This post is dedicated to the blank piece of paper sitting in front of me. I stared at the paper and pondered the future of the organization I support, the movement I love and the country I miss. And I realized something: Our goals are attainable.The purpose of a for-profit corporation is money, but the purpose of a non-profit org is quite literally to go out of business because there is no need for the organization anymore. Non-profits are suicidal — They want to die. I hope I live to see the day when we close the American Atheists Center because the separation of church and state is safe, and Atheists are accepted in the population at large. We’ll have a hell of a party.I think we can do it, and I think we can do it in our lifetime. In fact, I think we can do it in 15 years. I think the momentum is so heavily on our favor right now it’s like accelerating a car down a hill with the wind at your back. We don’t even need much gas.It’s easy to say we should all cooperate, and I have some pretty good ideas on exactly how this should happen, but I think the big next step should be to get more congresspeople to come out as Atheists. It should be loud, prominent, and before the November election — we need to make it an issue. If we can get 5 congresspeople to make a statement, we could pin McBush into a heck of a corner and raise awareness at the same time.
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Atheistssuckballs
Pwning. UR doing it rong. Epic FAIL.
Now I’m gonna have to go back to high school and flunk out again.
As an atheist female, I’d much rather suck the penis
I see another intelligent xian troll has graced our presence.
Why, after that bit of insight, I’m all but convinced that we’re wrong, and the troll is right.
Where the hell do these people come from?
And why don’t they know how the english language works?
Chances are “atheistssuckballs” has revealed why christianity is on the verge of collapse. They really don’t have anything to say as they try to sell the same lame ass fairytale over and over.
There are three major atheist organizations functioning today in America and chances are there are atheist meetups in most states. Couldn’t have said that a few decades ago. We also have Homer Simpson to thank for cracking the foundation of religion and South Park slams atheists but not nearly as much as religion.
Turn on childrens cartoons to see kids today are exposed to a lot of aliens and I don’t mean from Mexico. Kids are already open to the existence of life outside the Judeo/Christian fairytale(too bad many of those cartoons are violence prone).
Did you see Britian has just declassified their entire UFO coverup/investigation? In response, the pope had his astronomer state that yes indeed the god that created Adam and Eve also created aliens. This is all too funny. The baloon of religion is filling up with air and it is on the verge of implosion.
Just in the last couple decades many transitional fossils have been unearthed. The Hubble telescope has given us a glimpse at 230 some planets outside our little corner of reality. Astrophysicists via the Hubble telescope have reached the conclusion our universe is 13 1/2
billion light years across and by the way we are surrounded on all sides by other universes. Apparently we are like a frog egg in a pod of frog eggs and no one knows how big the pond is. If you made it to the convention you also heard Lawrence Krauss explain that nothing is something.
Also after all, archeology has dug down farther then the Jewish folk tales can explain.
Just how long can religion explain away reality? How long can they downsize truth?
We will probably not convert too many adults here but I’m certain we are supposed to be trying to prevent new dogs from learning old tricks.
We need to move beyond the present turmoil and set a coherent example of how to live without the crutch of religion.
The dude “atheistssuckballs” has my sympathy, his little world is falling in around him and he has nothing to say in defense of it.
Why do most people on this blog not use their real name? How many of you are christians here to bicker like “ASB” is here to create turmoil.
Mark Farris
Comment from: phreedm
This is what America will look like if Obama gets elected…and What, I’m sure you’ll have no objections…
http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/05/23/maxine-waters-socialize-the-oil-companies/
this is what amerikkka will look like if the republican’ts steal the election again:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theocracy
I’m sure phreakshow will not be able to express any dissent, or allowed to have any objections, once McClueLess declares himself gawd king (after he gets rid of the current one)…
Mark Farris
Good question. Here’s my response to it.
One of religions worst enemies is time – in particular time-scale. In the past the time-scale of scientific/technological discovery was relatively long as compared to present day. Religions could take advantage of this long time-scale by quietly modifying religious doctrine and allowing it to slowly come more in to sync with new facts. This allowed them to maintain the essential ingredient to religion – the appearance of an absolutist philosophy. But today’s (and possibly tomorrow’s) shorter time-scale of scientific/technical discovery makes the catch-up game that religion has played-out quietly in the past more easily detectable in the present. Religion can therefore be expected to lose the facade of absolutism as the catch-up game becomes more obvious to the masses. Without this essential ingredient religion will fade away.
Our goals are obtainable in 15 years IF we overcome the following obstructions and operate with 100% efficiency:
1) NON-SCIENTIFIC APPROACH. We can see that science is the most reliable source of information we have, but we are doing nothing to study the most effective way of acheiving our objectives. What is the most effective recruiting strategy? What motivates action and donation? How localized should the organization be? How have minorities succeeded at gaining their rights in the past? How have they failed? Karl Rove built an organization of experts studying polls, focus groups, demographic facts, and voting maps and got a draft dodging buffoon who can’t speak in public elected president within a few years. What’s our excuse for producing little more than rants?
2) UNITY & DEDICATION. Members and activists need to quit being so sensitive that some group of people quits en masse every time the organization does anything. Likewise, leaders need to keep a “big tent” approach instead of having the organization take positions on irrelevant topics. Not everyone can be boss and nobody gets everything they want. Deal with it or continue to be marginalized.
3) CREATING REWARDS. Church members receive a social and professional network, recreational opportunities, community support and charity, child care, education, facilities usage, psychological comfort, and support for their political ambitions from their organizations. Atheists just blog and rarely meet each other. No wonder xians get more dedication out of their flock. It’s time we filled the void on our end by focusing on building vibrant local grassroots organizations that do more than meet up and argue.
4) COUNTERING STEREOTYPES. The word atheist for many people conjures an image of an angry, unstable person who simply finds religion repulsive on an emotional level and decides not to believe as an attempt to lash out. That’s obviously false but it must be countered anyway. Why do you think leaders of the civil rights movement dressed in business suits? -To counter the stereotypes that blacks were uneducated or criminal. We will have to always be civil, moderate, and intelligent to counter the stereotypes against us (and not be baited into doing otherwise).
In other words, we can be effective or ineffective and I have no idea which way it will go… Your thoughts?
Chris B
1-4 are hard to disagree with. 100% efficiency?
and anything in between. I think what we should do is pick an election and organize atheists to vote en bloc in that election as a show of force.
“Our goals”???
The problem with the “organization” and the “movement” are that there are no clear goals and that American Atheists has habitually resorted to making fun of christianity and islam while occasionally threatening legal action against establishment clause violations that are brought to light.
Atheists have done alot in being more vocal in hearing themselves talk and slapping each other on the back, but we haven’t taken any steps forward in gaining a foothold in society while pushing religion to the side.
A couple popular books by Harris and Dawkins along with some conventions is no victory. Writings of Thomas Paine and Robert G Ingersoll didn’t change American society to a state of rationalism and we shouldn’t sit back and hope it happens this time because some contemporary freethinkers spoke out and got published.
Want change? Identify and set goals, make a temporary plan, start the plan, organize, adjust the plan(s) to changing circumstances, adopt successful tactics and strategies of other movements, keep focused on goals, put egos aside, organize, educate and outreach some more, set monthly, quarterly and yearly goals that support the major goals, set up a timeline of progress to work by, never give up or give in.