Godless Americans March on Washington 02-11-2002

The Godless Americans March on Washington (GAMOW) occurred on the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, on November 2, 2002, with the participation of many

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

freethinkers Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...

agnostics Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

and

humanists Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanis ...

. The public cable network

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

documented the event on video.

Event timeline

The event started at 11:00 am near the Washington Monument, led by the

American Atheists American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and the ...

' banner promoting the separation of church and state. About halfway down the Mall, the people were confronted by counter-protesters. However, they continued to proceed to the other end of the Mall in front of the Capitol. At 11:30 am, the rally started and featured over 20 speakers and musical entertainment. The rally lasted for about four hours.

Slogans

The event was marked by many slogans and banners on shirts, badges, etc., including "What Our Schools Need is a Moment of Science!", "Atheism is Myth-Understood!", "Secular Humanists for a Secular America" and "Citizen–Atheist–Patriot". The official T-shirt for the march showed a picture of the Capitol and the American flag with the statement "Free, Proud and on the Move–GODLESS AMERICANS".

Speeches

Many speakers delivered speeches at the March. A few noted speakers were

Frank Zindler Frank R. Zindler (May 23, 1939) is an American atheist who served as interim president of the atheist organization American Atheists in 2008. Career Prior to his involvement in the atheist community, he was Chairman, Division of Science, Nursi ...

, editor of the '' American Atheist'' magazine,

Margaret Downey Margaret Downey (born August 16, 1950) is a nontheist activist who is a former President of Atheist Alliance International and founder and president of the Freethought Society (formerly Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia). She also founde ...

of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia and Ed Buckner, executive director of the

Council for Secular Humanism The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 199 ...

. The speeches delivered were basically on

theism Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

and related themes. Buckner reportedly attacked the way theists perceive

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

s as lacking morality.

Aims and objectives

Over two thousand atheists, freethinkers, agnostics and humanists gathered in a mile-long parade down The Mall to rally for several causes, including

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

church-state separation The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...

and a greater voice in the national political process.

Ellen Johnson Ellen Johnson (born 1955) is an American activist for the civil rights of atheists and for the separation of church and state in the United States. She served as the president of the organization American Atheists from 1995 to 2008. Early life ...

, a former president of American Atheists and director of the Godless Americans March On Washington Task Force, announced at the event the formation of the

Godless Americans Political Action Committee American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and the ...

(GAMPAC), later renamed

Enlighten the Vote Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

Event speakers

Speakers at the event included: *

Michael Newdow Michael Arthur Newdow (born June 24, 1953) is an American attorney and emergency medicine physician. He is best known for his efforts to have recitations of the current version of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools in the United States d ...

, activist * Ed Buckner, Executive Director of the

Taslima Nasrin Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writing on women's oppression and criticism of religion. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh ...

, Bangladesh

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...

writer *

Eddie Tabash Edward Tabash is an American lawyer and political and social activist. He is an atheist, a proponent of the Establishment Clause. He chairs the Board of Directors for the Center for Inquiry. Tabash has represented the atheist position in debat ...

, California attorney * Douglas Campbell,

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

candidate for Governor of Michigan * August Brunsman,

Secular Student Alliance The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) is an American educational nonprofit organization whose purpose is to educate high school and college students about the value of scientific reason and the intellectual basis of secularism in its atheistic and ...

founder * Michael Rivers, Director of American Atheists in Utah * Kathleen Johnson, Founder of the

Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) is a community for atheists and freethinkers in the military, both within the United States and from around the world. The MAAF can assist U.S. military members to respond to illegal ...

(MAAF), which provided security at the event * Norm Allen, from the African Americans for Humanism * Larry Darby, from the Alabama Atheists * Bobbie Kirkhart from the

Atheist Alliance International Atheist Alliance International (AAI) is a non-profit advocacy organization committed to raising awareness and educating the public about atheism. It does this by supporting atheist and freethought organizations around the world through promotin ...

from the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia * Jim Strayer, from the Atheists of Florida * John Scalise, from the Great Lakes Humanists * Harry Greenberger from the New Orleans Secular Humanists * "Reverend" Chris Harper of the fictitious

Landover Baptist Church The Landover Baptist Church is the website of a parody fundamentalist Baptist church. The church lampoons fundamentalist, Independent Baptist churches and Biblical literalism, and originated as a satire of Liberty University. Origin The site wa ...

(also known as Americhrist Ltd.)

Reaction and results

Atheist groups by and large considered the march a success, though some within the atheist community did criticize the event for a number of reasons, including the exclusion of

theists Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...

from being able to endorse the event, how atheism was defined for the purposes of the march, and the apparent attempt by organizers to use the march as a way of "creating an identity for non-believers". An organization calling itself the Religious Freedom Coalition ran newspaper advertisements the day before the event characterizing the views of atheists and Satanists to be identical. Following the event, the same organization called the event a success, but described it as "ill timed" and an indication of a dangerous brand of new atheism. Following the march, leaders of three atheist organizations —

, the

Institute for Humanist Studies The Institute for Humanist Studies (IHS) is a think tank based in Washington, DC, USA, that says it is "committed to information and practices meant to address the sociopolitical, economic and cultural challenges facing communities within the Uni ...

and the

Internet Infidels Internet Infidels, Inc. is a Colorado Springs, Colorado-based nonprofit educational organization founded in 1995 by Jeffery Jay Lowder and Brett Lemoine. Its mission is to use the Internet to promote a view that supernatural forces or entities do n ...

— met and set in motion the founding of the

Secular Coalition for America The Secular Coalition for America is an advocacy group located in Washington D.C. It describes itself as "representing the interests of atheists, humanists, freethinkers, agnostics, and other nontheistic Americans." The Secular Coalition has chap ...

. Hemant Mehta of the blog the Friendly Atheist and the author of ''

I Sold My Soul on eBay ''I Sold My Soul on eBay: Viewing Faith Through an Atheist's Eyes'' is a non-fiction book by Hemant Mehta, an atheist and blogger, and podcaster, who describes his visits to a variety of Christian churches. These visits initially occurred a ...

'' referred to the event in the context of the

Reason Rally The first Reason Rally was a public gathering for secularism and religious skepticism held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2012. The rally was sponsored by major atheistic and secular organizations of the United States and wa ...

which was held on Saturday March 24, 2012. Paul Geisert set up the

Brights movement The Brights movement is a social movement whose members since 2003 refer to themselves as Brights and have a worldview of philosophical naturalism. Most Brights believe that public policies should be based on science (a body of knowledge obtaine ...

References

{{Reflist Religious activism Atheism in the United States Religion and politics Freethought in the United States 2002 in Washington, D.C. Protest marches in Washington, D.C. Atheism rallies