Kitten Blogathon For SSA – Houdini in Slatted Sunlight!

The blogathon for the Secular Student Alliance has reached $60,400! So, as promised, here is a beautiful picture of Houdini in slatted sunlight filtering through Venetian blinds.

Houdini in slatted sunlight

We’re getting close to $60,500! $60,500 is a nice benchmark. I like multiples of five, what with having five fingers on one hand and all, and like to celebrate them. So when we hit the $60,500 mark, I’ll post a special photo, with Team Tabby piled onto my neck. Plus I’ll throw in an extra-special lovely one, with Comet sitting on Ingrid’s lap in the sun. Donate now!

And here’s a wonderful quote from Richard Carrier on why the Secular Student Alliance deserves your support:

In just the last year or two the SSA has expanded the number of high school atheist groups from just a handful to over fifty nationwide, and growing. Fast. And that despite constantly facing opposition from school authorities. They have the clout and legal resources and know-how to help make it happen. College groups have likewise exploded under their care in the last decade, from a few dozen to over three hundred, all across the country, and again growing. Fast. The support of the SSA, whose resources have been brilliantly developed and managed so far, has also greatly increased their retention and continuity (one of the biggest problems for atheist campus groups, as the originators graduate and move on). Why do campus groups matter? They give atheism a higher profile and help us recruit more atheists where the market is most agreeable (the young, the learning). In other words, thanks to the SSA, we can now compete directly with Campus Crusade for Christ (which is trying to rebrand itself now as the supposedly hip Cru).

But as the SSA mission grows, the cost to continue this trend rises.

As any sociologist will tell you, grabbing the next generation is crucial to defeating religion and superstition. And the iron has never been hotter, with unprecedented numbers of youth abandoning churches or even religious affiliation and asking questions about what they should really believe and why. So dire has this problem become that religious orgs are creating a whole industry to try and fight what they now call the Youth Exodus Problem. And the reasons they are leaving are often reasons that lead to atheism–at the very least, reasons that show these seekers are much closer to our thinking on many issues, such as morality and science and questioning of authority (see Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church and Five Myths on Why Young People Leave the Church). We need to appeal to them and bring them over. They are willing and ready to listen to us. The time is now.

The rest of Richard’s piece is excellent. Check it out.

I’ve posted some quotes talking about why the Secular Student Alliance is so awesome, and why they deserve your support. If you have a story or a comment about why the Secular Student Alliance is so awesome — post it in the comments, and I’ll post it in the blog! Along with kitten photos, of course. Support the SSA!

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Kitten Blogathon For SSA – Houdini in Slatted Sunlight!
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