Representative Juan Mendez Atheist Prayer

Most prayers in this room begin with a request to bow your heads. I would like to ask you not to bow your heads. I would like to ask that you take a moment to look around the room at all of the men and women here, in this moment, sharing together this extraordinary experience of being alive and of dedicating ourselves to working toward improving the lives of the people of our state. This room in which there are many challenging debates, many moments of tension, of ideological division, of fr...

 Humanism

The humanist is filled with wonder and admiration at the creatures that are human, at their capacity for accomplishment, for sacrifice, at the intricacy and precision of that nervous system which has made it; it possible for them to stand where they do today in nature' hierarchy. We are convinced that if we use to an eve greater extent our unique capacities for discovery and for for cooperation, the future of our race will be a brilliant and a happy one.

 1933 Humanist Manifesto

The time has come for widespread recognition of the radical changes in religious beliefs throughout the modern world. The time is past for mere revision of traditional attitudes. Science and economic change have disrupted the old beliefs. Religions the world over are under the necessity of coming to terms with new conditions created by a vastly increased knowledge and experience. In every field of human activity, the vital movement is now in the direction of a candid and explicit humanism....