Atheists to Counter ‘National Day of Prayer'

What do you do on May 1, 2008, the “National Day of Prayer,” if you are an Atheist, do not believe in prayer and are opposed to the observance of a prayer day being imposed on all American citizens? Some Atheists have come up with an answer: Do something positive, something active, something that may save lives and point out to the nation that there are alternatives to silently beseeching a deity to perform miracles.

The Center for Atheism, a New-York-City-based nationwide informational and activism group headed by Kenneth Bronstein, came up with the idea of nationwide blood donations by groups of Atheists on that day to demonstrate the power of rational thinking.

“We want to make a public statement about how nonreligious people can observe that day, which we have re-named The Day of Reason, and at the same time, let America know that there are millions of us who think that prayer does not work--but that medical science does,” says Bronstein. “We are offering a positive alternative to prayer, something that will reflect the life-affirming ideas of nonbelievers.”

Thus, on May 1st, groups of Atheists in scores of American cities will go to their local Blood Banks to donate blood and sign up for organ-donor programs—a tradition that Atheists in Manhattan have observed for four years.

Last year, New York City Atheists celebrated our Day of Reason by donating blood at the New York Blood Bank in upper Manhattan. A group of Atheists arrived together to donate their life-giving blood and then celebrated together in a small anteroom with coffee, juice and light refreshment supplied by the Blood Bank.

“We called our blood donation program B.L.O.O.D., an acronym for Benefiting Lives of Others Donations, and we intend to do it every year on what we have renamed The Day of Reason,” added Bronstein.

If you want to start a B.L.O.O.D program in your locale, it’s simple. Here’s what you do:

1) Find your local blood bank by accessing www.americasblood.org
(Bottom left corner, type in your zip code to find your local blood bank.)

2) Phone the blood bank to make arrangements for a group donation.

(You will find them amazingly supportive and accommodating.)

3) Notify your local newspaper, TV and other media that your group is
doing this and why. It’s important to alert them ahead of the event.

It's simple, it's positive, it's effective. Come on, Agnostics, Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists, Secularists, Non-believers, Separation of Church and State advocates, join us in our positive protest against the Day of Prayer! Show the world that while religious people are on their knees, Atheists are on their feet and giving a part of themselves for the good of humanity!

For further information, contact Ken Bronstein at

firebell1@aol.com or 212-535-7425