{"id":8098,"date":"2013-10-08T12:58:11","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T16:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=8098"},"modified":"2013-10-08T12:58:11","modified_gmt":"2013-10-08T16:58:11","slug":"is-it-hard-out-here-for-a-humanist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/10\/is-it-hard-out-here-for-a-humanist.html","title":{"rendered":"Is it Hard Out Here for a Humanist?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My alma mater is turning up in religious news stories this week. \u00a0It turns out that the Yale Humanists<\/a>\u00a0have asked to join the consortium at Yale Religious Ministries<\/a>, and have been turned down<\/a>\u00a0[further discussion at Friendly Atheist<\/a>].<\/p>\n

The organization in the ministry are \u201cdedicated to the spiritual, ethical, intellectual, social, and physical welfare of students, faculty, and staff,\u201d which, for the most part, sounds like a decent match for the Humanists. \u00a0I can come up with a couple reasons they might have been excluded, beyond their non-religious nature.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was a problem that they don\u2019t belong to any overarching body (credal or otherwise); the YRM agreement, that all affiliates must sign, talks about groups being responsible to both Yale Religious Ministries and some specific \u201cfaith community\u201d with which they must remain in good standing. \u00a0Or maybe it was a problem that humanism doesn\u2019t entail anything beyond, as their website would have it<\/a>, a rejection of revelation, a rejection of nihilism, and a rejection of positive theism (though not Deism or agnosticism).<\/p>\n

I do wonder what other non-religious groups on campus might be able to join the Yale Religious Ministries if either of these constraints were relaxed. \u00a0I\u2019ll admit that freshman me would have been tempted to start a Deontology group and show up politely on the Chaplain\u2019s door with an application. \u00a0But if the Yale Religious Ministries expanded to\u00a0all<\/em> philosophy groups, not just those that are god(s)-focuses, I know one currently existing group that would presumably make the cut.<\/p>\n

The Objectivist Study Group at Yale (OSGAY)<\/a>\u00a0does meaning of life questions, is affiliated with an outside tradition (the Ayn Rand Institute<\/a>), and seeks dialogue (often over vodka and cookies) with weekly discussions of topics like \u201cShould a Father be a Soldier?\u201d and \u201cCan Sacrifice Ever Be Rational?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019d be curious if Chris Stedman, the Coordinator of Humanist Life at Yale, thinks OSGAY should also be part of the discussion at Yale Religious Ministries. \u00a0Would it make more sense for there to be a larger umbrella for all Yale groups offering preparation for death (i.e. philosophy) that would include the Humanists, OSGAY, my hypothetical crew of Deontologists, and the members of the Yale Religious Ministries as a subset of this larger group? \u00a0Would it make sense for the explicitly religious groups to distinguish themselves in this larger conglomerate?<\/p>\n

In the end, I suspect part of the problem for the Chaplain was related to two provisos in the agreement for affiliates of the Yale Religious Ministries:<\/p>\n

5. As a member of YRM, I pledge respect and support for other recognized ministries on campus, and when acting in the name of YRM, I agree to do so in a nonsectarian manner while at the same time acknowledging the faith tradition I represent.<\/p>\n

13. While acting in my capacity as member of YRM, I pledge that I will articulate information for the purpose of sharing knowledge about my faith community and will not undermine another faith community.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These would presumably limit the Humanists ability to run down other religions on campus or possibly to host prominent New Atheist speakers like Dawkins or Harris. \u00a0I remember, when I was an undergraduate, that I had Catholic friends who were disappointed that the campus church has signed this agreement and limited its ability to go after Protestants as heretics, instead of fellow affiliates.<\/p>\n

I do wonder how tight the restrictions are for YRM members, and whether the Humanists would have found them tolerable. \u00a0Having roomed with a former President of OSGAY, I am certain that the Objectivists wouldn\u2019t have been able to toe this line in good conscience.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My alma mater is turning up in religious news stories this week. \u00a0It turns out that the Yale Humanists\u00a0have asked to join the consortium at Yale Religious Ministries, and have been turned down\u00a0[further discussion at Friendly Atheist]. The organization in the ministry are \u201cdedicated to the spiritual, ethical, intellectual, social, and physical welfare of students, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":8099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-8098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atheism","tag-bright-college-years"],"yoast_head":"\nIs it Hard Out Here for a Humanist?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My alma mater is turning up in religious news stories this week. \u00a0It turns out that the Yale Humanists\u00a0have asked to join the consortium at Yale Religious\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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