What would be an appropriate Mission Statement for the group

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Skeptigator	What would be an appropriate Mission Statement for the group		Lead	[-]
Posts: 181 04/10/08 13:53:38	Tags : None We probably need 2 1) We need one for our website, here's the current statement, if you can call it a mission statement Freethought Fort Wayne is a member-based organization dedicated to the citizens of Fort Wayne, Indiana and its neighbors. We are affiliated with the Center for Inquiry - Indianapolis whose mission statement says it best The Center for Inquiry Indiana offers an opportunity to put your principles into practice by joining other rationalists to work for positive change in society. … CFI provides an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews. In this time of rising religiosity, anti-intellectualism and political turmoil on ethical issues, it is critical that rationalists and freethinkers join together to protect civil liberties, defend reason, and work toward increasing scientific literacy. 2) We should also have a blurb for the various calendar items out there. FFW is a [blah, blah, blah (paraphrase the main mission statement if it's long)] We generally meet on the second Wednesday of every month and you can find out more about us at http://freethoughtfortwayne.org "The only winning move is not to play" - Joshua
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neuralgourmet		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 96 04/10/08 14:52:55	Just for discussion purposes, I reworked the About page on the blog for the Facebook group. I don't consider this at all final and have no qualms at changing any or all of it. Freethought Fort Wayne is a member-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers rationalists in Fort Wayne, Indiana and environs the opportunity to join together with others of like mind to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We provide an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews and seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason and work toward increasing scientific literacy.
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mightymjolnir	Copied to this forum	#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 132 04/16/08 07:17:20	I really like neuralgourmet's mission statement. Well done.
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Skeptigator		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 181 04/16/08 09:03:47	I agree neuralgourmet's is well written, I'm not sure about the particulars of the following, mighty? Andy? "...affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana" if that's kosher then I say we go with it "The only winning move is not to play" - Joshua
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neuralgourmet		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 96 04/16/08 11:53:05	Skeptigator wrote: I agree neuralgourmet's is well written, I'm not sure about the particulars of the following, mighty? Andy? "...affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana" if that's kosher then I say we go with it That bothers me too. I'd like to keep it, but I wonder if in our role as a CFI discussion group that we're not able to promote ourselves this way and indeed it feels a bit dishonest. As I said at the last meeting, I'd love it if we were fully affiliated with CFI (why should Indy get all the good events) but I'm not sure that's possible and Andy expressed some reservations about that.
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Skeptigator		#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 181 04/16/08 11:57:40	My main concern is the same, 1) Are we fairly and honestly representing ourselves as a group 2) I would love to have this as well since it lends a little "street cred" it's not necessary but it is nice. "The only winning move is not to play" - Joshua
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mightymjolnir		#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 132 04/16/08 12:21:15	There's an easy way to solve this - just ask Reba. I'm sending off an email on the topic. I'll also get some charter ideas. m
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mightymjolnir	Here's the email I sent	#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 132 04/16/08 12:40:38	Hi Reba, Mike here from FreeThought Fort Wayne. We are in the process of "formalizing" the group, and I had a few questions for you if you have the time: 1. We have proposed the following mission statement: FreeThought Fort Wayne is a member-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. FreeThought Fort Wayne offers rationalists in Fort Wayne, Indiana and environs the opportunity to join together with others of like mind to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We provide an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews and seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason and work toward increasing scientific literacy. We're a little concerned about the phrase "affiliated with the Center For Inquiry, Indiana." Is this appropriate, in your view? If not, could you recommend some more accurate phrasing to show our relationship to CFI Indy? 2. We wish to draft a charter or constitution, but we really don't want to have to create something out of thin air. Do you have any recommendations or documents from which we could borrow substantially? (We have already downloaded CFI - On Campus's guide) Thank you so much for your help. I'm pleased to inform you that this group has really taken off here - in my estimation, we've added somewhere around 20 members since we met you at the Grand Opening in September, and our online presence has been bolstered by some exceptional bloggers. (freethoughtfortwayne.org). We've recommended officially joining CFI Indy to all of our members. m
