Who we Are (and aren't)

Who are we? What is this loose-knit confederacy of rebel minds, this company of feral cats, seeking a direction and sometimes losing its way? We're like you: idealistic and angry, quarrelling and loving, courageous and weak, deluded and inspired, zealous and unsure, impowered and weak, determined, tired, dreaming, funny, stubborn, foolish, occasionally wise, sometimes right, and often wrong. With a light spirit and occasional sparks of anger, we try to break the chains of unquestioned dogma that, in our view, have shed too much innocent blood, orphaned too many children, and often brought the world near to ruin. Politically we are all over the map, conservative and liberal, moderate and progressive, sometimes libertarian, ultimately nonpartisan. We laugh and weep. We learn as we go. We try to see our own failings too, knowing that history is a community effort – it is not destiny, it does not rain on us from heaven, but it comes from those who rise to make a difference. We are very much like you. Our spiritual antecedents have been here, waiting, usually quiet and unseen, for a very long time. Your story grows into ours; and in a sense, you are our true makers.

Not all of us are atheists of course. But if we can improve how society sees and treats atheists and other intellectual minorities, here in a nation that often fails the Constitutional ideals of freedom of conscience for all, then our work has not been in vain.

On the immediate scene, AOF members meet to discuss, debate and investigate new ideas. We have monthly programs, host parties, celebrate, engage in public service, try to be better citizens, and become more visible in the public square. Ultimately we hope to be a kernel or nucleus about which may condense the idea of a secular nation, truly neutral in matters of faith and conscious. We welcome you to join us in this movement.

AOF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational association, just one of 50 member societies of the Atheist Alliance International ("A positive voice for atheism"), and maintaining affiliations with the Council for Secular Humanism, American Atheists, and the American Humanist Association. 

Mission Statement

The purpose of Atheists and Other Freethinkers is to promote the civic understanding of atheism and the acceptance of atheists in our community. Through educational programs, projects, and publications, AOF will extend secular perspectives, including the separation of religion and government and the right to think and speak freely on these perspectives.

Vision Statement

The vision of AOF is a civic environment that invites and honors secular views in educating the community, and solicits the participation of unchurched citizens in developing social policy, social norms and legislative action.

Values Statement

The commitment of AOF is to foster and facilitate these values:

• A community Open to Freethought. A Freethinker is one who rejects religious authority and dogma in favor of rational inquiry and evidence-based speculation.
• A culture where Freethinkers may Express their Views, within the bounds of civil discourse, without fear of interdiction or sanction. AOF seek to ensure that a plurality of worldviews have a voice in the public arena.
• A society that provides respectful analysis and philosophical consideration to Alternative Secular Views.
• The Application of Reason and Science to understanding the universe and resolving human problems without recourse to supernatural presumptions.
• The ideal of Separation of Church and State, wherein no denomination or sect holds privileged political power, and no public law or regulation will enforce purely religious beliefs. Neither by action nor funding will the state discriminate against secular citizens.
• Free Inquiry. AOF opposes oppression of the human mind and efforts by ecclesiastical or political institutions to limit open question and investigation.
• Moral and Ethical Principles founded on reason and enlightened self-interest. All human values should be grounded in a profound respect for life, rationality, personal autonomy and the world where we live.

Award Winning Adopt-A-Highway Project

Come on out and "pitch-in" if you are willing and able to help make the stretch of highway beautiful and less hazardous to area wildlife.

Caltrans selected Atheists and Other Freethinkers as the 2003 District Three and North Region Adopt-A-Highway Volunteer of the Year, in recognition of over eight years of service. Caltrans District Three includes Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento. Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. Caltrans publishes a map of the districts here: http://www.dot.ca.gov/localoffice.htm (last accessed 2006-01-01).

Information:
AOF has maintained the two-mile stretch of earth and highway between Elkhorn Boulevard and Elverta Road on Highway 99 since October 1995. We need your help to keep it going.

So please mark your calendars, and help us proudly represent AOF to the tens of thousands of drivers who weekly pass our award-winning AOF Adopt-A-Highway signs.

Date and Time:
Typically AOFers get out to the highway bi-monthly, but in times of heavy debris we may go out the following month to finish the job. Check the events section for news, or contact AOF for more info, either by e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by phone: 916-447-3589.

Directions:
Travel north from Sacramento on I-5, past Arco Arena, to the "Highway 99 -- Yuba City, Marysville" exit. Take that exit, and less than one mile north, exit at Elkhorn Boulevard. We meet at the CalTrans Park-and-Ride parking lot, west of the Elkhorn exit.

What to bring:
Be sure to bring liquid refreshment. You may also wish to bring a fanny pack, sun screen, "zip-ties" for the garbage bags, and/or watch.

Cal-Trans provides all safety equipment necessary to maintain the highway, including comfortable hard-hats and gloves, safety vests, collection bags, and handy trash pickers.

For those interested, Cal-Trans now collects recyclables separate from the trash, so bring a plastic bag if interested in doing that.

Davis Community Meals Project

Compassionate community members in the city of Davis have developed a secular solution to the problem of hunger, and they need our help.

Four times a year, AOF assists the Davis Community Meals Program with their weekly Tuesday meals-for-the-poor event. AOF has partnered with Davis Community Meals since 2000.

Please come out and help us! Besides the warm glow helping others creates in your heart, it is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and socialize with your friends in AOF. The Davis Community Meals core staff will perform all food preparation and kitchen work. AOF will set up the tables, serve, put up the chairs & tables, and sweep. And participants may enjoy their own free dinner, if they choose.

Carpool rides are available. For details see Davis Community Meals.

Location/Address:
St. Martin's Episcopal Church
640 Hawthorne Lane
Davis, CA

Map, click to: Martin's Episcopal Church

Driving directions:
West on 80 from Sacramento past Davis
North on Hwy 113
Exit on Russell Blvd and go east
Left on Sycamore Lane
Right on Hawthorne Lane
The hall is on the right

Parking instructions: Plenty of parking in the parking lot.