Hello All,

I was wondering if there is any sort of publication, article or reference on the topic of “Reason Evangelism” for lack of a better term.  If there isn’t one I think it would be a worthwhile project that would help us common folk to spread the word about the value of secular values and science – this foundations mission.

In simple terms, this reference guide or manual would answer the question What can I do to help spread the word about the value of secular values and science?  It could be like a franchise manual or a reason scoutmaster’s handbook.

Of course it could be a simple guide or quite deep. It could cover topics like:
Our Mission
The Problem as we see it
Specific Issues we would like to address
  Importance of science and reason in decision making
  The problem of believing things on faith
  How faith based belief systems hurt us
  …
How to go about spreading the word
  To a peer
  To a small group
  To our community
Pitfalls or dangers to avoid and how to do it
  Hurting your family, significant others, friends
  Being resented or confronted with hostility
  …
Religious Criticism and Arguments and how to counter them
  Religion is good and helps humanity
  If there’s no religion, there’s no morality
  The Bible as a source of knowledge and absolute truth
  …
How to start and run a local Project Reason Chapter
  What you need
  Suggested Charter
  Organizational Areas and staffing
      Recruiting and Membership
      Education Committee (speaker procurement, materials, meeting topics)
      Financial: sponsorships, member dues, suppliers
  Running a Meeting
  Suggested Topics for Meetings (Syllabus)
  Obtaining funding for activities
  …

I just thought of these, I’m sure there could be much more detail.  I guess you get the idea.  There could even be training given to Chapter organizers or Regional Leaders or some hierarchical trickle down training.

Anyway, it would be of great benefit to the cause to have this sort of reference available.
What do you think?

Iván Torres

Yeah, I like it. But it’s sort of being done already on the internet where there are already so many resources. Maybe bringing them together in a form similar to that you suggest would be helpful. Dunno. WHat do others think?

Yeah, I like it. But it’s sort of being done already on the internet where there are already so many resources. Maybe bringing them together in a form similar to that you suggest would be helpful. Dunno. WHat do others think?

Sorry, I don’t know why this appeared twice. Or am I just seeing double. If so, that’s the end of this Friday night’s scotches. Straight onto vodka. It’s a much purer spirit and should therefore suit the spiritually inclined. Da! Bolshoi vodka!

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Black Heart General - 10 May 2011 03:59 PM

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit metaphorical myself.

You quote Nasser in your signature line, and the hat in your avatar looks something like a sikke (worn by Whirling Dervishes) or a Karakul (worn by Hamid Karzai). Are you from Muslim ancestry, even though you are an ex-Marine?

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robbrownsyd - 06 May 2011 06:00 AM

Yeah, I like it. But it’s sort of being done already on the internet where there are already so many resources. Maybe bringing them together in a form similar to that you suggest would be helpful.

Yes, the idea is having a single resource that can be distributed.  The advantages would be having material in one place, having the reference produced/edited by knowledgeable people instead of any old material a regular persona can scrape up from the web, and being able to distribute the information as a standard so all efforts go along the same lines.

Let’s say Sam Harris did an outline of what the important issues were, the arguments in favor or against, useful examples, how to go about discussing the issues (with family, friends, groups, community) without getting burned at the stake, etc.  Let’s say some of his staff outline how to organize and run a local chapter of the Reason Project ORganization… stuff like that is what I’m talking about.  It could be like a Reason Project franchise operators guide.  It would be better than just letting people interested in helping go about it without guidance.

Black Heart General - 10 May 2011 03:59 PM

I think it is important to avoid the mistakes of religion, one of which is evangelical proselytizing.

I must clarify that I think I probably shouldn’t have used the word evangelism.  I was using it as meaning spreading the knowledge and winning people over to our way of thinking.  I see the word is too closely associated to christianity.

What I describe would be a guide that would help us common folk to spread the word about the value of secular values and science – this Reason Project’s mission.

I guess it would be “The Reason Project’s Local Chapter Guide: How to organize and run your local chapter and help spread the word about the value of secular values and science in your community.”

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Black Heart General - 10 May 2011 03:59 PM

I think it is important to avoid the mistakes of religion, one of which is evangelical proselytizing.

Yes,

After all, you can drag a person to reason, but you can’t make them think!

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Black Heart General - 11 May 2011 02:21 PM

eucaryote - 11 May 2011 01:59 PM

Black Heart General - 10 May 2011 03:59 PM

I think it is important to avoid the mistakes of religion, one of which is evangelical proselytizing.

Yes,

After all, you can drag a person to reason, but you can’t make them think!

You are awesome.

Well, you’ll find a few on this site that might disagree with that! I do have my rare moments.

Actually my resistance to organized reasonism is well known. I think that “you are what you eat”. I can’t stand evangelists of any kind coming on to me and I can’t imagine any reason to push anything in particular on any one else. I try to adhere to the bozo philosophy regarding myself and the other occupants of the bus….it’s the one thing that we can depend on.

Welcome aboard.

I find it very interesting that the mot popular question and first answered in Sam Harris’ Ask Me Anything session on reddit.com was related to what I asked in my original post.  Part of it was this: “what should we do next? I feel like I’m adrift in a sea of rationality with no clear goal in sight. What do you think are practical goals for the passionate pro-reason activist,”

Sam said he gets the question a lot and that it was inconvenient he didn’t have a good answer for it.  His answer… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z3yrd2TS14

If this is a question many people have, how about thinking about it and putting something down on paper, such as a what I’m asking about?

Oh, I know what Sam Harris and all the atheist dummies should do next—