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mightymjolnir	Response from Reba	#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 132 04/16/08 15:39:10	She wrote back: This sounds fine to me. Make sure you say (as you did) that it is CFI Indiana. I don't have permission to let you say CFI Transnational. Let's not get too banged up over the word "affiliated." I don't believe it carries any kind of legal ramifications - it's not like we're saying we're an "official and legal subsidiary of CFI Indiana." One other small and anal-retentive point - I spell it "FreeThought" in our official title - I like the capital-T emphasis on "Thought." Any objections to this? Like I said - anal-retentive, but as long as we're formalizing, I think we should have some consistency as to how we officially spell the name of our group, capital T or otherwise. (Now, if anyone needs me, I'll be washing my hands several times and counting the squares in my window screens.) I believe we may have ourselves a mission statement. m
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AndysCatHouse		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 147 04/17/08 00:59:32	Freethought Fort Wayne is a member-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers rationalists in Fort Wayne, Indiana and environs the opportunity to join together with others of like mind to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We provide an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews and seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason and work toward increasing scientific literacy. Don't wash those hands yet. I like it a lot and it is a great start but a couple of concerns and ideas: "Member-based organization" is an unnecessary and redundant phrase. In fact, it may discourage someone from attending a meeting due to the membership line. A discussion/support organization might make more sense or maybe we should delete that part.... (Center for inquiry Indiana should be a hyperlink to their web page). I don't think the 2nd sentence is grammatically correct or all that helpful other than the "positive" message. FFW offers rationalists in FW what? and environs the opportunity to join together? (like minded and join together are redundant and are not needed) Put principles into practice is just another way of saying action. Change can be assumed, too. I think we should have more emphasis for science and critical thinking rather than pseudo-science quackery. In other words, we should have a more complete skepticism emphasis. (12 step programs, life coaching, homeopathy, self help, newage BS are not really covered except implicitly in the "rationalists, defend reason, and positive change in society" phrases). I want to see awe and wonder stuff added. Science and art should morph into the joy of science. I love the ethical alternative phrase.... I wonder if we should be more explicit with church/state stuff, too. I know this is a generalization but hey it is hard to get everything... I think are overall goals are education, ethics, freedom, and awe of the natural world.... We want to build a society that will help protect and improve itself rather than cower from above.... Now I guess I will attempt a try in another post. Criticism is easier than creating. Last Edited By: AndysCatHouse 04/17/08 02:37:17. Edited 10 times.
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AndysCatHouse		#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 147 04/17/08 06:13:10	OK this is my attempt at it... I need to sleep now. We need to cut some from the middle but I wanted to get everything off my chest. Enjoy feel free to hack away: FreeThought Fort Wayne is affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana and we support those in the Fort Wayne, Indiana metro area who are recovering from, and those who choose rationality instead of supernatural, metaphysical, and superstitious dogmas and myths. FreeThought Fort Wayne is a clear thinking oasis which strives to fortify our secular constitution, government, freedom of conscience, ethics, capitalism, and full scientific inquiry. Skepticism is not a bad word and it ushers in critical thinking and scientific reasoning. Moreover, FreeThought Fort Wayne educates about the demarcation between actual science and pseudosciences such as alternative medicines (quackery), psychic and paranormal claims, creationism, and the placebo effect. Religion does not have a monopoly on awe, wonder, music, art, and ethics. For us, it is near imposable to beat the reverence from modern cosmology such as Carl Sagan's "The Pale Blue Dot"or having one's own DNA genome sequenced and participating in one's interconnectedness to every living plant and animal. We cannot go back to a talking donkey, snake, or a burning bush. The real world supersedes dogma and is more amazing than we ever thought possible. Yes, we are going to die and not live forever; moreover, our lives, relationships, and scientific research become invaluable. All the more reason, we have to help one another and leave our xenophobic incompatible religions behind. We are not going to get any help from above and it is time for us to become conscious about it. We like the golden rule which was around long before the Bible and it is found in all the religions. This blended with a healthy balance of competitiveness and empathy and we have a good secular start towards a healthy society. A comparative religion education is encouraged for an appreciation of our literature, art, anthropology, music, history, and politics. We will work with our local politicians and other groups to fight any religious majority seeking to establish their particular religion and form of gods in government. For example, we fully support Americans United for the Separation of Church which is made of many minority religious groups. A secular society is one in which all religions and the non-religious cooperate. Religion is a personal conscience issue and it should not be forced upon or removed by anyone. How many people lost their lives for that freedom? How sad and hypocritical for a particular religion to be insecure enough to try to enforce their views on morality on everyone. Last Edited By: AndysCatHouse 04/17/08 07:06:48. Edited 8 times.
