrate reason—a concept all Americans (both religious and nonreligious) can support—and to promote public policy that is based on reason and logic instead of politics and ideology.
To celebrate the National Day of Reason, the AHA worked with congressional allies to introduce a resolution recognizing the observance. This is the fourth introduction of a National Day of Reason resolution, following Congressional successes in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Introduced by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) this year, and co-sponsored by Representatives Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Zoe Lofrgen (D-CA), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). House Res. 852 recognizes the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Reason. The AHA began celebrating the National Day of Reason in 1953 in observance of the traditional American values of rationality, reason, logic, and science.
“Today we celebrate the National Day of Reason, which embraces the commitment to knowledge and science that under-girded many of America’s successes. While we don’t begrudge individuals from choosing to celebrate the National Day of Prayer instead, when government entangles itself in such celebrations we find it to be inherently exclusionary and failing to uphold Jefferson’s Wall of Church and State Separation. When our founders and our leaders over the years employed reason, they helped make our nation better,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.
More information about the National Day of Reason can be found here.