Atheist Alliance International

Atheist Alliance International (AAI) is an alliance of 58 atheist organizations around the world, 48 of which are located in the United States. [cite web|url=http://www.atheistalliance.org/aai/members.php|title=AAI member organizations|accessdate=2007-08-03|publisher=AAI]

AAI was founded in 1991. Its stated goal is "to help democratic, atheistic societies become established and grow" and "to work in coalition with like-minded groups to advance rational thinking through educational processes." [cite web|url=http://www.atheistalliance.org/aai/|title=AAI mission statement|publisher=AAI|accessdate=2007-08-03] Its unofficial aim is to unite atheists to give them a cohesive voice.

The current president is Margaret Downey, founder of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia [ [http://www.fsgp.org Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia Home page] ] and the Anti-Discrimination Support Network (ADSN). [ [http://www.fsgp.org/adsn.html Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia Anti-Discrimination Support Network] ] She was elected on August 1, 2006.

The organization sponsors an annual convention, [ [http://www.atheistalliance.org/conventions/index.php Convention archive at atheistalliance.org] ] publishes "Secular Nation" magazine, [ [http://www.atheistalliance.org/secular/index.php "Secular Nation" magazine at atheistalliance.org] ] and manages The Freethought Directory.

Richard Dawkins Award

The group's Richard Dawkins Award is a prize awarded annually since 2003 to a person (or persons) during its annual conference. [ [http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/04/30/dawkins/index.html Slack, Gordy; "The atheist: Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explains why God is a delusion, religion is a virus, and America has slipped back into the Dark Ages."; salon.com; April 30, 2005] ] The official award criteria state that:

"The Richard Dawkins Award will be given every year to honor an outstanding atheist whose contributions raise public awareness of the nontheist life stance; who through writings, media, the arts, film, and/or the stage advocates increased scientific knowledge; who through work or by example teaches acceptance of the nontheist philosophy; and whose public posture mirrors the uncompromising nontheist life stance of Dr. Richard Dawkins." [cite web |url=http://www.atheistalliance.org/library/news_021703.php |title=Atheist Alliance International |accessdate=2007-08-03 |format= |work=]

Past recipients

*2003 — James Randi (inaugural award)
*2004 — Ann Druyan
*2005 — Penn and Teller
*2006 — Julia Sweeney
*2007 — Daniel Dennett
*2008 — Ayaan Hirsi Ali

International member organizations

* "Australia" — Atheist Foundation of Australia
* "Canada" — Humanist Association of Canada
* "Canada" — Victoria Humanist Association
* "Denmark" — Dansk Ateistisk Selskab
* "Finland" — Atheist Association of Finland
* "Germany" — International League of Non-Religious and Atheists (IBKA)
* "Iceland" — Samfélag Trúlausra — The Atheist Society (SAMT)
* "India" — Atheist Centre
* "Nigeria — Nigerian Humanist Movement
* "Russia" — Moscow Atheistic Society (ATOM)

References

External links

* [http://atheistalliance.org/ Atheist Alliance International]
* [http://margaretdowney.com Margaret Downey President of AAI]
* [http://atheistalliance.org/secular/index.php Secular Nation magazine]
* [http://atheistalliance.org/directory/list.php The Freethought Directory]