Secular Family News
by Jan Loeb Eisler
The following article is from the Secular
Humanist Bulletin, Volume 13, Number 3.
Long needed and wholeheartedly endorsed by the Council for
Secular Humanism, a family oriented newsletter, Secular Family News, is
in the offing. Until now, the humanist movement has never made sufficient effort to give
information, support, encouragement, or coping skills to the secular family. Our culture
is so complicated that nonreligious parents, finding no support from humanists, could and
have turned elsewhere for nurturing. The support system we will be offering should
encourage a new segment of active and involved membership.
I will be the project coordinator for the Secular Family Network, and
edit the newsletter. We will start out as a four page insert in the quarterly Secular Humanist Bulletin. The
newsletter will contain material for children as well as parents and family covering such
matters as: the mythological origin of current holidays, dealing with intrusive family
members, secular single parenting, censorship in schools and libraries, coming-out,
critical thinking for kids, creative fun stuff relating to art and science ... as well as
many other topics. After all every thing that touches humanity touches humanism.
You ... all of you ... have been in the midst of the fray. You therefore understand
better than most our need to support our children and our families in their coping
techniques, their need for practical advice and approaches to the humanist lifestance.
Last month I spent an afternoon at Charles Dobson's Christian publishing empire campus,
Focus on the Family, in Colorado: the experience was chilling. They have slick magazines
directed toward parents, teens, preschoolers, preachers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and
on and on. I counted forty different magazines that they publish. We must not allow the
Dobsonville Darlings to usurp the word or concept of family for their own purposes. I
invite all of you to consider joining the writing staff of the Secular Family
Network by submitting articles to me ... We have an obligation to provide a
rational approach to our "Family". All of us have something to give to this
venture; all of us have a great deal to reap from it.
Secularly Yours,
Jan Loeb Eisler
Editor, Secular Family News
FamilyNews@SecularHumanism.org
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Humanism Online Library
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