u.s. type 501 c 3 purpose promotion of atheism secular humanism education location st. paul minneapolis minnesota president eric jayne website www.mnatheists.org minnesota atheists is the largest atheist organization in the state of minnesota . a 501 c 3 non profit organization that seeks to promote the positive contributions of atheism and to maintain the separation of state and church . 1 they are affiliated with atheist alliance international and the american atheists . minnesota atheists is also part of the alliance of secular humanist societies which is connected to the council for secular humanism . the organization currently publishes a monthly newsletter a weekly radio show and podcast called atheists talk and a community access television show by the same name . 2 contents 1 history 2 public outreach 2.1 atheist talk 2.2 baseball game sponsorship 2.3 billboard campaign 3 legal campaigns 4 publishing 5 references 6 external links history edit originally founded as the twin cities chapter of american atheists in 1984 minnesota atheists was founded in 1991 as a democratic organization of atheists . 3 the minnesota atheists promote education and visibility in the community 4 and responds to the push against atheism in the state of minnesota . 5 in 2013 the foundation beyond belief awarded the humanist communication award to the group for their work in 2012 . 6 public outreach edit atheist talk edit atheists talk first aired january 13 2008 . the weekly program airs every sunday morning on am 950 ktnf . they discuss areas of interest to the community including atheism humanism state church separation religion ethics science and art. 7 guests include notable persons locally nationally and internationally including ira flatow 8 neil degrasse tyson 9 10 richard dawkins 11 and pz myers . 12 nancy bradshaw wears aint t shirt baseball game sponsorship edit st. paul saints players wearing mr. paul aints jerseys in dugout at chs field in august 2012 the minnesota atheists partnered with the american atheists to hold a regional conference and sponsor a st. paul saints game . the team changed their name to the secular friendly mr. paul aints as part of a night of unbelievable fun . 13 the st. paul saints general manager reported some complaints mostly from out of state . a representative from the group stating that sponsoring a baseball game seemed like a good way to show that apart from religion atheists are like everybody else . 14 a second game was sponsored by the minnesota atheists in 2013 a night of unbelievable fun the second coming . 15 the general manager states we re looking forward to being an ain t for the day . 16 the minnesota atheists partnered with foundation beyond belief in 2014 for the third atheist themed st. paul saints game . it became the first game the secularized mr. paul aints team won which took 11 innings to do and the last mr. paul aints game to be played at midway stadium . 17 on saturday august 8 2015 the minnesota atheists teamed up with foundation beyond belief to hold the fourth consecutive year of atheist sponsored minor league baseball . a shoe drive benefiting soles4souls was incorporated into the event promoted as leave your soles at the gate . the team beat the winnipeg goldeyes 7 4 in front of 8 500 fans at chs field which brings the current record of the mr. paul aints to 2 wins and 2 losses . minnesota atheists billboard billboard campaign edit in 2012 the minnesota atheists bought billboards one in st. paul and one in minneapolis to reach out the local atheists . 18 19 20 21 22 citing that similar types of billboards had been going up around the country the billboards promote the idea that religious indoctrination should not happen to children . one critic called them eye catching 23 another questioned one of the billboard placement near religious centers . 24 the billboards tied for second place in an atheist billboard of the year poll on the friendly atheist blog . 25 legal campaigns edit in march 2004 the minnesota atheists spoke out against president bush s speech supporting a u.s. constitutional ban on same sex marriage . stating that the minnesota atheists support the religious making and following their own rules but against these becoming civil laws . 26 in july 2011 minnesota atheists filed the only amicus brief in support of the appeal of benson et al. v. alverson to support the couples in their effort to get rid of the law and argues the unconstitutionality of the minnesota defense of marriage act noting the law s theological basis . 3 stating by denying the plaintiff couples the right to marry solely because they are of the same sex minnesota law violates the due process equal protection freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful association provisions contained in article i sections 7 2 and 16 of the minnesota constitution . 27 representatives from the group stated that when the case baker v. nelson was originally heard in 1971 they did not address the issue of religious freedom . 3 a representative from the group also testified at the state senate hearings in march 2013 . 28 publishing edit the minnesota atheists managed a compilation of stories from atheists throughout minnesota 29 30 31 with a foreword written by greta christina . the publisher states i wanted there to be a book out there that isn t a diatribe against religion but just personal stories . 32 a review from lavender magazine called it an intriguing exploration of atheism . 