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Are we making progress?

A message from IHS president Larry Jones

Dear Friend of IHS,

Since 1999, I have been proud to support the Institute for Humanist Studies with both my time and financial resources. I continue to be fully committed to this organization that promotes humanism throughout the world. However, one individual cannot maintain the resource that is IHS over the long term.

The changing face of the world warrants all humanists to join together to advocate for secular government, and to promote freedom of religion and belief. Our collective voice must be heard by elected officials if humanism is ever to have influence in the world.

Do we want religious conservatism to play a larger role in controlling our fate? Of course we don't, yet the influence of the religious right continues to grow in our government and in our culture. 2006 is a critical year: the changing face of the Supreme Court could move us in a direction that jeopardizes constitutional mandates such as the separation of church and state, and a woman's rights over her own body.

Can we afford to stand by and watch this happen? We need your help to empower IHS to shape public policy and lobby our elected officials. You've witnessed our progress. In 2005 IHS worked on both a national and state level to ...

  • Hire the first Washington, DC lobbyist, in collaboration with other national freethought groups that belong to the Secular Coalition for America, to represent secular Americans
  • Sponsor an amicus brief for Ten Commandments cases
  • Support embryonic stem cell research by lobbying for bills introduced in both the New York State Assembly and Senate
  • Support scientifically-based sex education by working to pass the Healthy Teens Act in the New York State Assembly

We will continue to influence public policy, but we need your support. The voice of humanism can be heard only if humanists support the advocates of the humanist message.

I thank you in advance for your support.

Warm wishes,

Larry Jones, President
The Institute for Humanist Studies