Defining non-religious rules about ethics and morality is an
issue of major concern for humanists and atheists. This is
partly due to a common religious conception that those without
religion may be somehow lacking in morality or have no ethical
foundation. When defining what they believe in, humanists have
produced statements of their beliefs and purposes which often
include expressions of support for things such as human rights,
democracy, liberty, social responsibility, scientific method and
the need to provide an alternative to religion. Perhaps among
the most authoritative of these statements have been the
International Humanist and Ethical Union’s resolution concerning
humanist principles as expressed in its Amsterdam Declaration
2000, and the American Humanist Association's Humanist Manifesto
III of 2003. A motivation for these statements is a need to
identify fundamental principles that may be used by humanists in
a general way as an alternative to religious belief to assist
moral decision making. A c