The Great American God Out! - November 15
The 2008 Great American God-Out will be held on November 15. The event is meant to be fun and educational, encouraging religious believers to hypothetically consider a world without a god. The official celebration will be held in San Francisco, CA, and features guest speaker Mikey Weinstein. Learn more at www.godout.org.
by Lydia Hartunian
The idea behind the Great American God-Out! came to me as I was writing an article about godlessness. I was trying to think of things people could actually do, as opposed to just say, to get others to understand life without theism. It started as a joke, namely, a day modeled after the Great American Smokeout (wherein people are asked to give up something unhealthy for just one day.) But it quickly turned in to a movement via positive feedback from the Dawkin's social network and responses from various other rationalist groups around the USA and the world!
With absolutely zero technical skills, I embarked on making a website designed primarily to get people to "Play the Game!" on the designated day (the date was aligned with The American Cancer Society's Smokeout). The game is designed to demonstrate that morality exists independently of theology - a major goal of the God-Out! You can find the game at http://www.godout.org/2008/03/play-game.html.
Another goal of the God-Out is to call for a day wherein people are asked to reflect about the meaning of the "establishment clause," and what life would be like should it truly be upheld in all areas of public life.
The day is meant to be celebratory, fun and educational. In no way is the day meant to call upon people to deride religion or ask people to actually be non-religious on that day. Rather, the day is only meant to ask people to think through a hypothetical scenario. What if there is no god? How will life be different for believers, and how can non-believers help others envision this world?
Ideally, the target audience for people who would participate are theistic believers: people who can at least appreciate the need for separation of separation of church and state. But, naturally, many non-believers support the day as well.
The Great American God-Out! official celebration will be held on November 15th in San Francisco, CA. Tickets are now being sold for the presentation of the dynamic and amazing speaker, Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Student groups are encouraged to hold their own God-Out! events. Ideas include setting up a God-Out! table on campus, presenting at a religious club's meeting, holding a God-Out! party and more. Ideas and information for individual events can be found at http://www.godout.org/2008/09/participate.html. For a press kit and flyers, contact Lydia at 319-400-5328.
For more details check out the following press and most definitely feel free to contact us with any questions. We really need the rational to come out in droves for this event - we're here, we're rational - together we can help make REASON a REALITY.
PRESS ROOM:
* "Event Calls for Day without God" - The Institute for Humanist Studies (10/17/07)
* Joey Reynolds interview with Michael Shermer and Lydia Hartunian - The Joey Reynolds Show (11/14/07)
* "Losing our Religion" - Time Out New York Article (11/15/07)
* "Saluting Darwin" - The Daily Iowan (2/17/08)
Lydia Hartunian holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Graduate Center of CUNY in NYC, specializing in philosophy of mind and all things rational. She is the advisor of an SSA affiliate group in Iowa and is the President of Atheists United for a Rational America. She is also and the founder and director of the Great American God-Out! (And she likes cats a lot!)
by Lydia Hartunian
The idea behind the Great American God-Out! came to me as I was writing an article about godlessness. I was trying to think of things people could actually do, as opposed to just say, to get others to understand life without theism. It started as a joke, namely, a day modeled after the Great American Smokeout (wherein people are asked to give up something unhealthy for just one day.) But it quickly turned in to a movement via positive feedback from the Dawkin's social network and responses from various other rationalist groups around the USA and the world!
With absolutely zero technical skills, I embarked on making a website designed primarily to get people to "Play the Game!" on the designated day (the date was aligned with The American Cancer Society's Smokeout). The game is designed to demonstrate that morality exists independently of theology - a major goal of the God-Out! You can find the game at http://www.godout.org/2008/03/play-game.html.
Another goal of the God-Out is to call for a day wherein people are asked to reflect about the meaning of the "establishment clause," and what life would be like should it truly be upheld in all areas of public life.
The day is meant to be celebratory, fun and educational. In no way is the day meant to call upon people to deride religion or ask people to actually be non-religious on that day. Rather, the day is only meant to ask people to think through a hypothetical scenario. What if there is no god? How will life be different for believers, and how can non-believers help others envision this world?
Ideally, the target audience for people who would participate are theistic believers: people who can at least appreciate the need for separation of separation of church and state. But, naturally, many non-believers support the day as well.
The Great American God-Out! official celebration will be held on November 15th in San Francisco, CA. Tickets are now being sold for the presentation of the dynamic and amazing speaker, Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Student groups are encouraged to hold their own God-Out! events. Ideas include setting up a God-Out! table on campus, presenting at a religious club's meeting, holding a God-Out! party and more. Ideas and information for individual events can be found at http://www.godout.org/2008/09/participate.html. For a press kit and flyers, contact Lydia at 319-400-5328.
For more details check out the following press and most definitely feel free to contact us with any questions. We really need the rational to come out in droves for this event - we're here, we're rational - together we can help make REASON a REALITY.
PRESS ROOM:
* "Event Calls for Day without God" - The Institute for Humanist Studies (10/17/07)
* Joey Reynolds interview with Michael Shermer and Lydia Hartunian - The Joey Reynolds Show (11/14/07)
* "Losing our Religion" - Time Out New York Article (11/15/07)
* "Saluting Darwin" - The Daily Iowan (2/17/08)
Lydia Hartunian holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Graduate Center of CUNY in NYC, specializing in philosophy of mind and all things rational. She is the advisor of an SSA affiliate group in Iowa and is the President of Atheists United for a Rational America. She is also and the founder and director of the Great American God-Out! (And she likes cats a lot!)
Submitted by bwatland on Mon, 10/20/2008 - 17:50
