Atheist Alliance International (AAI)
From Philosopedia
Atheist Alliance International (AAI), which was founded in 1991, is an umbrella organization for local, autonomous, religion-free groups, a well as individual members. Its stated goals are to help democratic, atheistic societies become established and grow and to work in coalition with like-minded groups to advance rational thinking through educational processes. Virtually all income goes to these causes. Its staff is small Its members make all the decisions and do almost all of the work.
The Alliance sponsors annual conventions, publishes Secular Nation, a quarterly magazine of interest to atheists, and The Freethought Directory, an attempt to list all freethought organizations in the world, and the Journal of Higher Criticism, a respected scholarly publication of Biblical study. It sponsors Objectivity, Accuracy, and Balance in Teaching About Religion (OABITAR), a resource for teachers. It maintains a web site that hosts member societies' web sites free of charge.
Applications for Alliance membership from democratic local, regional, or international atheist organizations are welcome. Member societies pay no dues but contribute to the grassroots organizing work of Atheist Alliance. Each member society has its own representative on the AAI board.
Individual members are also welcome. They pay dues and receive Secular Nation as a benefit of membership. They also have a representative on the AAI board, with the representative being selected at an individual members' group meeting during the annual AAI convention. The Individual Members Group maintains contact through an online chat group and Secular Nation magazine.
An entirely internet-based connection to AAI for individuals is also available through the Atheist Internet Outreach member society. Its role is to use online services to connect isolated atheists with atheist and freethought issues, and to support the programs, policies and activities of the Alliance.
Officers are as follows:
- President: Stuart Bechman (effective October 2008)
- Secretary: Heather McIntosh
- Treasurer: Kay Dickey
- Previous Presidents: Bobbie Kirkhart; Margaret Downey.
WHO WE ARE
AAI has described its primary views as including the following:
1) Atheism is living one's life without the supernatural.
2) Every human being is entitled to freedom of conscience, which requires absolute state neutrality towards religion and nonreligion and governmental maintenance of inviolate human rights. Thus, we oppose any law requiring or forbidding the personal observance of religion.
3) Scientific inquiry has proved the best process for improving the physical welfare of humankind and should be pursued with vigor and without compromise throughout the world.
4) Human compassion and empathy are crucial to improving the human condition.
5) Reason and cooperation are essential to meeting the challenges that confront humankind.
6) We are responsible for humane interaction with other animals and for the preservation of our habitable planet.
7) Humanistic atheists eschew concepts that fragment humanity into conflicting groups; rather, we work toward fostering cooperative diversity.
In essence, we work in different ways throughout the world, owing to each other an allegiance to these tenets for living our lives with this perspective and in this manner, making the world a better place.
WE ARE NOT
An atheist is anyone who has no belief in any god, whether the god is called Jehovah, Satan, Vishnu, Allah, Loki, Zeus, or any other name. Therefore, atheists hold many varieties of social and political philosophies. There is no atheist dogma, and the Atheist Alliance International has no catechism.
However, most of us are atheists because we are rationalists. That means we look for the best evidence in deciding what to believe. Of course, we don’t believe in such ideas as miracles, “intelligent” design, and “scientific” creationism. There are also popular notions which are secular and which a few vocal atheists may believe, but which have no supporting evidence. They are extremely unpopular among the great majority of atheists-rationalists. They include:
- • The appearance of “ghosts” or other spirits of the dead.
- • Reincarnation of human “souls.”
- • The denial of established historical events, such as the Nazi mass murder of Jews, homosexuals,
- Gypsies, and atheists during World War II.
- • Visitation by space aliens, whether or not they are purported to have established our civilization.
- • Astrology of any origin.
