Dear Friends,
It's time to replace our server. Please contribute so that we may continue to pursue a positive future for atheism online over the next 5 years on the net. Our last server was purchased about 4 years ago. We have been planning for this moment and have earmarked some money for this large purchase, but we need several thousand dollars to help cover the rest. If you're not familiar, smaller websites can pay $20 per month for hosting but massive sites like RRS and all affiliated sites function best on a server owned by the site ($thousands), and then with a monthly bandwidth bill ($hundreds).
Our current server houses Rational Response Squad, Atheist Volunteers, Free Thinking Teens, Way of the Master Watchdog, Ask The Atheist Archive, Purpose of Christmas, Celebrity Atheists, Brian Sapient, and Margaret Downey. Additionally, we will be housing some other sub-domains for atheists that want to reside on our server! Already we are reaching the limits of what the current server can handle. On top of upgrading and moving those sites to a new high power server, we are adding an even larger site to our arsenal—a new kind of site, called AtheismUnited.com.
Donations could take up to 24 hours to appear.
Hosting AtheismUnited.com
We've made so much progress in the last few years—people are starting to think differently. We are slowly moving towards a world where we can feel more comfortable as atheists and free-thinkers. We are slowly moving towards a world where we don't have to be defensive about what we don't believe. People are starting to understand us, and accept us.[1] As that tide slowly changes, the new Atheism United will be positioned to help bring in an era where atheists are viewed as positive members of society.
The focus on spreading critical thought, logic, and reason remains supreme on all fronts. It's through science that we'll continue to determine facts about where we came from, and how we can make it a more positive future for society. Five years ago a Blasphemy Challenge was needed. Since then, we have made huge leaps in how we are perceived in society. Our message was heard loud and clear. Today a bigger stumbling block to progress is how we are still feared by society. "The fear and skepticism of atheists by the faithful still remains to be a roadblock to progress, however, it is the rising number of atheists and our willingness to be open about our true identities and consistent vocalization of the silliness of believing in ancient myths that will help rid the country of them."[2]
The Rational Response Squad website will continue to serve as a meeting point for people to address religion. Our users will still argue religion with theist visitors. We will not back down, religion is still very much affecting our lives. We will remain critical of all that is phony. But in addition to this we will establish a new front, adding another piece to the puzzle—a piece that will serve to connect many other pieces together in joint unity: Atheism United.
Atheism United will unite many bloggers (send me a message if you want in). It will also promote universal acceptance of every atheist site in the world with our list of atheist sites, as representatives of themselves. We believe atheists are individuals and all represent themselves individually. This project helps the 99% be heard. We must not keep to ourselves.[3]
We have many more creative ideas in the pipeline, and just need the server to handle it all. Together we can do all of this and more. Today we are a minority, tomorrow depends on us....
Still lost?
Rational Response Squad will...
- Unite atheist activists, especially those who speak critically of religion
- Respond rationally to irrational claims wherever they may exist
- Continue to host and maintain a site that doubles as an online history of atheism. [5 yr old post]
Atheism United will...
- Create and maintain the only atheist website list that links to all atheist sites, in the ultimate sign of unity. Already an amazing archive and it's just beginning.
- Embrace a positive vision for our future that is open to change as the community votes on it in polls. Breakout session on "Atheism United Vision"
- Wiki atheism site
- Atheism United will unite many bloggers to each represent themselves as an atheist, all sorts of views welcome.
- Polling functions will attempt to find common bonds that most atheists share. Called 80/80... or 80% of the atheists believe in 80% of these things.
- Emery Emery, Matt Dillahunty, and more as public voices for Atheism United.
- Partner with We Are Atheism to get video submissions. (and many other similar projects)
This season, give the gift of reason! Chip in!
DONATE
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4 x 250GB of storage on 2 mirrored pairs
$5,950 for the server $150 for shipping expenses
$500-1000 css development help (volunteer CSS themer needed!)
Don't worry, if we don't reach our goal I'll cover the difference, I always have. 
If we spend less than we receive from this chip-in (not happening) it will go towards advertising.
We've set a goal to purchase a server that could last us 5-8 years, plus all expenses associated with the new server.
"If Brian says he is going to do something, I would bet on him to do it. He is incredibly focused and a strong organizer." - Staks Rosch
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This page is on Reddit, please press the up arrow at Reddit. If you don't use it, join their atheism community there!
Please shop at Amazon via these links this winter season.
Can't make your donation work? You can donate via paypal here.
Paypal can accept any major credit card without getting a paypal account.
If you still have problems email Brian Sapient.
VIP forum discussion on this topic is here.
If you can make a last
If you can make a last minute contribution of any size, please do so.
Update 1/11/12: Thanks so much to everyone who has donated. I hope I managed to thank all of you personally and in case I didn't allow me to say again, I am so thankful to you for your contributions.
The shortage is all the buzz among techies but in case you hadn't heard, here are the first few stories that come up...
Brian Sapient
The new server has been
The new server has been purchased. We still could make good use of any money donated in the near future. We raised no money for freelance web help, or marketing, or anything else. I'll leave the donate information up until we move to the new server.
Here is a blog post about the purchase: http://www.rationalresponders.com/new_server_has_been_purchased
Brian Sapient