WESTERN
American Atheists, Inc.
American Atheist (American Atheist, Inc.:
Austin TX, february 1988) 30:2 president and editor: R. Murray-O'Hair;
founder and editor emeritus: Dr. Madalyn O'Hair;
managing editor and secretary: Jon G. Murray
American Atheists, Inc. is a non-profit, non-political, educational organization
dedicated to the complete and absolute separation of state and church. We accept
the explanation of Thomas Jefferson that the "First Amendment" to the
Constitution of the United States was meant to create a "wall of separation"
between state and church.
American Atheists, Inc. is organized to stimulate and promote freedom of thought
and inquiry concerning religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals, and
practices;
to collect and disseminate information, data, and literature on all religions and
promote a more thorough understanding of them, their origins, and their
histories; ... to advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways the
establishment and maintenance of a thoroughly secular system of education
available to all;
to encourage the development and public acceptance of a human ethical system
stressing the mutual sympathy, understanding, and interdependence of all people
and the corresponding responsibility of each individual in relation to
society;
to develop and propagate a social philosophy in which man is the central figure,
who alone must be the source of strength, progress, and ideals for the well-being
and happiness of humanity;
to promote the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems affecting the
maintenance, perpetuation, and enrichment of human (and other) life; ...
Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the
supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a life-style and ethical outlook
verifiable by experience and the scientific method, independent of all arbitrary
assumptions of authority and creeds.
Materialism declares that the cosmos is devoid of immanent conscious purpose;
that it is governed by its own inherent, immutable, and impersonal laws;
that there is no supernatural interference in human life;
that man-finding his resources within himself--can and must create his own
destiny. Materialism restores to man his dignity and his intellectual integrity.
It teaches that we must prize our life on earth and strive always to improve it.
It holds that man is capable of creating a social system based on reason and
justice. Materialism's "faith" is in man and man's ability to transform the world
culture by his own efforts. This is a commitment which is in its very essence
life-asserting. It considers the struggle for progress as a moral obligation and
impossible without noble ideas that inspire man to bold, creative works.
Materialism holds that humankind's potential for good and for an outreach to more
fulfilling cultural development is, for all practical purposes,
unlimited.
|
|