United Coalition of Reason

The United Coalition of Reason, or UnitedCoR for short, is a national organization in the United States that works to raise the visibility of local groups in the community of reason. Nationally this is done by conducting campaigns that highlight the fact that nontheists live in every community across America.[1] Locally this is done by organizing and nurturing local groups to communicate with each other and hold events and other outreach activities.[2]

United Coalition of Reason
AbbreviationUnitedCoR
Formation2009
Typenon-profit
Legal statusfoundation
Purposesecularism, atheism
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Region served
 United States
Official language
English
Websiteunitedcor.org

History

The organization was founded in early 2009 by a philanthropist and entrepreneur from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3] Its first year created a network of twenty local coalitions,[4][5] drawing worldwide notice.[6][7][8] This effort included the sponsoring of several ad/media campaigns around the country such as non-believer billboard and bus ads in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.[9][10][11] In 2010 the organization launched ten more local coalitions with the help of the American Humanist Association and paved the way for numerous others to launch in 2011. The most significant developments during 2010 were acts of vandalism against billboards or bus ads in Sacramento, California;[12] Detroit, Michigan;[13] and St. Augustine, Florida.[14] Also significant was a call by local clergy in Fort Worth, Texas, for a boycott of the bus system because of ads by the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason.[15]

Goals

The organization's website describes four key goals, all achieved without soliciting donations from local leaders or other organizations:

  • To promote science and reason, humanist values instead of faith-based reasoning in community and government decision-making,
  • To celebrate a global nonreligious philosophy of life and create a safe place for nontheists to speak openly,
  • To stand up for the rights of nontheists, ending discrimination and securing a normalized place for them in families, communities, the law, and in public debate,
  • And to speak out against the privileges and abuse of religious organizations, while finding common ground with people who express theistic beliefs.[1]

Participating Coalitions and Locations[16]

Although not a full member, the national coalition has endorsed the mission of the Secular Coalition for America.[17] UnitedCoR has itself been endorsed by or has cooperative relations with American Atheists, the American Ethical Union, the American Humanist Association, the Center for Inquiry, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Atheist Alliance International, the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers, the Humanist Society, FreeThoughtAction, the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the Secular Policy Institute, the Association for Mindfulness Meditation and Secular Buddhism, the Richard Dawkins Foundation, the Secular Student Alliance and many others.[18]

The organization has local coalitions all over the United States and in Canada[19] in:

See also

References
  1. "What We Do". UnitedCoR. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  2. Buxbaum, Evan (2009-10-21). "Atheist ads to adorn New York subway stations". CNN. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  3. Speckhardt, Roy (2015-07-28). Creating Change Through Humanism. Humanist Press. ISBN 9780931779664.
  4. Goodstein, Laurie (2009-04-26). "More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  5. Hard CoR News, Vol. 1, Issue 1, https://unitedcor.org/unitedcor-newsletters/
  6. Brown, Matthew (2009-12-03). "Group organizes to be 'good without God'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  7. Rana, Op (2009-10-23). "Can we leave atheism to non-believers?". China Daily. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  8. Silumi, Kristen (2009-11-02). "Atheism in the US". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  9. Tu, Janet I. (2009-03-29). "Local atheists lift their voices in Metro bus ads". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
  10. Rose, Joseph (2009-11-18). "Atheist ad tells TriMet commuters they can be 'good without God'". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  11. Staff (2010-01-12). ""Godless" billboard at Lake City Way". Seattle Atheists. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
  12. "Two More Godless Billboards Vandalized". United Coalition of Reason. March 1, 2010. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  13. "Detroit's Godless Bus Ads Vandalized". United Coalition of Reason. March 15, 2010. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  14. "St. Augustine's Godless Billboard Mysteriously Damaged". United Coalition of Reason. April 13, 2010. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  15. Dickson, Gordon (2010-12-07). "Threatened boycott of Fort Worth buses has no noticeable impact". The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
  16. "Cooperating National Groups - United CoR". United CoR. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  17. Staff. "Endorsing Organizations". Secular Coalition for America. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  18. Staff (2010). "United Coalition of Reason". United Coalition of Reason. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  19. "UnitedCoR national website Map page". Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  20. Gulf Coast Coalition of Reason (Gulf Coast CoR)
  21. Arizona Coalition of Reason (ArizonaCoR)
  22. Detroit Area Coalition of Reason (Detroit CoR)
  23. Omaha Coalition of Reason (OmahaCoR)
  24. Utah Coalition of Reason
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