Building a Humanist Community in Toledo Ohio

My name is Douglas Berger and I am the founder and President of the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie .

I've been involved with organized Humanism since the mid 1990s and when I had the opportunity to move back to Northwest Ohio, I wanted to create a Humanist community in Toledo.

Public spaces and public life is dominated by large groups of different sects of religion. At the drop of a hat, a church can form with its own building or put up billboards for advertising. Churches and their affiliates can take out ads in the local media. The head of a large Toledo denomination can appear on a local TV station for 5 minutes to promote their agenda . A prayer breakfast , sponsored by a faith based business group, sold out all 900 seats without any advertising and a local elected official was able to marshal a response that "saved" their old closed church  right before the wrecking ball did its job.

I would like to find people in the Greater Toledo metro area, and beyond, who want to see a space for atheists, agnostics, and other freethinkers. I'm sure there are people who would like to see advertising for a non-religious community like Humanists. How exciting would it be to hear great speakers at a "Humanist House" that also rents space to other marginalized community groups? Such a place could also be a non-religious contact point in the social safety net which Lucas county needs more of.



Toledo has a great history of Humanism and Humanists.

Founder of American Atheists, Madalyn Murray O'Hair  graduated from Rossford High School. Feminist and 2012 Humanist of the Year, Gloria Steinem  was born and raised in Toledo. Edward Lamb , a labor lawyer and businessman (he defended striking workers during the Auto-Lite Strike in 1934) who signed the 1973 Humanist Manifesto, hosted Martin Luther King Jr. when he visited Toledo in 1967.


SHoWLE has been active for more than a year and we have been successful. There is an interest and need for a vibrant Humanist community. I think with more support we can grow.





I'm looking for any donors, not just in Northwest Ohio, who want to seed our Humanist tree and see it grow into an active group of people who don't go to church on Sundays, who believe all humans have worth and dignity, and who don't believe religion should be the basis of public law and policies.

Will you help us build a Humanist community in Toledo?