One of the 5 founders of WASH died in August, 2015. It got me thinking about how to celebrate a freethinker’s life and what we learn from the lives of people deep into the values of Secular Humanism and a reason-based life. So I looked up a few of the reflections people have made on a few of them and some their own thoughtful expressions
A starting point for me was a childhood influence, Bertrand Russell,
describe in and OBIT as:
“Philosopher, mathematician,
academic, and campaigner for intellectual, social and sexual freedom, and peace
and disarmament, Russell was a prominent atheist. He wrote about his worldview
in Why I am Not a Christian, and was a member of the British Humanist
Association’s Standing Advisory Council, as well as President of Cardiff
Humanists, until his death.”
When the NY Times
wrote at length on his passing they included this:
Unlike some generative
thinkers, Russell epitomized the philosopher as a public figure. He was the
Voltaire of his time, but lacking in the Sage of Fernay's malice. From the
beginning to the end of his active life, Russell engaged himself with faunlike
zest in the great issues of the day-- pacifism, rights for women, civil
liberty, trial marriage, new methods of education, Communism, the nuclear peril
and war and peace-- for he was at bottom a moralist and a humanist. He set
forth his views on moral and ethical matters in such limpidly written books as
"Marriage and Morals," "Education and the Social Order" and
"Human Society in Ethics and Politics."
Russell like others mentioned here helped build useful organizations and they often contributed in multiple areas as Renaissance people - philosophers, natural philosophers (scientists), intellectuals and writers. They are thus remembered also in their own
words on topics they held forth on important topics such as in the quote from BR below:
A 2nd such poymathic person, also from my childhood, was Isaac Asimov.
On his passing STEVE ALLEN wrote this still relevant
observation noting
the avoidance of his humanistic and atheistic stance in some OBITs. Mainstream culture often values things differently than the innovator does.
A Tribute to Isaac Asimov
It is interesting
that even so prominent a newspaper as the Los Angeles Times, in running a long and complimentary obituary
story, one that started on the first page, referred to Isaac Asimov as a
“science fiction virtuoso” and made no mention of his achievements as humanist
thinker and writer.
I
have the impression that the Times intended no slight whatsoever to the humanist movement in
this matter but that its lack of reference to something so important to Asimov
himself is an indicator of the general lack of attention paid to humanist
philosophy by the American mainstream mindset. Indeed it has occurred to me
that if it were not for daily attacks by right-wing fundamentalists, who are
given to using the term secular humanist as they might use the phrase Satan or
Communist, the non-theistic humanist movement would get almost no publicity at
all
More friendly was this letter on his personality:
Isaac Asimov was not merely a great
and prolific writer, but also a very funny and warm and friendly man
("Isaac Asimov, Science Fiction Virtuoso, Dies, April 7). He was always
bubbling over with the most amazing wit and had more energy than any three
normal men his age together. No matter how deeply involved he might be in some
project or how pressed by some publishing deadline, he always enjoyed giving
generously of his time and experience to help and encourage young writers of
promise.
The media attention following his death was on his
amazing output of publications and their influence. But for those of us who
knew him, his written work is dwarfed by the challenge of his personality. Just
to know him was to become a deeper and wiser person. BEN A. TUPPER Ramona
More recent is the
memory of Carl Sagan. Joel Achenbach provided a tribute to him in THE SAGAN FILE which included
this characterization of something familiar but something remarkably balanced
by cosmological perspective. Freethinkers require many adjectives:
He
was your basic progressive liberal, a college professor, a peace advocate. But
he saw our human obsessions as trivial in the grand scheme of things. The
universe isn’t about us, he would say. He railed against human arrogance, against
“our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some
privileged position in the universe.”
Humanists and atheists are saddened by the death of the
prolific writer and outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens, who died Thursday,
December 15 at the age of 62...
“Humanity has lost a powerful stalwart for atheism,”
We feel a deep lose when the person has made us think and feel deeply and made us proud to be of the human species.
We feel a deep lose when the person has made us think and feel deeply and made us proud to be of the human species.
On Saturday November 21, 2015 from 10:45 AM to 12:45
PM at the Wheaton Public Library,
11701 Georgia Ave., Wheaton, MD WASH will remember another
Secular Humanist Life -George Porter on
of the five founders of WASH.
Speakers
include:
Fred
Edwords (former AHA Director & former national director of the United Coalition of Reason) will moderate and our speakers include:
Ron Lindsay (president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry)
Rob Boston (Director of Communications for Americans United for Separation of
Church and State and Editor of Church & State magazine)
Stuart Jordan (past WASH President, emeritus senior staff scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, past President of ISHV, served as Science Advisor to the Center for Inquiry Office of Public Policy.)
Ken Marsalek (WASH Cofounder, 6 years as
early WASH president, coauthor of WASH bylaws, early WASH Board member)
Pete Lines WASH Cofounder, coauthor of
WASH bylaws, early WASH Board member, secretary and treasurer)
Bill Creasy (WASH Board member and
Baltimore Chapter coordinator for 16 years, 6 years as WASH president, current
WASH secretary)
Mike Reid Reid (WASH Board member for
10 years, editor of WASHline for 6 years, WASH president for 5 years.)
Aaron Porter (son of George & Lois Porter,
musician, and administrator for the Navy Band in Washington, DC)
There will be a small reception
afterwards.
Please come and honor George
Porter's Secular Humanist Life as people who knew and loved him reflect
on his life and contributions.
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