DIRECT ACTION: What shall we do first?

[hyperdeath]

We need a plan (or plans) of action to take this out into the real world. Suggestions?

[hyperdeath]

To start the ball rolling, I suggest that we attempt to help Sanal Edamaruku, by directly picketing Catholic Churches. We choose several major cathedrals around the world, and attempt to inform lay members of what is happening. Hopefully some of them will start asking their priests difficult questions.

[Jadehawk]

being out here in flyover country, i can't participate in such highly visible actions as that.

However, I'm gonna ask some places if they'll let me put up fliers and stuff, and I'll make a poster/leaflet with information about A+, to see if there's enough interest for creating an A+ group in this area.

If so, well then our local group's actions will focus on local stuff mostly, depending on which social issues members are mst interested in/active in/etc. Personally I'd consider it an achievement if the next abortion-access-bowlathon had an A+ team :-p

Other than that, I'd suggest eventually we should work towards being able to set up A+ workshops (rather than speeches and panels; guided interactive conversations seem so much more productive to me) at atheist/skeptic conferences; with scholarships for disadvantaged atheists (what Skepchick and Secular Woman do for women, except broader. A+ doesn't AFAICT suffer from female-deficiency, but it's definitely starting out too white, and possibly too straight, middle-class, and cis) to be able to discuss their experiences and what they need/expect/want to get out of the atheist/skeptic community

[EEB]

I don't know how well my idea works because Atheism+ is so new, but I think a good idea is to...

1) Form local groups, through places like facebook and meetup, for Atheist+ folks to get together.

2) These groups should contact other social justice groups in the area--your local LGBT group(s), the local rape crisis center, local homeless shelter, etc.--and find out what they need. Let them tell you want their needs are, don't tell them what you want to do, and be willing to help in whatever way possible, from fund drives to painting a building to collecting food and clothes.

Obviously, this is good because we would, you know, be helping other people, which should be a goal on its own. But as a bonus, we would get some nice publicity (maybe the local paper would do a write-up, or the group would mention us in promotional materials); at the very least, the people involved would know that atheists were there to help out and we're not all immoral baby-killers.

In regards to step one: I think Atheist+ groups that try to form need to be aware (much more so than I've seen from other local atheist/skeptic groups) that not everyone has the same income level and accesability. If we truly want Atheism+ to be an inclusive movement, we need to make sure to hold meetings in places that a) people from lower income groups are able to go (ie: no more expensive restraunts, please), b) near public transportation during hours the buses/trains run (I know, easier in some places than others, but not everyone has the money or physical ability to drive a car), and c) people with physical limitations are able to attend (like, no second-floor meetups if the place doesn't have an elevator, make sure there's a ramp, not in parks with unpaved paths, etc.).

I would love suggestions on how to start local groups. I don't have the faintest clue how to go about such a thing, but I'd love to try. I'm rather good at longistics and admin stuff, and I'm disabled so I have a lot of hours in the day to volunteer. However, I'm both physically and financially limited in what I can do. But, hey, anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area that wants to work on starting something, hit me up, I'd love to volunteer my time to this.

[ShinyBlueSpaz]

I am also very interested in the idea of local groups. I would love a way to meet like-minded people in person and actively spread the word. I don't have a great deal of spare time (full time student + full time job). I also don't have a lot of experience being active in this community, but I would love to change that and help in any way possible.
I agree that it is vital to partner with other organizations, materials like pamphlets to keep at local shelters and aid centers would be helpful. That way anyone could order some and distribute them where they live. As a student I know that college campuses are a great place to hold drives for certain types of goods.
I live in Dallas, Texas, but have the ability to get to Austin on occasional weekends. I am not great at organizing, but please let me know if there is anything I can do to further this cause. I would be happy to do pretty much anything, including posting flyers around my campus or compiling lists of local charities if it would help.

