Comments on: Time for non-religious enterprises?

By: Theo Bromine

Theo Bromine — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:01:54 +0000

I suppose you have a point there, though the hackerspaces that have a strong “makerspace” component tend to have better gender balance. Here in Ottawa, we are thinking (or at least some of us are dreaming) about having a physical space for the atheists/humanists/skeptics/secularists/freethinkers, and also thinking about how we can do outreach to the public, especially children and teens, hence the attraction of a hackerspace/makerspace (and in my experience, the gender balance for that is often skewed towards females for the younger set). How about a coffee shop with a hackerspace in the basement?

[In the interest of full disclosure: I agree figuring out how to attract more females to atheist/humanist/skeptic/secularist/freethinker groups is an important challenge, and I have no idea how to address it. I am female, but I'm an engineer (and a longtime hacker), so I am probably not the right person to answer the question.]

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By: Ian

Ian — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:53:20 +0000

The issue that I see with going the hackerspace route is that we perpetuate the over-abundance of the male gender and fail to diversify. At least if we open cafes and cultural centres we can appeal to a broader base and shift our demographics to one of more balance.

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By: Theo Bromine

Theo Bromine — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:31:56 +0000

That sounds like a great idea. I have encountered a few church-run coffee shops – eg an internet cafe in Morris MN (yes, PZ Myers has blogged from there).

One other possibility that recently occurred to me was the idea of co-operating with a hackerspace.

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By: Devin Johnston

Devin Johnston — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:13:02 +0000

That sounds like a fantastic idea. I know of a few progressive community-oriented organizations who have self-financed through a similar coffee shop idea (although I don’t know of any atheist/humanist/etc organizations specifically doing that). It seems like it would create a perfect atmosphere for discussion and collaboration.

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