- Who is funding you?
The Garrison-Martineau Project is an independent organization.
It is not an appendage of any atheist, humanist or Christian organization.
The Garrison-Martineau Project is the brainchild of Chris Lindstrom,
a bay area atheist and the former secretary of
Atheists of Silicon Valley.
The very first pilot of The Garrison-Martineau Project came about due to
the cooperative efforts of Pastor Richard Reaves of
Santa Clara First Baptist Church ,
Pastor Bruce Stryd from
Thornton Avenue Baptist Church
and Bill Jacobsen, Executive Director of the
Humanist Community of Palo Alto.
We hope to be funded by individual people just like you.
- Where are you located?
Mailing Address:
The Garrison-Martineau Project
50 W. Edith Ave #2
Los Altos, CA 94022
Phone Contact: (650) 949-3192
Of course, even though our headquarters are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, this does not prevent us from assisting groups around the country who would like to hold Garrison-Martineau dialogues in their neck of the woods. To date, pilots have been run in South Carolina, Oregon, Washington and coming in February, Minneapolis, MN!
- What's the purpose?
- Educating the public about the human experiences of believers and nonbelievers by facilitating dialogue and promoting understanding between believers and nonbelievers
- Improving the level of civic discourse by enabling individuals across the ideological spectrum to talk with and learn from one another.
- How did you think of this?
The first spark of the idea of facilitating dialogue for individual atheists and believers began after one of my less-than-stellar video rental selections: Sister Mary Tells All. The plot follows an atheist who returns to a special reunion Christmas pageant at the Catholic school of her girlhood with a "revised script" intending to shake things up. During the expected firestorm which follows the revelation that Mary was not a virgin, the nun turns to the atheist and asks her, "I don't understand. You were my protegé. What happened to you?"
Still on stage, the atheist turns to the nun and literally screams at her, "You filled my head with lies and I believed them"
You filled my head with lies and I believed them.
And then, I went out into the world and discovered that that wasn't the way things were. Wow! Could I relate to that sentiment! I was not alone. Made me want to do a little sympathetic screaming of my own.
But then something interesting happened. The nun turned to the audience and asked them how many of them had been in her class. Almost all of them raised their hands. These were parents who were now sending their children to Sister Mary's class.
So there they were staring at each other: the atheist trying to figure out how any well-meaning parent could inflict Sister Mary on their children and the parents trying to figure out what this freaky atheist was so angry about. I began to wonder how it was that these two groups of people who had gone through the same schooling experience together had somehow gotten different perceptions of that experience. It seemed to me that they were not so different from each other as they thought they were. After all, they had all started out in the same place. What would have happened if they had been able to talk to each other?
Is it possible for me to understand why my sister, who considers herself a feminist, can still attend a fundamentalist Baptist church? Is it possible for believers to understand why "under god" in the pledge of allegiance is alienating to atheists? Is it possible for me to understand how it was my parents could consider Sunday school a positive experience? Is it possible that sharing our atheist experiences will help parents of children like us to avoid the stifling experiences of religion that we suffered? Is it possible to comprehend what lies behind the anger and fear we see in our religious brethren when we talk about keeping the 10 Commandments out of public buildings, suggesting that gays and lesbians be accorded equal rights and privileges and demand government neutrality? Is it possible to develop empathy for the experiences and concerns of people you disagree with on such fundamental issues?
This became the idea that wouldn't go away and with the help of others in the community has become a reality in The Garrison-Martineau Project.
- How big is The Garrison-Martineau Project?
We are small, but growing. We have been holding sessions since June 2002 and
so far, over 150 people have come through the program. We have a board of
directors which includes 2 Christians and 3 Atheists and 1 Humanist.
There is now a pool of
20 trained facilitators and 5 or so other volunteers. Most participants wish to
return, schedules permitting and many are still in contact with one another.
- What's in it for an Atheist?
Some atheists came out of religious families and often, this is the conversation they
cannot have with their own family members and friends. I myself grew up
fundamentalist. I have several cousins who attended Jerry Falwell's Liberty Baptist
College. While my immediate family is aware that I am an atheist, and we are on
good terms, it is an unspoken rule to avoid the topic. Having grown up in a church
where Christian Coalition voter guides were distributed and hearing about how
"atheists and secular humanists are destroying the moral fabric of society", it is
somewhat disorienting and disturbing to wake up one day as an adult atheist and
realize the kind of hatred that is being perpetuated against "your kind". I view the
Garrison-Martineau Project as a way for those of us with this experience to get
closure with the past and move on to become healthier, more productive people.
Regardless of whether an atheist grew up in a secular household or left religion,
most are a bit dismayed to hear statements like, "If they don't like 'Under God' in
the pledge, they can just leave" -- something that would never have been uttered
about African Americans and the Confederate Flag even in the heat of political
battle in the south. The Garrison-Martineau Project is a way to get rid of the
feeling of marginalization and long term, to build a society where all of us --
believers and nonbelievers alike are seen as integral members of it. This is
an opportunity to put a human face on atheism and help others understand that
we are -- in most important ways -- just like everyone else.
- What's in it for a Christian?
I never sell the Garrison-Martineau Project as a missionary venture. It would be
highly misleading and would build up unrealistic expectations to suggest that
Christians will be converting atheists. (I think it is just as unrealistic to
tell the atheists that they will be converting -- or deconverting -- Christians.)
However, it is an opportunity to transform people's opinion about each other.
It is an opportunity to put a human face on Christianity and get rid of harmful
misperceptions of Christians, for instance, that they are gullible, need to be
controlled by others, blind obedient... you get the idea. I don't think any of these
descriptions are helpful and getting rid of stereotypes can only help us get along
in the broader community. It is also true, for those who are interested in
missionary work, that one needs to understand others in order to speak to them
in a way they can understand. The Garrison-Martineau Project provides a safe
forum to listen to others and understand a bit of their experience and meaning.
- What's in it for me?
Regardless of whether you are a believer or a nonbeliever, The Garrison-Martineau
Project can help shed light on how other people perceive the world. Learning
to listen can only help us become better advocates for issues important to us.
Being heard can give us the confidence and the hope to move forward and make
positive changes.
- What is The Garrison-Martineau Project? Is this an online thing?
No, although we do have a website and an online forum -- the forum is mainly
intended for folks who have already spoken face to face. It is the
contention of the Garrison-Martineau Project organizers that it is easier
to be rude, to de-humanize one another online -- the exact opposite of our goals!
The heart of The Garrison-Martineau Project is a 3 hour face-to-face seminar
with ordinary people speaking directly to one another in small groups, enabled
by a facilitator.
If you have a burning question which wasn't answered here, please submit it be email to Coordinator,
Chris Lindstrom
