Search results for: Humanist Alliance

Foundation Beyond Belief and the Humanist Community at Harvard (HCH) are excited to announce a partnership to encourage community service and interfaith projects: the Values in Action (VIA) Fellowship position. The new VIA fellow, Zachary Cole, will assist Beyond Belief Network (BBN) staff in developing resources for humanistic service events and interfaith projects, promote humanistic civic engagement nationally, and work to develop the VIA fellowship program into a national model for humanist service.

The VIA program is HCH’s community service and interfaith initiative with a three-fold goal: to better the conditions of life for others through service to humanity, to build alliances between religious and nonreligious individuals and communities, and to combat the misconception that the nonreligious do not contribute to society.

HCH staff, including the new VIA fellow, organize monthly community service events for the greater Boston area. Although many of these service events are designed to engage the local nonreligious community, VIA also builds relationships with religious communities and works collaboratively to plan interfaith community service events to work toward mutual understanding and tolerance among those with different viewpoints and beliefs. The more that humanists, atheists, and the nonreligious participate in these events, both as an identifiable nonbelieving community and in concert with religious groups, we demonstrate that the stereotype of nontheists as immoral is false (for evidence that interfaith work can reduce anti-atheist prejudice, read this post by Beyond Belief Network Coordinator Brittany Shoots-Reinhard).

Zachary comes to HCH and FBB after earning his bachelor’s in religious studies and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds a MA in higher education administration from Boston College. While working toward his master’s, Zachary worked in the Office of Student Life at the Harvard Divinity School, where he planned weekly community events and supported student organizations. Stay tuned for future updates, resources, and blog posts from Zachary, and feel free to email him.

By Sarah Henry

The Pathfinders are now well into their stay in Uganda, working and teaching at Kasese Humanist Primary School.

While Conor, Michelle, Ben, and Wendy’s living conditions are less than what many of us might consider ideal, the school itself is a humanist island in this predominantly Christian nation. Kasese Humanist Primary School is one of few secular schools in Uganda, and as such has garnered the support of Atheist Alliance International, the Stiefel Freethought Foundation, and the Secular Student Alliance, among others. KHPS has big plans for permanent homes and new campuses, backed by the Kasese United Humanist Association.

However, even in this secular school, students in comparative religion class know only of Christianity and Islam. When Wendy began to introduce new religions, her students were shocked by the notion of polytheism and amazed to learn of a major Baha’i temple in their own capital city. Having Wendy teach comparative religions offers upper-level student the opportunity to learn about world religions and their practices, without limiting concepts to those two major religions practiced in their home country of Uganda.

Of course, the Pathfinders are having amazing experiences in every place they visit, and Uganda is no exception. Over the weekend, they traveled on safari with staff from KHPS. Wendy took some amazing pictures, putting us right in the thick of the flora and fauna of Uganda.

Don’t forget that all donations made to the Pathfinders this month go directly to school supplies for Kasese Humanist Primary School. Click here to donate.

By Andrew Geary

The holiday season often provides many of us with the opportunity to look back at the year and reflect on our accomplishments, to relax and enjoy company of family and friends, and reconnect with our personal goals and plans for the new year. This is also a great time to give back and participate in service in your local community.

While it is easy to hear the ringing bells of the red kettle and call up the local food bank, many other volunteer opportunities are out there. Here is a brief list of holiday possibilities, many of which are open to the whole family!

• Write for Rights: Amnesty International is asking you to send a letter, card, or Facebook message to those whose rights have been violated, from the imprisoned members of Pussy Riot to human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. Watch the moving video, learn more, and sign up today!
• Toys for Tots: Join the U.S. Marines in providing toys for families and children in need. Find drop-off sites in your state.
• Oxfam: Bring together your family and friends and help families all over the world by restoring a preschool, providing an alpaca meadow, or giving a goat!
• Contact your local United Way for ways to volunteer in your community based on your interests and preferences.
• Perform local chores, yard work, shoveling snow, small house fix-ups, etc. The Secular Student Alliance–University of Michigan recently hosted a Fall Chore Day that was a great success.
• Connect with your local Unitarian Universalists affiliated congregation for holiday festivities and volunteer opportunities.
• See whether your city has a volunteer network, or check out Idealist for local opportunities
• For Martin Luther King Day, get involved with an established local event or register your own event (such as hosting a Sunday Supper). Check out these two resources:
  • Points of Light
  • The Corporation for National and Community Service

Specifically for Volunteers Beyond Belief teams, FBB also offers funding opportunities to support your volunteering efforts. Recently, Harvard Humanists used a small grant to pack a record-breaking 40,000 meals for food-insecure children in Massachusetts. Read more about it here.

What holiday volunteering traditions do you have? Leave your ideas in the comments. Happy volunteering!

The Michigan Secular Student Alliance (SSA) has undergone a major transformation over the last year. Growing from 10 to 15 regular attendees to upwards of 40 at any given meeting, the group has adapted to grow with its members. Though the SSA originated as a tight community engaged in intellectual discussions, the emphasis on big service projects and activism events following its recent growth has made for a challenging balance, yet a sharper focus on their mission.

With the group’s rising popularity on campus, it wanted to become more active in the community. More important, the group saw volunteering as an essential aspect of secular humanism. “We don’t need prayers to change the world because we’re going to do that ourselves,” said Victoria Dykes, the group’s activism chair.

The group has started developing partnerships throughout the community, including with The Greening of Detroit, a project dedicated to improving the neighborhoods of Detroit. This includes strategic landscaping, cleaning up trash, planting gardens in abandoned fields, planting trees, and demolishing houses.

Community Service Chair Cathy Chow recently spoke on the budding partnership: “Detroit can look very crummy … but people can change that with a lot of work and many volunteers.” Victoria continued, “[Greening of Detroit] was all very community driven, and it was great to see the residents coming together and improving their neighborhood—and getting to be a part of that, I really felt like we made a difference.”

This focus on giving back to the community has even led to some interesting and unusual bedfellows. The religious groups on campus have a strong presence, and through volunteer events and public participation and awareness, Michigan SSA is bridging the gap. “They always invite us to their events and they come to ours, which has led to some awesome discussions! We even have a couple theists who are regular members and attend almost all our events,” said Victoria.

From the changing awareness on campus to reaching out to the local community, Michigan SSA is making a difference in their area of influence and beyond. “Being a humanist means working to create a better and more humane society. Volunteering is an easy and fun way to improve the lives of other people around and your community. It can help you build relationships within your group and feel like you’ve accomplished something worthwhile. It also has the added benefit of showing that people can be good without god and helps to dispel the notion many people have about atheists being without values.” Victoria is providing evidence of these beliefs each and every day, as the group continues to strive to leave Michigan better than they found it.

This post is part of our Humanist Perspectives series. In this series, we invite guest contributors to explore active humanism and what it means to be a thoughtful, engaged member of society. This article by James Croft originally appeared on his blog, Temple of the Future. You can read more by James at HarvardHumanist.org.

See also Good (Without God): Service is a Humanist Priority.

In the first article in this series, Good (Without God), I outlined the moral necessity and benefits to the Humanist movement of focusing more of our energy on service work. Here, I outline ten ideas for service projects which are easy to organize, some of which can be integrated into the regular programming of your Humanist group. These ideas are designed to showcase and promote Humanist values, with special consideration given to service opportunities which highlight values which separate Humanist communities from many religious communities. In this way, we can demonstrate the distinctive value of Humanism.

The Ideas: