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The Humanist Chaplaincy on Campus
Thank you, Ed (Gross) and I wish I could thank Ken Karp in person for inviting me to speak here today. I did send him my best. How is he doing? He and I met when NJCor was being set up.
I’d like to introduce a colleague of mine at Rutgers, whose idea it was to establish a Humanist Chaplaincy there, but he couldn’t be here. His name is Dr. Gary Brill. He’s an instructor in the psychology department. I’ll talk about how we work together later. He does send his good wishes for an exciting platform today.
How many of you have some affiliation with Rutgers? – either you’re an alum or you teach there or a family member or friend is or does, some connection. My wife, Dara, actually graduated from the Law School a few years back (1979) and my older daughter graduated from the College. And, as stated in the nice introduction, I’ve had the position of Humanist Chaplain at Rutgers for the past year after our application was approved by the Religious Life Council of the University. There are about 26 other chaplaincies at Rutgers ranging from Chabad House to Campus Crusade for Christ to the Muslim Chaplaincy to Hillel, Buddhists, Quakers to Episcopals, Catholics, of course, some rather liberal, some more conservative, and they’re all on the Council and they approved us. I’m going to talk about how we managed to accomplish that.
Some important acknowledgments: I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing without the sponsorship of 3 organizations who believe in the mission: on the national level we’re sponsored by the Humanist Society, an affiliate of the American Humanist Association and one of the sources of my certification as a celebrant. On the local level, we’re sponsored by the New Jersey Humanist Network and Red Bank Humanists. They’re the ones who actually pay for our operating expenses including my all-important Rutgers parking tag.
Now, just for some background on what I do, as far as I’m aware there are only 2 other active humanist chaplaincies in the country or in the world. The one at Harvard has been in existence for over 30 years and has received national attention under the leadership of Greg Epstein. The one at Adelphi University on Long Island has existed for a few years and is led by Dr. Ann Klaeysen, who’s with the Ethical Culture Society out there. There may be one starting at Cornell, although I haven’t been able to find information about them. In the past there have briefly been humanist chaplaincies at Stanford and Columbia. Students at Tufts, outside of Boston, have contacted me about trying to establish one there and I think that’s a good thing. There should be more. It’s Greg Epstein’s idea that the training of Humanist Chaplains should be a regular track at divinity schools such as the one at Harvard.
So I want to talk to you a little today about what I think this position that I hold is all about, how I came to assume it, why it’s important and how I think it can influence the history of humanism and the advancement of all organizations, such as Ethical Culture, that talk about human existence and ethics without needing to ground the discussion in theism or theology or the supernatural. From my understanding of the Ethical Culture Society and from looking at your website, it’s clear that we have much in common in terms of our goals and our outlook.
I hope I’m as successful explaining things to you as I was convincing the members of the Religious Life Council to let us in. We’ll see.
First let’s parse the term “Humanist Celebrant,” shall we. When I use the word ‘humanist’ or ‘humanism’, I’ll be talking about a strictly secular variety of humanism. Humanists such as me, also identify as atheists or agnostics, terms that are more familiar to the general public, but humanism goes beyond degree of belief in a god or gods. There is such a thing as religious humanism and I think Ethical Culture, as an example, comes under that category by virtue of how it’s organized and its founder’s intentions. And it says so on your website. That’s one difference, an important one I think.
The secular humanism I’m talking about has been defined in various ways, short and long and longer. To Greg Epstein it’s synonymous with the title of his recent book: humanism is being “Good Without God” both in the sense of morality and that of leading a good life….without God. He also describes humanism not merely as an intellectual philosophy, but as a ‘lifestance,’ meaning as framework that can guide one’s life. Jane Willson of the British Humanist Association says that “humanism is non-religious, and has no worship, fixed rituals, or dogmatic rules other than the desire that each of us should make the most out of life, and try to benefit other people in the world while doing so.” The American Humanist Association uses different words, which you can find on the back of the brochure I left on the table and their expanded description is inside the brochure.