[maia160]

I'd like to see A+ outreach to local atheist groups. I started a group in a small town in western NC last January and it has grown to about 50 members. When I started the group, I didn't even think about implementing a sexual harassment policy but I've recently brought the issue up with my group after I experienced some harassment from one of the members of my group. Some people in the group are supportive, others want to 'wait and see', one man wants to be a white knight for the women in the group. At any rate, I'm going forward with the policy but I could really use help with drafting it. Some of the men have asked for some additional guidelines as they are a bit confused as to when 'joking around' goes too far. I'm fairly new to feminism and I don't feel qualified to answer all their questions. I'd like to be able to provide some resources for them. What I'd really like to do is become affiliated with A+ and have support for the things mentioned above, writing harassment policies, resources for education, help with getting involved in activism, etc.

ETA:

@EEB: meetup.com is where I started my group. Depending on where you live, meetup may or may not be very well known in your community. In my case it's not well-known, so I used free advertising in the local paper, posted to local online calendars, advertised on craigslist and generally took advantage of anywhere I could advertise the group online to get my google rankings up. It has worked well for me and grown fairly quickly given that I live in a small religious town.

[Jadehawk]

this is actually something that the more experienced folks might really want to look into: providing the n00bs among us with an "activism for beginners" guide to how to create, popularize, new groups; what kind of methods of organizing such groups there are; some basic civics and volunteering lessons; etc. I've never been able to find a good resource like that. Usually, you only get to go to "leadership" workshops when you're already a leader, and a lot of resources for new groups seem to focus on how to grow them, and less about how to make them happen in the first place. For example, the "transition" folks (that's transition away from an oil-dependent economy) just keep on waffling about "getting people together", with no explanation on how exactly one can get people to show up at the same time without having ever met them or even been aware of their existence. I guess they just asusmed everyone has these extensive networks of friends and acquaintances with similar interests? I don't know.

[hyperdeath]

being out here in flyover country, i can't participate in such highly visible actions as that.

I don't think it's necessary for everyone to converge on St Peter's Basilica. If, however, people were willing to travel to their nearest big city, then we may be able to put some fairly decent sized protests together.

[julian]

Lots of ideas without a set direction. Because I'd like to do something both visible and likely to receive as little atheist pushbck as possible (yes, I kinda wanna avoid the fighting for now) I like the picketing idea. It's something that you can reach out to others with and a great opportunity to rise awareness for how religious institutions try to hurt minorities through out the world. Sort of a Whats The Harm for anti-blasphemy laws and religious governments.

[Nevyn]

It's something that you can reach out to others with and a great opportunity to rise awareness for how religious institutions try to hurt minorities through out the world.

Not to concern troll or anything (and I hate that those are my first words on this forum), but this may not be the best initial focus. Atheism+ is kind of a push back to take up intersectional issues, correct? Picketing for specific causes like hyperdeath mentioned is great, I just wanted to note that as a general strategy we should keep in mind that we can't take the AA path of simply pointing out that religion hurts minorities. Minorities statistically tend to lean on religion at least partially because that is where the social services that help keep them above water come from. There are also cultural influences. If we seriously want to tackle the subject of religious effects on minorities, it would be highly advisable to actually get people from the subject minorities to play a core role in tactical and event planning. We don't want to approach things with a tin ear.

But picketing blasphemy laws or specific issues like that? Great.

[julian]

Nevyn, I bow to your wisdom. I don't think there's a bit of that I disagree with. Any ideas on that?

EDIT: I'm Dominican but haven't faced anything with my family anyone who leaves religion wouldn't so I don't feel like I can really speak on it.

[StealthBadger]

It seems that it would be far better to start small and build up slowly. Create a chip-in for a cause (MSF, for example) or organize everyone to contribute to a food bank on the same day in the name of Atheism+, or in some other way demonstrate the possibility of mass action in a way that creates some kind of success that can be built upon.

