Donating to the Frontlines of Humanism
It’s an exciting time to support humanist causes. There’s still enough dogma in the air to keep humanists riled up, yet it’s beyond clear who’s on the winning side of history. As organized religions intellectually self-destruct before our eyes, we not only get a good show, we also get a chance to finally steer humanity in a course dictated first and foremost by reason.
New reason-based causes and movements seem to be coming onto the scene at a rapid pace. Any casual consumer of Ted Talks or academic podcasts will know what I mean. But which humanist causes are truly worth supporting?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently as I’ve determined to donate more regularly to causes I believe in. Part of my fundamental strategy is to avoid donating to massive organizations like the Democratic Party. I’ll give them my vote as needed to keep the machine running, but I don’t want my money going to feed a machine; I want it to feed a grassroots cause or an innovative movement. I’m happy to leave the machine-feeding to the billionaires. They’re much better suited for that sort of undertaking anyway.
So, putting aside political machines, I’m left with an array of novel and often quirky organizations, each branching off in one direction or another in support of the greater cause of humanism. This past month I’ve had four particular organizations in mind. Taking a step back and examining these organizations together, it’s clear that this is indeed an exciting time to be a humanist. To see what I mean, just consider the following three organizations in terms of representing the same general movement:
1) The Transhumanist Party — Zoltan Istvan brought the Transhumanist Party into the spotlight when he ran for president in 2016. The purpose of the party is to advance scientific research above all else. The party is confident that many of the world’s major problems (global warming, overpopulation, disease, etc.) can only be resolved through scientific or technological innovations. Also, as the name suggests, transhumanism encourages us to merge with technology in order to overcome natural ailments (including aging) that inherently thwart our wellbeing as a species.
2) The Satanic Temple — It’s hard to take this group seriously, and I think their use of stereotypical satanic imagery is a bit juvenile; but then again, their anti-dogma, pro-humanist campaigns are occasionally pretty brilliant. (Despite the implications of the name, the Satanic Temple is completely atheistic, incidentally.) As I see it, donating to The Satanic Temple is sort of the equivalent of supporting a wacky but well-meaning offshoot of the ACLU.
3) The Seasteading Institute — This organization seeks to build floating cities that operate independently from any established government. When up and running, the cities will, according to Seaseateading.org, “allow the next generation of pioneers to peacefully test new ideas for how to live together.” Putting aside the undertones of anarchism and extreme libertarianism, the organization seeks to promote deeply humanist values. For example, “The Eight Great Moral Imperatives” of seasteading include: enriching the poor, curing the sick, feeding the hungry, cleaning the atmosphere, and living in balance with nature.
Between these three organizations, it’s impossible to tell which will be successful in accomplishing their immediate goals. But I think it’s clear that their underlying principles are generally pointed in the right direction. It’s hard to be too far off the mark if you’re fighting for the liberation of humanity from superstitious and sectarianism. Who knows, maybe I’ll just go ahead and support the time-tested ACLU this month, but still it’s great to know that there are so many exciting causes for a young humanist to get behind.
