The Council for Secular Humanism is North America's leading organization for non-religious people. A not-for-profit educational association, the Council supports a wide range of activities to meet the needs of people who find meaning and value in life without looking to a god. Its activities range from magazine publishing to campaigning on ethical issues, from conferences to support networks, from educational courses to conducting secular ceremonies, from local groups to international development. Officers of the Council for Secular Humanism include Paul Kurtz (Chairman) and Executive Director David Koepsell.
We recognize the need for intellectual modesty and the willingness to revise beliefs in the light of criticism. Thus consensus is sometimes attainable. While emotions are important, we need not resort to the panaceas of salvation, to escape through illusion, or to some desperate leap toward passion and violence. We deplore the growth of intolerant sectarian creeds that foster hatred. In a world engulfed by obscurantism and irrationalism it is vital that the ideals of the secular city not be lost.
1. Serving the Needs of Non-Religious People
2. Championing the Rights and Beliefs of Secular Humanists
3. Developing Secular Communities
4. Giving a Moral and Intellectual Lead
5. Commitment to Free Inquiry
6. The Principle of the Separation of Church and State
7. Defend the Ideal of Freedom
8. Ethics Based On Critical Intelligence
9. Moral Education
10. Religious Skepticism
11. Committed to the Use of the Rational Methods of Inquiry, Logic, and Evidence in Developing Knowledge and Testing Claims to Truth.
12. Science And Technology
14. In our view, education should be the essential method of building humane, free, and democratic societies.