By J. ANDERSON THOMSON - RDFRS
Added: Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:03:32 UTC - An RDFRS Original

As a Trustee and the Treasurer of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, U.S. branch, I write to you about the best team for an important job and how you can help.

Innovating for a Secular World.

The Richard Dawkins Foundation, U.S., established a website that now has a million hits a month, launched the “Out” campaign that has global reach, and created the recent Clergy Project, which offers a safe haven for clergy questioning or leaving religion.

The Richard Dawkins Foundation will strive for even more in the coming year. We believe we have assembled the best team to lead secularism and atheism into the future.

The Richard Dawkins Foundation, US has unparalleled resources to achieve that mission. Our best resources are people:

Resource #1: You. RichardDawkins.net is the most visited website in secularism. It is where secular innovation and secular ideas meet secular people who can and will take action. That’s you.

Resource #2: Richard Dawkins, DSc, FRS: One of the most respected scientists in the world and the biggest draw in secularism, Richard Dawkins always generates impressive crowds when visiting North America. On his most recent tour he galvanized a crowd of 2300 at Eastern Kentucky University. This is a movement. Richard Dawkins is the catalyst.

Resource #3: Executive Director R. Elisabeth Cornwell, PhD: An evolutionary psychologist, Dr. Cornwell also brings fifteen years of Silicon Valley business experience to the foundation. She conceived and implemented the Scarlet OUT campaign that is now seen around the world as a symbol of atheism. It gives voice, courage and a sense of community to non-believers around the world. We recently saw the addition of an Afghan Facebook page. Her approach to team building among secular groups brings Richard Dawkins and other high-profile speakers to campuses and conferences around the US and Canada. Through her leadership, RDFRS will continue to expand secular ideas and values.

Resource #4: Director of Strategy and Policy Sean Faircloth: Sean Faircloth brings experienced, strategic political leadership. Richard Dawkins asked Sean Faircloth, who served ten years in the Maine legislature, to be his opening speaker on his Fall 2011 United States tour. Watch “Sean Faircloth Introduces Richard Dawkins and his Ten Point Vision of a Secular America” to find out more.

Sean Faircloth authored Attack of the Theocrats, How the Religious Right Harms Us All and What We Can Do About It". The book’s 2012 publication places secularism squarely into the debates in the upcoming U. S. elections. Click here to watch a video summary of each chapter as well as a video summary of the book

Resource #5: The Web Team: Led by Michael Cornwell, along with Niels Liebisch, Nick Johanssen, Kim Cox and professional consultants, we now have the most innovative web team in secularism. This team will build and expand a cutting edge secular website.

Resource #6: Suzy Lewis and The Dawkins Store: Our store makes the secular movement visible on the street, with everything from clothing, stickers, DVDs, to pins and much more. Visit the store. You won’t leave without a purchase.

In 2012 you will witness more innovation for a secular world from the RDFRS team:

A new and improved website: RichardDawkins.net is the crossroads of new secular ideas and innovation. Our website will provide a network for the secular community and empower it to connect by region in support of secular causes.

Organizing a Movement: In his book Sean Faircloth offers a Ten Point vision for a Secular America and a specific plan called Our Secular Decade to get us there. As Director of Strategy and Policy, Sean Faircloth will speak and organize to create a strong secular social movement in accordance with this vision and plan.

Former Muslim, Latino secularists, and African-American atheist groups: As with The Clergy Project, each of these communities face unique challenges. The RDFRS-US will serve as welcoming crossroads that joins these communities together to offer encouragement and fellowship in what can be isolating circumstances.

Reframing the Debate: The Religious Right skillfully frames the national debate. From RichardDawkins.net Sean Faircloth will frame secular position in ways designed to both rally secularists and persuade the general public. Our stand on church-state separation is the majority view. It’s time to speak from strength.

The Richard Dawkins Foundation is now a base of secularism in the US, consistently offering innovative ideas for a secular world. Our most important resource is our team of people.

Our team costs money. Making the website continually better is expensive. Adding staff with strategy and policy experience costs money. Bringing speakers to events throughout the US takes money. If you have not yet given to the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, please donate now. If you’ve given before, please increase your gift. With your help the Foundation has made tremendous strides. With your new or renewed investment, all the plans I’ve listed for 2012 will come true.

Inspired by Richard Dawkins I recently published a book, Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith. Thanks to the revolution in the cognitive neurosciences, and the labors of many scientists, we are tantalizingly close to a comprehensive scientific answer to that question. Another complex question is how to then move society toward reason and science and away from superstition and supernatural beliefs. A stronger secular social movement is utterly crucial. With your help, our team will take the lead in this effort.

Give as much as it takes to feel wonderful. Click here to donate

Thank you for your support,

J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD
Treasurer
Richard Dawkins Foundation
For Reason and Science (U.S.)

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