By Ken Bronstein.
Now we’re talking—and doing, too! I asked for help, ideas, and energy, and you produced them. I’m proud of the membership for pitching in, and excited about where that will take us. Of course you’ve noticed Edwin Vazquez’s brilliant design of our newsletter; what a difference it makes! And you can read Tyson Gill’s new NYC Atheists’ Web site: www.nycatheists.org as well as his scathing feature in this issue, Ending the Atheist Movement.
On Thursday, December 24, we premiered our new cable show, My Road to Atheism, with Susan Jacobsen and Rad Mason interviewing NYCA members about how, why and when they became Atheists; Edward Tasick is the video editor and created the video opening. And we have Martin Heimsdorf’s new NYCA library database to enable us to lend books from our 600+ (and growing) volumes.
That’s just for starters…
Our “Single-Issue Voter” program (see November/ December newsletter) is rolling out, with Jay Rice constructing the database of elected officials so crucial to the campaign. This is a great way for us to be heard and exert our influence where it counts most: in a presidential election year. I strongly encourage all of you to contribute time and effort to keeping up the pressure.
With an eye to the future: we’ve made a great start, but there’s much more to do! For instance, it’s essential that the public learn that Atheists exist, are real, and have compassion. With this objective, NYCA has made a New Year’s resolution to expand and implement our Community Outreach Program—to be proactive beyond our Street Tabling at the Time-Warner Center, beyond our NYCA Cable Shows, and our annual Gift for Life Blood Donation efforts. We need to identify goals for high- profile single-day events, and gradually expand to long- term commitments for the good of the community.
I’m looking for members with good ideas to join the momentum, to propose future programs and to become program leaders.
We also need lawyers for legal advice—crucial to the success of our campaigns and upcoming lawsuits. Energy contributed is energy earned.
At the risk of repeating myself, I’d like to say again that we’ve gotten off to a flying start. By continuing to work together as a collaborative organization, we will become stronger, achieve momentum, attract new members and develop new strategies for expanding our mission. Trust me!
So give some thought about what you can do best for NYC Atheists and raise your hand.
Contact me at:
[email protected]
(212) 535-7525
Let’s talk!