During 2008, MAAF has been active across the country at conferences, in the media, in Congress, and in the courts. These activities help to carve out a better home for nontheists within the military. The MAAF community continues to thrive with MAAF membership growing to well over 1000 during the year. MAAF supported new chapters and affiliates, doubling our numbers to 40 organizations around the US. In addition, we grew deeper roots with our partner national organizations. This allowed MAAF to multiply our influence around the country and ensure our constituency is supported by other large organizations.
This year, MAAF unveiled the Chaplain Outreach program. The core of this program is the Minimum Statement of Support which asks that chaplains make an overt commitment to provide support to nontheists just as they do traditional religions. MAAF also offers to help them make this transition, from faith-specific support to welcoming support to all service members. This program is co-signed by over 20 national and major metro organizations. This program was the foundation for the joint MAAF and Secular Coalition for America (SCA) recommendations to the Obama administration regarding new policies for religious accommodation. MAAF and SCA presented these recommendations at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. These recommendations have generated a strong wave of national press coverage and visibility for our issues.
This was not the first time MAAF addressed our national leadership. Regarding ongoing violations at Army training programs, MAAF presented complaints directly to the Chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Senator Carl Levin. In ongoing communications with his Chief of Staff, MAAF inspired an investigation by the Department of Defense Inspector General. This investigation led to a memorandum from the senior commanding officer of Army's Training and Doctrine Command assuring secular alternatives to religious activities for all trainees.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has continued to be a close friend to MAAF and advocates for our interests in the courts. Jeremy Hall organized a meeting of a MAAF Chapter in Iraq and has suffered discrimination from his military superiors and chain of command. MRFF has built a mammoth case, giving no ground to military leaders who abuse their power for sectarian interests. Building to Jeremy Hall's case, Dustin Chalker is now the primary plaintiff in MRFF's campaign to reform the military. MAAF continues to support MRFF with plaintiffs, information from the field, and policy collaboration.
MAAF has spent extra time on advocacy and education in order to build the foundation for community building. Our individual and group memberships continue to grow, spreading across the nation. This provides additional support for mobile MAAF members looking for support in their area. We also had success in organizing the membership for media inquiries and appearances which can be seen in our 2008 news review.
In 2009, MAAF will continue to our growth trend, both in membership, affiliates, and influence. We will start by maintaining our base of strong affiliations, including the MAAF Network, collaboration with SCA in Congress, collaboration with MRFF in the courts, and support of our other affiliates with various media, conference, legal, and other activities.
However, having built a strong national and international presence, the focus for 2009 will be to mobilize MAAF members. The intention is for MAAF members to become active with at least one nontheist organization and one military organization. MAAF will foster this by offering dual membership activities and an increased activity on the MAAF listserv. Look for these additional opportunities by updating your membership information – just re-submit the membership application on the MAAF website. MAAF will invite members to upgrade membership information to include other affiliate memberships and regional MAAF associations. This will also allow MAAF to mobilize in support of media and legal campaigns as necessary. Also see information below regarding our featured program – MAAF on Facebook – and seek other participation through MAAF’s online presence. By growing member activity within MAAF, we will have the opportunity to better influence Congress, the courts, and our military leaders.
MAAF is also seeking to build leaders. MAAF continues to have a number of opportunities for volunteer assistance accessible at the MAAF website (Work with MAAF link). But MAAF members need not only be leaders with MAAF. There are volunteer opportunities for individual events and ongoing support of a number of organizations. At the least though, MAAF invites its members to organize at least one local event this year. It can be a movie, discussion, editorial party, or charity event -- anything to get the word out about our issues and become active in the community. It is extremely rewarding and beneficial to what we do. Find event ideas in the Resources portion of the website.
The MAAF Network extends to a number of online venues, including MySpace, Facebook, and military.com. In order to reach out to more members and to a younger demographic, MAAF is putting a focus on membership growth through online media. We intend to start with Facebook and also rotate to the other portions of the MAAF network. With over 1000 regular members and fewer than 100 online members, there is a great opportunity to build our members online. More importantly, online facilities allow for easier collaboration both with MAAF and between members. This fluid interaction is the real focus of MAAF – building community. Take the time, especially if you are already signed up on a site, to seek out the MAAF group.
This section focuses on the messages and talking points that you can refer to when speaking to friends, strangers, and the media. Refer to these talking points in particular when you are writing letters to the editor, comments on blogs, or other official communications.
MAAF is about building community and providing support to nontheists within the military. There have been a number of high-profile events focusing on discrimination against Jeremy Hall, Dustin Chalker, Wayne Adkins, and others. The media has covered Military Religious Freedom Foundation lawsuits against the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, and other senior military departments and officials. MAAF and the Secular Coalition for America have made recommendations to the Obama administration regarding religious accommodation. The media seeks out these divisive stories and artificially heightens their importance to our organization.
However, MAAF’s mission always goes back to community. We have a positive chaplain outreach program that seeks to educate chaplains so they can help to build our community. We partner with Operation Foxhole Atheists to provide support to deployed service members and are expanding this program to other local organizations. We have MAAF-friendly organizations in 30 states and overseas to help support mobile service members. Our membership continues to grow. When media call up to seek out stories of discrimination and prejudice against nontheists, we have that story. But always take the time to remind them that our primary desire is to serve honorably in the military with access to the same command and facilities support as every other service member.
This list is excerpted from infidels.org/events/. These are provided to promote MAAF member attendance at major national events. Being among other nontheists at these events can be an extremely rewarding experience.
Start, End, location, event
The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers an independent 501(c)3 project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Donations are tax-deductible. Contact information and references mentioned in this letter can be found at the MAAF website: http://www.militaryatheists.org
Online link: http://www.militaryatheists.org/newsletter/ltmv3i1.html