I have a big and awesome announcement:
For the past several months, a big group of progressive secular bloggers (including me) have been working on creating a new blogging site called The Orbit. Here’s our mission statement:
The Orbit is a diverse collective of atheist and nonreligious bloggers committed to social justice, within and outside the secular community. We provide a platform for writing, discussion, activism, collaboration, and community.
What social justice means to us
We aim to contribute to a more just and equitable world for all people, free of disadvantage on the basis of gender, gender identity, race, age, economic or other social class, sexuality, physical ability or mental illness, geography, nationality, immigration status, and other forms of marginalization and systemic oppression. Our site is feminist and progressive. We know black lives matter and that no one is illegal, we know trans women are women and that sex work is work, and we support a socially conscious atheist movement.
As atheists, we believe criticism of religion must fall within this framework. While bloggers’ views differ, our shared belief is that we can criticize systems and social structures in which others participate without practicing bigotry, and that these include religious structures. We recognize that all of us are likely to perpetuate some forms of prejudice, and are committed to listening when criticized, as we ask the movements we criticize, our own among them, to listen to us. Finally, we believe atheists have an essential part to play in progressive culture, and that social justice needs us as much as we need it.
So, as of today, I and a number of other FtB bloggers you might follow–Alex, Aoife, Ashley, Brianne, Dana, Frederick, Heina, Jason, Stephanie, and Zinnia–will be leaving FreethoughtBlogs and moving our blogs to The Orbit, where we’ll be joined by a slate of amazing writers from Patheos Atheist, Skepchick, and independent blogs. I’m extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to be a part of FtB for the past three and a half years, and proud of the work I’ve done here and the connections I’ve made. I’m sure this news is going to be somewhat sad (or at least bittersweet) to a lot of people who have spent years interacting with us here, but I’m really excited for this chance to create something new and different. FtB will continue on without us (I hear they’re bringing in new bloggers soon), and the secular movement needs a variety of voices and outlets in order to keep growing and improving.
In order to raise funds for the new site, we’re also launching a Kickstarter campaign today. There are some pretty neat rewards, and I hope you’ll consider helping us get off the ground.
After this post goes live, I’ll be redirecting my RSS feed to The Orbit, so if my feed at feeds.feedburner.com/brutereason is how you follow this blog, you won’t need to update anything. Otherwise, please update your bookmarks to my new location at http://the-orbit.net/brutereason.
Thank you for your continued support, and I’ll see you on the other side.
