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Post details: New Atheist Lobbyist!

01/17/06

08:54:37 pm, Categories: Announcements [A], 272 words

New Atheist Lobbyist!

WINGROVE NAMED CAPITOL HILL REPRESENTATIVE FOR AMERICAN ATHEISTS

New lobbyist will give Atheists “another voice” on key First Amendment, related issues in Washington, D.C.

January 17, 2006

AMERICAN ATHEISTS is pleased to announce the appointment of Rick Wingrove as its new Washington, D.C. lobbyist.

Mr. Wingrove, 56, has served as Virginia State Director for American Atheists for over two years. He has been an Atheist since the age of 16. Rick attended the University of Texas, served with the United States Navy Seabees during the Vietnam era and has worked in the computer-IT field for over 30 years.

Mr. Wingrove is well known as an activist for the First Amendment and state-church separation. His duties will include contacting legislators in the nation’s capital; networking with advocacy groups on issues of common concern; issue briefings and representing American Atheists on matters of political importance.

“Given the current political atmosphere, it is urgent that Atheists establish a voice and visibility in our nation’s capitol,” said Mr. Wingrove. “Religious groups have an established presence here and aggressively lobby on behalf of their interests. It’s only fair that Atheists have more of a role in crafting public policy. We have to make sure that our views are represented concerning the role of religion in the public square, the use of tax money to benefit religious groups, special rights for organized religion, and First Amendment issues.”

For further information, Mr. Wingrove can be contacted through rwingrove@atheists.org.

(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)

21 comments

Comments:

Comment from: Living in Hell [Member]

This is excellent, I am the first poster and we have a great leader, I really think we need more people that will do the same thing, go to the same lengths, and have an active voice.

-Jérôme

01/17/06 @ 21:21

Comment from: Cassandra [Member] · http://www.theatheistmama.com

Excellent News!!!
Here he is - http://www.flamewarrior.com/author.htm
Looks like a great site.

01/17/06 @ 21:31

Comment from: natasha [Member]

Wonderful sounding lobbyist.
1. Get god off the money
2. Get god out of oaths of office
3. Kill god
Sorry, that number three there, just dreaming . . .

01/17/06 @ 21:34

Comment from: anadrol [Member]

Man I don't envy his job, must be like beating your head against a brick wall.

I wonder whether he owns a black fedora and overcoat.

01/17/06 @ 21:36

Comment from: Living in Hell [Member]

You sent my hopes up like a rocket and crashed them down into the depths of Jupiter...
I'm only kidding! Too bad the notion is just a dream.

-Jérôme

01/17/06 @ 21:37

Comment from: marcusantoniu26 [Member] · http://www.multisententiae.blogspot.com

I dont know the guy, but I am sure he will do a great job. As I was reading, approximately 14% of the American population is non religious (although only 0.4% refer themselves as atheists and 0.5% as agnostics). Most of us are concentrated within the scientific and engineering community. 60% of scientists claim not to have a religion (93% of the ones at the National Academy of Scientists). 5% of the population is scientist or engineer, but we produce 50% of the GDP. Its time we start to use our power

01/17/06 @ 21:40

Comment from: anadrol [Member]

I just read his site, sounds like someone who's not going to pull any punches. I like his attitude. It will be interesting to see if he can function well on capitol hill, hopefully he is a shaker and a mover, but it seems that you need a fat wallet to get anything done on "Da Hill" these days.

01/17/06 @ 21:47

Comment from: natasha [Member]

If we can get more exposure, get better organized, get lobbying, get people used to hearing the word ‘atheist’, increase our presence online at more and more sites, and start trying to mainstream what we experience as rationality in order to challenge with lawsuits crap like god on money and god in oaths of office, we might make some progress.
Winston Churchill said, when the tide had started to turn for England in WWII:
This is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning.

01/17/06 @ 21:55

Comment from: maddogstu [Member]

Good post Dave. I'm joining and donating.

01/17/06 @ 22:43

Comment from: rainbows4dinosaurs [Member] · http://www.myspace.com/thedrivensnowmusic

Oh cool! I know that guy! (okay not really - exchanged a few emails with him) Awesome choice.

01/17/06 @ 23:54

Comment from: udonman [Member] · http://udonman.livejournal.com/

natasha i share your dream get rid of god we can only hope

wingrove sounds like he will make a great rep for athiests on cap hill
but we will have to wiat and see what we really need is to create a television channel for cable and satelite or satelite radio not just
a lobbyist and websites unfortunetly its probally way out of reach to do tv or radio

01/18/06 @ 00:48

Comment from: suttsteve [Member]

"He has been an Atheist since the age of 16...
...It’s only fair that Atheists have more of a role in crafting public policy."

Good to hear, but "atheist" shouldn't be capitalized.

01/18/06 @ 10:05

Comment from: natasha [Member]

Spanders,
I have a question for you, a sincere one. Please forget my past savagery of you, for which I apologize. But since you have demonstrated yourself to be straightforward and restrained and courteous, I really want your words on something, if you would be so kind. I’m using this thread because it’s a dead one and it’s tiny and fast loading.

