Sounds like a great idea. I offered to volunteer at the local satellite college here, but higher learning, like learning to read, for instance, isn't high on the agenda for the people in the area.

I was a volunteer tutor at public library only about a year ago.

Oh, but the volunteering is just a front to get our feet in the door. Once we infiltrate we plan on seducing their virgin children and exposing them to homosexuality, tearing down the moral and familial structure of the household, brainwashing them with communism, and as an act of ultimate evil, having them serve their family pets as the entree at their first annual incestuous homo-communist orgy and barbeque. It's all part of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy.

           Now now Desdenova we can't go off seducing virgin children, we are not catholic priests after all. They have the consession on that franchise. Then there is Ted Hagard & Jimmy Swaggart useing up all the call-boys/girls in the area--whers's a good atheist suppose to get laid? Then your average brainwashing-communal living-incest goes hand in hand with poligamist not to mention buildt in orgies.

           That leaves us poor boring atheists with nothing but our traditional kitten barbaques and rational intelligence. Why can't we have fun like the skydaddy peoples?

To get myself back on at least a parallel track, what would you folks say to a book club? We could pick a title on atheism, skepticism, or even a current apologetic work, read it, and discuss it on the boards.  Even a book exchange network might be useful.  I've given thought to creating a skeptics library, and while the logistics of loaning books via snail mail is a pain in the ass, I'm always happy to loan ( or just give ) books to people that are interested in research or honing their critical thinking skills.

Now that is something I could do here. And the dogs are considerably more intelligent than the locals. Ixnay on the barbeque though, because the locals have deforested the region in a 40 mile radius. I actually lost my cool with one of them shortly after I got here. I asked why all the trees had been cut down. The guy claimed that there had never been trees here. I pointed to the closest of the half dozen dead tree stumps in sight. " Then what the fuck is that? " I asked. In the silence that ensued I was reminded of the Radio Shack parody: You've got questions, we've got puzzled looks.

I tutored math in high school and it was rewarding for me as well. I'd also like to know about any sort of organizational groups if you have that info handy.

Sorry to hear that. My pupils were not super excited about learning but they did know how to read...