Resources

This page contains links to material that can help you learn about Humanism, particularly Humanism in the context of the Unitarian Universalist tradition. In addition to these Videos, Blogs, Books, and Courses, see the Links section in the footer of the page for links to related organizations. If you are looking for resources for starting or running a local humanist group, see the Local Group Resources page.

Note that these resources reflect a wide variety of viewpoints, from religious or spritual naturalism to the more anti-theistic New Atheism. This is because UU humanists have a wide variety of viewpoints and we encourage people to explore them all. Perhaps Aristotle was correct and there is a golden mean. Also note that too many of these resources talk about religion (or not-religion). Humanism is all of the good-seeking and meaning-making in life that happens after traditional religion is set aside, so there are actually an almost limitless number of resources we could list here from philosophy, to literature, to science. We tried to list some things that will orient the visitor to our worldview, but, naturally, this list is partial. If you have suggestions for resources for this page, please submit them.

Videos

The Humanist Manifesto III, by Savvy Skeptic

British Humanist Association's "That's Humanism!" Video Series, narrated by Stephen Fry

My Spirituality as an Atheist, by A. Hughman

The Point, Humanist Services at All Souls Tulsa
Particularly:

Religious vs. Secular: A False Dichotomy? by John Hooper, presented at Humanists of West Suburban Chicagoland, 4/8/2015 (The intro. to John's talk starts at 9:53)

Wendy and the Humanists (new band) - The VUU #30 UUHA president John Hooper and author Mike Werner are on the Church of the Larger Fellowship interview show, The VUU, 10/3/2013.

Michael Dowd's Standing for the Future

Audio

First Unitarian of Minneapolis Service Podcast, weekly humanist services by David Breeden and guest speakers

Washington Ethical Society Service Podcast, weekly humanist services by Amanda Poppei and guest speakers

Ethical Culture and Unitarian Universalism, Kate Lovelady, Leader, Ethical Society of St. Louis, 24-Aug-2008

Blogs / Articles / Journals

Reason and Reverence, by William R. Murry

  • An adaptation as a UU World article of Murry's longer book of the same title

David Breeden's Quest for Meaning, UU Collective Blog on Patheos, as well as posts on this website

UUA's Humanist Unitarian Universalists page

Our Humanist Legacy: Seventy Years of Religious Humanism, by William Schultz, UU World, 11/1/03

A Church That Would Have You As a Member, by Doug Muder

I "Don't Believe" in Seven Principles, by Doug Muder

Living Without an Afterlife, by Doug Muder

American Humanist Association, Paths to Humanism: Unitarian Universalism (a pamphlet from the AHA)

The Faith of a Humanist, by Sara Oelberg (a pamphlet from the UUA)

Humanism Today

Humanism Today, was the Journal of the North American Committee for Humanism and The Humanist Institute. It began publishing articles by humanist scholars in 1985 and became the product of a think tank for the annual focus of the Institute’s adjunct faculty. The final volume, Bioethics, appeared in 2006.

There are seventeen volumes of Humanism Today. Volumes 1-13 are available online. Volumes 14-17 are available in print only through Prometheus Books.

Books

UU Humanism & History

Becoming More Fully Human: Religious Humanism As a Way of Life, William R. Murry

Reason and Reverence: Religious Humanism for the 21st Century, William R. Murry

A Faith for All Seasons: Liberal Religion and the Crises of Life, William R. Murry

Regaining Balance: The Evolution of the UUA, Michael Werner

Making the Manifesto: The Birth of Religious Humanism, William F. Schulz

American Religious Humanism, Mason Olds

The Whole World Kin: Darwin and the Spirit of Liberal Religion, Fredric Muir

Modern Humanism

Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, Greg Epstein

Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious, Chris Stedman

Humanism as the Next Step, Lloyd and Mary Morain

The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality, Andre Comte-Sponville

When Colorblindness Isn't the Answer, Anothony Pinn. Discussion Guide

By These Hands, A Documentary History of African American Humanism, Anthony Pinn, editor

The End of God-Talk: An African American Humanist Theology, Anthony Pinn

The Road to Reason:  Landmarks in the Evolution of Humanist Thought, Pat Duffy Hutcheon

The Philosophy of Humanism, Corliss Lamont

Humanism; Beliefs and Practices, Jeaneane Fowler

The Good Book: A Humanist Bible, A.C. Grayling, editor

Meditations for the Humanist: Ethics for a Secular Age, A.C. Grayling

The Humanist Alternative, Paul Kurtz, editor

The Courage to Become: The Virtues of Humanism, Paul Kurtz

Christianity Without God: Moving Beyond the Dogmas and Retrieving the Epic Moral Narrative, Daniel Maguire

Judaism Beyond God, Sherwin Wine

A Common Faith, John Dewey

Religious Naturalism

The Sacred Depths of Nature, Ursula Goodenough

When God is Gone, Everything is Holy, Chet Raymo

Religious Naturalism Today: The Rebirth of a Forgotten Alternative, Jerome Stone

Religion Is Not About God, Loyal Rue

New Atheism

The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins

God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens

The End of Faith, Sam Harris

Breaking the Spell, Daniel Denett

Courses

The Humanist Institute / Kochhar Online Humanist Education

In addition to their masters certificate program, THI and KOHE offer on-line classes on many topics.

The Secular Academy, from Partners for Secular Activism

Big History, Coursera and Big History Project

On-line courses that cover Big History, "an emerging academic discipline which examines history from the Big Bang to the present," according to Wikipedia. Big History is the modern, scientific creation or origin story that provides the grouding for our worldview. The Coursera course is roughly college-level and the Big History Project course is more targeted to young people, but both are fascinating and very well done.

UUA Adult Eduction Workshop - Rising Tides: Reason as a Religious Source

For Children

Grandmother Fish, a beautiful picture book to teach evolution to preschoolers, by Jonathan Tweet

In Lieu of the Bible: 50 Picture Books That Teach Kids Morality, Offer Wisdom & Inspire Hope, by Wendy Thomas Russell

Other Resource Lists

American Humanist Association "Exploring the Idea of Humanism"

Goodreads Humanism Book List

Religious Naturalist Association Philosophy & Religion Resources (See the Resources drop-down for more)

Ethical Culture Resources