Please Support SSA Week

Local colleges and universities have closed for the summer. Local school systems are about to go, or recently have gone, on break. It is time to turn our thoughts to -- next fall? Yes, the forces supporting theocracy never rest and we can't either.

I live in Vienna, Virginia just minutes from where the Northern Virginia Chapter of WASH will be having its monthly meeting on Sunday. Do you know what is even closer to my house? The Vienna Community Center where children come to be part of a Good News Club. Next fall the children attending that club will probably be taught that genocide is okay if those killed do not share their specific version of a belief in a god and the genocide is ordered by their god. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/30/christian-fundamentalists-plan-teach-genocide

As appalling as that thought is, we live in a free country and we can't stop homicidal fools from preaching the joys of genocide. What can we do?

We can support organizations which offer young people who question, or who come from homes which question, a port in a storm.

The Secular Student Alliance has been growing like mad the past couple of years. You can read an inspiring blog post by Lyz Liddell, Director of Campus Organizing for the SSA here: http://www.skepticmoney.com/the-unstoppable-secular-students/. And maybe the best news of all out of Columbus, Ohio (the home of the SSA) is that organizing of secular groups in high schools is now taking off despite the passive, and not so passive, opposition of some school administrators. For an example of the problems high school students face and what the SSA is doing to support them, you can read this guest post by a high school blogger at the Friendly Atheist: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/06/05/the-challenges-for-high-school-atheists/.

The SSA is working right now to prepare for the next school year. June 6-16 is SSA Week (week and a half?). Everybody who can, please donate something to SSA here: http://www.secularstudents.org/ssaweek/donate. Jeff Hawkins and Janet Strauss have offered to match donations to SSA up to $250,000 so everything you give will be worth twice as much. Thank you Jeff and Janet.

And if you happen to have a little left over after the SSA donation -- Todd Stiefel will match gifts to Camp Quest, another great organization which provides awesome opportunities for our youth. Thank you Todd. You can donate to Camp Quest here: http://www.campquest.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1.

Let's not leave the field to the theocrats. Fight Back!