1000+ Indian Atheists! What shall we do to celebrate?

[donatello]

We've reached the 1K mark on the facebook Indian Atheists page!

Let's do something to celebrate!

Here's the discussion that was in progress on FB (original discussion is at http://www.facebook.com/IndianAtheists?v...051&ref=mf):



Let's discuss the ideas, and celebrate the occasion in a meaningful way!

[mohankarthik]

How about coming up with a FAQ on a creationist vs atheist debate. I generally notice that its the same old questions that get repeated every time someone argues with a theist. And I thought of compiling a list of questions and answers. Maybe we can all compile them and put it up on IndianAtheist and then when ever we argue, we can just link and ask them to read ;).

http://gretachristina.typepad.com/ already has a kind of this FAQ under the title Atheist Meme of the day. We can maybe borrow it and modify it for our environment and put it up on IndianAtheist. I would be happy to volunteer, but having a couple more people to review each other would be a nice idea.

[Swati]

1000 Indian Atheists!

[Azad]

Can we create some Virtual beer and PArty :P

[donatello]

(22-Sep-2010, 07:57 AM)mohankarthik Wrote: How about coming up with a FAQ on a creationist vs atheist debate. I generally notice that its the same old questions that get repeated every time someone argues with a theist. And I thought of compiling a list of questions and answers. Maybe we can all compile them and put it up on IndianAtheist and then when ever we argue, we can just link and ask them to read ;).

http://gretachristina.typepad.com/ already has a kind of this FAQ under the title Atheist Meme of the day. We can maybe borrow it and modify it for our environment and put it up on IndianAtheist. I would be happy to volunteer, but having a couple more people to review each other would be a nice idea.

It is an interesting idea, but I think the creationist/atheist debate is not so important in Indian religion. Indian religion is more ritual based, and based on "karmic" concepts of morality. We could possibly do something different and attack that, but I these those are somewhat long term projects. By the time we do something solid in attacking those concepts we may have more than 2K Indian Atheists!

We need something quicker and meaningful for this celebration.

How about we make a tribute video to famous Indian Atheists? It could just flash their images for a few seconds and perhaps display their quotes. What say?

[Azad]

(22-Sep-2010, 04:44 PM)donatello Wrote: We need something quicker and meaningful for this celebration.

How about we make a tribute video to famous Indian Atheists? It could just flash their images for a few seconds and perhaps display their quotes. What say?

- Ever since i saw the video made 'For Hitchens" by the Thinking Atheist, i was left emotionally touched. Nothing works better than a video with a great background score and some sensible quotes with sharp images.

I second Donatello !!

[Tulshidas Singha]

(22-Sep-2010, 07:57 AM)mohankarthik Wrote: How about coming up with a FAQ on a creationist vs atheist debate. I generally notice that its the same old questions that get repeated every time someone argues with a theist. And I thought of compiling a list of questions and answers. Maybe we can all compile them and put it up on IndianAtheist and then when ever we argue, we can just link and ask them to read ;).

http://gretachristina.typepad.com/ already has a kind of this FAQ under the title Atheist Meme of the day. We can maybe borrow it and modify it for our environment and put it up on IndianAtheist. I would be happy to volunteer, but having a couple more people to review each other would be a nice idea.

@mohankarthik.-It's a great idea,I think.FAQ will be of much helpful,especially to those who are not adequately equipped with knowledge in order to debate with the theists.

[Swati]

(22-Sep-2010, 06:37 PM)Azad Wrote:

(22-Sep-2010, 04:44 PM)donatello Wrote: We need something quicker and meaningful for this celebration.

How about we make a tribute video to famous Indian Atheists? It could just flash their images for a few seconds and perhaps display their quotes. What say?

- Ever since i saw the video made 'For Hitchens" by the Thinking Atheist, i was left emotionally touched. Nothing works better than a video with a great background score and some sensible quotes with sharp images.

I second Donatello !!

I third donatello !!!

[Tulshidas Singha]

We are thousand among hundred twenty crores.I don't see any cause to be delighted.There are so many left. The main concern of all atheists here should be to bring them under one umbrella.And the best umbrella is,I think,Nirmukta Community for being the only Indian website for atheists and freethinkers.There are so many atheist communities in orkut also.Most of them are unaware of the launching of this site.We should post the link of this community as add everywhere.I've already posted in some communities.
Can anyone find out a process how we can gather the atheists outside the net?
Some friends have given excellent ideas which will be effective to increase the numbers.Without using the very word 'celebration' we should concentrate on that.

[Ajita Kamal]

(23-Sep-2010, 12:41 PM)Swati Wrote:

(22-Sep-2010, 06:37 PM)Azad Wrote:

(22-Sep-2010, 04:44 PM)donatello Wrote: We need something quicker and meaningful for this celebration.

How about we make a tribute video to famous Indian Atheists? It could just flash their images for a few seconds and perhaps display their quotes. What say?

- Ever since i saw the video made 'For Hitchens" by the Thinking Atheist, i was left emotionally touched. Nothing works better than a video with a great background score and some sensible quotes with sharp images.

I second Donatello !!

I third donatello !!!

Fourthed (ok, its starting to get a bit silly now)

I'll take this one up. Will start a thread on it soon.

[Lije]

(23-Sep-2010, 08:39 PM)Tulshidas Singha Wrote: There are so many left. The main concern of all atheists here should be to bring them under one umbrella.And the best umbrella is,I think,Nirmukta Community for being the only Indian website for atheists and freethinkers.There are so many atheist communities in orkut also.Most of them are unaware of the launching of this site.We should post the link of this community as add everywhere.I've already posted in some communities.
Can anyone find out a process how we can gather the atheists outside the net?
Some friends have given excellent ideas which will be effective to increase the numbers.Without using the very word 'celebration' we should concentrate on that.

Yes. Atheist communities are fragmented in India. We don't really have a big online community like randi.org, richarddawkins.net or rationalskeptism.org. That's also one reason why we should be celebrating the 1000 member thing. It maybe small, but it is a starting point. There are other Indian websites for atheism and rationalism in India, but in my opinion they don't have the coolness factor (but that doesn't mean that they are bad. Mostly they are run by people who do a lot of work on the ground and may not have time to actively maintain the sites). What we need are more people who can spread the word. Celebrations like will foster a community spirit and can help in getting more people aboard.

Also, we should not just be celebrating 1000 members in fb, but also 2 years of Nirmukta.

[Ajita Kamal]

(23-Sep-2010, 09:44 PM)Lije Wrote: Also, we should not just be celebrating 1000 members in fb, but also 2 years of Nirmukta.

Yes, I agree!