Presented by Roy Speckhardt (Executive Director of the American Humanist Association) and Maggie Ardiente (Director of Development for the American Humanist Association). Roy Speckhardt discusses why a prejudice still exists against the humanist community, where it is commonly assumed that one cannot be good without God. How do we rise above this challenge? What can nontheists learn from the success of similar movements, such as the gay rights movement? Roy identifies three critical areas where we must improve to achieve our goals: greater unity, more community, and the need to increasingly be more vocal in order to achieve our humanist vision. Maggie Ardiente will give an update on the AHA's latest projects to promote humanism at the local and national level. She points out that the American Humanist Association was, for many years, a "philosopher's club" for a small number of people. Today, the AHA is one of the most active secular organizations in the country, working to lobby Congress on humanist issues, promote science and reason in education, protect the church-state wall, protect the rights of nontheists through the courts and build a network of humanist groups across the country--all to represent the growing number of Americans who are "good without God."
