Humanists celebrate Obama’s inauguration

THE American Humanist Association yesterday placed an ad in both editions of a special inauguration issue of the Washington Post, praising the non-religious upbringing of Barack Obama.

The ad is headed:

President Obama: Living Proof that Family Values Without Religion Build Character.

It goes on to quote from Obama’s own account of his upbringing in his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope. In his 1995 book, Dreams from My Father, Obama had written that his mother stood alone in her community as a “witness for secular humanism.”

A full-sized image of the ad is available online here:

Said American Humanist Association Executive Director Roy Speckhardt:

We hear so much these days about how traditional religious family values are necessary for raising moral children who can grow into accomplished adults. But we humanists have known for a long, long time that ethical humanist values build character. The number of moral and accomplished humanists is legion. We’ve been honoring the greatest of them every year since 1953 at our annual conferences. Now Barack Obama has given us the opportunity to share this truth with those from around the country who come to our nation’s capital to share in the inauguration experience.

He added:

Throughout Mr Obama’s presidency and beyond, the AHA will stand on its principles, holding the president’s feet to the fire when necessary and supporting him when we agree. While we understand how necessary it is for politicians to compromise, we also realize how vital it is that cause organizations like ours remain steadfast in their positions.

Here is a very heartening quote from Audacity of Hope:

Given the increasing diversity of America’s population, the dangers of sectarianism have never been greater. Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.