As someone who grew up in a very religious home — his family followed an offshoot of Mormonism — Huffman didn’t feel entirely forthcoming being silent about the source of his values.

So on Thursday, he will release a statement saying he is a humanist, a loose philosophy based on the idea that humans should work to improve society and live ethically, guided by reason, not necessarily by anything supernatural. While there are some humanist organizations and congregations, generally it describes a worldview, not an affiliation.

The definition of “atheism” is simply the absence of belief in any deities.