John Hooper and Pat Mohr, president and vice president of the UU Humanist Association, attended the Moral March on Raleigh event on February 8, 2014. In the picture on the right, they are standing with Mike and Susanne Werner, fellow UU Humanists and secular activists. The march brought together approximately 80,000 people from around the country, including UUA president Peter Morales and over 1,500 other UUs, many wearing their bright yellow "Standing On the Side of Love" t-shirts. They came to Raleigh to protest regressive North Carolina GOP policies around health care, education, the criminal justice system and voter suppression that especially disenfranchise the poor and people of color.

Read more about The Moral March on Raleigh »

UUHA president John Hooper recently participated in the Secular Leadership Summit, on January 25, 2014. The event was held in Columbus, OH and was sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance. This meeting, formerly known as the Heads Meeting, brings together the leaders from all of the major non-theistic organizations to discuss strategy and to coordinate activities.

John described the event as, "a very positive meeting" and the people as, "a really cool bunch of folks".  Read more about Secular Leadership Summit 2014 »

Editor's note: this is another essay in the "Why I Am a UU Humanist" series. What is your story? Contact us and let us share it.

My name is Bob Koches, I am a humanist and this is my journey.  I think of humanism as a kinder, gentler form of atheism. 

Humanist Manifesto III , a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933, defines humanism as a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.   “The lifestance of  humanism - guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience encourages us to live life willfully and fully.  It evolved through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are subject to change as our knowledge and understanding advances.”  Read more about On Becoming Humanist - My Personal Journey from Catholic Educated to Humanist, by Bob Koches »

Michael Werner gave an excellent talk at the Concord Area Humanists meeting on October 23, 2013 about Humanist Ethics. Mike and his wife Susanne were in the area as part of Mike's book tour to promote his new book "Regaining Balance: The Evolution of the UUA". Here is the video of Mike's talk. (If the video does not appear below, try this link.)

And here are the slides:

Read more about Ethical Dilemmas and Humanist Ethics »