Humanist Association of West Central Florida (HAWCF)

You can listen to this episode and the interview at the Podcast episode.

Humanist Association of West Central Florida (HAWCF)
3140 Troy Avenue
Lakeland, FL 33803

Contact: Portia Westerfield

Book Recommendation: The Philosophy of Humanism by Corliss Lamont ISBN 0931779073

Also available for free at Corliss Lamont's web page.

Religion: Humanist

Denomination: N/A

Web Page: http://www.hawcf.org/

If you were to reduce every religion to a song, then Humanist could be "Imagine" by John Lennon. Imagine there's no Heaven, no Hell below us - and you've got the Humanist philosophy in a nutshell.

For my homework before visiting this group, I started reading The Philosophy of Humanism by Corliss Lamont (available in meatspace version on Amazon). Now, some probably wouldn't classify Humanists as a religion, but a philosophy - though the Supreme Court stated they were no less a religion than any other, though they don't believe in any form of supernatural beings.

In a way, Humanism could be classified as "religion for atheists", believing that only science and reason can lead to the truth. Or, as Mr. Lamont would say:

First, Humanism believes in a naturalistic metaphysics or attitude toward the universe that considers all forms of the supernatural as myth; and that regards Nature as the totality of being and as a constantly changing system of matter and energy which exists independently of any mind or consciousness.

So, there you have it - a Humanist wouldn't believe in God, Vishnu, Zeus, or any other concept of a divine being. Instead, they base their ethics based on reasonable beliefs such as "Do unto others as they would do unto you" - not because of fear of judgment from a divine being, but because it makes sense.

I attended the meeting out at Lakeland, held in a small room of a Unitarian church. Turns out according to their local President, Ms. Portia Westerfield, Humanism sprang (or, perhaps they would prefer the term "evolved") from Unitarianism.

Most of the attendees of the group were older - I assume if I had attended a meeting at the local college it would be dominated by 20-somethings. This was clearly a meeting of people who knew each other, who welcomed seeing each other.

That's one of the things that I've found interesting so far - every group has their own sense of community. Perhaps that's just what happens when you have people of a shared belief together.

They were also very welcoming to new people. Several people approached me, introduced themselves, and did a good job making me feel welcome. One of them was even willing to hand me some of his pro-atheism pamplets. As he described himself, he was a staunch "militant atheist."

Almost made me want to grin outright - seems that even among an atheistic "religion", you still can't get away from people handing out pamphlets.

The meeting was almost the exact opposite of what I've experienced. Turns out this meeting, as Ms. Westerfield later explained, was more chaotic than usual.

Most religious services feature the Pastor/Priest/[Insert religious title here] giving the lecture, while the audience listens and absorbs it.

Instead, the Humanist meeting was more like a mini-debate club, with the president playing the role of referee. The topic of the night was the Presidential Inauguration Speech by President Obama, and in turns each person who wanted a say about the speech had their chance.

Turns out, the majority of the room loved the Obama speech. For them, the very fact that now President Obama recognized that "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and non-believers" - the fact that non-believers such as Humanists were recognized was cause enough for celebration. Vilified by former President George H. W. Bush with the statement "No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.", for an atheist organization like this one to have the newly elected President acknowledge them as American as any other group was praise enough.

They were also very excited that President Obama pledge to put science first and foremost as part of his administration. One of the Humanist ideals are:

Tenth, Humanism, in accordance with scientific method, believes in the unending questioning of basic assumptions and convictions, including its own. Humanism is not a new dogma, but is a developing philosophy ever open to experimental testing, newly discovered facts, and more rigorous reasoning.

While each person put out their viewpoint, others would usually listen. Not always agree - there were some who felt that an Obama administration wouldn't be able to accomplish as much as some hoped for. And while there were some who mentioned that "every party has a pooper", there wasn't an issue of "Well, you're wrong, here's what the official Humanist line is." Instead, that different opinion was listened to as much as any other.

Towards the end of the meeting, the topic shifted from "what were the thoughts on Obama's speech" to "plans of action" - how the community could work to further their ideals of science and reason as the basis for sound decisions. This was another thing that's impressed me as I've read through the Humanist philosophy. It's not just a "Yay, Science!" group, but a philosophy that also believes in acting to help their fellow man. While there were self-proclaimed libertarians in the group that preferred smaller government, there was still the spirit of volunteering and wanting to actually work to make things better, instead of just discussing them.

I had an interesting chat with one member, discussing issues of spirituality. Actually, the issue of just simple vocabulary. As one gentleman explained to me, it's hard to discuss Humanism as a religion - when they don't believe in supernatural things like "God" like other religions. Or discussing "spirituality", and how one can be "spiritual" about the grandeur of the universe - but too many people associate "spiritual" with "disembodied souls". So it's hard to use the same words to express the same feelings - but have a totally different reason for the feeling behind them.

I had a chance to interview Ms. Westerfield afterwards, and I'll have that particular show up on February 1st. In the meantime, I'd highly recommend The Philosophy of Humanism - it's available in a nice PDF format, so you can read it on your computer (or your Kindle if you're so lucky to have one).

I did have to say - I rather enjoyed myself. It was nice to hear a spirited and respectful discussion between intelligent people. I may later in the year attend a local college Humanist group, just to see what the difference between the older and younger generation may be.