BJCPA and Humanism

"A whole herd of religion doers, simple and sophisticated, have nominated the godless, secular humanist media elite as the enemy. They have trouble defining secular humanism, identifying the persons involved or even pointing to the organizations in this ‘well organized’ conspiracy ..." (emphasis ours) James Dunn, Report from the Capital, April 1993, p. 15

In December of 1973, a coalition of primarily liberal organizations form a new organization called Public Education and Religious Liberty (PEARL). Former BJCPA Executive Director James E. Wood Jr. served on the founding executive committee. (Church and State, Feb. 1974, pgs. 8-9) In more recent years, both Wood and current BJCPA Executive Director James Dunn have served on the board of directors of PEARL, along with the current president of the American Humanist Association.

Among the approximately 30 member organizations of PEARL, of which the BJCPA is one, seven are explicitly humanist organizations. They are:

Note: PEARL is listed in the new members materials of the American Humanist Association as a national affiliation.

Former BJCPA Executive Director James E. Wood Jr. serves on the board of directors of Americans for Religious Liberty (ARL). Since 1982, long time humanist leader Edd Doerr has served as Executive Director of ARL and currently serves as president of the American Humanist Association, the largest association of organized atheists in the United States. Doerr, a signer of the 1973 Humanist Manifesto II, and ARL president, John M. Swomley Jr., serve on the national church/state committee of the ACLU. Swomley chairs the ACLU committee and formerly served as a trustee of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Doerr was a 16 year staff member at Americans United where, for much of that time, he was editor of Americans United’s journal, Church and State. Doerr has written a regular column in the Humanist magazine since the 1960’s. Currently, Swomley also writes a regular column in the Humanist. (For more information see "defense" section XVII)

Writing in a small publication entitled, The Birth of POAU, J.M. Dawson, the first Executive Director of The BJCPA, wrote of his organizations leadership role in the formation of Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State, (POAU) a name later shortened to Americans United... He writes: "POAU began in a room of the Joint Committee of Public Affairs for the Baptist of the United States..." He further notes, "I was asked to serve as acting executive secretary until a permanent director could be found."

Since Americans United’s founding in 1947, no less than 18 staff and board members of the BJCPA have served in official positions with Americans United. Yet at the same time, it has been documented that 10 signers of the Humanist Manifesto II have also served on the boards or staff of AU. Many more who identify themselves as "humanist," but did not sign the Humanist Manifesto also serve in official AU positions. Currently, Rob Boston, associate editor of AU’s monthly journal, Church and State, describes himself as a "secular humanist," rejecting both the existence of God and the supernatural.

Prior to becoming chairman of the BJCPA board of directors, R.G. Puckett served as Executive Director of Americans United. In a 1980 fundraising letter directed toward humanists, the AU executive wrote: "The one thing on which Humanists are in the most solid agreement is the vital importance of maintaining a strict separation between church and state." He continues, "...Americans United [is] the one national organization dedicated solely to defending this great humanistic principle." (emphasis ours) (November, 1980 fundraising letter, signed by R.G. Puckett) (For more information see "defense" section XVII)

BJCPA-Defender of Persecuted Christians?

"This is becoming a modern myth that religion is somehow persecuted in American life. It's a right-wing litmus test. If you don't say religion is being beat up on, then you aren't pitifully [sic] correct. Everyone is competing to see who can whine the loudest." James Dunn, Executive Director, BJCPA, in response to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's speech exhorting Christians to ignore the scorn of the "sophisticated world." (As reported in Salt, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1996 and in Focus on the Family's June 1996 newsletter, p. 2-3)