United States Chapter
Welcome to the site for the U.S. chapter of The Secular Community. For information on our basic set of beliefs, please refer to The Secular Community's home page. Our organization is secular in regard to religious belief but we are heavily focused on a series of progressive issues that are representative of major problems facing Americans of all stripes. (Click here for more clarity on the definition of secular and progressive)
The significant issues we are concerned with include but are not limited to:
- Fighting climate change
- Reducing income inequality
- Promoting greater racial justice and equality
- Providing universal, affordable healthcare
- Education equality/affordability
- Domestic terrorism
The Secular Community has selected three prominent global indexes by which to measure the quality of life in member countries. Click here to find out more about these indexes.
| Quality of Life Index | United States Ranking | Top Ranked Country |
|---|---|---|
| Human Development Index | 17 | Norway |
| The World Happiness Report | 18 | Finland |
| Global Peace Index | 121 | Iceland |
Converting Our Secular Values Into Effective Action
As secular progressives, we need to do three things to live up to our values and put them into practice:
- Wake up!
- Read up!
- Stand up!
By "wake up" we mean that we need to realize that there are still ways we can change the course of human history for the better. We must overcome what often tends to be our complacency and our sometimes fatalistic conviction that there is nothing we can do that will really matter. People - especially in democracies - do matter.
"Read up" refers to the need to properly study and understand the issues at hand. Too many of us believe we have all of the answers we need, even when we have not expended the proper effort to study the details of the issues we care about.
"Stand up" means becoming an active political participant. For some, that may mean writing to elected officials and/or local newspapers. For others, it may mean marching or demonstrating in public. For all, it means making sure to vote and encouraging others to vote.