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Skeptigator		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 181 04/17/08 07:25:46	Actually I disagree with the rewrite, it's way too long for a mission statement IMO. That's more like a charter or mini-op-ed piece. I'm not saying any of it's wrong just not appropriate for the use I was thinking (it's also a bit confrontational). I could be wrong, it's been known to happen. I think the original is much shorter and to the point and paints the organization in broader strokes. I also disagree with "join together = of like mind". I think the 2nd sentence could be reworded to be more inclusive of those "still searching" and wouldn't necessarily identify as rationalist. But to be honest if someone is going to make the committment to a group they will have already come to a point where they are more rationalist than anything else. Freethought Fort Wayne is a community-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers rationalists and secularists in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area the opportunity to join together with others of like mind to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We provide an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews and seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason and work toward increasing scientific literacy. Or perhaps (rework of sentence 2 and the last sentence encompasses the four core concepts from mighty's "recycled thoughts") Freethought Fort Wayne is a community-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers individuals in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area the opportunity to join together with other rationalists, secularists, freethinkers and those searching for an ethical alternative to supernatural worldviews to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason, increase the public understanding of science and provide an open forum for discussion. "The only winning move is not to play" - Joshua
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neuralgourmet		#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 96 04/17/08 07:43:13	Skeptigator wrote: Actually I disagree with the rewrite, it's way too long for a mission statement IMO. That's more like a charter or mini-op-ed piece. I'm not saying any of it's wrong just not appropriate for the use I was thinking (it's also a bit confrontational). I could be wrong, it's been known to happen. I think the original is much shorter and to the point and paints the organization in broader strokes. I also disagree with "join together = of like mind". I think the 2nd sentence could be reworded to be more inclusive of those "still searching" and wouldn't necessarily identify as rationalist. But to be honest if someone is going to make the committment to a group they will have already come to a point where they are more rationalist than anything else. Freethought Fort Wayne is a community-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers rationalists and secularists in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area the opportunity to join together with others of like mind to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We provide an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews and seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason and work toward increasing scientific literacy. Or perhaps (rework of sentence 2 and the last sentence encompasses the four core concepts from mighty's "recycled thoughts") Freethought Fort Wayne is a community-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers individuals in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area the opportunity to join together with other rationalists, secularists, freethinkers and those searching for an ethical alternative to supernatural worldviews to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason, increase the public understanding of science and provide an open forum for discussion. I like "community-based organization" and "greater Fort Wayne, Indiana". Although I'm fond of the word "environs", Skeptigator's wording is more inclusive. Inclusivity is also why I chose to use the phrase, "of like mind". It allows the reader to decide whether she is of a similar mind as us and avoids the need to enumerate all the various labels (thus avoiding the risk of leaving out somebody -- oops, forgot the humanists and Brights). As for the last sentence, I think my version flows better but I'm not so in love with it that I'm opposed to changing it. I also agree with Skeptigator that a mission statement should be a short encapsulation of values, scope and purpose and that exposition is better left for the charter.
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AndysCatHouse		#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 147 04/17/08 08:11:42	Both those newer versions already flow better for me. We have to add some awe and skepticism in there somewhere. I think we are going to be somewhat confrontional no matter what we do... I don't think we should hide from it. My strategy was to use ethics and awe. Space shouldn't be a big deal. There are much longer mission statements out there. I think it is important to be very specific. Let's keep at it. For example of what not to do: What is the Mission Statement for Enron? In: Business and Finance Answer Enron's motto was "Respect, Integrity, Communication and Excellence." Last Edited By: AndysCatHouse 04/17/08 08:24:19. Edited 1 time.
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AndysCatHouse		#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 147 04/17/08 08:51:50	FreeThought Fort Wayne is affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana and we unite freethinkers and secularists in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area who are seeking an ethical alternative from supernatural and metaphysical dogmas. FreeThought Fort Wayne is a clear thinking oasis which strives to fortify and discuss our secular constitution, government, reason, logic, philosophy, freedom of conscience, ethics, economics, and full scientific inquiry. Moreover, FreeThought Fort Wayne educates about skepticism and the demarcation between real science and the pseudosciences such as alternative medicines (quackery), psychic and paranormal claims, creationism, and the placebo effect. We compare and contrast various religious doctrines and practices and revel in the joy of science such as Carl Sagan's astronomy like"The Pale Blue Dot"or having one's own genome (DNA) sequenced and realizing one's digital interconnectedness to every person, plant, and animal. This is my take 2. I cut all the death, other group, and confrontational stuff. I borrowed greater fort wayne, (nice, I don't know why I didn't originally think of that) and ethical alternative. I changed a few more words around. I still don't like the principles into practice and change society.... I like unite more than joined together, too. bond? Last Edited By: AndysCatHouse 04/17/08 09:52:29. Edited 2 times.
