Toto

Here's another group: Institute for Humanist Studies
http://humaniststudies.org

There is also The Secular Coalition for America, which the SecularWeb participates in as a member organization, devoted to lobbying. This is a new group.

atheist_in_foxhole

Don't forget the Freedom From Religion Foundation. They publish the only freethought newspaper in America, Freethought Today, and are constantly fighting for the rights of non-believers. It is an excellent organization.

trekbette

What about the Skeptic magazine? Would that be considered a Free Thought publication?

Toto

Skeptic Magazine is published by Michael Shermer's Skeptics Society. Shermer is an atheist who doesn't like to use the word; the Skeptics Society includes people who are skeptical about everything, and people who exclude their religion from skeptical examination. The primary focus of the Skeptics Society is debunking paranormal claims, not "freethought" per se, but I would consider it a part of freethought.

FFRF's Freethought Today is not the only freethought publication, although it may be the only one using a newspaper format. There is also Free Inquiry, which is also an excellent publication, and AAI's Secular Nation.

Yggdrasill

I don't know much about American Atheists, but I know I don't like the organisation. The first impression you get when you visit their website, is that of dogma. At least, that was my first impression when I came across the website, when I was looking for interesting websites about atheism. I spent less than one minute on the website before I left. (Two days later I found the Secular Web and IIDB.)

(Would you kindly look at the attachment at this point.) The dogma and self-importance is apparent, and any website that has to emphasise it's patriotism is usually a bad website. It is not always that the first impression is right, but most of what I have heard has corroborated my first impression.

Obey_Matthew_6_6

One of the tents at GAMOW had cards on which you could provide contact information if you were interested in participating in the PAC. To date, I have heard nothing at all from them. A Yahoo group, GamAction (or something similar) was formed shortly after GAMOW, but isn't very active. The GAM-Org Yahoo group continues to have a fair amount of activity.

Effectiveness? When the only national publication (WashPost) covering the event buries it in the back pages, and the broadcast/cable media ignore it entirely, it can't be presumed to be effective. There was a greater outcry of ignorant indignance in the months prior to GAMOW. Even Pentecostal Evangel (AoG propaganda rag) couldn't get the date right in a blurb published AFTER the event.

The only full coverage of the event was on C-Span. :notworthy

To be effective, the message has to get out, and that doesn't happen when the "liberal" media refuses to disseminate the message.

clark

I think there is a reason for the "American patriotism". Many religious nuts in the US imply or even declare that an American can not be patriotic without a belief in god ("One Nation Under God", "God Bless America", etc.). President George Bush the elder even declared that an atheist can't be a patriot or even a citizen as "this is one nation under God." I think AA, with their website and even the Godless March, tries to counter that. I think it's appropriate for a website of American Atheists, but certainly not for a website on atheism in general.

I do like the "Atomic A" symbol. Unfortunately, it's copywrited and can only be officially used by the American Atheists organization, and not atheists in general.

THOUGHTfully Yours,
Clark

Shake

Yeah, and no knock on C-Span, but it's not like having one of the Big 4 (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) covering it.

As to the latter portion of the above quote: that's why we do things like writing letters to the editor. Although, speaking of the media, there is the new II member, Ed Weathers, getting some word out (in Memphis, TN, no less)!

Toto

If you're interested in activism, I recommend the IHS's list:

http://humaniststudies.org/lists/

dspeers

I recently became interested in atheist organizations, and joined American Athesists. So, in answer to your question, yes, I support them with my dollars.

However, I'm not really sure how effective they are. I'd be curious to see how many lawsuits they've filed and won, or how many candidates they've supported and have won, etc.

Wasn't the Freedom From Religion Foundation created due to some problem the founder had with American Athesists? I don't know any details, but I thought I had heard this somewhere.