Fred Edwords, born July 19, 1948, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, is a longtime agnostic or ignostic

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

leader in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. He served as director of planned giving for the Humanist Foundation, the endowment fund of the American Humanist Association, from August 2014 to June 2018, the latter an organization he earlier served as editor of its national magazine, the ''Humanist'', from 1995 to 2006, as executive director from 1984 to 1999, and as national administrator from 1980 to 1984. He was also editor of the association's membership newsletter ''Free Mind'' from 2002 to 2006 and editor of the ''Creation/Evolution'' journal from 1980 to 1991. Edwords was national director of the United Coalition of Reason from 2009 to 2015, president of Camp Quest, Inc., from 2002 to 2005, and on the staff of the Ohio camp from 1998 to 2008. He was also vice president of the North American Committee for Humanism from 1990 to 1992 and president of the Humanist Association of San Diego in 1978. He has served on the boards of the

International Humanist and Ethical Union Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Foun ...

(1986–1999), the New York Council for Evolution Education (1982–1994), and the National Center for Science Education (1982–1992). He was chair of the American Humanist Association's Humanist Manifesto III Drafting Committee from 2002 to 2003. On August 7, 1985, he became a co-plaintiff in the successful U.S. District Court lawsuit, ''Asimov v. United States'', against the U.S. Department of Education, brought by the

National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee The National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC), until 1968 known as the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, was an organization formed in the United States in October 1951 by 150 educators and clergymen to advocate for the civil liberties ...

re: magnet schools in the Math/Science bill. He is currently one of the plaintiffs in a case that started in 2014 as ''American Humanist Association et al v. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission'', a federal lawsuit on appeal to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

that is aimed at removing a 40 foot tall

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

on public property in

Bladensburg, Maryland Bladensburg is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland. The population was 9,657 at the 2020 census. Areas in Bladensburg are located within ZIP code 20710. Bladensburg is from central Washington. History Originally called Garrison's Landi ...

. Edwords was named Rationalist of the Year by the American Rationalist Federation in 1984, received the Humanist Pioneer Award of the American Humanist Association in 1986, was named a HumCon Pioneer by the Alliance of Humanist, Atheist, and Ethical Culture Organizations of Los Angeles County in 1992., and received the Humanist Heritage Award of the Humanist Foundation in 2014."Humanist Heritage Award Presented to Fred Edwords," ''Free Mind'', Fall 2014, Vol. 58, No. 3, p. 5. Edwords has also served on the adjunct faculty of the Humanist Institute, is a Humanist Celebrant Emeritus with th
Humanist Society
and served from 2010 through 2018 on the Human Origins Initiative'
Broader Social Impacts Committee
at the Smithsonian

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

. He is widely published, has been quoted frequently in news stories, and has lectured throughout the United States and Canada as well as in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. He has been married to Mary Carroll Murchison-Edwords since June 1980. The couple have two children, both now adults.

References

External links

Creation/Evolution journal online 1980-1996 (full run)

"What Is Humanism?" by Fred Edwords
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwords, Frederick E. American humanists American nonprofit executives American agnostics People from San Diego 1948 births Living people Activists from California

See also

References

External links