SSA eMpirical Editor-in-Chief Lyz Liddell at the New Humanism Conference

I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I agreed to come out to the New Humanism conference.  I consider myself a humanist, albeit quite cynical, but it didn’t quite seem like the sort of thing you could have a conference around.  What were people going to talk about?  What events would be going on?  What kind of people would be there?

As I went through the conference, I realized that humanism is a melting pot in and of itself.  Most humanists, having stepped back and examined religion in a scientific or rational light, demonstrate a fair bit of brainpower.   I think it’s safe to say that this was the most educated and intelligent group of people I have ever been immersed in.

However, just because I suspect that the average IQ at the conference was higher than the rest of the country, there was by no means a singularity of thought.  The people at this conference held a wide array of worldviews, from strict scientific atheism to deism to Universalist Unitarians to secular Jews even to liberal theists.  Their political perspectives are by no means exclusively leftist (though, admittedly, the majority do lean that way).  We all agreed that Humanism is unique and necessary in our society, but exactly what we should be doing is still under some debate.

The variety of people who identify as humanists makes the term itself difficult to define.  The Continuum of Humanist Education (COHE) defines it as “a godless philosophy based on reason and compassion.”  But even that broad definition doesn’t quite work when you’re talking about a pagan who definitely believes in at least one god but chooses to view the world through science and derives her morality from a source other than her religion.  What does she have in common with the atheist psychologist?  Do they both really fit under the same label?

Despite our differences in worldview, though, it was clear that I was working with a group of highly ethical people.  It seems like (and probably is) that we’ve given far more thought to our moral standards than the average person.  Whether the topic be global warming, human rights, or freedom of (and from) religion, everyone was passionate, informed and concerned.  It was the kind of environment that made me wonder why people think we can’t have morals without a religion to hand them to us – humanists seem to be more ethical than almost all religious people I’ve known.

The most important thing about the people at the conference, though, was the fact that despite our myriad differences, there was an inherent sense of community.  We are all in this together, whatever 'this' might be.  We all know what it’s like to be in uncomfortable situations of forced prayer, of telling our parents or pastor or others that we don’t believe in their god.  In a world where we often practice “don’t ask, don’t tell” regarding our beliefs, it was nice to be in a place where we could talk openly and freely about things that matter to us.

So what actually happens at a humanist conference?  Not a lot of religion-bashing, to my surprise.  In fact, there was a surprising absence of harsh criticism or negativity towards religion.  Aside from a few snide comments about certain U.S. government officials, the overall conversation was positive, looking forward, and building up our own cause, rather than tearing down religions and other organizations.  This kind of attitude makes me very proud to be a humanist – I can point and say “Look at how positive we are,” in comparison to those churches and religious student groups who focus on tearing down those who disagree with them.  

Ultimately, the events themselves consisted of very intelligent and very involved people discussing their work.  We heard a discussion of various world religions and their compatibility, and a discussion of the possibility of humanism in collaboration with the Abrahamic religions.  We heard from student activists, humanist organizations and world-renowned professors about the work they do.  We were given the opportunity to meet and connect with people our own age and people with entire lifetimes of humanist work behind them.  We were given the chance to become involved with new organizations and meet other members of our own.

In short, this is what a humanist conference is all about.  It’s about meeting people who are like you, but who are also very different.  It’s about learning.  It’s about connecting with people around the world.  It’s about becoming involved and sharing what you know.  It’s invigorating, inspiring, and informative.

That is to say, I really recommend going if you get the chance!