FFFR

Our aim is to fight fundamentalist religion. But first we must find a way that works. We know more about what does not work than we know about what works. One thing that does not work is rational debate. Rational debate does not penetrate the Christian's armor. It is true that a few people benefit from rational answers and debate, and for those people we have the forums and other resources. But the masses simply don't. So where do we go from here?

There's a story about Thomas Edison who invented the lightbulb. He had all these people working for him--probably a lot of students. His goal: Find a substance that can burn without burning up. He meant something different from Moses' burning bush.

They tried everything--all the way from human hair to I-don't-know-what. Our scientific-minded readers might know but I don't.

One day someone said to him, "We have tried a thousand things and nothing works." Underlying meaning: Let's give up. This is a hopeless case. No such substance exists or can be invented.

Edison replied, "Yes, we now know a thousand things that don't work." Underlying meaning: Let's keep looking; there's gotta be something.

Fast-forward to 2007. Light bulb? Huh??? Where would we be without the light-bulb? Back in the Dark Ages, literally. Life would not be so bright. Nor would the air be so clean. Kerosene and gas, the common fuels for lights before the light-bulb was invented, do not burn so clean. Am I ever glad Edison did not give up just because "nothing" worked. Eventually something was found that did work.

Likewise, victory over the evils of fundamentalist religion must be attainable.

I would like to provide a central station where we can talk about how to fight fundamentalist religion. This will develop into a database. The science community has journals and other venues to talk about their findings. They also talk about their ideas, their failed projects as well as their successful break-throughs. Does such a venue exist for the struggle against fundamentalist religion? If so, I don't know about it.

Maybe on the scholarly level there are such venues. But I am thinking about the average Jane and Joe on the street--they need access to the ideas, too. The scholarly literature is heavy reading and not of too much practical value. Sometimes we are unexpectedly accosted on the street by a fundamentalist. We need to know how to handle the situation!

That is what this project is for. Here we can share ideas, success stories, and failures.

 When we are unexpectedly accosted on the street by an evangelizing fundy:

1. What is the best response?
2. What have you tried?
3. Did it work?
4. Did it not work?
5. Why did it work?
6. Why did it not work?
7. Exactly what do we mean by "it worked" or "it did not work"?

So what if there had been a thousand Edisons, all seeking for the one substance with which to make a light bulb? All of them experimenting with the same old things that everybody else had already tried--and failed. All these duplicate experiments, all because no one knew what others had done before them. Isn't that a rather hopeless case? It certainly is not the way of progress. And that is why the scientific community made a rule that everybody tell everybody else what they tried and how it turned out.

That is what I want us to do about fighting fundamentalism.

* Share what you tried.

* Share how it turned out.

* Make your experience or story available for others to see what works and what doesn't work.

That is all.

When/if you wish to contribute to this project, you can contact me via email or join the forums and post there. Thanks in advance for any contribution you decide to make.

If you want to become more deeply involved let me know.

~R.S. Martin