[maia160]

this is actually something that the more experienced folks might really want to look into: providing the n00bs among us with an "activism for beginners" guide to how to create, popularize, new groups; what kind of methods of organizing such groups there are; some basic civics and volunteering lessons; etc. I've never been able to find a good resource like that. Usually, you only get to go to "leadership" workshops when you're already a leader, and a lot of resources for new groups seem to focus on how to grow them, and less about how to make them happen in the first place. For example, the "transition" folks (that's transition away from an oil-dependent economy) just keep on waffling about "getting people together", with no explanation on how exactly one can get people to show up at the same time without having ever met them or even been aware of their existence. I guess they just asusmed everyone has these extensive networks of friends and acquaintances with similar interests? I don't know.

This! To build an effective movement, we need to work at the local level as well as the national level. Providing resources and help for the 'noobs' at the local level would really benefit the movement!

As far as getting folks together for whatever type of group you want to start, I'd say it's really not that hard. You need to find your venue for organizing your meetups, whether it is meetup.com, facebook, or your own website. Next, you need to advertise that venue both online and offline. Use any free advertising online you can find; not only will more people find your group but your google ranking will rise. For offline advertising, post notices on community boards, use free advertising in the local paper, find local groups that share similar goals, like environmental groups for your example, and ask to advertise in their newsletter, take advantage of community event calendars.

ETA: Forgot to mention, contact your local univerity. For my group, I happened to find out about a local atheist professor and just cold-emailed him. He put me in contact with the student adviser for the new A/A group that had just started on campus. I joined up with him to cross-post our events. My group was able to attend their excellent lecture series and some of the professors even joined my group.

The hard part is being patient. Go ahead and post a get-together right away so that your new members, who are still excited about the group, will see that an event is coming up soon. A restaurant or coffee house is a good place to start out. Have an agenda to talk about but be sure to allow time for people just to chat and get to know each other. Whether a few members show up or a large number, that's a great start. Don't get discouraged. People will come and go in your group and you can only expect a fraction of your membership to show up at any given meeting. The most important thing is to be consistent with posting meetings to maintain your group's momentum. As your membership grows, your attendance will grow. It's a bit of work but rewarding.

[BillPlus]

I think the first step should be establishing a formal declaration of intent by which all local groups can rally around. Something that formally sets the definition of what A+ means and sets guidelines for how it operates. Bringing about social and political change is not unlike marketing and A+ should be thought of like a “brand”. As such we need to formally establish what that brand is and then work to protect it. Basically we need a Brand Guideline so that we can present a unified face to the world and when we start reaching out to other social justice organizations and when A+ starts getting press that there won’t be any confusion around what we stand for and how we go about doing things. I think that this forum is a great starting place but it’d be extremely useful to have a single document that could form the heart of local group charters and could be handed to journalists and other social leaders.
One of the greatest weapons in social and political change is a large, unified voice. I think that by establishing a formal declaration now before lots of local groups form it will be much easier to make sure we are all speaking in unison.

[Pwrong]

On the topic of outreach to local atheist groups, in some cases it may be possible to simply tack on the A+ label to groups that already exist and agree with us. I started the Atheist & Skeptic Society at my university about five years ago. Even though I no longer have an official position in the club, I shared Jen's original posts on A+ with their committee, and asked if they would like to adopt the label. They're already a wonderful diverse group of people who sometimes talk about social justice issues already, so they all accepted without hesitation. We haven't yet talked about what being A+ might actually mean for the club, but I don't think they'll have to make any big changes. Obviously it might not be so easy with larger groups, but this kind of easy takeover is worth considering.

[maia160]

On the topic of outreach to local atheist groups, in some cases it may be possible to simply tack on the A+ label to groups that already exist and agree with us. I started the Atheist & Skeptic Society at my university about five years ago. Even though I no longer have an official position in the club, I shared Jen's original posts on A+ with their committee, and asked if they would like to adopt the label. They're already a wonderful diverse group of people who sometimes talk about social justice issues already, so they all accepted without hesitation. We haven't yet talked about what being A+ might actually mean for the club, but I don't think they'll have to make any big changes. Obviously it might not be so easy with larger groups, but this kind of easy takeover is worth considering.

