For some reason I have been in a creative mood ever since 2020 kicked off. Perhaps it is because my daughter has been easier to care for after shifting out of the newborn stage, and I have been indoors a lot because it is so cold in the far north of Sweden!
I launched three new atheist organizations this year: Atheists United for Israel, Atheists We Are, and Atheist Moms. I will give a brief explanation of why I launched each one.
In January 2020 I decided to launch Atheists United for Israel, an organization for atheists who support the country of Israel. US atheists tend to be in the “far left” crowd, which often associates with pro-Palestine groups, so I wanted to make sure the public is aware that there are atheists who are not affiliated with that association, and actually do support Israel. Additionally, I have spoken with atheists in the past who have questioned, “Why should an atheist care about Israel if the conflict is over religion?” This question has baffled me because I consider Israel to, on the grand scale, be about democracy in the Middle East. There must be an organization that let’s the public know there are atheists who care about democracy and the country of Israel.
Another organization I launched is Atheists We Are, showcasing atheist organizations, atheist individuals and atheist news. I thought of this organization in March 2020, after watching a Youtube video titled “Atheist News,” that did not mention anything about atheists, but instead was completely about religious news. I thought there should be an organization that actually reports what is happening in the atheist community (something that I think existing atheist organizations should be doing, but don’t). Also, since launching the organization Republican Atheists in 2017, I have learned general atheist organizations that claim to be representing “atheists” are actually focused on only representing atheists that compliment their political agendas (in other words, not representing atheist Republicans like myself). It dawned on me that rather than waiting for these organizations to spotlight Republican Atheists, I can create my own general atheist organization and showcase what is happening in the US atheist community, which can include my other atheist organizations.
Finally, in April 2020, I launched the organization Atheist Moms, a community for moms who are atheist. Since becoming a new mom in late 2019, I have noticed much of the “mom” content I was coming across on the web was from Christian moms. I don’t mind hearing content from Christian moms since they are often cheerful and do give good advice, but I did wonder where are atheist moms? I Google searched “atheist moms” and found one outspoken atheist mom and a couple parenting Facebook groups that only posted memes making fun of religion. I figured there should be an actual organization representing atheist moms, and it should be focused on family and actually being a mom, rather than poking fun at religion. I am particularly excited about Atheist Moms because I think it is filling a gap that definitely needs to be filled!
I am fairly positive these are the only atheist organizations I am going to launch this year, but I really cannot guarantee that! These organizations are side projects for me at the moment since I am so busy, but I do work on them here and there when I have time. I more than welcome hearing from people who are interested in collaborating or contributing content and ideas. I envision these organizations making great professional contacts as they develop over the years.
If you are interested in becoming involved in any of these organizations, please let me know. I appreciate the help in developing them to get off the ground. You can email me at lauren[at]laurenelltalk.com.
Lauren Ell is an American blogger born and raised in Southern California and is currently based in Sweden. She discusses Epilepsy, Politics and Fun. Professionally Ell is an Online Marketing Consultant and Virtual Assistant. She is also founder and president of Republican Atheists and Nordic Republicans. Connect with Lauren on Facebook and Twitter.