Humanist Manifesto

The Humanist Manifestos are a series of statements which outline the core beliefs of the Humanist movement. The first, A Humanist Manifesto (1933) was primarily written by Raymond Bragg with 34 co-signers and published in the May/June 1933 issue of the New Humanist. Unlike subsequent manifestos, A Humanist Manifesto refers to Humanism as a “religious movement” that would transcend other religious systems that were steeped in the supernatural. Humanist Manifesto II (1973) was written by Paul Kurtz and Edwin H. Wilson and published in the September/October 1973 issue of The Humanist. It was intended as an updated version of the first manifesto and addressed specifically a few of the political and social events of the day such as racism, birth control, and weapons of mass destruction. Humanist Manifesto III is the subtitle of the 2003 statement by the American Humanist Association titled Humanism and Its Aspiration. The document echoes, in brief, many of the same themes as its predecessors.