Today Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard and MIT, announced the new Humanists for Biden initiative, a program of the Secular Democrats of America:
“At a time when the fastest growing “faith” group in the United States is people with no religious affiliation, we are delighted to announce an initiative of nonreligious people — humanists, atheists, agnostics, and others — proud to stand with the Biden-Harris campaign.
Humanists for Biden marks the first time representatives of the nation’s growing number of secular Americans have been invited to participate in a coalition of communities of faith and conscience, working together on a Presidential campaign. The Biden-Harris campaign is working to create the most inclusive campaign and administration in the history of American politics, and we are honored to take part in this effort.”
While some of us have long been politically active, many of us are publicly endorsing a candidate for the first time. The stakes are too high, and the differences between the two campaigns are too dramatic for us to remain on the sidelines. We are grateful that the Biden-Harris campaign has given us a platform we can support. The religious values Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hold dear overlap with our humanist values.
The humanist community, like all others, is diverse. However, many of us share a number of goals: We support church/state separation; we respect science and listen to scientists; we want religious freedom for all Americans rather than only for a privileged few; we want a society committed to equity; and we want public policy that is rooted in facts and evidence. Beyond that, because we believe this is the only life we are guaranteed, we stand for racial, social, environmental, and economic justice for all Americans, now. There is no room for bigotry of any kind in this country. These are all values that the Biden-Harris campaign stands for as well.
At a time when science has become a partisan issue, when opponents of civil rights are frequently on the airwaves, and when the narrowest definition of religion has been used as a weapon by this administration, we must push back under the banner that unites us. We are humanists. We are good for the sake of being good, deriving our morality from compassion for our fellow human beings, and from a profound reverence for justice. We serve our country with love and honor just as our brothers and sisters of faith do. We want a secular government that fights for all Americans.”
Read the full statement on Medium here. Greg Epstein is the Chair of the Humanists for Biden Advisory Council.