This coming Tuesday, April 25th, will be our last meeting of the spring semester. We will meet at 7 PM. I am still unsure if I will have a room on-campus, or if we will meet somewhere within proximity, as we did last time at the Copper Monkey. Check the Meetings page, as always, for up-to-date details.
The SSA has a nice article about the balance some of us had to strike between being honest and open with friends and family, and the fear and anxiety that comes with admitting we chosen to live our lives without religious faith to those who make faith such a priority.
I received some information from Alison Bates, a Staffer with SSA, a while back about getting more women involved in our freethought group, and I smiled. We don't seem to have the problem. In fact, roughly speaking, we've had as many or more women at our meetings, and on our Facebook, as men. I'm quite proud of that fact. Read below for more on women in freethought:
The SSA has a nice article about the balance some of us had to strike between being honest and open with friends and family, and the fear and anxiety that comes with admitting we chosen to live our lives without religious faith to those who make faith such a priority.
I received some information from Alison Bates, a Staffer with SSA, a while back about getting more women involved in our freethought group, and I smiled. We don't seem to have the problem. In fact, roughly speaking, we've had as many or more women at our meetings, and on our Facebook, as men. I'm quite proud of that fact. Read below for more on women in freethought:
I think that diversity is integral to the long-term success of any group [and one reason why orthodox religions struggle to accomodate culture and preserve often-antiquated beliefs]. Check out Alison's resources for attracting more females to our group. Although I am grateful for our relatively hearty number of freethinking women, I would like to see more racial and ethnic diversity in our group. Infidelguy has a list, "Famous Black Freethinkers", that is worth a look.
Can you name some famous black atheists off the top of your head? If not, read this little article. Famous women atheists?
From Alison's list, "Women in Humanism":
Those of you with ideas to help us increase diversity, please comment below. Just some food for thought...
Can you name some famous black atheists off the top of your head? If not, read this little article. Famous women atheists?
From Alison's list, "Women in Humanism":
• Bobbie Kirkhart-- President of Atheist Alliance International bkirkhart@aol.com
• Jo Ann Mooney-- Operations Manager of Atheist Alliance International joann@freethinker.org
• Molleen Matsumura-- writer of Sweet Reason for the Institute for Humanist Studies www.sweetreason.org molleen@sbcglobal.net
• Annie Laurie Gaylor-- co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and author of Women Without Superstition algaylor@ffrf.org
• Margaret Downey-- President of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia downey1@cris.com
• Susan Jacoby-- author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
• Helen Kagin-- co-founder of Camp Quest and retired physician helenkagin@fuse.net
• Jen Adams-- atheist/humanist/skeptic activism polymath
• Martha Knox-- former SSA board member, campus activist, artist http://paintedprimate.com/ mamamarfa@yahoo.com
• Jen Hancock-- Executive Director of the Humanists of Florida Association jen@floridahumanist.org
• Amanda Metskas-- President of Camp Quest, Inc.
amanda@camp-quest.org
• Chris Lindstrom-- President of the Garrison-Matrineau project and Camp Quest West stsam@garrison-martineau.com
• Maggie Ardiente-- Executive Assistant at the American Humanist Association and SSA Board member mardiente@americanhumanist.org
• Rena Levin-- Grassroots Organizer at Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and SSA Board member, levin@au.org
• Mary Ellen Sikes-- atheist/humanist/skeptic activism polymath sikesme@adelphia.net
• Katie Hladky-- Camp Quest board member and graduate student in religious studies hladkykm@muohio.edu
• Mynga Futrell-- Ph.D., Brights co-director and head of Objectivity, Accuracy, and Balance In Teaching About Religion (OBITAR) oabitar@aol.com
• Ellen Johnson-- President of American Atheists EllJhns8@aol.com
• Arlene-Marie-- Michigan State Director of American Atheists Godfree1st@aol.com
• Kelly Browning-- Director of the Carl Sagan Academy Kelly@carlsaganacademy.org
• Gin Kohl Lieberman-- Curriculum Director for the Carl Sagan Academy vkohl@tampabay.rr.com
• Carol Smith-- Secretary of Atheist Alliance International humanist@ameritech.net
• Judy Disco-- Director of Administration at the Institute for Humanist Studies JDisco@humaniststudies.org
• Alison Bates-- Campus Organizer for the Secular Student Alliance alison@secularstudents.org
• Lisa Swinehart-- former Campus Organizer for the Secular Student Alliance isaleistar@yahoo.com
• Anne Lyster-- Program Coordinator for the American Humanist Association alyster@americanhumanist.org
• Lisa Smith-- Technology and Office Manager for the American Humanist Association lsmith@americanhumanist.org
• Sara Ryan--Youth and Campus Organizer at Americans United for Separation of Church and State ryan@au.org
Those of you with ideas to help us increase diversity, please comment below. Just some food for thought...
Davy,
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to bother printing them out at the moment. If you could just change the word "faith" to "worldview" in that one design, I think they are all great.
What I would need next, I guess, is a digital copy of each of the files. I can/would run off some copies over the summer, or in the fall, of ALL of them to use at our table. They would all make great flyers, though.
If you get me a digital copy, I will post them to our website, and give everyone the impetus to feel free to download and print them to post them [in addition to my own printing and posting].
Probably most vital at this point are the business cards. I like both designs, but I especially like the older business card you did, with our logo. All I would want on both is the URL -- aasauf.blogspot.com, in terms of information.
Thanks again for the great work, Davy. Put your initials [or name] somewhere in those designs with the silhouettes you drew up. You deserve credit for them.
Thanks for noting my Women in Freethought project! I'm giving several presentations on this around the country, and am interested in student feedback on how best to increase female participation. If anyone would like to be in touch with me or the Secular Student Alliance (SSA), please send an email to alison@secularstudents.org
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
-Alison
I can say I don't think I've done anything particularly special. We've only met two times so far as a group, and both were just social events.
ReplyDeleteThe participation of lots of females is encouraging, but I'm not sure that it's because I did anything 'right'. I have 19 out of 49 people in my contacts list for AAFSA as female, at the moment.
I think I've known more women atheists than men atheists, now that I sit back and think about it.
ReplyDeleteProbably something having to do with the historical treatment of women by religious institutions.