Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming --
”WOW -- What a Ride!! “
Affirmations and Statement of Principles
· · · · I am committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
· · · · I deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms and to look outside nature for salvation.
· · · · I am convinced that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
· · · · I support an open and pluralistic society and a democracy that is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
· · · · I am committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
· · · · I would cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
· · · · I am concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
· · · · I help in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
· · · · I attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
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I want to
protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future
generations and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
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I enjoy life here and now and try
to develop my creative talents to their fullest.
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I support the cultivation of
moral excellence.
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I respect the right to
privacy. Mature adults should be
allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to
exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed
health-care and to die with dignity.
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I subscribe to the common moral
decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, and responsibility. Humanist
ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover
together. Moral principles are
tested by their consequences.
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I am
concerned with the moral education of our children. We must nourish
reason and compassion.
· · I support the arts no less than the sciences.
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I am a
citizen of the universe and am excited by discoveries still to be
made in the cosmos.
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I am
skeptical of untested claims to knowledge and am open to novel ideas
and seek new departures in thinking.
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I affirm
humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and
ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and
genuine satisfaction in the service to others.
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I support optimism rather than
pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in place of dogma, truth instead
of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear,
love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of
ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith ir irrationality.
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I aspire to the fullest realization
of the best and noblest that I am capable of as a human being.