Promoting Atheism: the Entrepreneurial way

In today's market driven environment anything that has takers, sells. For any business endeavour or collective public initiative to succeed you either have to have ready takers or need to create them. Theists can sell concepts easily because of an existing universe of takers of their products but for atheists there exist none. And to find takers you need to go searching for the needy. Then find contributors who will support your efforts. Once that is done watch out for the competition lurking around. Atheists have always faced a formidable and persistent competition from the theists.

A Group Charity

Finding the needy can be accomplished by initiating a charity for, say, education and healthcare purposes. If a group of atheists can start off with a couple of hundred thousands as seeding capital and offer to help those really in need, I think a beginning would have been made. Charity can help sustain a mission in a small way, however. For a longer sustenance we need donors and committed contributors in cash and kind. For that some wealthy atheists have to be roped in. Such a collective charity effort should never be made on the premise of minority or majority status of people as that would tantamount to exploitationary tactics of a different kind never in harmony with the idea of equity and justice in atheism.

On Individual level

It will not be far fetched if with time  one finds displays like, 'Atheist Public School' or 'Atheist Charitable Hospital' or on a smaller scale, name boards like 'Atheist Public Library / Reading room' etc.

Similarly, an atheist businessman can add 'Atheist' or a similar prefix to the name of his business concern. The prospects are endless with no dearth of ideas in the matter.

Volunteers

No non-profit mission can be accomplished without committed volunteers. Volunteers, who can spread awareness through publicity as well as work on ground. However, finding volunteers with strong motivation is not that easy but service to humanity can act as a motivation. Once you find a cause and establish a mission, finding volunteers would not be difficult.

Atheism and morality

It is a very strong connection and volunteers can find a sustainable motivation in morals and ethics. An atheist will cherish and possess strong moral values as he wouldn't look for any scapegoats or take resort in a non-existent god for his actions gone wrong. I own up what I do because I can't lay my wrongs at the door of some god or resort to proverbial fate accompli. Any person subscribing to this philosophy would be ready to become a volunteer with a strong reason to spread atheism as a culture.

I put forth this idea of adding the word 'ATHEIST' with the name of  business entities or non-profit ventures at the 8th World Atheist Conference 2011 held in January at Trichy in Tamil Nadu, India.

I believe proper media coverage and visibility of an endeavour based on strong moral ideals can attract volunteers as well as audiences and consumers.

The renowned atheist Prof Narendra Nayak in his writings stresses the need to practice atheism under all circumstances. Let me add that atheism ought to be visible as well. Visible -the entrepreneurial way.