Agreed. I also think it is important, as BillPlus mentioned, to have a statement as to what A+ means as well as some minimum requirements for what what types of policies an A+ group should have in place. Again, I'm referring to sexual harassment policies and I'm sure there are some others that should be in place that I haven't even considered. For groups just starting out, it is much easier to have these policies in place before the first member joins to discourage the bad apples from joining in the first place. In the case of my group which started without these policies in place, I'm sure I will lose a few members and at worst it could fracture the group as they debate the issue; however, I'm willing to lose some members or start over to have quality members over quantity.

[Ibis3]

To build an effective movement, we need to work at the local level as well as the national level.

Um, not everyone lives in your nation, eh?

[maia160]

Edit: Sorry, got a bit testy! Yes, I see the problem and should have said local and national levels.

[Galadriel]

MOD EDIT [ Show ]

I think the first step should be establishing a formal declaration of intent by which all local groups can rally around. Something that formally sets the definition of what A+ means and sets guidelines for how it operates. Bringing about social and political change is not unlike marketing and A+ should be thought of like a “brand”. As such we need to formally establish what that brand is and then work to protect it. And we have to do something about those Jews.

Mod Edit:
I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that "do something about those Jews" was poorly applied sarcasm.
-Siliddar

[maiforpeace]

I don't know how well my idea works because Atheism+ is so new, but I think a good idea is to...

1) Form local groups, through places like facebook and meetup, for Atheist+ folks to get together.

2) These groups should contact other social justice groups in the area--your local LGBT group(s), the local rape crisis center, local homeless shelter, etc.--and find out what they need. Let them tell you want their needs are, don't tell them what you want to do, and be willing to help in whatever way possible, from fund drives to painting a building to collecting food and clothes.

Obviously, this is good because we would, you know, be helping other people, which should be a goal on its own. But as a bonus, we would get some nice publicity (maybe the local paper would do a write-up, or the group would mention us in promotional materials); at the very least, the people involved would know that atheists were there to help out and we're not all immoral baby-killers.

In regards to step one: I think Atheist+ groups that try to form need to be aware (much more so than I've seen from other local atheist/skeptic groups) that not everyone has the same income level and accesability. If we truly want Atheism+ to be an inclusive movement, we need to make sure to hold meetings in places that a) people from lower income groups are able to go (ie: no more expensive restraunts, please), b) near public transportation during hours the buses/trains run (I know, easier in some places than others, but not everyone has the money or physical ability to drive a car), and c) people with physical limitations are able to attend (like, no second-floor meetups if the place doesn't have an elevator, make sure there's a ramp, not in parks with unpaved paths, etc.).

I would love suggestions on how to start local groups. I don't have the faintest clue how to go about such a thing, but I'd love to try. I'm rather good at longistics and admin stuff, and I'm disabled so I have a lot of hours in the day to volunteer. However, I'm both physically and financially limited in what I can do. But, hey, anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area that wants to work on starting something, hit me up, I'd love to volunteer my time to this.

Hi EEB.

I'm from Santa Cruz - not too far away.

I was the chair of the Ethical Action committee for several years past, for the Ethical Culture Society of Silicon Valley (ECSSV). Whether Atheism+ went solo in community outreach or not would be tbd, but I feel certain if we approached ECSSV to join efforts, they would wholeheartedly support a joint action.

Here's some of the stuff we did when I was the chair:

Ethical Actions

In particular, I highly recommend working with this organization - Sunday Friends (That's my buddy John on the cover page there ). This is probably one of the most perfect ways to share our purpose as Atheists - the superior alternative to going to church on Sunday. It's the 'working' alternative to charity - there are no handouts here - it's all a community effort, families working together to improve their circumstances, earning scrip so they can purchase necessities like toilet paper, laundry detergent, school supplies. There' really no limit as to what we could offer there. They teach english, nutritious cooking, how to get naturalized, bankers, learn mone managing skills, etc etc. Our group designed a recycling game, that is now played every Sunday they meet.

