6.7 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Humanist Association | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Humanist_Association | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T10:20:07.356116+00:00 | kb-cron |
== Advertising campaigns == The American Humanist Association has received media attention for its various advertising campaigns; in 2010, the AHA's campaign was said to be more expensive than similar ad campaigns from the American Atheists and Freedom From Religion Foundation. In 2008, it ran ads on buses in Washington, D.C., that proclaimed "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake", and since 2009, the organization has paid for billboard advertisements nationwide. One such billboard, which stated "No God... No Problem", was repeatedly vandalized. In 2010, it launched another ad campaign promoting Humanism, which The New York Times said was the "first (atheist campaign) to include spots on television and cable" and was described by CNN as the "largest, most extensive advertising campaign ever by a godless organization". The campaign featured violent or sexist quotes from holy books, contrasted with quotes from humanist thinkers, including physicist Albert Einstein, and was largely underwritten by Todd Stiefel, a retired pharmaceutical company executive. In late 2011 it launched a holiday billboard campaign, placing advertisements in 7 different cities: Kearny, New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; Cranston, Rhode Island; Bastrop, Louisiana; Oregon City, Oregon; College Station, Texas and Rochester Hills, Michigan", cities where AHA stated "atheists have experienced discrimination due to their lack of belief in a traditional god". The organization spent over $200,000 on their campaign, including a billboard reading "Yes, Virginia, there is no god." In November 2012, the AHA launched a national ad campaign to promote a new website, KidsWithoutGod.com, with ads using the slogans "I'm getting a bit old for imaginary friends" and "You're Not The Only One". The campaign included bus advertising in Washington, DC, a billboard in Moscow, Idaho, and online ads on the family of websites run by Cheezburger and Pandora Radio, as well as Facebook, Reddit, Google, and YouTube. Ads were turned down because of their content by Disney, Time for Kids and National Geographic Kids.
== National Day of Reason == The American Humanist Association and the Washington Area Secular Humanists created the National Day of Reason in 2003. In addition to serving as a holiday for secularists, the National Day of Reason was created in response to the unconstitutionality of the National Day of Prayer. According to the event organizers, the National Day of Prayer "violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution because it asks federal, state, and local government entities to set aside tax dollar supported time and space to engage in religious ceremonies". Several organizations associated with the National Day of Reason have organized food drives and blood donations, while other groups have called for an end to prayer invocations at city meetings. Other organizations, such as the Oklahoma and Minnesota Atheists, have organized local secular celebrations as alternatives to the National Day of Prayer. Additionally, many individuals affiliated with these atheistic groups choose to protest the official National Day of Prayer.
== Reason Rally == In 2012, the American Humanist Association co-sponsored the Reason Rally, a national gathering of "humanists, atheists, freethinkers and nonbelievers from across the United States and abroad" in Washington, D.C. The rally, held on the National Mall, had speakers such as Richard Dawkins, James Randi, Adam Savage, and student activist Jessica Ahlqvist. According to the Huffington Post, the event's attendance was between 8,000 and 10,000, while the Atlantic reported nearly 20,000. The AHA also co-sponsored the 2016 Reason Rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
== Famous awardees == The American Humanist Association has named a "Humanist of the Year" annually since 1953. It has also granted other honors to numerous leading figures, including Salman Rushdie (Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism 2007), Oliver Stone (Humanist Arts Award, 1996), Katharine Hepburn (Humanist Arts Award 1985), John Dewey (Humanist Pioneer Award, 1954), Jack Kevorkian (Humanist Hero Award, 1996) and Vashti McCollum (Distinguished Service Award, 1991).
== Controversy == In 2021, Richard Dawkins said on Twitter, "In 2015, Rachel Dolezal, a white chapter president of NAACP, was vilified for identifying as Black. Some men choose to identify as women, and some women choose to identify as men. You will be vilified if you deny that they literally are what they identify as. Discuss." After receiving criticism for this tweet, Dawkins responded by saying, "I do not intend to disparage trans people. I see that my academic 'Discuss' question has been misconstrued as such, and I deplore this. It was also not my intent to ally in any way with Republican bigots in the US now exploiting this issue." In response to these comments, the American Humanist Association retracted Dawkins' 1996 Humanist of the Year Award. Robby Soave of Reason magazine criticized the retraction, saying, "The drive to punish dissenters from various orthodoxies is illiberal."
== AHA's Humanists of the Year == The AHA website presents the list of the following Humanists of the Year:
== See also == Humanism Secular humanism John Dewey Charles Francis Potter Bertrand Russell Louis Appignani List of general awards in the humanities
== References ==
== Further reading == Garry, Patrick M. "When Anti-Establishment Becomes Exclusion: The Supreme Court's Opinion in American Legion v. American Humanist Association and the Flip Side of the Endorsement Test." Nebraska Law Review 98 (2019): 643+ [2]. Hyde, M. Allison. "American Legion v. American Humanist Ass'n: Exempting Longstanding Governmental Religious Displays from Establishment Clause Scrutiny and How the Endorsement Test Could Have Prevented It." Maryland Law Review 79 (2019): 836+ online. Myers, Richard S. "American Legion v. American Humanist Association and the Future of the Establishment Clause." Ave Maria Law Review 19 (2021): 91–104. online Archived September 21, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. Pinn, Anthony B., ed. By these hands: A documentary history of African American humanism (NYU Press, 2001). Pinn, Anthony B. The end of god-talk: An African American humanist theology (Oxford University Press, 2012).
== External links ==
Official website "Edwin H. Wilson Papers of the American Humanist Association, 1913–1989". Special Collections Research Center. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2011.