What is the AHA?

Based in Washington, DC, the AHA leads the way in resisting the dangerous influence of the Religious Right in America. The AHA protects the rights of humanists and promotes the progressive, humanist lifestance.

The AHA was founded in 1941, and since then has been an oasis of reason in American culture, attracting some of this country's most influential activists and thinkers. The AHA's honorary president, until his death in 2007, was author Kurt Vonnegut. Others who have accepted the AHA's prestigious "Humanist of the Year" award include Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Alice Walker, Betty Friedan, Margaret Sanger, Ted Turner, Isaac Asimov, and many others. In 2009 Gore Vidal became the AHA's new honorary president.

But although the AHA has a rich history that includes standing up to McCarthyism, opposing the Vietnam War, advocating civil rights and women's equality, and resisting the creeping theocracy of the Religious Right, its activism is reaching new heights in the 21st century. Seeing the advancement of humanism as central to progressive change, the AHA has a renewed commitment to promoting humanism in America.

Okay, but what is humanism?

A humanist approaches the world from a natural standpoint, valuing reason, compassion, art, music, goodwill, and a big-picture view of the world. Humanists respect truth, but, unlike many organized religions, don't claim to have found "Absolute Truth." Humanists do not accept dogma, creed, or superstition.

Although humanists prefer to operate within the realm of reason, we recognize that there is much room for disagreement and debate under the umbrella of reason - reasonable minds will often differ, and humanists appreciate healthy discussion and debate. But those who are curious about humanism should understand that humanists see certain ideas as simply being outside the scope of reason. For example, humanists view wholly mythical and superstitious beliefs, such as the notions of prophesy and divine revelation (which, of course, cannot be proved and must be dogmatically accepted through faith), as being outside the scope of reason. Rather than center our worldview around such beliefs, which are usually rooted in the ancient world, humanists prefer a progressive, forward-looking outlook, one that is cautiously optimistic about the ability of humans to solve the challenges of the modern world.

Humanists feel that it is important to look at the big picture, in terms of both space and time, understanding that humans are an evolved animal that has only very recently emerged from the wild. During this evolution, humans eventually became smart enough to ask big questions about the universe, and, not having the answers, tended to develop superstitious beliefs and myths to provide those answers. But now, seeing that those pre-modern answers were usually untrue, humanists seek to move forward with a more reason-based and progressive view.