HUMANICON 8/13 – 8/15 2004 Scottsdale, Arizona

My first meeting with the Secular Humanist group of Greater Phoenix was a huge success.  Having spent easily 50 years trying to determine why the world believed in God instead of a belief in the human mind led me into years of searching for the “why” behind organized religion behind any of the many Gods found on this planet.

My first introduction to Secular Humanists was the group led by Susan Sackett of Phoenix Arizona that was meeting in Scottsdale for the above mentioned Conference.  I was skeptical and hoped it wouldn’t just be another group of God-bashing hatred.  I was absolutely wrong.  What was presented from the first speaker to the last was a feeling of respect for SCIENCE, REASON AND THE LOVE OF THE HUMAN MIND!

The conference contained the knowledge of some of the best scientists found in America with an emphasis on bringing up-to-date the wonders of astronomy, genetic sciences, and the desire for further scientific studies on evolution, education and the development of peace through the development of studying other nations. 

The conference was combined with demonstrations of political cartoonists, musical interludes of great fun, and movies by Monty Python which brought out all the funny bones of the conference attendees.  We were entertained and learned about the development of the discovery of the Hale-Bopp comet from Dr. Alan Hale himself! 

We learned about all the other Humanist groups all over America and even in the other countries where a new refreshing took at humanity and the interaction of other cultures all studying the same basic desire for knowledge of what makes our planet work and sometimes not work so well. 

My world before meeting this new philosophic world was made up of the differences between people on this planet and it seems that our own government has a mind set of keeping these differences in the front lines of everything we Americans do, think and learn about other countries.  I actually believe that the only differences between people are the Gods they worship and now that the religious right is taking control of America we will never know another day of peace.  The crusades have once again started with the Inquisition soon to follow. 

My Background in Religion

I was introduced into Christian doctrines from my own family’s Mormon roots.  I saw the great things the church did for their own members and the never-ending desire for more people to join and believe as they did that Jesus was the savior of all mankind.  My father’s family was all Catholics and simply followed by rote the rules of their own doctrines being quick to confess their sins and then all was forgiven.

I began to question whether all this belief in superstition was actually good for the development of the human brain or was it simply a set of laws that took the core of personal responsibility away from the individual.  When my children were born I wanted to know if training them to follow a God for their moral development might have been a hindrance to their personal development.  Could thinking for themselves be better in the long run than simply following the rules laid out in the bible?  I went on a search to see if blindly following any God made people actually better off?  I came up with a huge void in my quest. 

I used the Internet for my questioning people and asked so many questions from individuals groups that I soon found myself hated and despised just for asking questions.  If people actually felt God in their lives, why would they get so upset by my questions?   Could it be that they never questioned the wonders of the earth and simply concentrated on the world of the afterlife?  

On my internet life, I discovered a world of people who gathered possessions rather than close associations; unless those associates were members of their own sect or cult.  I also discovered groups of people who took an almost instant dislike to people of a different god and most certainly people of different colors, languages and cultures.  Humans distrusting other humans became the neighborhoods of my childhood and met again on-line.   When I got older I discovered the whole world operated by the various gods, cultures including skin color and the history of mankind was recorded in wars and division. 

In my mind, it all came down to the study of religion!  Could it be that the great books of God were written by the politicians of the day?  Could my own United States of America be a pawn in the desire of the great Christian movement to have a nation of their own?

I discovered the term Secular Humanism from my questioning of the Christians in my quest for answers about God.  The term Secular Humanist meant a group of Satanists who were out to destroy Christianity!  I kid you not!  People I had known for years were in a state of shock that I would suddenly look favorably on a group that was fighting the very God they claimed to have built America.  In my mind, America was built by warriors who were fighting the religious intrusion in their homelands and struck out for the new world where all men were declared equal. 

I believed this with all my mind and heart and carried such a love for America that I would get a catch in my voice just looking at my flag; my old glory, my stars and stripes.  Long after I was out of school, the Federal Government suddenly added 2 words to the pledge of allegiance that struck me as wrong and totally unnecessary “Under God.”  I saw people refusing to stand when the colors were presented at many ceremonies and especially during our 4^th of July parades.  I felt as if I had been slapped in the face by some unknown source from Washington D.C. and my flags came down in front of my home.  I took a second look at my expressions of patriotism and felt as if everything I ever learned about America was wrong and a total fraud. 

I learned about the letters between Jefferson and Madison and was pleased to learn about Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and felt a sigh of relief that most people really wanted the religious organizations disassociated from our Federal Government. 

Then I met the Bush family!  Other Presidents had managed to lead the country without having to buy votes from a group called by many names:  “The Moral Majority, The Christian Coalition, the Religious Right,” all soon became lobbyists selling their membership lists to the highest bidder which happened to be the Republican Party.  This was wrong!  This was absolutely against the moral base of the GOP!  This was against the First Amendment of the United States Constitution!

When the election of 2004 presented the choice of which party would be elected it meant that the Religious Right would retain leadership and the federal government would be setting our moral standards for us, making American more dependent than ever on one of the most corrupt group of men and women ever gathered under one nation and one flag.  The other choice would be the Democrats who had been notorious for building bigger and more expansive programs that also made Americans more dependent on the government.  The choice was NO! versus HELL NO!

The Humanicon Conference did not present any political position but focused on the development of the mind and the need for critical thinking about every subject discussed.  I came home realizing I had much to learn on this new stimulating subject.  I picked up many Secular Humanist web sites and will get into my “discovery” search now that I have had a good night’s sleep and reacquainted myself with my 3 cats who seemed to have forgiven me for my weekend away from their constant need for attention.