Atheism For Dummies (For Dummies (Religion & Spirituality)) (100 page)

Atheist Alliance International (
www.atheistalliance.org
):
“A global federation of atheist and freethought groups and individuals, committed to educating its members and the public about atheism, secularism and related issues.” See also its sister organization, Atheist Alliance of America (
www.atheistallianceamerica.org
).

Center for Inquiry (
www.centerforinquiry.net
):
Philosopher Paul Kurtz (see
Chapter 8
) founded this center “to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.”

Foundation Beyond Belief (
www.foundationbeyondbelief.org
):
This membership organization comprises compassionate humanists supporting charities and volunteering in their communities.

Humanist Canada (
www.humanists.ca
):
This Canadian national organization founded in 1968, “promotes the separation of religion from public policy and fosters the development of reason, compassion, and critical thinking for all Canadians through secular education and community support.”

International Humanist and Ethical Union (
www.iheu.org
):
This umbrella organization was founded in 1952 in Amsterdam to represent humanist, atheist, rationalist, secular, skeptic, freethought, and Ethical Culture organizations around the world and to promote humanist values.

Society for Humanistic Judaism (
www.shj.org
):
This group was founded by Rabbi Sherwin Wine (see
Chapter 8
) “to mobilize people to celebrate Jewish identity and culture consistent with a humanistic philosophy of life, independent of supernatural authority.”

Freedom from Religion Foundation (
www.ffrf.org
):
Anne Gaylor and Annie Laurie Gaylor founded this organization “to promote the separation of church and state and to educate the public on matters relating to atheism, agnosticism and nontheism.” This group often serves as the legal arm of the freethought movement.

United Coalition of Reason (
www.unitedcor.org
):
This US-national organization works to raise the visibility of local nontheistic groups by promoting the fact that nontheists live in every community and by facilitating communication and cooperation among local nontheistic groups.

American Ethical Union (
www.aeu.org
):
Social reformer Felix Adler (see
Chapter 7
) founded this ethical religious movement without creed to promote the idea that living in accordance with ethical principles is central to living a meaningful and fulfilling life and dedicated to creating a world that is good for all.

Atheist Centre (
www.atheistcentre.in
):
Ramachandra Rao (better known as Gora, see
Chapter 8
) and his wife Saraswathi Gora founded this institution founded in 1940 to promote positive social change in India.

Of course the community and connectedness I describe in several chapters of this book happen not at the national and international level, but right there in your local community. Most large cities and many small ones have local freethought organizations. It’s a terrific opportunity to meet others who share your worldview, exchange ideas, socialize, and work together to improve your community as an expression of what you believe, which makes sense because no one is up there to do it. To find these local groups, just search online for your city and the words “atheist,” “humanist,” or “freethought.”

If you don’t live in a city (or even if you do),
meetup.com
is a great way for people with shared interests to find each other. Many of the largest groups on Meetup are atheist and humanist groups.