33 a review from the humanists of minnesota called it absorbing unique and compelling . 34 compilation 2012 . atheist voices of minnesota an anthology of personal stories . freethought house . isbn 0615598579 . references edit minnesota atheists about page . mna . retrieved 2009 03 18 . atheists talk cable show audio . retrieved 8 june 2013 . a b c walsh kaitlyn october 20 2011 . the secular side of marriage equality . lavender magazine . retrieved 8 june 2013 . philip norris david 11 december 2012 . with talk of tolerance and equality one group is still forgotten atheists . minnpost . retrieved 15 august 2013 . jayne eric 3 august 2013 . your turn atheism not gloom and doom . st cloud times . retrieved 14 august 2013 . announcing the 2012 heart of humanism award winners . foundation beyond belief . 3 september 2013 . retrieved 5 september 2013 . atheists talk . am 950 . retrieved 15 august 2013 . science in the public forum ira flatow on atheists talk 89 . mn atheists . 24 october 2010 . retrieved 3 august 2013 . science communication with neil degrasse tyson on atheists talk 110 . mn atheists . 3 april 2011 . retrieved 3 august 2013 . space chronicles neil degrasse tyson on atheists talk 170 . mn atheists . 3 june 2012 . retrieved 3 august 2013 . richard dawkins atheists talk 001 . mn atheists . 13 january 2008 . retrieved 3 august 2013 . zebrafish and dictionary atheism pz myers and greg laden on atheists talk 104 . mn atheists . 20 february 2011 . retrieved 3 august 2013 . gryboski michael . minn. baseball team changes name from saints to aints for atheist event . christian post . retrieved 15 june 2013 . telvin jon 31 july 2012 . tevlin saints have a prayer not on atheists night . star tribune . retrieved 6 august 2013 . jayne eric 29 july 2013 . atheists and the aints seeking to dispel preconceived notions about our non beliefs . minnpost . retrieved 3 august 2013 . block melissa 8 august 2013 . minn. minor league baseball team goes atheist for one night . npr . retrieved 13 august 2013 . shaw bob 4 august 2014 . st. paul s atheists are coming out of the closet . pioneer press . retrieved 31 august 2014 . best eric 31 january 2012 . marketing atheism to the twin cities . minnesota daily . retrieved 2 august 2013 . hines bob ; alimoradi michelle 31 january 2012 . minnesota atheists launch ad campaign . twin cities daily planet kfai radio . retrieved 2 august 2013 . chin richard 26 january 2012 . minnesota atheists borrow from abortion foes employ smiling babies in billboard campaign . pioneer press . retrieved 15 august 2013 . rupar . aaron 27 january 2012 . mn atheists sponsoring anti dogma baby billboards . city pages . retrieved 15 august 2013 . best eric 31 january 2012 . marketing atheism to the twin cities . minnesota daily . retrieved 15 august 2013 . french rose 27 january 2012 . minnesota atheist group sponsors twin cities billboards featuring babies . star tribune . retrieved 2 august 2013 . pescovitz naomi 29 january 2012 . atheist billboards . kstp 5 . retrieved 15 august 2013 . mehta hemant 2 january 2013 . the 2012 atheist billboard of the year is . the friendly atheist . retrieved 15 august 2013 . minnesota atheists march 2004 . minnesota atheists support equality . newsletter . southside pride . retrieved 14 august 2013 . press release minnesota atheists file court brief to support marriage equality . retrieved 8 june 2013 . mcintee michael 12 march 2013 . video replay legislative committees approve minnesota same sex marriage . the uptake . retrieved 15 august 2013 . henderson alison 21 december 2012 . nonbelievers navigate tricky waters . twin cities pioneer press . retrieved 13 august 2013 . french rose 15 october 2012 . fastest growing group in religious circles the nones . star tribune . retrieved 13 august 2013 . cropp avery 30 august 2012 . local woman published in minnesota atheist anthology . stillwater gazette . retrieved 13 august 2013 . winston kimberly 12 april 2013 . atheists the next generation unbelief moves further into the mainstream . publishers weekly . retrieved 3 august 2013 . boatner e.b. 9 august 2012 . books 449 . lavender magazine . retrieved 13 august 2013 . curland nathan august 2012 . book review atheist voices of minnesota . minnesota humanists august newsletter . minnesota atheists . retrieved 13 august 2013 . external links edit minnesota atheists meetup facebook twitter v t e irreligion irreligion nontheism antireligion post theism anti clericalism criticism of religion parody religion secular humanism freethought atheism lists of atheists demographics religion history anti clericalism state new criticism discrimination persecution implicit and explicit negative and positive existence of god antitheism christian atheism atheism in hinduism jewish atheism agnosticism list of agnostics strong weak agnostic atheism agnostic theism apatheism ignosticism secular buddhism nontheism criticism of religion secular humanism freethought flying spaghetti monster inconsistent revelations invisible pink unicorn nontheistic religions parody religion post theism russell s teapot theological noncognitivism transtheism naturalism humanistic metaphysical methodological religious people atheists agnostics humanists pantheists deists books breaking the spell religion as a natural phenomenon the end of faith the god delusion god is not great letter to a christian nation the system of nature why i am not a christian why i am not a muslim organizations 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