Relating to a “Non-Humanist” World: Participating in Democracy, on Why the Humanist Viewpoint Matters

Abstract

Chapter Eleven is written by President and Public Policy Director at the Institute for Science and Human Values, Toni Van Pelt and is titled “Relating to a ‘Non-Humanist’ World: Participating in Democracy, On Why the Humanist Viewpoint Matters.” After having pushed and probed and reflexively wrestled with a variety of ways that humanism might better understand itself and its roles in the non-humanist world, this final chapter situates humanism as an incredibly important mechanism for defending and realizing participatory democracy. Actively, and unapologetically, Van Pelt takes American “theocrats” to task. She outlines concrete examples of the theocratic perversions of American democracy before concluding with a didactic program for increasing the impact of humanist involvement in the political sphere.