Reason Arrives In Washington?

The church and state debate is not a new one. But a 7-year-old organization has just moved from Colorado to DC and hired a new executive director to take its strategy up a notch.

Robyn Blumner left her job as a Tampa Bay Times columnist in January to run the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. She spoke to us from her new DC office about policing encroachments by religion into public policy and education, like the debate over stem cell research and climate change. Robyn craved being back in progressive advocacy after previously working as the director of the ACLU in Utah and then Florida before crossing over to news. The organization also recently hired a development officer, an office director, and an independent consultant to handle volunteer coordination. 

Named after the well-known English biologist, the foundation also works to reduce the stigma around atheism. Inspired by the strategy of the LGBT community, the foundation urges atheists to come out of the closet. Robyn says 6% of the population is atheist and 20% are “nones.” She says those numbers will continue to grow. The challenge, she adds, is that the religious right has powerful political allies and substantial resources to "inject their theology into law." The foundation also acts as an incubator for secular projects and launched the Clergy Project, a group of 600 current and former clergy members who have lost faith. The foundation also created an online portal for people to make non-religious donations after natural disasters.  

Robyn says it’ll work more closely with the Secular Coalition for America, run by Edwina Rogers. (The two share office space.) The foundation is also planning a two-week speaking and fundraising tour for Richard Dawkins in April, along with a college tour of “The Unbelievers,” a new documentary on the science and reason movement. The organization’s newsletter has 25,000 subscribers and has been able to financially sustain itself through loyal donors. The foundation also has an army of volunteers and interns who comb through scientific literature to post on its website.