crazyfingers

[*]Church State Separation[*]Being good without god[*]1 out of 10 people you know are probably nontheists - did you know that? Probably not because they fear bigotry[*]Great Americans who were also nontheists[*] Where do nontheists and most theists share common ground

Toto

Isn't it more like 1 out of 7 ? (14% of the population that is "not religious").

Secular Jeff

Here is a little update. WhenI posted a notification of this March in the Feedback Forum on Saturday, 22 Nov at noon (Mountain time) I was the 727th person to sign the endorsement.

As of 2:15 PM on Monday, 24 June the count is 831. An increase of 104. Of those 104, 60 were from the Infidels sites (they appended ii after their last name). Of the other 44, some of them could have been from here, but there is no way of telling.

Endorsement signing is picking up speed now that the weekend is over.

Jeff

Godless Dave

Since it's taking place in our nation's capital, against a backdrop of historical buildings and monuments, I think there should be some presentation or speech including quotes about religion from Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Thomas Paine, et al.

marylandnaturegirl

There are numerous controversial rallies in WASH DC every year. I have lived here for 7 years (DC area) and have yet to hear of anything to out of the ordinary happening at a rally.

Every year there are pro-choice rallies that seem to go off without a hitch. That is a very controversial topic but the religious nutcases haven't done anything then.

Rallies and protests are an industry in D.C. The DC police and secret service and other people spend a lot of time babysitting these public rallies. This is everyday life for them and for us in DC.

I have been at other atheist-type rallies in DC and haven't seen any hecklers or whack-o's

I think the nay-saying and the fears are counter productive and undue.

The only time I can remember any major rally fears were for Bush's inauguration as it brought out a HUGE protest of people. Even then there were a few arrests and I don't think anyone got hurt.

I think the fears are unwarrented.

Fear should not keep us from standing up for what we believe in. If our forefather's felt this way we'd still be colonies and there would be no civil rights.

Our generation seems to have gotten complacent and perhaps even a bit lazy about doing anything even remotely bold or brave to try to better society.

I do not see this rally as being any huge target and there will be plenty of police protection, trust me on that....it goes with the territory.

The march WILL BE POSTIVE if we make it positive. I think this is more about meeting other atheists and banding together than to try to get media attention. Afterall, the media will be covering the last few days before the big elections and it would be very unlikely to get much media attention. Rallies in DC rarely get much attention unless they are MASSIVE like the Million Man March or the Million Mom March....most other rallies are a dime a dozen around here and they don't spark much interest by the media which is more focused on 9/11 stuff, elections, and INTERNATIONAL news, or Beltway Politics.

Don't do this for the publicity, do it for the comradery and the fun of meeting other non-believers and to be a part of the beginning of a movement. Even if the rally were to only attract a few hundred, it would be a start, a foundation to build on....and networks and bridges would be formed.

Plus when else will you be able to hear all these great non-believer speakers for FREE??? At conferences you have to pay an arm and a leg....this will be free. DC has sooooo much to offer too....so much to see and do. For you single infidels it might just be the chance to meet that intellectual soul-less mate you'd been searching for.

Plus, if you DON'T come you won't get a chance to meet me! I'll also eat your piece of cheesecake too if you don't show up.....

[ June 24, 2002: Message edited by: marylandnaturegirl ]

[ June 24, 2002: Message edited by: marylandnaturegirl ]</p>

emphryio

Maybe your right.

Secular Elation

The website lists under 1,000 supporters. The number of supporters will likely reflect the number of people that show at the march. I hope there are at least 2,000 people. But we have a few months still to rally people.

2tadpoles

This is pretty much the same thing I told hubby. I will continue to make these points over the next few months.

As for the march being positive....I certainly hope so. I keep having mental images of a bunch of wacko, nut-job non-believers showing up and ruining the rally. Fundie atheists, IOW.

nogods4me

Cheesecake? There's gonna be CHEESECAKE!!!!!! now we're talking.

crazyfingers

I've seen numbers from 10% to 14%. I think that even some of our people think that 14% might be a bit high if you are talking about nontheists.

I don't think that nonreligious and nontheist are necessarily the same thing.