Forming a group like this had been in the back of my mind for a while. I work in an

institution and, perhaps because there are so many employees, there are many who

are open about their religious beliefs. Because of this openness and their efforts to

work their beliefs into many activities, I feel real prodding at times to engage in

religious activities. I never see any real purpose for these activities and try to avoid

them if I can. I sometimes find them very annoying.  However, to tell the truth, I have

been at the same institution for over 25 years and haven't left early while loudly

screaming even once. So this idea about a group always stayed at the back of my

mind until one day and an interesting conversation.

I was talking to a Humanist colleague at work, a Social Worker, who told me a

disheartening story. A client of hers had died. The client was profoundly intellectually

impaired and non-verbal. She had never shown any interest in religion. Her family

was non-religious and asked for a simple non-religious memorial service to be held

for her at the institution. My colleague thought this would be fine and informed the

clinical team. The team was anything but supportive for the most part. She needed a

religious ending to her life for her salvation, they proclaimed. It was only after

swallowing her pride and arguing that  she was saved automatically because of her

condition did she prevail.

It bothers me that we have to argue for a basic level of respect about our lack of

religious beliefs. That is something we should get without arguing. My first hope is

that this site will give a little moral support to someone who feels pushed into

religious activities that they wished to avoid. My second hope is that this website will

be a quick and easy reference for people who wish to find organizations to help them

live a non-religious life.

Jim Mullin