Is Secular Humanism a Religion?

Myths About the Separation of Church and State

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Myth:
The Supreme Court has declared that Secular Humanism is a religion.

Response:
Along with the above claim it is sometimes also argued that Secular Humanism has become an "established" religion in our public schools. Secular Humanism has, like Madalyn Murray O'Hair, become one of the Religious Right's favorite boogeymen: all manner of social evils are attributed to them as if it were hoped that, by eliminating them, society would achieve perfection.

Whatever the ultimate motivations of such claims, the fact of the matter is they are simply false. First, it is not true that the Supreme Court has found Secular Humanism to be a religion. In the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, Justice Hugo Black wrote in a footnote that:

Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God is Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism, and others.

As a footnote, it qualifies as an obiter dictum - this means that it is simply a personal observation of the judge, and hence is only incidental to reaching the opinion. It has no real weight when it comes to legal precedent and cannot be properly considered the "decision" of the court. Even so, Black was mistaken - if Secular Humanism were a religion, then it wouldn't be secular. The terms "religion" and "secular" are opposites.