[We should not] let religion have a monopoly on artistic fantasy, spirituality, ceremonies and celebrations (including music and dance), moral instruction of the young, or congregational life. We post-religious folks have a lot to celebrate. For instance, solstices and equinoxes are the hallmarks of the sources of the sustenance of life and ecologically relevant.

And atheists should make an effort not to over-intellectualize our post-religious outlook. It's a simple fact of life that some people are inclined by nature to be rational, while others-including many who are ready to be post-religious in their beliefs and actions-are more inclined to be spiritual. In our organization and in our way of life, let us make room for all the good atheists who are temperamentally more poetic than scientific.

Another fact of life we ought to acknowledge is that religious fundamentalism and fanaticism are now waxing strong and, indeed, surging forward like a dangerous wave in several parts of the world. I have in mind not only Islamic countries like Algeria, Egypt and Turkey, and not only the political uses in India of Hindu fundamentalism, but also in my homeland (the USA) the onslaught of Christian fundamentalist intrusions into libraries, schools, medical clinics, and electoral politics.

This is just one example of the several ways in which we atheists need, I think, to emphasize responsibility as the handmaiden of freedom. Perhaps atheists all around the world, and especially in affluent countries such as my own, can take a lesson in this regard from the Atheist Center here in Vijayanwada, which has by its stream of constructive activities made so clear its ethical approach to life. The object of many of the Atheist Center's projects is not to "dispense charity" but rather inculcate the self-empowerment of the downtrodden.

I would like to say, most emphatically, that many explicitly atheist organizations urgently need a far better balance (than they now have) between work and talk. Rather than envisaging grandiose objectives, however worthy, let each atheist individual or small group put into effect a constructive project that seems to be within its means to address. Just do it!

At the same time, I think that atheist ethics should be explicit and constructive. In the USA, for instance, where so many children are being raised nowadays in fatherless families, it is very important to advocate strongly the rearing and educating of children in a family structure as a fundamental aspect of our ethos.

Finally, I would like to recommend an ever greater degree of cooperation among atheists and humanist organizations, building constructive coalitions through our positive efforts.

--Joe Gerstein
Humanist Association of Massachusetts