Internet Infidels

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Internet Infidels, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization founded in 1995 by Jeffery Jay Lowder and Brett Lemoine. Its primary purpose is to maintain the Secular Web, an Internet-based library of resources pertaining to nontheistic viewpoints, including agnosticism, atheism, freethought, humanism, and secularism. The Secular Web was originally hosted on the Texas A&M University servers.

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[edit] Mission

Richard Carrier, former Editor in Chief of the Secular Web, states that "... the mission of the Internet Infidels has always been to defend and promote Metaphysical Naturalism". The mission statement also includes two secondary purposes. First, Internet Infidels seeks to foster a tolerant and free intellectual atmosphere wherein evidence and reason are the criteria by which claims, especially religious ones, are evaluated. Second, the organization seeks to uphold human dignity through an honest and compassionate pursuit of the truth.

[edit] Secular Web features

  • Library: The library is the home of thousands of articles on nontheism. It contains both historical and modern works arguing for nontheism or against a particular religious belief, usually Christianity. Also included are transcripts of formal debates. [1]
  • Kiosk: The kiosk contains the agora (see below) and also has a featured article. [2]
  • Agora: The agora is where readers may submit opinion pieces on any topic of interest to nontheists. This includes things like book reviews and essays on church-state separation, skepticism, etc.
  • Forum: The Internet Infidels Discussion Board, also known as IIDB, is a message board where users interact directly with one another to debate and discuss various topics, academic, casual, and personal. As of July 27, 2006, the community has over 23,000 members and more than 3.5 million posts.
  • News Wire: The News Wire links to daily news articles dealing with issues relevant to nontheism.

The Secular Web also sells books and videos in partnership with Amazon.com, features a book of the month, and offers news on events (such as debates and conventions), contests, scholarships, and many other resources.

[edit] Members

The following are some of the volunteers who help keep Internet Infidels and the Secular Web running.

  • Founders: Jeffery Jay Lowder, Brett Lemoine
  • Board of Directors:
    • President: Scott Wittman
    • Vice President: Kyle Gerkin
    • Feedback, Kiosk, & Site Editor: Donald Morgan
    • Public Relations Director & SCA Liaison: Janice Rael
    • System Administrator: Ray W. Johnson
    • Member at Large: Clark Adams
    • Member at Large: Michael Moore
  • Honorary President: Brett Lemoine
  • Presidents Emeritus: Jeffery Jay Lowder, James Still, Amanda Chesworth, Jeff Lucas, Jim Lippard
  • Executive Director & Scholarly Paper Editor: Keith Augustine
  • Editors: Kyle Gerkin, James Still, Jimi Fosdick, Doug McGee, Toto Katz
  • News Wire Editor: AJ Milne
  • DCMA (Digital Millennium Copyright Agent): Jim Lippard
  • Treasurer: Jeff Lucas
  • Special Projects: Loren Petrich
  • Technical Advisors: Ray Johnson, Matt McCarthy

[edit] External links