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How Can I Change Things? Fighting Anti-Atheist Bigotry, Discrimination
Godless atheists are the most despised and discriminated against minority in America. They face bigotry in a wide variety of ways and when it's known that they are godless or secular, their views on various political and social views may be immediately dismissed. Religion generally and Christianity in particular benefit from widespread privileges, but godless atheists can make a difference if they want. There are ways to fight and to promote justice for themselves as well as other secularists.
Church Voter Guides - Atheists Should Monitor Church Voter Guides
Every election year, and especially during presidential election years, there are complaints about voter guides distributed to churches by Christian Right and Christian Nationalist organizations. These guides purport to be neutral explanations of candidates' positions, but in reality they are designed to promote particular candidates at the expense of others. The purpose is to help elect conservatives who will push the Christian Nationalist agenda. You can help fight this.
Get Excommunicated! Ex-Catholic Atheists Should Seek Excommunication
If you are an atheist who was once a Catholic, you should consider getting excommunicated. Excommunication is a definitive and public step of rejecting religion. Unless and until you are excommunicated, you're still counted as a Catholic. Why would you allow them to regard you as even provisionally Catholic? What are you afraid of?
How to Counter Gideon Bible in Hotels & Schools
The Gideons International distribute Bibles all over the world. They don't do this to educate people about the Bible or even to provide Bibles to those who otherwise can't afford to purchase one themselves. The purpose of the Gideons is, in their own words, to 'win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.' They...
Atheists Should Distribute Freethought, Atheist Tracts
A popular means used by religious believers, and Christians in particular, to spread their ideas is the ubiquitous religious tract. Tracts are so common and have spread so far that people tend to overlook them and forget they are there. This is unfortunate because I believe that it causes atheists to also overlook the impact atheist tracts might...
Monitoring Local Media for Activism
Newspapers may be having problems because of falling advertising revenue, but many people continue to get their news from local newspapers, radio, and television. It's easy to get so involved in the online world that one ignores local, traditional media but that is a mistake. If you want to be a local activist on behalf of atheism, secularism, and science, you must pay attention to local news sources which play such a large role in defining what your neighbors know and the opinions they form.
Using BCE & CE, not BC & AD, as Dating Conventions
There is a trend among scholars towards using BCE and CE as year markers rather than BC and AD. As abbreviations for Before the Common Era and Common Era, they do not specifically privilege Christianity; instead, they simply make reference to the fact that we are living in an era shared in common between Christians and other religions - though...
Get Atheist Books in the Public Library
If you enjoy some of the books written by prominent atheists, haven't you also wished that more people could be encouraged to read them as well? You probably aren't rich enough to buy a thousand copies to distribute to homes around your community, but you can achieve some of the same effect by ensuring that copies are available in your local...
Affirming vs. Swearing Oaths in Court
Court scenes in American movies, television, and books typically show people swearing an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Usually they swear an oath "to God" and with a hand on the Bible. Such scenes are so common that most people seem to assume that it's required, but it's not. You have a right to just "affirm" that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. No gods, Bibles, or anything else religious need to be involved.
Voting in Church Polling Stations - Atheist Responses to Voting in Churches
Many communities in America set up polling stations in churches instead of fire halls, town halls, libraries, schools, or other neutral sites. Some Christians don't understand why using their religious institutions for voting in secular, civil elections would be a problem for non-Christians or even other Christians. If their church is the center...
Atheists & Roadside Memorials - Atheist Responses to Roadside Memorial Crosses
It's common to see roadside memorials where people have died in car accidents. These memorials are usually private and not technically permitted - when the state cleans up along the roads, they should take down the memorials. Some would like the see such memorials protected, even if they are large and send a religious message. Are you ever bothered by the increasing number of memorial crosses littering America's roadsides? If so, you can and should do something.
Religious Solicitation at Work - Dealing with Religious Solicitation at Work
It's not unusual in America for people to solicit colleagues at work for money for charities. Sometimes this takes the form of fund raisers (like Girl Scout cookies) and sometimes it takes the form of outright donations. The pressure to give is enough of a problem regardless of the context, but this becomes worse if you are pressured to donate to a religious charity. There are risks to taking a stand, but opposing this kind of behavior can be important and provide a basis for activism.
How to Blog More Effectively About Atheism, Freethought
Not every blog is created equal and there are strategies you can use which will improve the quality of what you write, attracting more readers and attention to your ideas. This advice focuses on blogging about atheism, but the key to writing a better blog about atheism or anything else may simply be to avoid doing the same things everyone else...
Godless in Society: How Can a Godless Person Make a Difference?
Godless people are atheists, skeptics, agnostics, freethinkers, and irreligious nonbelievers. In a society as soaked in religion and pop spirituality as America, godless people feel like outsiders in a variety of ways. They aren't included in public calls to prayer and devotion, in the ever increasing presence of religion in the public square,...
Atheist Activism: Write Letters to the Editor & Reach Out to People in your...
One of the few remaining forums for public opinion, accessible to nearly anyone and read by so many, is the letters to the editors page in newspapers. Most papers have one and you should take advantage of them if you are looking for a way to publicize a godless, secular, humanist, atheist perspective. Make it clear that your perspective is...
How Can I Help? Ways Readers can Contribute to the Agnosticism / Atheism Site
Every so often I get an email from someone saying how much they like the site and wondering if there is anything they can do to help with it. I'm sure that there are many more who feel the same way but who don't write. Fortunately, there are several things that you, the readers, can do to help the site grow. All are very easy and most don't require you to do anything very different from what you're doing right now! All of these suggestions can also be applied to other sites you like.
Atheist Consciousness Raising: Help Yourself & Others Raise Your Consciousness
One foundation of all atheist activism, including liberation atheology , is raising people's consciousness. So long as people continue as they always have, ignorant of the ways in which religion contains, limits, and oppresses, it will be impossible to get them to help make changes. You won't try to throw off chains that you are ignorant of or...
How Do We Increase the Numbers of Atheists in Future Generations?
How can we ensure that the numbers of atheist and agnostics increase in each successive generation? How can we ensure that an appreciation for secularism and secular government also increase in each successive generation?