‘Humanism as Religion’
Your editorial is right on target. Judge Hand’s decreeing secular humanism a religion--which you rightly call “foolishness”--reminds me of one of my favorite Lincoln anecdotes:
When a petitioner tested the President’s patience with an unusually illogical argument, Lincoln asked him: “If you would call a cow’s tail a leg, how many legs would the cow have?” “Five,” was the immediate answer. “Wrong!” said Lincoln. “Regardless of what you call a cow’s tail, it’s not a leg.”
Regardless of what Judge Hand calls “secular humanism,” it is not a religion. I trust you will continue to keep America aware of this truth until a higher court reverses the judge’s decision.
ALFRED WOLF
Los Angeles
Rabbi Wolf is director of the Skirball Institute on American Values of the American Jewish Committee.
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