I know the founder of the program personally. As soon as we can get some people together 4 - 6 minimum - I am willing to commit to make a volunteer day happen.

[BillHaines]

A formal declaration of basic principles would be good. Just don't call it a manifesto. Draft committee?

Ditto a submission process for specific direct action. Does it get formal A+ approval? Are we that organized?

[SallyStrange]

Given that it's election season, I highly encourage you to go to your local board of elections, collect a stack of voter registration forms, and bug the FUCK out of everyone you know, and everyone THEY know, until they register and promise to vote!

[emptyell]

This is slightly OT since the topic is direct action, but it seems that we are already starting to do the first thing that we need to do. That is to discuss the possibilities and evolve some sort of consensus and organization out of which the rest can naturally arise.

Back on topic...

I wonder if it may be premature to undertake any major, high profile actions (things likely to get press or make a big statement) before there is more of a consensus about what is appropriate and how it should be framed.

So I guess what I'm saying is yes, by all means let's discuss what sort of things we may want to do so we can start clarifying what works, seems right, etc.

As a practical matter I think we need to develop the organization of the forum itself. Perhaps this is already happening but I don't see any topics on the subject. I'll be happy to start some but I am concerned that we will quickly submerge under a deluge of new assorted topics in the "main forum" if we don't quickly work out a bit more order.

[rumblestiltsken]

EEB wrote:
I don't know how well my idea works because Atheism+ is so new, but I think a good idea is to...

1) Form local groups, through places like facebook and meetup, for Atheist+ folks to get together.

2) These groups should contact other social justice groups in the area--your local LGBT group(s), the local rape crisis center, local homeless shelter, etc.--and find out what they need. Let them tell you want their needs are, don't tell them what you want to do, and be willing to help in whatever way possible, from fund drives to painting a building to collecting food and clothes.

Obviously, this is good because we would, you know, be helping other people, which should be a goal on its own. But as a bonus, we would get some nice publicity (maybe the local paper would do a write-up, or the group would mention us in promotional materials); at the very least, the people involved would know that atheists were there to help out and we're not all immoral baby-killers.

In regards to step one: I think Atheist+ groups that try to form need to be aware (much more so than I've seen from other local atheist/skeptic groups) that not everyone has the same income level and accesability. If we truly want Atheism+ to be an inclusive movement, we need to make sure to hold meetings in places that a) people from lower income groups are able to go (ie: no more expensive restraunts, please), b) near public transportation during hours the buses/trains run (I know, easier in some places than others, but not everyone has the money or physical ability to drive a car), and c) people with physical limitations are able to attend (like, no second-floor meetups if the place doesn't have an elevator, make sure there's a ramp, not in parks with unpaved paths, etc.).

I would love suggestions on how to start local groups. I don't have the faintest clue how to go about such a thing, but I'd love to try. I'm rather good at longistics and admin stuff, and I'm disabled so I have a lot of hours in the day to volunteer. However, I'm both physically and financially limited in what I can do. But, hey, anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area that wants to work on starting something, hit me up, I'd love to volunteer my time to this.

I am pretty much just quoting this because it is perfect. There are maybe some meta things that can go on regarding interaction with the wider atheist movement, but on an individual level ... just this. Every word.

[he11cat]

Agreed on so many of these points! We should discuss the ethos of A+ and try to come up with a coherent plan for what A+ is and what we want to achieve. I think local groups is a great idea, and second having a resource for how to set up a local group, directory of groups to join which should include A+ allies such as athiest groups and humanist groups that are on board with A+. I think the important thing at the moment is to build the momentum, for groups to form and to have these discussions as some of the different causes will affect different groups in different areas more, and not everyone can take on everything!

I would also suggest we should be seen as a source of support, for anyone championing these causes. If people start to realise they can come to these forums or the local groups and get support for their causes, or individuals and this could range from having supportive people to talk to, a safe space, as well as rallying around and taking direct action, then it would be a great start.