I have tried to come up with a statement that goes into a little more depth yet is understandable to children: Humanism starts with a simple idea: that we are all part of one single Human family and that our home is the Earth, which is in a vast and beautiful universe. And then I say most Humanists agree it’s a good idea to do 3 things: We should learn about ourselves, about each other, about the Earth and the universe around us; we should figure out how to take good care of ourselves, each other and our home; we should celebrate the good things about ourselves and the Earth. Learn, take care of, celebrate: I hope that’s helpful.
Now “Chaplain” and “chaplaincy” are words that have a religious connotation. I had to find a way of understanding them that allowed me, an atheist, to refer to myself in those terms. Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard, I remind you, calls himself a walking “oxymoron,” but I know for me, my acceptance of the word “chaplain” has to do with how I approached the Religious Life Council and how I explained to them the need for someone representing Humanism at Rutgers. So let me tell you about that process, which took place just over a year ago.
In early 2009, Gary Brill asked me if I would consider becoming the Humanist Chaplain at Rutgers, a position that didn’t exist before. Gary has been a leader in humanist circles in New Jersey since before I met him in 2002. He is currently an officer of the New Jersey Humanist Network. He was one of the creators of a secular winter holiday called HumanLight. He is Campus Coordinator of the Chaplaincy, a title he made up himself, and he is a key reason for the success we’ve had.
Why had Gary long been interested in establishing a humanist community at Rutgers. There have been a couple of attempts by students to do just that, but graduations and lagging interest around exam time had limited their longevity. Gary was told that the best way, the only way, to accomplish his goal of a permanent, official, humanist presence on campus, for students and others, was to set up a recognized chaplaincy. Faculty couldn’t do it for students; administration couldn’t do it. So Gary decided to find someone who would work with him to accomplish his goal and who could then fill the position of chaplain. He knew I had the qualifications to partner with him in such an effort. I was a decent public speaker and a dedicated humanist, had published some interesting articles on humanism, but more important, I could perform the two basic functions of chaplain – the ceremonial and the pastoral. I can do so because I’m a trained and certified Humanist Celebrant, have been performing ceremonies since 2003 and I’m also a trained and experienced crisis/suicide hotline worker, have been since 2002 and I train others to do the work of helping people find their way through difficult times.
Now, although anyone is welcome to join us – students, faculty, alumni and friends with any belief system, one of Gary and my primary concerns was to establish a welcoming home for students who identify themselves as atheists or agnostics or in some similar way, but who may have come from families or communities or schools where this was unacceptable so they had to remain silent and hide who they are for fear of unpleasant repercussions. We also wished to further the goals of the American Humanist Society, i.e. to increase the awareness and understanding of humanism and promote its acceptance in our culture, so that no one need be fearful of expressing who they are in this way again.
When I applied to Religious Life Council I knew I had to anticipate any skepticism and prejudice its members might have. So this is what I wrote in my application: Chaplaincies exist at other universities. There are precedents. I have been certified and our application is sponsored by the Humanist Society, which was incorporated in 1939 as a 501 (c) 3 religious/educational organization in order to certify celebrants. Humanism is a belief system has the key features of a non-theistic religion. Its goal is to enable people to gain insight about themselves and their world to help them live meaningful lives. It has its own core beliefs, values and ideals, which find their source in natural phenomena and philosophy. It has its own celebrations and ceremonies. There is doubtlessly a population on campus waiting for us to serve them. In fact, probably a higher percentage of individuals on a college campus have little or no belief in a deity than the 10% in the general population, as determined by a recent survey. And I said this would be an especially great time for Rutgers to acknowledge the existence and participation of non-believers in our society because President Obama had done so in his inaugural address. Then I gave them a copy of what you can read inside our brochure – “Humanism and its Aspirations.”
Then Gary and I held our breath.
A few weeks later we learned that our application was accepted.
During this past year we’ve accomplished quite a lot. Through publicity we’ve received, tabling at different events, flyering the residence halls, ads in Daily Targum, etc., we have an email list of over 200. Our attendance at events has varied from 10 to 75. There are flyers from some of our events on the table – talks by experts and authors, discussions on interesting topics, seasonal celebrations, meditation lessons. Some students have begun forming an independent humanist student group. We’ve established relationships with other chaplaincies. A few of our members have come to me with personal issues. I’ve offered assistance and referred those who needed further help to Rutgers counseling services, with which I’ve established a close tie. One of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had was with freshmen who express their joy at learning that we even exist. One particularly ebullient young man at freshman orientation exclaimed “Rutgers I love you,” and then turned to me and said “Can I hug you?” I said “sure.”
