President's Message
Written by Stuart Bechamn   
Monday, 11 August 2008 17:03
I am pleased to announce that Atheists United is making sizeable steps in upgrading our website to provide more functionality and connection with a membership base that continues to expand beyond Los Angeles .  Some time this month, you should see our new website with a new look and feel as our new Director of Membership and Development, Brian Parra, aggressively moves to make Atheists United more accessible and relevant to the modern generation.  I look forward to hearing what members think of those changes.

Our July fundraiser was, in a word, disappointing.  We raised only $1,000, which means that we will be continuing to eat into our investment funds to fund our new projects to expand the organization.  This funding response extends a steady drop in funding support received from our mailings from a high of almost $4,000 we raised three years ago.  This is particularly disappointing to me with feeling like the board and our organization is now attempting some of the most ambitious and promising projects to meet our mission in the 21st century, including now supporting one and a half support staff people and the new website described above.  I am not sure what to read into this trend?  Is the trend a measure of the faltering economy, or does our membership base feel that the board is taking the organization in the wrong direction?  If you have a response, I encourage you to contact me and let me know what you think.

You may have recently heard the Ellen Johnson was removed as president of American Atheists.  As a former AA affiliate, Atheists United has many members that take special interest in the developments over at AA.  I do not have any special knowledge about the circumstances that led to Johnson's departure, or what her future plans are.  But I will say that I think that Ellen was exemplary in her efforts to preserve and continue American Atheists after the kidnap and killing of founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair and left a positive mark on the organization during her tenure.  I also have the highest regard for Frank Zindler, the interim AA president, and wish AA's board the best in finding a worthy replacement to fill the shoes of Madalyn and Ellen.

2009 will be the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln's birth; and the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's seminal work, The Origin of Species.  AU's board is looking to team up with local natural history museums and college science departments to make it an epic event.  As always, we have a need for volunteers in the planning and coordination; if you are interested, please send an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

September will be a very busy month as the AAI Convention opens in Long Beach on September 26.  We hope that as many of our members will be able to attend the convention; those that do should stop by our convention table to pick up a special gift.  However, for those who can't or aren't willing to make the trek to Long Beach, we will be hosting a simulcast of major portions of the AAI Convention at CFI West on Saturday and Sunday.    (Further details will be included in the September newsletter.)  So you will have two options to attend the highlight event of the season and connect with the national atheist community.