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Freethought club in rural town
January 30, 2015 at 1:56 pm
(This post was last modified: January 30, 2015 at 1:57 pm by Pizza.)
I'm thinking about forming a freethought club in my town. I'm hoping it can function as an informal peer support group, social network, underground community for people in the area who don't buy into religion and theism. The club can engage in social activities like going to movies, have parties, give to charities, have picnics in the local parks, read books, vent feels about the awful side of religion, and not feel alone in this insane red state area. I'm leaning towards making it an atheist/agnostic only club. As an atheist want something all my own, you know what I mean? I don't want to have to worry about offending theists by saying something critical of religion and theism or have theists shut down conversations because they think it's rude to criticize religion. Christians have churches and churches are just glorified clubs for Christians only. So why not have something for nonbelievers? I'm open to changing my mind on this and have it be open for theists who don't affiliate with any religion.
However I'm scared of likely backlash from the redneck fundies in this area. I'll want to keep the club low profile since I don't want trouble from the more fanatic fundies. How will I get members, word of mouth? Post fliers?
Any advice?
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all. - Denis Diderot
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RE: Freethought club in rural town
January 30, 2015 at 2:08 pm
Sounds like a great idea, It's probably best if you have a small group of likeminded people with a good chemistry to help you get things going and organize. Maybe via social networks? You can't institute an atheist test though of course, so in the end who ever will come will come. Maybe giving the endeavour an appropriate name should suffice. If you should invite a speaker for a talk in your club, it might make sense to advertise it more widely to attract and get to know new people. Of course then guests of other persuasions might attend.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
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RE: Freethought club in rural town
January 30, 2015 at 2:18 pm
Ya never know what will set them off, unfortunately.
I have jaw dropping experiences in my rural backwater on events that DON'T set off the fundies, so I'd think the 'system' is kinda geared to non-reaction, but the right trigger comes along at the right time and I'd think a full scale pogrom would be possible.
Seeing local same sex names in the marriage license column goes without comment now. There was an interracial couple some years ago that garnered some negative attention, but it really looked to me like it had more to do with him beating her than anything color related.
A minor case of vandalism occurred on anti-abortion sign in front of a catholic church a couple years ago, but the vandalism was so juvenile in content and execution it didn't seem to garner any attention.
I've noticed rapid response to vandalism seems to deter further problems. Some twerps knocked the exterior light fixtures off the library and they were fixed the next afternoon. No problems since.
When Obama was elected president, a local house had a confederate flag on it for a week, and that was about the only high visibility thing I saw.
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RE: Freethought club in rural town
January 30, 2015 at 2:56 pm
(January 30, 2015 at 2:08 pm)Alex K Wrote: Maybe giving the endeavour an appropriate name should suffice.
Here are some names I have in mind:
Freethought Club
Infidel Club
Atheist and Agnostic Club
Godless Club
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all. - Denis Diderot
We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing. - Gore Vidal
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RE: Freethought club in rural town
January 30, 2015 at 3:03 pm
Social media is the best way, IMO.
Meetup.com will allow you to search and see if there is one already that you don't know about, then if there isn't, you could create a group and see if anyone bites. If there is a larger town near enough, you could probably find one there.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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