Organization: American Atheists
Website Address: http://www.atheists.org/
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Brief description of organization:
American Atheists, Inc. is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to equality for atheists and the complete and absolute separation of religion and government. American Atheists’ members live in a nation of Christian privilege that every day makes them second-class citizens. American Atheists seeks to ensure that the majority’s religious preference does not dictate how all citizens’ rights are determined under the law in the United States.
What are some recent accomplishments or projects your organization is working on?
American Atheists openly challenges all Americans to consider what role religion really plays in their lives with billboards in New York City’s Times Square calling Jesus’ birth a myth and with billboards nationwide pointing out the hypocrisy of all religions and human rights. American Atheists brought suit against the IRS in 2012 for the federal agency’s discriminatory practices that favor religious-based nonprofit organizations over secular nonprofits when filing to be recognized and by the forms and fees required from secular nonprofits but not religious-based nonprofit organizations. American Atheists is also opening a Washington, D.C. branch in April 2013.
Tell us how both your organization and convention attendees would benefit from your Hall booth?
American Atheists (AA) is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2013 and will offer a variety of merchandise, books, and materials to Netroots Nations’ attendees. Our booth will be staffed by David Silverman, president of AA and the nemesis of Fox TV personality Bill O’Reilly. American Atheists’ staff and volunteers are eager to talk about public policy, law, current events, religion, and atheism with anyone who stops by—often this leads to crowd-gathering debates about the historical Jesus, climate change, women’s rights, moral authority, and the religiosity of TV characters! We offer lots of swag: keychains, carabiners, magazines, playing cards, pens, and much more to attract attendees and invite them to talk to us. American Atheists will have a DVD playing of the Reason Rally, the largest gathering of nontheists ever—20,000+, held in 2012 on the National Mall. We will also have videos from our national convention in Austin over Easter weekend in March. We want to introduce Netroots Nation and its attendees to our organization and our members. It is one of American Atheists’ goals to make atheism more socially acceptable. We want to show religious and nonreligious folks alike that the best way to protect religious freedom is by keeping religion and government separate.
