AOF Activities & Events

HumanLight is a holiday to celebrate the humanist values of tolerance, compassion, empathy, honesty, free inquiry, reason and rationality, and more. The event began in New Jersey in 2001, established by by Joe Fox and Gary Brill of the New Jersey Humanist Network. The event provides an excellent alternative to Christmas celebrations. Joe & Gary described it as follows:

"The very first HumanLight celebration was held in New Jersey on December 23, 2001 at a gala event attended by close to 100 people. HumanLight is December 23rd, and should always be celebrated on or around this date. This date was chosen for several reasons. A critical objective was to be part of the peak celebration time of the holiday season, yet to have a distinct date of our own that did not coincide exactly (and thus interfere) with other holidays such as the Winter Solstice, Christmas, or Kwanzaa. We liked December 23rd because it was close to the shortest day of the year, a natural event of note, as well as very close to vacation days that typically lead to family gatherings. We wanted Humanists at family gatherings and other holiday social events to be able to say "Happy Holidays" and mean it; to have a positive, constructive way to start a conversation in which they could explain to loved ones what Humanism is about. "