Theists like to say: god created the universe. Question: is it correct in your view to say:
god is the universe?

I have to go to work now and will be unable to respond until tonight but I will look for your response in this thread. Thanks in advance. And if this gets lost I’ll try again when I know you’re online.

01/21/06 @ 11:31

Comment from: spanders [Member]

Hey Natasha, good question. I do think that god created the universe, but the method is irrelavant to me. I have no problem with evolution. I think that every part of nature is a reflection of god, which fuels my environmental concerns.

So is malaria a reflection of god? How about cancer? I would say it's part of an detailed system that works together. Part of the cycle is death. And yes, I chalk a bit of it up to "I just don't know why".

Is god the universe? I don't normally describe god as being the universe. Since I don't really know the precise nature of god, god could be comprised of all things in the universe and be more than that, but it seems I'm more comfortable saying god created the universe and her touch is on everything. In effect, god is not my roofing shingle or my computer, but we use resources from the earth and our intellect (albeit an ever evolving intellect), which were a result of god.

I'm not sure if I'm answering the question clearly. As you can see, I don't have clear definitions of everything I believe. The short answer would be that I would say I haven't thought about god being the universe, and would say I wouldn't phrase it that way. Again, I don't think god IS the trees, the grass and the poo that my dogs create at an alarming rate (man, what do we feed them?). I think god is responsible for those things being there. I haven't worked out the details of how. I don't think it's direct intervention that my dog poops, but the systems were put in place.

You know, you can tell when I don't have a good answer as it gets long.

01/21/06 @ 16:20

Comment from: spanders [Member]

oh, and natasha, don't consider it "past savagery". I didn't take it as such. I prefer when people are straight up with me and prefer when people let me know what they think. I grew up right outside NYC, and there seems to be a directness in that region that I appreciate. I don't think you attacked me personally. There's a few things I take offense to: advocating violence and advocating bigotry of any type are high on my list.

Criticisms of me are no problem. I'm introspective to a fault. I, at times, have obsequious tendancies which I think are a result of over scrutinizing myself and not having as much confidence as would be healthy.

Anyway, I feel good when people can speak their mind. I think it's a shame when people stymie themselves. I always hope that people can be themselves around me.

01/21/06 @ 16:31

Comment from: natasha [Member]

Spanders,
Thank you for your kind reply. I always appreciate it when people say ‘I don’t know’ whether it’s because they haven’t thought about it before or another honest reason.
I was wondering this question as I haven’t heard it discussed.
If god created the universe, then is the universe a subset of god?, smaller than god?, less than god? So god is outside the universe, if god created it?
I asked you because you seem open to discussion. Any other ideas? I’m tired from work and maybe not too eloquent, dang.

01/21/06 @ 21:55

Comment from: spanders [Member]

Thinking about the size of god or where god is relative to the universe is akin, for me, to thinking about what existed before the big bang. Obviously there are scientists here who know a great deal more than I do about this sort of thing. I couldn't even begin to think about that level question. My head might pop off ;-). I think the reason I don't think about it that much is that the answer, even if it could be found, may not have a great impact on my thought process.

I tend to think of god in smaller terms. It's the only way I can understand god. The emotional response to god is one way I think of god, but oddly enough, I'm not really a really emotionally expressive person. I also like to look at how people understand the world and different ideas of god and use that to help inform my ideas of god. I don't think any of us who choose to believe in god, no matter what flavor, would be able to explain the nature of god the creator.

Just for fun, you might want to check out Battleground God at Philosophersnet.com: http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/god.htm

I took one direct hit. I think this is a pretty interesting website: www.philosophersnet.com. They have some good reading. It addresses some of the things you might be thinking about, but it's not a specifically atheist or theist position. It seems a good site for a variety of opinions.

01/22/06 @ 16:58

Comment from: spanders [Member]

while I'm giving out links, you might really enjoy "This Modern World". I think he is an atheist. I love this guy. http://www.thismodernworld.com/. His comic strips are fantastic. Be prepared to waste some serious time looking at the cartoon archive or the more recent archive here: http://www.workingforchange.com/column_lst.cfm?AuthrId=43&CFID=7807383&CFTOKEN=37288228

01/22/06 @ 17:55

Comment from: natasha [Member]

Spanders,
Thanks very much for the exchange and the info.

01/24/06 @ 13:48

Comment from: spanders [Member]

Hey natasha, I'm glad I could provide a little something. I don't know if I took the discussion about the nature of god the creator as far as I could, but I hope it was somewhat interesting. Let me know anytime I can oblige. I've dropped off the blog a bit as I'm really busy and I'm busy trying to fight the onslaught of social conservatism. Reluctant has me on IM if you leave a message for me and I don't get back to you. Did you check out thismodernworld.com?

01/24/06 @ 17:47

Comment from: centuryfidla [Member]

athiests are regular people who don't need a crutch like organized religion to give them a reason to exist.

humans exist because they do. it's as simple as that

10/23/06 @ 18:22

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