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This is a presentation by Jeff Seward. Seward is Associate Professor and Department Chair 
Department of Politics and Government at Pacific University.
When humanistic atheists hear the word ‘conservative’ within contemporary political discourse, they have learned to respond with a shudder or perhaps even an expletive. “Conservatism” in modern America has all too often come to be identified with anti-scientific obscurantism, religious dogmatism, and special interest pleading on behalf of rich white males. The ideological task most humanists set for themselves is mainly a matter of where on the anti-conservative left side of the political spectrum they should decide to place themselves. Are they communists, anarchists, libertarian socialists, European-style social democrats, New Deal liberals, feminists, aging hippies, or what? Aside from a lively collection of libertarians who think of themselves as humanists, not much in contemporary conservatism appeals to most humanists (and are libertarians even really conservatives anyway?). However, there is much in the long and substantial conservative tradition that may have much to offer a thoughtful modern or even post-modern humanism. Without embracing the anti-humanist tendencies of much contemporary American conservatism, Prof. Seward attempts to articulate pieces of the conservative tradition and viewpoint that humanists might be able to incorporate into their political viewpoints without endangering their political souls.