Fellowship of Humanity

=History=

The Fellowship of Humanity was founded in 1935 by Reverend A. D. Faupel as one of a handful of "humanist churches" seeded in the early 20th century as part of the American Religious Humanism movement. It was the only such organization to survive into the 21st century and is the first and oldest affiliate of the American Humanist Association. [cite web | title=Genesis of a Humanist Manifesto | url=http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/edwin_wilson/manifesto/ch2.html | accessdate=May 14 | accessyear=2006 ]

Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda

The footnote in "Torcaso v. Watkins" referenced "Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda," [ [http://online.ceb.com/CalCases/CA2/153CA2d673.htm "Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda," 153 Cal.App.2d 673, 315 P.2d 394 (1957).] ] a 1957 case in which an organization of humanists [ [http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200006/98-5485a.txt Ben Kalka v Kathleen Hawk, et al. (US D.C. Appeals No. 98-5485, 2000)] ] sought a tax exemption on the ground that they used their property "solely and exclusively for religious worship." Despite the group's non-theistic beliefs, the court determined that the activities of the "Fellowship of Humanity," which included weekly Sunday meetings, were analogous to the activities of theistic churches and thus entitled to an exemption.

The "Fellowship of Humanity" case itself referred to "humanism" but did not mention the term "secular humanism." Nonetheless, this case was cited by Justice Black to justify the inclusion of Secular Humanism in the list of religions in his note. Presumably Justice Black added the word "secular" to emphasize the non-theistic nature of the "Fellowship of Humanity" and distinguish their brand of humanism from that associated with, for example, Christian humanism.

ee also

*Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda
*Religious Humanism
*First Humanist Society of New York

Notes

External links

* [http://www.HumanistHall.net/ Fellowship of Humanity]
* [http://humanisthall.net/History.html History of Humanist Hall and the Humanist Church]
* [http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/edwin_wilson/manifesto/ch2.html The Background of Religious Humanism]