Heritage Document: Humanism and Religion - or How to Thread a Needle

... threading a needle serves as a metaphor for deciding what's best to say, or not to say, about religion. As a humanist I do not want to defend in any way the superstitions promoted by religion; nor would I defend religion's violations against human rights and dignity. But yet, I want to understand why people are religious, and to assure that each person has the right to practice the religion of his/her choice. I want to be able to criticize religion, when it is necessary but I want to give religious people an opportunity to moderate their most extreme and hurtful positions.