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Skeptigator		#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 181 04/17/08 09:17:03	FreeThought Fort Wayne is affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana and we support those in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area who are seeking an ethical alternative from supernatural, metaphysical, and superstitious dogmas. FreeThought Fort Wayne is a clear thinking oasis which strives to fortify our secular constitution, government, freedom of conscience, ethics, capitalist economy, and full scientific inquiry. Moreover, FreeThought Fort Wayne educates about skepticism and the demarcation between real science and the pseudosciences such as alternative medicines (quackery), psychic and paranormal claims, creationism, and the placebo effect. It is near imposable to beat the joy and reverence from science such as Carl Sagan's "The Pale Blue Dot"or having one's own DNA genome sequenced and participating in one's interconnectedness to every living plant and animal. I don't know, man, I don't want to be a big meanie here but the tone just feels wrong (it's too op-ed, too specific, too confrontational). I'm going to see what others think because I'm sure you and I could go back and forth all day. "The only winning move is not to play" - Joshua
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neuralgourmet		#16	[url]	[-]
Posts: 96 04/17/08 09:37:21	AndysCatHouse wrote: FreeThought Fort Wayne is affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana and we support those in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area who are seeking an ethical alternative from supernatural, metaphysical, and superstitious dogmas. FreeThought Fort Wayne is a clear thinking oasis which strives to fortify our secular constitution, government, freedom of conscience, ethics, capitalist economy, and full scientific inquiry. Moreover, FreeThought Fort Wayne educates about skepticism and the demarcation between real science and the pseudosciences such as alternative medicines (quackery), psychic and paranormal claims, creationism, and the placebo effect. It is near imposable to beat the joy and reverence from science such as Carl Sagan's "The Pale Blue Dot"or having one's own DNA genome sequenced and participating in one's interconnectedness to every living plant and animal. A little too much sloganeering for my tastes. I think you're striving more for a vision statement rather than a mission statement. Also, and this just may be my leftist roots, but the mention of fortifying our capitalist economy seems rather odd in context. Finally, while I Carl Sagan, I'm just of the opinion that mentioning him, or anyone else, in the mission statement is superfluous. Awaiting feedback from others. Last Edited By: neuralgourmet 04/17/08 09:40:19. Edited 1 time.
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AndysCatHouse		#17	[url]	[-]
Posts: 147 04/17/08 09:46:05	You jokers, I was still editing... go back re read and re comment...
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AnalogKid9		#18	[url]	[-]
Posts: 39 04/20/08 21:15:56	Andy's first attempt was crazy long. The shorter more general is best. Let the group choose the specific topics. Last Edited By: AnalogKid9 04/20/08 21:20:28. Edited 1 time.
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Skeptigator		#19	[url]	[-]
Posts: 181 05/10/08 14:31:54	Ok Andy You are the big hold-up. It seems to me that one of the following 3 variations of a theme have the most consensus (honestly they are all variations on neural's original). Short and sweet. If we want something more lengthy we can put that into the charter. neural's original Freethought Fort Wayne is a member-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers rationalists in Fort Wayne, Indiana and environs the opportunity to join together with others of like mind to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We provide an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews and seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason and work toward increasing scientific literacy. the last tweak that I did Freethought Fort Wayne is a community-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers rationalists and secularists in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area the opportunity to join together with others of like mind to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We provide an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews and seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason and work toward increasing scientific literacy. what about this Freethought Fort Wayne is a community-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers rationalists and secularists in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area the opportunity to join together with others of like mind to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We provide an ethical alternative to religious and paranormal worldviews and seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason and promote the wonder and awe of science. or this Freethought Fort Wayne is a community-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers individuals in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area the opportunity to join together with other rationalists, secularists, freethinkers and those searching for an ethical alternative to supernatural worldviews to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason, increase the public understanding of science and provide an open forum for discussion. It's time to finish this. "The only winning move is not to play" - Joshua
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AnalogKid9		#20	[url]	[-]
Posts: 39 05/11/08 01:16:28	The Last one that follows gets my vote. I agree it's time to wrap this up. Freethought Fort Wayne is a community-based organization affiliated with the Center For Inquiry Indiana. Freethought Fort Wayne offers individuals in the greater Fort Wayne, Indiana area the opportunity to join together with other rationalists, secularists, freethinkers and those searching for an ethical alternative to supernatural worldviews to put their principles into practice and work for positive change in society. We seek to protect civil liberties, defend reason, increase the public understanding of science and provide an open forum for discussion.
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