http://www.MargaretDowney.com is the newest RRS project. A wing of the RRS has been formed known as "Downey's Rottweilers." In the last week over 10 RRS activists have stepped up to contribute several hours a week to this massive undertaking.

Margaret Downey deserves as much credit as people like Richard Dawkins for being a force for rationality and reason, however with no mention on the NY Times best seller list and a lacking internet presence, her efforts have often gone unnoticed.

Due to the fact that Margaret Downey lives less than an hour away from us, we have been able to forge a relationship with a woman that many have not yet had the chance to know. She is remarkable and her contributions have been critical to the atheist community as she relentlessly pursues her goal of thwarting the intrusion of religion into government and unifying the various people and groups that promote reason. It's hard to disagree with her no matter what "type" of atheist you are.

Margaret has recently had success in helping to unite more atheist groups by focusing on common ground and goals, however there is more work to do. It's time for religion to go, it's outdated and is the cause of massive amounts of harm, and no matter what tactics are employed, it's time we as ATHEISTS admit to this fact. We need to work together to correct the damages that religion has caused and we can't get caught up with in-fighting.

Ask your favorite freethinking group if they will be extending an invitation to Margaret Downey at their next convention. Ask them if they will be accepting Margaret's invitation to speak at next years AAI conference. Ask them if they would pay their own way to go simply to network with other atheist leaders. Ask them if they will take any stage time they get to peddle ther own organization instead of mentoring as previously planned. Ask them if they will claim that her conference is too close to theirs, and if they'll use it as an excuse not to come. If they seem to not be interested in being part of the broader picture, ask them why not. And then consider taking your efforts and time elsewhere to unite with people who are.

In the past year I have seen two aggressive attacks from atheist leaders who urge for civility and often passiveness. Not only are those actions hypocritical, but in one case a moral ethic of honesty was broken by a man who essentially preaches it as his philosophy. I personally have not attacked another non-thestic organization unless attacked first.

It's frustrating to think that these public criticisms used to gain attention are then used by the public to push all of us further back. I personally am working behind closed doors to voice constructive criticism for a major atheist org, solely with it's leader and nobody else. I've done this in the past, and kept it private. I do so because I realize that our theistic counterpart is one that is likely to be influenced by anything that fits their position.

Now I'm ranting again. It's time to find more ways to get together. It's time for us to squash old differences. If you want to call us the "new atheists" feel free, just remember that we hold the unity high ground for now, and hope we won't for long. We are tired of being attacked for being strident as we don't attack others for being weak, the hypocrisy should end now.

At the core, not only are the activist actions of Margaret Downey at the top of the list in terms of accomplishments within the world of atheism, but her organizational skills put her in a league of her own. Margaret is able to pull the biggest names in atheism together better than anyone. And it'll only get better, as we help her make uniting on a bigger level, a success. Read up on some of her work that we've compiled here: http://www.margaretdowney.com/book

Thanks so much to all that have contributed to the Rational Response Squad in the last year. Your donations have helped make this massive project a success. Helping Margaret on a project like this is something I had wanted to do for a long time, but didn't have the time. As a full time activist endorsed by you, I was able to dedicate about 90 hours in the past five days to helping get www.margaretdowney.com up and running. My apologies to the people I was engaged in debates and discussions with before I went to the AAI Convention. The Convention along with the conversations I had with many atheists out there helped me to find more focus and correct some of the mistakes I had been making. Aside from addressing haters too often (a suggestion of several of the worlds top atheists) it was suggested by my closer friends that I don't dole enough work out to others, and so www.MargaretDowney.com is already a success due in part to the 13 people that have dedicated time to help build it. But we need more, humanity needs more.

If you consider yourself an active atheist and want to work alongside of me, see this thread:
http://www.rationalresponders.com/looking_for_50_good_men_atheist_activist_call_out

The prominent atheists unanimously agree, a service like ours is needed. The Rational Response Squad got unanimous thumbs up at the Atheist Alliance International Convention from everyone we came in contact with. It's time for us to stop defending our methods and employ them more often. In doing so, we will become highly focused on the bigger and broader picture. Come with us on this highly focused mission to help the planet overcome irrationality. Project number one is the completion of www.MargaretDowney.com, who's with me?

Donations always help http://www.rationalresponders.com/donate but this time, will the real activists please stand up?

Other means of help:
Link to Margaret Downey on your website: http://www.margaretdowney.com/link_to_us
Link to us on your website: http://www.rationalresponders.com/add_a_banner_to_your_website

In Rationality,

Brian Sapient with some input from Kelly

www.RationalResponders.com www.atheistvolunteers.com www.MargaretDowney.com www.FreethinkingTeens.com www.asktheatheist.com www.prayerstojake.com