We still have a lot to learn and a lot to accomplish. Among other things, this next year we hope to reach out to faculty and alumni in order to enlarge our caring humanist community. One of my dreams is to incorporate music and the arts as part of our regular activities. An exciting thing is that every single year there will be literally thousands of new students entering the halls of the university with their talents and their enthusiasm who may be happy to find we exist. This is a perfect age to let students know that humanism is among the fulfilling life choices they can make. And when students graduate, we can let them know about humanist organizations they can find around the country, wherever they end up, which they and the families they will form can join so they can continue their affiliation if they wish. Being accepted as part of the scene at Rutgers means we can sit at the same table as major religious denominations and that our legitimacy is recognized so that students can feel the freedom to associate with others of like mind. I must say that we have been received cordially by other chaplaincies and by others in the faculty and administration at all levels of the university.
One area I hope to expand on with my group is something not often tackled in humanist meetings I’ve attended – that of exploring the great questions, what some might call the spiritual or existential questions of life: where did we come from and where are we going?; how does one find meaning and purpose; what gives us peace and comforts us?; what does it mean to be human?; why are human relationships so difficult?; what gives us a sense of awe and inspiration?; in general, how does one get through this crazy thing we call life?
I’ve brought some slides that show what inspires me to go on.
(Slide 1: GALAXY) – the birth and death of the stars
(Slide 2: EGG AND SPERM)
Life’s constant struggle to survive and reproduce
(Slide 3: POETRY FESTIVAL)
Poetry Festival program cover is a 35,000 year old Chauvet cave painting and Walt Whitman’s lines:
“What is then between us?
What is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us?
Whatever it is, it avails not – distance avails not, and place avails not,
I too lived…”
(Slide 4: Myra Holly)
I’d like to hear from all of you what kinds of things stop you in your tracks, what brings tears of wonderment to your eyes?
(Discussion)
I’m going to end with a poem, but first I want to urge you to take a brochure or card and to sign the sheet if you’d like to get notices of our activities. In the last box please put the letter “A” if you’re an alum or “F” if you’d like to be a friend of the chaplaincy (They’re not letter grades). I’m especially interested in alumni who are may like to become part of our humanist alumni group.
Thank you.
Here’s some background on the poem I have. I read it at a memorial ceremony. I used it to reconcile a family whose mother had died of lung cancer despite her children’s urging her to quit smoking for many years. She was an independent woman, an artist and entrepreneur, who wanted to live on her own terms. I said I thought the poem captured her spirit. It expresses a powerful yet tender embrace of life. It’s by Dawna Markova:
I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as
seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as
blossom
goes on as fruit
Thank you.
Do we have time to do a little exercise of the type I might do at a meeting of the Chaplaincy? I’d like each of you to take an index card and take a a minute or two to jot down a simple list, using one or two words each, that describe you, categories that capture who you are, how you identify yourself, not email and mailing address, but words that kind of define you to yourself and others. No cheating. Make a list of at least 5 items, more if you wish. Then we’ll talk about what you’ve written.
(Lists made)
Now would you pick out the top 5 on the list, ways that best describe you and number them from 1 – 5, 1 being the word or phrase that captures who you are best or is most important to you, 2 being next best or next important and so on.
How many of you have ever done something like this before? Who would like to share what’s #1 on your list? Are there any words you didn’t put down because you didn’t want others to know something about you? How many of the top 5 words have to do in some way with your relationship to others? How many of you put your job first or second? How many of you put down something that relates to religion or spirituality in some way? How many put down something that relates to scientific terminology or science? How many put down nationality or national or cultural background? How many of you see words on your list that conflict with each other or cause conflict? How many of the words on your list are permanent characteristics and how many are changeable? How many would you like to change? How many of you learned something about yourself or thought of things you haven’t thought about in a while? Good. This is an example of the kind of exercise I like to adapt for the groups I meet with.