Is Kosmin a Secular Humanist?
Kosmin denied that he and the ARIS team had any agenda to promote secularism. Asked if he himself is a secular humanist, Kosmin said, “Politically, yes. But my personal beliefs are not at either polarity of the theological spectrum.” Asked if he is a Christian, Kosmin said, “No.” But he is the director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture; and he was the featured speaker on September 18, 2006, at the monthly meeting of the Humanist Association of Connecticut. His topic was “Understanding the Growth of Secularism.”[5] In 2005 he gave an interview to Free Inquiry, a secular humanist publication. In this interview he evaded the question, “Are you and your colleagues for it or against it [secularism]?” But a few comments he made might be deemed revealing. Asked “Is secularism a dirty word?” Kosmin answered, “It’s not just an anathema to certain American television commentators with a polemical penchant but also to the Islamic Republic of Iran. With enemies li
