Why is AHA on Discord?

In January 2025 the American Humanist Association launched new ways to connect with humanism, including our Discord channels for members and humanist parents. Many people wondered why they should join another online space, especially one named for disagreement or lack of harmony when society is already so divided. Let us explain.

Discord is particularly well-suited for community-building as it allows communication through text messaging, voice calls, video calls, shared media, direct messages, and group messages. It’s user-friendly and accessible anytime on phones, tablets, and computers. Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy created it in 2015 originally to help gamers better communicate and strategize, aiming to resolve discord in the gaming community. (Some have wondered why they didn’t choose the similar name “Discourse”, but it was already taken by a company in 2013.) Citron explained:

We picked the name because at the end of the day it just sounds cool and has to do with talking. We had a bunch of names that we bounced around, but picking a name for a product is a complicated process. You want a name that is easy to say, spell, remember, related to the function of the product, available for ™, and has a website you can get. There are a lot of things to consider and we had a number of different candidates. Discord met all the criteria that we had and we fell in love with the name.

It grew significantly during the Covid pandemic as non-gamers used it for school, fantasy sports leagues, and watching television shows and movies together while social distancing. While traditional social media platforms prioritize individual profiles and feeds filled with ads, Discord focuses on connecting people around shared interests and professional networks. You join the Servers that fit your needs and choose which Server Channels you want to see and engage with. You can also suggest new channels be added to introduce new topics or gather people for an activity. For example, upon request the AHA created a channel for book discussions so folks could share what they’re reading and get recommendations.

Discord cultivates a safe and inclusive environment by providing server owners with robust moderation tools to manage rules, roles, and permissions. To keep out bots, trolls, and religious zealots, the AHA server requires users to answer some entry questions and agree to our community guidelines. Anyone unable to comply will be addressed and removed so we can ensure the server is truly serving the humanist community by practicing our values.

On the AHA Discord, you can:

Receive AHA updates and hear about humanism in the news
Network with humanists in your region and across the country, and learn about everyone’s journeys to humanism
Get involved in actions and events online and in-person
Bond over interest in pop culture, travel, food, animals, music, memes, etc.
Discuss philosophy, politics, science, social justice, environmentalism, etc.
Ask a humanist celebrant or chaplain for guidance
Give and take advice on caring for children and aging parents, or dealing with religious family

To expand on the valuable discussions happening in our humanist parenting channels, our first Discord event will be a panel on raising kids who are good without God. Award-winning authors Sasha Sagan and Kavin Senapathy will share how they emphasize science and social justice in their childrearing, and answer your questions about being a progressive, secular parent during this time of increased conservatism. Join us on Discord Tuesday, March 4th at 7pm ET for the panel then continue chatting and resource sharing in our parenting channels whenever you can.

Now that you know why the AHA is on Discord, why not join us? Explore our public humanist channels for free or access the full server by becoming an AHA member and using your special invitation link. For assistance, you can visit our support page, learn about Discord Basics, see Discord Help, or contact us at discord@americanhumanist.org.